Sunday, July 4, AM

Good morning. Happy Independence Day. We are so glad that you're here to worship with us this morning on this 4th of July.

We're so thankful to be able to have the freedoms that we do in this country, but we also recognize the need still that Jesus is our

King. And we have the need, just as we did over 200 years ago, to repent of sin and to call upon the name of the

Lord. So let's pray that we might be faithful to do that today and in the days ahead. A few announcements as we get started this morning.

No evening service because it is the 4th of July, so be able to spend some time with family and friends. Looking ahead to this

Wednesday, we've got dinner at 545 for the whole church and then Bible study and prayer for everyone together in the fellowship hall.

And then next Sunday, July 11th, Jeff Howe and Adriana and their kids are going to be visiting with us.

They'll be sharing in that evening service at 530. And then following that, we're going to have a reception for the

Nelsons, Norman Loretta, just to be able to wish them well as they are moving down south just a little bit in Oklahoma.

But we want to recognize them and all that they've done over the many years of service here at the church and the love that we have for them.

So there will be a reception following that evening service next Sunday. This week's fighter verse comes from Ephesians chapter six, verses 12 and 13, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand firm.

Good reminder for us. We still need some nursery volunteers for this month, the month of July.

If you can help out with that, please see Marla Hovarder. The sewing ministry still has some needs for bias tape and elastic.

Any size or color will do there. So you can see Loretta about that. Operation Christmas Child has needs for July.

Girls hair accessories, brushes, combs, and things, and then some small sports balls and baseball caps for boys that we'll pack up in those shoe boxes.

Also if you can give blood, it's been mentioned I think in some emails on the prayer chain, donate in Tommy McGarry's name.

The Oklahoma Blood Institute is experiencing a shortage there. And then finally, if you haven't paid Patty Hines yet for baseball tickets, that's going to be happening at the end of this month.

Please see her and make sure you get that settled up. All right. Any other announcements before we begin worshiping today?

All right. We're going to have a time of prayer to prepare our hearts for worship, and then when we're done with that,

Brian will come and lead us in prayer. Father in heaven, we rejoice in this new day that you have given.

May our hearts and our minds be yearning for your word, for fellowship with our brothers and sisters.

May we know you more intimately. May your word illumine its truth to our souls, to our hearts, to our minds.

We thank you for this day given, and may we find our hope, our solace in the blood and sacrifice of your son,

Christ. Strengthen our faith. Teach us.

May the joy of our salvation be renewed this day.

We ask this in Christ's name. Amen. If you're able, please stand with me for our call to worship.

Our passage this morning is found in Psalms chapter 68.

We'll be reading verses four and five. Read with me together. Sing to God.

Sing praises to his name. Lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts.

His name is the Lord. Exult before him. Father of fatherless and protector of widows is

God in his holy habitation. Our first song this morning is page 546 in your blue hymnals,

For All the Saints. We'll be singing verses one, two, three, and five. For all the saints and their might,

Thou, Lord, their captain in the well -fought fight.

Thou in the darkness, to their one true light,

Soldiers, faithful, true, and bold.

For the saints who know the saints' triumphant rise in bright old rain.

The King of glory passes on his way.

Let's open our Bibles together to the book of Amos. Chapter 5, beginning in verse 14.

If you can find the book of Daniel, just go over a few books. Daniel, Hosea, Joel, and then

Amos. Seek good and not evil, that you may live.

So the Lord God of hosts will be with you as you have spoken. Hate evil, love good.

Establish justice in the gate. It may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

Therefore, the Lord God of hosts, the Lord says this, There shall be wailing in all streets,

And they shall say in all the highways, Alas, alas! They shall call the farmer to mourning,

And skillful lamenters to wailing. In all vineyards there shall be wailing,

For I will pass through you, says the Lord. Woe to you who desire the day of the

Lord! For what good is the day of the Lord to you? It will be darkness and not light.

It will be as though a man fled from a lion, And a bear met him. Or as though he went into the house,

Leaned his hand on the wall, And a serpent bit him. Is not the day of the

Lord darkness and not light? Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it?

I hate, I despise your feast days, And I do not savour your sacred assemblies.

Though you offer me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them,

Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings. Take away from me the noise of your songs,

For I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments. But let justice run down like water,

And righteousness like a mighty stream. Did you offer me sacrifices and offerings

In the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? You also carried

Sikuth your king, And Kayun your idols, The star of your gods,

Which you made for yourselves. Therefore I will send you into captivity,

Beyond Damascus, says the Lord, Whose name is the God of hosts.

Would you pray with me? O Lord, how we love you.

We love your truth. The truth of your word. Truly it is.

Fearful thing. The day of the Lord. For those who are without Christ.

How we rejoice in our Redeemer. For with him is safety, peace, freedom, and liberty.

His name must be magnified. I pray that you would work in our hearts this morning.

To rejoice in our great King. Who he is and what he has done.

And we look to that day when every knee will bow and declare that he is

Lord. Pray your blessing upon our time together.

That you would build us up in Christian unity. For your glory. It's in Jesus' name.

Amen. You may be seated. For our next two songs, if you would turn to page 279 in your hymnals.

And then also have available the lyrics that were about are available in the back. For Jesus shall reign wherever the sun.

Faith of our fathers. Oh. Jesus shall reign.

His kingdom stretch from shore to shore.

And said no more.

Lose his chains. And all the sons of one.

Are blessed. For he shall reign.

Jesus shall reign. Dwell on his love with sweetest song.

And infant voices shall proclaim.

Their early blessings on his name.

To our King be highest praise.

Rising through eternal days.

Just and grateful he shall reign.

Jesus shall reign. Let every creature rise and bring.

Blessings and honor to our King. Angels descend with songs again.

And repeat the love of man.

To our King be highest praise.

Rising through eternal days.

Just and grateful he shall reign.

Jesus shall reign. To our

King be highest praise. Rising through eternal days.

Just and grateful he shall reign.

Jesus shall reign. Let's go to the

Lord in prayer together. Father, I thank you so much for gathering us together on this day. To rejoice in the resurrection of our savior and sovereign

Jesus Christ. We rejoice on this first day of the week. Recognizing that through Christ you're making all things new.

We pray that you would help us to as we read this your word. That you would do your work in our lives.

And that you would that you would renew us in your image. Renew us and make us more like your son

Jesus Christ. Help us to mature and grow as a body in Christ.

As a church that you would mature us into Christ who is our head.

And our life and our standard and our chief in all things.

We thank you for the blessings today that we still enjoy. Blessings that in your providence many suffered and died for.

In your providence much labor was done by God -fearing people. That we would have freedoms today and to gather in good conscience.

With fellow believers of like faith and practice. And rejoice in Christ freely singing his praises and praying to you.

And reading your word in our language aloud to your glory.

Thank you, we thank you. And we pray that today that we would take up these blessings.

And that we would make good use of them. And we pray that you would help us to hear your word.

And to respond in repentance and in faith for the glory of Christ.

It's in his name that we pray, amen. Invite you to open your

Bibles to Daniel chapter 3. Daniel chapter 3.

We will be reading verses 1 through 18 here in a moment.

Daniel chapter 3 verses 1 through 18. The title for this sermon is

By Me Kings Reign. By Me Kings Reign.

Now remember that Daniel is a book in which wisdom.

The wisdom of God is both championed and revealed. It is a book of history.

And it is a book of prophecy. But what binds those two main sections of the book together is wisdom.

The wisdom of God to understand the riddles of statecraft. In which life and death are at stake.

The riddles of prophecy of the one to come who would make all things right.

And so in chapter 1 we consider that wisdom is the principal thing. Therefore in all your getting get wisdom.

Solomon says to his son in Proverbs. And in chapter 2 we saw that wisdom is justified by her children.

As Jesus said to the crowds in the marketplace. Concerning John the

Baptist and himself. That they did not dance according to the tunes of the marketplace.

But rather they lived according to wisdom. And now in chapter 3 we see a new test.

Daniel and his friends have made it through the re -education camp. They have survived the attempted purge.

And yet again there's another challenge facing them. A new test.

And we're going to read about that in Daniel chapter 3 verses 1 through 18. I invite you to stand with me as I read

God's holy word. These are the words of our savior

Christ. Through his spirit and his prophet Daniel. Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold.

Whose height was 60 cubits and its width 6 cubits. He set it up in the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.

And king Nebuchadnezzar sent word to gather together the satraps. Administrators the governors the counselors the treasurers the judges the magistrates.

And all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image. Which king

Nebuchadnezzar had set up. So the satraps, the administrators, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers.

The judges, the magistrates and all the officials of the provinces gathered together. For the dedication of the image that king

Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up then the herald cried aloud.

To you it is commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, that at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery in symphony with all kinds of music, you shall fall down and worship the gold image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.

And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

So at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the horn, flute, harp, and lyre in symphony with all kinds of music, all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the gold image which

King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Therefore, at that time, certain

Chaldeans came forward and accused the Jews. They spoke and said to King Nebuchadnezzar, O King, live forever!

You, O King, have made a decree that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery in symphony with all kinds of music shall fall down and worship the gold image.

And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

There are certain Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men,

O King, have not paid due regard to you, and they do not serve your gods or worship the gold image which you have set up.

Then Nebuchadnezzar, in rage and fury, gave the command to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. So they brought these men before the king.

Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying to them, Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the gold image which

I have set up? Now if you are ready at the time that you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery in symphony with all kinds of music, and you fall down and worship the image which

I have made, good! But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

And who is the God who will deliver you from my hands? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king,

O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.

If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us from your hand,

O King. But if not, let it be known to you, O King, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.

It is the word of the Lord. Praise be to God. You may be seated. On the back of a one dollar bill are both sides of the great seal of the

United States of America. It is a symbol that speaks to one of the more crucial questions of political theory.

What makes a nation? What makes a nation?

You'll notice on the side with the eagle, 13 stripes, 13 stars, and 13 letters spelling out the

Latin phrase, e pluribus unum, which translated is, out of many, one.

Out of many, one. Of course, this phrase could be taken out of context and used to justify all kinds of syntheses and syncretism, however, the 13 stars and the 13 stripes and the 13 letters remind us who the many were, 13 colonies, 13 colonies that declared their independence from a tyrannical law -breaking government,

Great Britain. And they declared themselves as the United States of America.

Now, how they could do that and with what confidence is expressed on the obverse of the seal for under the eye of providence, we have another 13 letter phrase, annuit coeptis, translated he favors our undertaking.

He favors our undertaking. So out of the many, one, how could we ever do this?

Because he favors our undertaking. How can the many have liberty in unity rather than uniformity under tyranny?

How can it come to pass that we can have unity and liberty rather than uniformity under tyranny?

Through the fear of the Lord. He favors our undertaking. We're under the eye of his providence. We're underneath his sovereignty.

And of course, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Some think that kings reign by strength of will, wealth, or warriors.

But wisdom says in Proverbs 8, wisdom says, by me, kings reign.

Wisdom says by me, kings reign and rulers decree justice. By me, princes rule and nobles, all the judges of the earth.

It is by wisdom and the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the

Lord. Now, this is relevant because a great many folks today will be rejoicing in their liberty or resting in their freedom or resenting their citizenship or raging at the very symbols that we've just looked at.

Wisdom and folly will be evident today and in different ways. Why folks respond differently and what they think today really means has everything to do with worship, worship.

And that's the key word of this whole chapter is worship. You see, fear of the

Lord, reverence for God, scripture tells us, leads to freedom.

It leads to liberty. Fear of man and fear of death ensnares and enslaves.

When people are afraid of men and afraid of death, there is ensnarement and enslavement.

Hashtag 2020. But when there's the fear of the

Lord, there is freedom and there is liberty. At the heart of what makes for a good or a bad nation is either wisdom or folly.

And ancient Babylon has the same issues that we have today. Mankind has not fundamentally changed.

Everyone worships. You're made in the image of God. One of the things that means is that your worship switch is hardwired on.

You never stop worshiping. Also, combine that with the corollary, which is this, nothing is neutral.

In this world, made in the image of God, your worship switch is hardwired on.

And in this world, where God has placed enmity between the seat of the woman and the seat of the serpent, there is no neutrality.

So you are always worshiping, and you're either worshiping what is good and honorable and of God, worshiping

God, or you're worshiping something that is not God. There's either wisdom evident in your life or there is folly.

There is no neutrality. Which leads us to the main thought, I think, of Daniel chapter 3, and it is this.

Rhythms of worship. Now, remember that worship is inevitable. So rhythms of worship inevitable sift all loyalties unavoidable.

You have loyalties. You can't avoid them. Even the most stoic and non -committed of anyone will tell you the reason why they do that is it's the best way to live for themselves, and lo and behold, your loyalty.

So rhythms of worship inevitable sift all loyalties unavoidable.

And in this case, in chapter 3 of Daniel, we're looking at something that is very old and still in work today, and that is statism.

Perhaps you've heard the word statism. Perhaps you've heard it statist. You've heard about it. Maybe you've read about it.

Maybe this is a new word for you. But statism is mandated, as we see in verses 1 through 7.

Here we find the politics of worship. Statism is mandated in verses 1 through 7 of Daniel 3.

What is statism? Statism is simply this. Rendering unto

Caesar that what belongs to God. Rendering unto Caesar that which belongs to the church.

Rendering unto Caesar that which belongs to the family. That's statism.

The state takes upon the roles in statism. The civil government takes upon the role of prophet and priest along with king.

Thank you very much. We'll take prophet and priest too. Rather than remaining a servant of Christ with a sword to punish evil, in statism, the civil government seeks

Christ's own position at the right hand of God and even more.

Even more. But statism is the necessary mood, the necessary political mood of paganism.

Remember we talked about paganism at the beginning of Daniel. Paganism is oneness. Everything is subsumed into the one.

We live in a material paganism today. Everything is matter, material. In paganism, everything is one and thus the state is the one.

And everything else are just parts of that one. Subsumed into the whole. So church and business and family and health care and education, whatever it is.

These are all just parts of the whole. They are under the heading and as a part of the state.

Statism, oneness, paganism. This is all consistent philosophy.

Not righteous, not correct, but consistent. In statism, think of it this way.

In statism, the state solves all problems and saves all people. That's the philosophy of statism.

We solve all problems and we save all people. And thus all must adore the state.

Now consider the ancient Babylonian expression. Verses 1 -7 again of Daniel 3. Listen to it again.

And if you notice the repetition, you're noticing Daniel making fun of people.

Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold whose height was 60 cubits and its width 6 cubits.

He set it up in the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. He set it up. You hear that? You're going to hear that again and again. And king

Nebuchadnezzar sent word to gather together the satraps, the administrators, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces.

All the bureaucracy. To do what?

To come to the dedication of the image which king Nebuchadnezzar had set up. So the satraps, the administrators, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered together for the dedication of the image that king

Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Why is he repeating everything all over again?

Now, of course, you learn by repetition. That's good. But he's making fun of the way that the pagans worshipped. You know how pagans worshipped in the ancient

Near East? You know how they worshipped? They just repeated stuff over and over and over again.

They would put themselves into a trance, a daze, with music running, and just repeat the same phrase over and over and over and over until finally they get themselves into a rhythm saying the same things over and over again until they have some sort of experience.

Now, it's effective to produce an experience, but it's not righteous and it's not correct.

But he's making fun of it. This is how the pagans worshipped. Verse 4, Then a herald cried aloud to you as commanded,

O peoples, nations, and languages, that at the time that you hear the sound of the horned flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery in symphony with all kinds of music, you shall fall down and worship the gold image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.

And whoever does not fall down in worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

So at that time when all the people heard the sound of the horned flute, harp, lyre, and symphony with all kinds of music, all the people, nations, and languages fell down and worshipped the gold image which

King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Do you remember the dream that Daniel told to Nebuchadnezzar?

Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and he told his wise men, his counselors, his diviners, he said, tell me what the meaning of the dream, but you have to tell me the dream itself.

And no one could do it. He was ready to kill them all. And God revealed the dream to Daniel and Daniel told it to Nebuchadnezzar.

And in that dream, four empires were envisioned, the first of which was the empire of Babylon and King Nebuchadnezzar.

The statue was in the shape of a man and only the head was gold. Only the head was gold.

Now, Nebuchadnezzar, being a good Babylonian, knows that dreams often predict bad outcomes.

And being a Babylonian and being a Chaldean at heart, he says, I know what to do. We are to countermand bad dreams.

Dreams are to tell you what's bad, what's about to happen that's bad. And then you go about your business and try to countermand the dream so that you end up in a better place than you were otherwise.

That was his perspective. That's how he thought of dreams. And so here is his solution. He didn't like what

Daniel said to him. After you, Nebuchadnezzar, another kingdom will come.

He didn't like that. He liked the sycophancy of his echo chamber.

Oh, king, live forever. Yeah, that's my style. Oh, king, live forever.

Exactly. We're going to have an image set up that is gold from head to toe.

We're not going to have any other empire coming after this one. We are going to have solid gold.

We're not going to have a broken empire. He's trying to countermand the dream.

That's how he deals with dreams. So he commissions this golden image.

And he crafts a religious ceremony designed to bring all of his officials together into this place called

Dura, which means a walled plain. And it's like in the side of this walled plain,

Nebuchadnezzar is the high priest. And he has his object of worship. And he also has his sacrificial altar.

Should any fail to worship, he will then burn them. So he is not trying to replace all other gods or other worship.

No, no. Everyone's freedom of religion is being ensured here. Freedom of religion is not being infringed here.

Certainly not. This is simply coming together in unity. This is a monument of human togetherness.

So all together now or else. Uniformity under tyranny.

Is the statist answer to the diversity question. So Daniel is making fun of the folly.

He's got all these repetitions. And he keeps saying that, you know, the image that Nebuchadnezzar set up. That he set up. That he set up.

That he set up. Clearly identifying this was a setup. This is artificial.

This is manufactured. There's nothing real here. Nebuchadnezzar orchestrates and choreographs.

Now let's go over the scene again. When you hear the praise band kick in, do the worship thing, right?

All right, let's go over it. Come on. What's the scene? How do we do this thing again? And notice all kinds of music for all kinds of people all at the same time.

Oh, wouldn't that be lovely? Bow down and cover my ears.

Cacophony is the art style of pagans. And everybody is forced to comply.

All the pomp and circumstance which attends the worship of this made -up, set -up, put -up job is ridicule worthy.

And look how inspiring the state really is. They're so inspiring that its people are worshiping because they're forcibly gathered, strenuously instructed, horrifyingly threatened, and hawkishly watched.

The reverence is forced. And the glory is prepackaged. Yeah, but it's 60 cubits tall and six cubits wide, and it's solid gold.

I mean, that's impressive. There must be some truth behind such a thing of wonder. But the jokes on Nebuchadnezzar, these are the numbers of men.

Six, one short of the completion. Seven is the number of God who built everything in seven days.

Six is one short. Six, ten times over, and multiplied by six.

What's the joke? Daniel's writing this and snickering. Why is he laughing? Why are the children of Israel listening to this and a low -level murmur of laughter runs through the crowd?

Why? Because Nebuchadnezzar's statism is completely incomplete.

It is exactly coming up short. It is entirely, thoroughly flawed.

His statism is another tower of Babel, which will also fail to be finished.

So this is false worship. It's state worship, but it's also false worship.

Gathered among the officials of these provinces are Daniel's friends, Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael. They are listed as their pagan names, their official names,

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And we don't know where Daniel is or what he's up to at this moment, but his friends are facing quite a dilemma.

They are being mandated, meaning they're under the threat of force, to render false worship.

But what does the Bible say? What does the Bible say? Remember that these young men grew up under the revival of Josiah, of good

King Josiah. What had been recovered in his days? What had been read in the presence of the king that set him to weeping and the whole nation into the motion of repentance?

Deuteronomy 5, beginning in verse 6. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or is that on the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth.

You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your

God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children of the third and the fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing mercy to thousands to those who love me and keep my commandments.

The reason why Daniel and his buddies are in Babylon in the first place is because of the faithlessness of Judah in worshiping idols and the curses of the old covenant are coming upon them.

So what are they going to do now? Are they going to continue in that folly?

Are they going to continue bringing the curses of God upon them? Now, it seems pretty clear they're not going to be able to comply with the state order.

Yeah, but the world is watching. The world is watching, guys.

What are they going to think when you're, you know, you're supposed to be God fearing and you're supposed to be believers and then you're making a fuss.

And I mean, you're not being very considerate to the rich and diverse culture that you're in. You're, you know, you're trying to force things upon them that they have no context.

The world is watching, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Really, is this really the time to have this fight?

What's at stake here? Oh, not much. Just who God is and how he's revealed.

Everything is at stake. They can either fear God, worshipping him alone, or they can fear man and fear death and worship idols.

It's wisdom versus folly. This is spiritual fidelity or soul prostitution.

That's their choice. I hope you see from the text how worship determines values, thinking, words, actions.

Through this image and through this ceremony, King Nebuchadnezzar seeks to control the categories of morality, truth, language, and behavior.

When the state tries, without reference to God, no fear of the Lord, no quotations from the

Bible, please remove the Ten Commandments. When the state says, we will determine by our legal system, by our legislators, by our executive actions.

When the state says, we are in control of morality, we determine truth, here is the appropriate language that you are supposed to use, and this is the behavior that you're supposed to have.

No reference to God, no appeal to his word. That is statism. That is the state acting as God.

That is the state saying, we are prophet, we will tell you what's true. We are priest, we will determine what is holy and unholy.

And we are king, and thus we're going to employ the whole thing. This is the state reaching for, grasping for what belongs to Jesus Christ alone.

For who God is and how he is revealed, we don't look to the state, we look to Christ. And that's where true worship is.

We do not worship any other gods because there are none. Yes, there are forces of darkness and there are deceptive emanations, but there is no other god.

Isaiah 44, verses 6 through 9 says, Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts. Listen to that again.

Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts. I am the first and I am the last.

Beside me there is no god. And who can proclaim as I do? Then let him declare it and set it in order for me.

Since I appoint the ancient people and the things that are coming and shall come, let them show these to them.

Do not fear, nor be afraid. Have I not told you from that time and declared it?

You are my witnesses. Is there a god besides me? Indeed, there is no other rock I know, not one.

Those who make an image, all of them are useless. And their precious things shall not profit.

So what if it's an image of gold? It's pointless. They are their own witnesses. They neither see nor know that they may be ashamed.

No image is to be made for the purposes of veneration or worship because these man -made images only ever point to man -made deities.

And there is only one perfect image of God, incorruptible, uncut by human hands, the heaven -flung stone in Nebuchadnezzar's dream from chapter 2, and that is

Jesus Christ. He is the Son who was given unto us, upon whose shoulders the government rests.

He is our Redeemer. He is the Lord of Hosts, the Lord Sabaoth. He is the

Eternal Word. He is the image of the invisible God. And morality, truth, language, and behavior are in orbit around Christ.

He is the light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He is the rock which gives definition to everything else.

And all tribes, and all tongues, and all nations, and all languages, all of them come together in Christ, bought by His blood, made one in His life.

There's the unity. There's the coming together. There's the definition, the image of God in Christ.

Any state which seeks to supplant Christ's position at the right hand of God, denying

Him His preeminence, is by definition anti -Christ. July 4th is a celebration not of statism.

It's not the, you know, day in the religious calendar where we all worship, you know, the god Jupiter or something, and we're going to worship the state now.

July 4th is a celebration of the birth of a nation which flung off the tyranny of uniformity for liberty and unity, a unity forged in the fear of God.

So today, as folks go forth on the 4th to burn things outdoors, whether you're going to burn meat, or skin, or colorful explosives, some people are going to be burning flags, maybe burning small businesses.

We should recall that all these celebrations and defamations that express veneration for or venom for the state are all wrong.

They're all wrong. The state is not a god to solve problems and save people.

That is not what the state is. To worship it or profane it is to misunderstand it altogether.

It is not a god even if it tries to be. And rhythms of worship inevitable, sift all loyalties, unavoidable.

There is no neutrality about the state or about anything else. You know, is there a golden obelisk sitting in the rose garden to which the whole government representing all the people is to come and bow down to?

No. No. But make no mistake about it, there is a pagan program.

There is a statist program. There is a liturgy in play. There is a claim that the state makes upon our souls that has no business making.

This is not just an issue for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego back in ancient Babylon. This is a current and live issue for us today.

Pagans today, even as in ancient times, still consider it a favorable undertaking to make the many one, not through fearing

God, but by bowing to a common idol. What is the common idol?

In our day, the common idol is called the liberal principle. It's the liberal principle.

This idol is as mancrafted as Nebuchadnezzar's image. It's been set up. It's been set up.

It's been set up. It's a set up. What's a good definition for the liberal principle? It's one that assures all groups, and we're already dealing with groups, so we got one foot in Marxism already, assures all groups in the polity, all groups within the nation, the liberal principle assures all groups in the polity a maximum amount of group autonomy.

Your group, and we'll define who you are, you have this amount of freedom, but it has to be compatible with an equal amount of autonomy for all other groups.

So every group is a ball bearing, and they all have the equal amount of freedom to work.

Everybody has the same amount of freedom. They're all ball bearings in the same machinery.

Around the same circle. Now, we have all these groups, but what about individuals that stray from proper group choices?

There are these three certain men from among the Jews, right? The Jews are making good group choices to get along with all the other groups in our pagan empire, but these men are not making the proper group choices, and we are now selecting them out and showing you that they're not doing the right thing.

And so they're going to be cast into the cancelled furnace. Heated immediately.

No time for questions. Immediately you've got to go to the furnace. There's no talking about this.

There's no consideration of things. There's no examining of the facts. There's no two or three witnesses to establish.

No, immediately you have to go into the burning fiery furnace full of flames. Immediately.

The cancelled furnace heated seven times hotter by Herbert Marcuse's theory of repressive tolerance.

How will all groups? Now, here's the question. All these ball bearings. I mean, how are all these groups going to make those proper choices towards the great civil good of social peace and political stability?

How are these groups going to know how to make those proper group choices where everybody has the equal amount of autonomy?

I'm so glad you asked. You know the answer. Who is the solver and the savior of all?

Quote, government supplies the organizational structure and institutional mechanisms.

Fancy way of saying, we'll tell you what to do. Government supplies the organizational structure and institutional mechanisms required to implement and enforce policies designed and intended to make the political ideal of a maximum amount of freedom for all groups.

See, the government's the one who has to bring this into, as it says, an existential reality. The government is the one who will make sure that all groups play by certain rules where everybody gets the equal amount of freedom, but they don't tread on anybody else's freedom.

The government will solve that through groupthink. This is not the only job for government in the liberal polity, of course, but it is the primary job that must be done in order to cultivate an atmosphere of social justice, close quote.

So the state will play all kinds of music for all kinds of people and all will bow to the ideal liberal principle or else.

In other words, every group is a ball bearing within the polity and the state is the grease.

We're going to keep it all going and we're going to tell you just how all these different groups are going to interact. The state will determine morality.

The state will determine truth. The state will determine vocabulary. The state will determine behavior. You see, it's the only way to save all the people and solve all the problems.

And upon statism, upon this damned monolith are hung all the banners which rage against Christ.

Feminism is hung there. Black Lives Matter is hung there. Antifa is hung there. LGBTQIIA++ is hung there.

The capital S worships science because science is settled in science you can't argue with. And Mother Earth, Gaia, she hangs, her banner hangs there as well.

Haven't you noticed they all bow? The government schools bow.

The corporations all bow. The hospitals all bow. Government employees must bow.

Hollywood bows. Mainstream media bows. The tech giants bow. They're all bowing down,

Christians. Why don't you bow down too? Why don't you bow down?

The state is the savior. The state is the one who solves all the problems. And these are the gods.

This is the monolith. This is the obelisk. Why won't you bow down? Don't you love your neighbor? In the face of statism mandated, therefore is the need for statism resisted.

Where does it begin? It begins with recognizing the idol that is set up in the midst of the peoples.

What is it? What is it to which everyone is bowing? Can we identify it? As soon as we know what it is to which everybody bows, then mock it.

Make fun of it. Scorn it. Show it for the folly that it is. When threatened and coerced, the wise response of those who fear the

Lord is faithful disobedience. Faithful disobedience. Remember that statism entails giving unto

Caesar that which belongs to God, giving unto Caesar that which belongs to the church, giving unto Caesar that which belongs to the family.

And if we're going to worship God alone through Christ, if we will be filled with his spirit, if we're going to be faithful to him, then we will disobey the state when, and we will refuse the beast when, it comes to consume our children and our worship gatherings and our consciences.

And why would we do that? Because Christ is worthy. Why is James Coates and Tim Stevenson in and out of Canadian prisons?

Why is Wang Yi of Early Rain Covenant Church serving a nine -year prison sentence? Why is a 76 -year -old grandmother losing her business and her home and her livelihood?

Why are people going through these things and suffering through the persecution of the state and statism?

Why? Because Christ is worthy. That's why. Statism mandated requires statism resisted.

Faithful disobedience we see in verse 12 and verses 16 through 18. Verse 12. Here's the report from the watchers.

They report to Nebuchadnezzar and say, there are certain Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shaddai, Meshach, and Abednego.

These men, O king, have not paid due regard to you. They do not serve your gods or worship the gold image which you have set up.

Now the Jews as a group are not a problem here. Notice that. It's certain men among them that are the problem.

They're not cohering with proper group choices that honor the state. So the problem is not just that they don't bow down before the image.

That's how they got found out. But the problem is really, they noticed deeper than that. The problem is that they do not worship the gods of Nebuchadnezzar.

That's why they're not bound down to the image, because they don't even worship the gods of Nebuchadnezzar. Do you see what happens?

There's no freedom for them to operate according to the convictions of their own conscience. No, no. The claims of diversity melts in the heat of uniformity.

All must approve of and celebrate the same plethora of abominations. That is instructive.

That is instructive for those of us who fear the Lord. Faithful resistance to statism begins with refusing to worship the many gods platformed by the state.

Do not offer incense. Do not bow down to. Do not praise. Do not even genuflect to the gods of war, the gods of sex, the gods of power, and the gods of wealth.

Those gods that the state platforms. If you would not bow to the pagan state's illegitimate claims upon your family, upon your church, upon your body, and upon your soul, do not worship the gods of the state.

You see, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Hananiah, Azariah, Mishael, their resistance did not start here.

It didn't start here. They've been resisting a long time, ever since they got to Babylon.

Their resistance to paganism began a long time ago. And so now when they're confronted,

I want you to hear the reply to King Nebuchadnezzar. Verse 16.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.

I mean, if that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace.

And he will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.

It's interesting that King James has their reply as this. O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.

That's a bit odd. You know, how we respond can be the difference between life and death.

But we're going to tell you up front, we're careless in our answer. What about the older use of the word careful?

They are not full of care. What did they just say?

He said, you better bow down or I'm going to burn you alive. He said, oh, we don't care. Whatever. Boy, your threat just didn't work.

Actually, they feel no need. That's what they mean. It means they have no obligation to answer the king.

What are they saying? They're stating to this king, this ain't your department.

They're saying, we're not accountable to you about this. Nebuchadnezzar is like, you better worship or I'm going to burn you alive.

They're like, stay in your lane, bro. This is not your department. You're not in charge of this.

We're accountable to God. He's the one who's in charge of this. After Moses gave a lot of specific prohibitions about idol worship, and then he gave a really good reason why to avoid idol worship in Deuteronomy 4 verse 20.

He said, here's the reason why you should avoid idolatry. He said, but the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt to be his people and inheritance as you are this day.

So no matter who Nebuchadnezzar thinks he is and his delusions, the Lord delivers his people from furnaces and has been doing so for a long time.

So if Nebuchadnezzar follows through on this threat of throwing them into the burning fiery furnace, oh, there's so many flames.

They know that God is able to deliver them. If it's his pleasure to do so, if it is his will, but whether or not

Nebuchadnezzar threatens them, whether or not they get burned alive, whether or not God delivers them, they still will not worship

Nebuchadnezzar's gods nor his image that he set up. Notice they resist statism by being faithfully disobedient to the state.

When the state is laying claims to things it has no business claiming.

Now everybody's ready to go on to the next part of the story. We get to see what happens with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace, how

God preserves them and saves them. And that is an amazing miracle. But you have to understand what they're saying here.

When they say, we are not careful to answer thee or we have no need to answer you.

Why are they saying that? We have to understand these three men were already in the fire.

They were already in the fire. They're in the pagan state and they are being required at the threat of force to bow down and worship this false god.

And every aspect of the society in which they live hates God and hopes to destroy the seed of the

Messiah. And so they're in the fire already. They're already in the fire.

And yet they have not been consumed. The flames of the burning fiery furnace are incidental.

The miracle has already occurred because they stand standing.

They remain standing in the day of evil. They are still there.

And look, they are unbound. They are unbound by the fear of man and the fear of death.

Whereas everybody else, they've all melted in the heat of pagan tyranny. They're all down.

They're already gone. But these three men are still standing.

The miracle has already occurred. That's why they have no need to answer him. If Nebuchadnezzar burned up their bodies with his bonfire, it was only because he couldn't consume their souls as he had with the others.

We are accountable to Christ. We are accountable to Christ. He is worthy of our suffering.

He is able to deliver us from the hands of our enemies. So yes, render to Caesar the things which belong to Caesar.

And deliver to God. Render to God the things which belong to God. And worship does not belong to Caesar.

Rhythms of worship inevitable. Sift all loyalties unavoidable. So with the rise of statism, and all kinds of politicians love statism.

Doesn't matter who they're batting for. All sorts of politicians love statism.

And the rise of this offers us an opportunity to demonstrate the worthiness of Christ. Our loyalties get sifted.

Are we going to remain faithful to Christ? But then also the other way. Our worship of Christ also sifts our loyalty to our country.

It actually clarifies and actually cleanses, I mean, makes clean and enjoyable our patriotism.

You know, what do we do with July 4th? It's not a day to worship the state, to bow in reverence of our military, or praise our wealth.

It's not a day to blaspheme the state as if it's a god full of failed promises.

And so its statue has to be torn down. It is a day, thank

God it's on Sunday, so that we can remember Christ. Risen from the dead. Ascended at the right hand of God.

Reigning over all. And it is a day to reflect on the liberty that we have in Christ.

And rejoice that we live in a country that was founded on Christian principles.

Which have allowed for the blessings of liberty for so many generations. It's not a god as if it should be perfect before it can be worshipped.

July 4th serves us well to offer thankfulness to God. His providence has brought forth our nation and many opportune blessings in this country.

So yes, I think God's faithfulness expressed in our history is worth an applause of firecrackers.

And a salute of exploding lights. And as the Lord wills, we'll talk more about Jesus and fire next week.

Let's pray. Father, I thank you for the time you've given us in your word. I thank you that you are good in the way that you have written your word.

And given us a sure word, illuminated through Christ, given to us by your

Holy Spirit. So that we can make sense of the times in which we live, no matter what they are.

I know what you call us to and how you reveal yourself and your son.

And show us what true salvation is. I thank you and I praise you. Pray that you'd help us to be faithful to you today.

And as we rejoice in the liberties that your providence has brought about.

That we would glorify Christ in all that we do. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Would you stand with me for our song of benediction?

We're going to render to God the things that are God's. That's worship and praise of his name. We're going to sing again.

Jesus shall reign where the sun. We'll sing the fourth verse. To our

King be highest praise, rising through eternal days.

Just and faithful he shall reign,

Jesus shall reign. To our

King be highest praise, rising through eternal days.

Just and faithful he shall reign,

Jesus shall reign. Amen.

May the love of God the Father and the grace of God the Son. And the fellowship of God the