Sunday, October 24, 2021 AM

To worship together this morning. I'm glad that we have Wylene on the piano this morning filling in for Lisa. Brian and Lisa are in Massachusetts visiting some of Brian's family so be in prayer for them as they are out.

Church Announcements and Upcoming Reformation Events

Looking ahead to some of the activities that we have coming up. Come back tonight for our evening service at the regular time 530 and then truth group for the young adults. The last truth group of this calendar year is going to meet tonight after the service.

Looking ahead to this Wednesday we'll have dinner for the church at 545. Some special German dishes because we are kind of in the month of October celebrating Reformation and then we'll have a little program from our kids that are in tag and they'll be sharing some Reformation themed things for everybody there.

That starts at 630 and then next Sunday October 31st the Lord's Supper in the morning service and then looking ahead to Sunday November 7th after the morning service. If you can stay and help pack some shoe boxes we'll do that together as a church family that day.

Our fighter verse for this week comes from Proverbs chapter 3 verses 5 6 and 7. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your path straight.

Be not wise in your own eyes fear the Lord and turn away from evil. Just a reminder again we're coming to the near the end of October you need to turn in your budgetary items if you oversee any of those things to the church office.

I already mentioned on Sunday November 7th the Christmas shoe box packing that's going on. We'll have another video here after my announcements this morning. Sewing ministry you can look in the bulletin they have a few needs and there's also an insert in there as well that's a little bit more time sensitive and then we will be having Thanksgiving dinner again this year.

Looking ahead in November on the 14th be watching for more information on what kind of meals and food you can bring for that as well. Alright any other announcements this morning? Okay we're gonna have a brief Operation Christmas Child video and then after that Dwight will come up and open us in prayer. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Prayer for Worship, Preaching, and Fellowship

Let's pray. Father what a blessing it is to come together in the name of your son the Lord Jesus to worship you. I pray you help us worship you in spirit and in truth that is with the right attitude and according to your word.

Help us to sing your praises from the heart and help Michael as he preaches to preach your word in the power of your spirit and help us to fellowship together in the Holy Spirit to be an encouragement one to another as we gather in the name of your son the Lord Jesus.

Help us to follow after your son the Lord Jesus. Help us to be witnesses for your son the Lord Jesus. We thank you and praise you for the forgiveness that we have in your son the Lord Jesus and so we have good reason to worship you because of what you've done through your son the Lord Jesus for us.

May we give you thanksgiving from the heart and praise from the heart and true spiritual worship. May we put aside the cares of this world and put aside the distractions that Satan would bring to us. May you bring his works to naught and may we be of one heart and one mind and lift up our voices in worship and praise and glory to your name.

Would you.

Stand with me for our call to worship? Continue our passage in Psalms chapter 71. This morning we'll be reading verses 17 and 18. Would you read with me together? Oh God from my youth you have taught me and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.

So even to old age and gray hairs. Oh God do not forsake me until I proclaim your might to another generation. Your power to all those who come. This morning we're going to remember in song the songs or the five solas of the Reformation back around 504 years ago.

The gospel had been eroded and corrupted. Martin Luther took a stand and he declared his 95 theses and our church has reenacted that several times over the years and but this morning we're going to be singing songs which represents these five solas.

The five solas are Sola Scriptura, by Scripture alone. Sola Fide, that is by faith alone. Sola Gratia, by grace alone. Solus Christus, in Christ alone. And Sola Deo Gloria, to glory to the glory of God alone.

And that's who we're singing about today is Christ our Savior our Lord and to him be the glory alone. Our first two songs this morning are our Little Blacks Hymnals, Hymns Modern and Ancient page 42 and also page 21.

God's word shall stand forever and by.

Faith. Isaiah chapter 5. We'll be reading verses 1 through 17 this morning.

Together. Isaiah 5 verse 1. Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones and planted it with choice vines.

He built a watchtower in the midst of it and hewed out a wine vat in it. He looked for it to yield grapes but it yielded wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard that I have not done in it.

When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge and it shall be devoured. I will break down its wall and it shall be trampled down.

I will make it a waste. It shall not be pruned or hoed and briars and thorns shall grow up. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting.

And he looked for justice but behold bloodshed, for righteousness but behold an outcry. Woe to those who join house to house, who add field to field until there is no more room. For you are made to dwell alone in the midst of the land.

The Lord of hosts has sworn in my hearing, surely many houses shall be desolate, large and beautiful houses without inhabitant. For ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath and a homer of seed shall yield but an ephah.

Woe to those who rise early in the morning that they may run after strong drink, who tarry late into the evening as wine inflames them. They have lyre and harp, tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts but they do not regard the deeds of the Lord or see the work of his hands.

Therefore my people go into exile for lack of knowledge. Their honored men go hungry and their multitude is parched with thirst. Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite and opened its mouth beyond measure and the nobility of Jerusalem and her multitude will go down, her revelers and he who exalts in her.

Man is humbled and each one is brought low and the eyes of the haughty are brought low. But the Lord of hosts is exalted in justice and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness. Then shall the lambs graze as in their pasture and nomads shall eat among the ruins of the rich.

Would you pray with me? Lord give us the blessing to heed these words of scripture of this prophet Isaiah who prophesied for the people of Israel. Father your truth is just as true as it was then today.

Father help us to heed your word. Help us to obey your commandments that we might prosper all to the glory of your name. We pray for Michael as he brings your word this morning. Help us to repent of our sin, to turn towards you, to love each other and in all things to glorify the name of Jesus.

We ask this in Jesus name. Amen.

You can be seated. Our next two songs is Grace Alone and In Christ Alone. So page 43 for Grace Alone in HMA. Words for In Christ Alone will be up on the screen.

Grace Alone. Together in prayer. Father we thank you for this day. We thank you.

For creating this day and bringing us together that we may worship you and rejoice on this first day of the week, the day that Jesus rose from the dead. We give you praise for all of our hope that is tied up in the person and work of your Son Jesus Christ, our Savior and our Sovereign.

And we thank you for pouring out upon us and in us your Holy Spirit by whom we have fellowship with you and with one another. And we ask today that as we read your holy, living, true and authoritative word, that you would have your way in our lives and that you would give us the grace of confession.

That we would come away saying things as you say them and that we would be in agreement with you. That our fellowship would be sweet. And I pray for those who cannot be with us today that you would encourage them and bring healing to them, safety and encouragement and that you would restore them to our regular fellowship in your good time.

That we pray that it would be swift and soon. Now Father we ask that all that we do here in responding to your word would be worshipful and humble and that we would engage in a hermeneutic of submission as we read your word.

We pray these things for Christ's sake. Amen. I invite you to open your Bibles to Daniel chapter 6. Daniel chapter 6. We'll begin reading in verse 18. Daniel chapter 6. We'll begin reading in verse 18.

The title of this section of Daniel is A Discerning Son because Daniel is a discerning son. One who keeps the law of God. Now this is important to recognize. This keeping of God's law. This is not the earning of his salvation.

It is not the obtaining of his salvation. It is not even the securing of his salvation. It is the experience of his salvation that he walks with his God in a close and trusting relationship. Daniel is no immigrant hurdling all the bureaucratic challenges to achieve citizenship.

He is a child of God honoring his father's instructions, trusting in his father's provision. And we have seen and we have read in the text that Daniel is filled with the Holy Spirit. And this is why he fears the Lord.

Wisdom and knowledge and understanding abound in his life. And thus he has received favor from Darius, the king of the Medo-Persian empire, which is also why he was persecuted by his rivals having gained the favor of the king.

And a choice comes to Daniel. A choice between obeying God or obeying man. And this choice is not new to Daniel. He's had to navigate this before. But this choice is forced upon him. Will I obey man or will I obey God?

And although it is not difficult to see the right course, it is incredibly costly to walk down that road. The lion's den all week. But in reality, he was only there for a single night. And this morning, we're going to see a discerning son raised in victory over his enemies.

Let's read together. You're welcome to stand. I invite you to stand as we read God's holy word. Give honor to Christ. Fasting. And no musicians were brought before him. Also, his sleep went from him. Then the king arose very early in the morning and went in haste to the den of lions.

And when he came to the den, he cried out with a lamenting voice to Daniel. The king spoke, saying to Daniel, Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?

Then Daniel said to the king, Oh, king, live forever. My God sent his angel and shut the lion's mouths so that they have not hurt me because I was found innocent before him. And also, oh, king, I have done no wrong before you.

Now the king was exceedingly glad for him and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den and no injury whatever was found on him because he had believed in his God.

And the king gave the command and they brought those men who had accused Daniel and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children and their wives. And the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces before they ever came to the bottom of the den.

Then King Darius wrote to all peoples, nations and languages that dwell in all the earth, peace be multiplied to you. I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom, men must tremble in fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God and steadfast forever.

His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed and his dominion shall endure to the end. He delivers and rescues and he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.

So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus, the Persian. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated. Salvation. Oh, salvation. That wondrous word.

There is salvation only in Jesus Christ. He alone saves. There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the son of the living God, and by his incarnation, his righteousness, his death, his resurrection, his ascension, and his return, we are saved.

Only through his person and work are our innumerable hellish sins forgiven. Only by his person and work are entire cultures reconciled and humanity itself made new. Only in Christ may we stand before God.

Only in Christ, indwelling us by his spirit, do we live wholly in the blessings of eternal life. Only in Christ will we be raised from the dead and be caught up together with him in everlasting victory.

Only through Christ will the whole creation be released from its groaning and the glories of God permeate the whole universe unabated without stain. There is no salvation in the mandates or the might of the state.

There is no salvation in the pursuits and the experiences of religion. There is no salvation in the success of business and career. There is no salvation in the strength and the solace of family. There is no salvation in you being the best you you can be.

The resounding message of God's gracious and holy word is this, that there is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. This is the meaning of Solus Christus, Christ alone. Christ alone.

I think it must have been confusing at some level to Daniel's contemporaries about his exclusive commitment to the Lord, his exclusive commitment to Yahweh, as he said, the one and only true God, the living God.

It must have been confusion among his contemporaries because of his dogged determination to turn his face toward where God had revealed Christ in shadow and in type. Why would Daniel kneel down at his window three times a day and do homage to a king yet to be revealed?

I think that confusion remains today. But our exclusive commitment to Jesus Christ is absolutely essential. We have victory in none other and it is his kingdom that will prevail forever. We must have an exclusive commitment to Jesus Christ in his expansive and expanding kingdom.

And I think practically in the day-to-day, the decisions and the directions of our lives simply means this, that lawmakers must submit to the lawgiver, which is what we see in this chapter. As we make decisions and as we consider the direction of our lives and as we have influence over others, we must always be in submission to the law giver.

We've seen that the discerning son obeys God rather than men, verses 1 through 10. The discerning son trusts in the Lord, not fearing men, verses 11 through 17. And now we are considering this, the discerning son is raised in victory over his enemies, verses 18 through 24.

As we noted last week in Daniel chapter 6, we behold a discerning son. Here is a lawmaker at the right hand, faithful and wise, submitting to the lawgiver, the ultimate lawgiver. Betrayed by those that he had been anointed to bless, he is falsely charged and cast into the pit of death, but death does not succeed.

And then this servant is brought forth in victory over his enemies, and then the kingdom of God is then proclaimed among the nations. Now I'm giving you the summary of Daniel 6, and I'm giving you the summary of the Bible.

I'm telling you about Daniel, but I'm also telling you about Christ, and this is the way that God, who delights in his son, always is talking about his son, no matter where you read. Parents who are proud of their children, you know what I'm talking about.

Always talking about your kids. Well, we have a gospel-shaped story here, and first of all, in verses 18 through 20, we see God's power to save. God's power to save. Darius the king had been duped by the governors and satraps and officials into signing Daniel's death warrant.

He didn't realize he was doing it at the time, but these officials played, they pushed fast and hard and loud, and they played upon the pride of Darius, and they got him to sign a law according to the Medes and Persians, which they said cannot be altered and unchangeable mandate, that all must pray to the king, only the king, for 30 days.

The state and the power and the provision of man was to be worshiped and adored alone for 30 days. Now, how does that go over with a believer? How does that go over with Daniel, who fears the Lord? What we see, though, is the utter helplessness of the state, and the powerlessness of man immediately comes into view, because Darius is the king of the entire Medo Persian Empire, and when he realizes that Daniel's life is at risk, he goes into action trying to save Daniel through every means possible, and again, he's the emperor, surely he can do it, but he fails.

He cannot save Daniel from the lion's den. It is entirely a failure, and so what happens? Verses 18 to 20, now the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting, and no musicians were brought before him.

Also, his sleep went from him. Then the king arose very early in the morning and went in haste to the den of lions, and when he came to the den, he cried out with a lamenting voice to Daniel. The king spoke, saying to Daniel, Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?

Darius could not undo his sin, and he could find no rest in fleshly comforts, and we see that as he's confronted with his own weakness, his own inability, his own failure, all of his concerns and fears become focused onto one fleeting hope.

Perhaps, just perhaps, God, Daniel's God, would and could save. Maybe this is true, what Daniel stands for. Well, notice, first of all, the inefficacy of men's comforts. Verse 18, we see the inefficacy of men's comforts.

Darius had failed. He had failed to do justice as the king. He had failed his faithful servant, Daniel, allowing his own throne, his own office to be used as a weapon against his loyal servant. Darius failed to undo that unrighteous law, though he tried.

He failed to deliver Daniel from the lion's den, and in that failure, Darius retreats to his palace that night, and he is in the throes of guilt and shame. The weight of his sin bears down upon him so that he cannot eat.

I mean, what is food right now when all this is going on? I can't even eat. And the customary entertainment for the night is canceled. The frivolity and wantonness of concubines and dancing and music seems abhorrent to him.

His wretchedness has been revealed to him, and so he passes the night with waking horror at what he has done. It is the mercy and grace of God if we cannot sin without being confronted with the horridness of our actions.

This is the way of the adulterous woman, according to Proverbs 30 verse 20. This is the way of an adulterous woman. She eats and wipes her mouth and says, I have done no wickedness. Pilate washed his hands in water and satisfied himself that he was guiltless in the murder of Jesus of Nazareth.

But can David seduce Bathsheba, have her husband killed, and still live with it? No. When he kept silent, his bones grew old. There was groaning all the day long. Day and night, God's hand was heavy upon David till his vitality was turned into the drought of summer.

What about you? What about you? Can you lie against your neighbor? Can you covet the whole live long day, bitterly grumble, commit adultery, take God's name in vain, and sleep well at night? Sleep well at night, well fed, after binging on your favorite shows?

Is your conscience seared? Is your heart stone? Or is there a beating heart before a holy God that cannot rest easy in sin? Something to consider. The governors and satraps and officials slept well that night, no doubt.

They had succeeded in their villainy. Darius could not. Oh, what a grace of God. What a grace of God that we cannot rest easy in sin. The justice of God, the wrath of God results in our being turned over to a reprobate mind that is just fine in rebellion.

Now look at Darius, his situation there in verse 18. Why can't he rest easy? Why can't he sleep? Why doesn't he want to eat or be entertained? His tortured conscience is fixed upon the sufferings of Daniel.

Oh, Daniel there in the lion's den. I caused this. You're there because of what I did. And it was only in Daniel's victorious emergence from the den of death, by the delivering power of God, that peace was restored to Darius's tortured soul.

Christians, how could we ever rest easy in sin? When we look upon God's faithful servant, his discerning son, our Savior, consider Christ's sufferings upon the cross, the shedding of his blood, the torture of his flesh, the bearing of God's holy wrath.

It was for us that he suffered and he died, atoning for our sins. So not only then can we not sin flippantly, knowing what our sins cost Christ upon the cross, we put him there by our sins. He suffered because of us on that cross.

But also, we cannot be so profane as to try and cover our trespasses with anything other than the precious blood and perfect righteousness of Christ by faith. Atoning actions will not let you rest easy in sin.

Drowning sorrows with whatever substance will not deliver you from sin. Perpetually distracting yourself will not bring the peace that you need, the peace with God. None of these things will bring us successfully to the den of death and there find the stone removed from the entrance that it is empty and that it has been conquered.

Faith alone, in Christ alone, brings us to this place where we see that all of our transgressions were buried with Christ and they have been removed away from us as far as the east is from the west. Allow no substitutes.

There is only one person, only one place, only one direction for our faith to be at peace with God, have forgiveness of our sins. It is the person and work of Jesus Christ. Man's comforts will prove to no avail in our peace with God.

Secondly, the discovery of God's salvation. We see Darius running out to the lion's den in verses 19 and 20. Then the king rose very early in the morning, very early in the morning, and went in haste to the den of lions.

And when he came to the den, he cried out with a lamenting voice to Daniel. King spoke, saying to Daniel, Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God whom you serve continually been able to deliver you from the lions?

He went out very early in the morning. One wonders if it was the first day of the week. Darius hurries out from his palace and he has the stone removed from the mouth of the den of death. And look how despairing his form is.

This broken king, his haggard face, been awake all night long. And we hear how the grief stains his voice, for this is his last hope. All the others have been stripped away. All the other things that he could cling to, to comfort him, have been taken away.

He's got nothing left except this last and only hope. We see him afflicted still with unbelief, and yet he believed. He cries out, says, the God you serve, the living God, has he saved you, Daniel? He's been granted, Darius has been granted some degree of faith because he didn't simply just sequester himself in his palace and stay there in mourning and saying, yeah, there's no possible way Daniel could have survived that den of lions, no possible way at all.

No, he ran in the early morning. He ran out to that den and he wanted to see if this was true. And it was true. It was proven that Daniel's God, the living God, was indeed not only able to save, he was willing to save.

Darius was not disappointed, and neither shall anyone who confesses with his mouth the Lord Jesus and believes in his heart that God has raised him from the dead. Believe in Christ, confess his person and work, agree with God about who Christ is and what he has done, and you shall be saved.

For whoever believes upon Christ will never be disappointed. Romans 10 .13 says, whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, saved from condemnation through his resurrection, saved from sin by his redemption, saved from the world by his reign, saved from death by his return.

We shall not be disappointed. God's purpose to save, God's power to save, and now turn our attention to God's purpose to judge, verses 21 through 24. There are many layers to the conflict that is detailed here in Daniel chapter 6.

It is a contest of wits, of worship, of words and will, but it is also a confrontation of weights and measures. How will righteousness and justice be determined? How will righteousness and justice be determined?

I mean, is righteousness a matter of legislation and litigation? Is that how righteousness is decided? By laws passed by man and enforced by man? Is what is moral determined by a majority? Daniel has been declared guilty He's a traitor.

He's worthy of execution according to the laws of the state. Darius' hands have been tied by the law, but did he really do what was right? God brings about Daniel's deliverance in such a way as to declare to this very law-minded, legalistic society that God is the lawgiver and his definition of right and wrong is the one to be honored.

These lawmakers had better submit to him the lawgiver. So notice what happens in verses 21 through 23. The vindication of God's servant in verses 21 through 23. Then Daniel said to the king, O king, live forever.

My God sent his angel and shut the lion's mouths so that they have not hurt me because I was found innocent before him. And also, O king, I have done no wrong before you. Now the king was exceedingly glad for him and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den.

So Daniel was taken up out of the den and no injury whatever was found on him because he had believed in his God. So in this vindication, we see how exceedingly happy Darius is to hear that Daniel was alive.

Darius has been confronted with his own sin and failure, but he hoped against hope that Daniel's God was true, that he was alive, that he was able to save. And lo and behold, that is true. He pulls Daniel up out of the den and inspect him and see how he is.

No injury whatsoever. Just like his brothers in the faith who had not the smell of smoke on them when they got out of the burning, fiery furnace, Daniel is utterly preserved and saved. Why? The text tells us why?

Because he believed in his God. A thorough, complete salvation. Let us take a moment to appreciate the ironic greeting which Daniel offers. This line, O king, live forever. That's been a common one throughout the stories of Daniel, but we have never found it yet in the mouth of a believer, in the mouth of one who followed the Lord rather than worship the state.

He says, O king, live forever. I think it's ironic. Darius here is reaching out in faith, calling into the lion's den, seeing if Daniel is still alive. Has God saved you? And then Daniel uses this line.

Is it an invitation? Is it an invitation? O king, live forever. Live forever. It's a funny line coming from a guy who just survived a night in the lion's den. He must know something about circumventing death.

When he talks about living forever, you might want to tune in closely. How much more so when Jesus, the firstborn from the dead, has something to say to you about eternal life? Live forever. Daniel makes it clear why he's still alive without a scratch.

His God, the living God, as opposed to all the dead ones, the God who controls life and all that is living, he sent his angel to shut the mouth of the lions. Was this the angel of the Lord? Was it Christ himself who came and spent an evening with Daniel?

The point, the vital point here is Daniel's innocence, his innocence before God and thus his innocence before man. Don't miss this. Daniel had not sinned against God. In the sight of God, he had done nothing worthy of death or condemnation when he disobeyed the state mandate to pray only to the king.

And in fact, and this is most vital for us to see, Daniel had not sinned against the king by disobeying the king's own mandate. Do you see that in the text? I'm innocent before God. I also did you no wrong, O king.

Hang on a second. You disobeyed the official state mandate. It was a personal mandate too, all about how you would have prayed to no one else except for Darius. It's a personal thing. And Daniel said, I didn't do you any wrong, O king.

Yeah, I disobeyed you. I rejected your divinity grab and everything else, but I did you no wrong. Daniel, having broken the law of the land and refusing to give honor to Darius that was not rightfully his, Daniel in his disobedience had only done what was right, guiltless, innocent, no wrong at all.

In fact, Daniel had done what was good and righteous and profitable to the state by his active resistance, going to the window, praying three times a day on his knees, honoring God, direct defiance to the state mandate.

Why did he do what was right, good and profitable? Because he was turning many who were in darkness to the light. Consider that the Hebrew midwives in the book of Exodus had done the very same thing, having been commanded by Pharaoh to kill, to cast the male infants of the Hebrew women, Hebrew mothers, to take their male children and to throw them into the Nile to drown.

The midwives having been commanded by the state were innocent, good, right, and true, and did all that was profitable to Egypt and to all of Egypt's subjects, alleviating even worse judgment upon the land than they received.

They did all of this innocent, good, right, and true as they outright lied to Pharaoh in outright resistance, active resistance. They were innocent before God, and they did Pharaoh no wrong by disobeying him.

In fact, they were doing him good as they deceived not their neighbor, don't bear false witness against your neighbor, but as they lied to their enemy and did the righteous thing. And God blessed them and gave them families of their own, the text says.

You see, God sets the standard of what is right and wrong. God sets the standard of what is right and wrong. It is thus impossible, outright impossible, to fear God, honor God, obey God, and do what is actually evil to your neighbor or even what is unethical to your enemy.

If you fear God and obey God and do what God has called you to do according to the plain reading of his text, no matter how your enemy feels about it and no matter how people around you feel about it, you have done them no wrong.

You have done no evil. God sets the standard of what is right and wrong, true and false, righteous and unrighteous. He's the one, not us. Since Daniel had done no wrong in God's sight, he had done no wrong to his neighbor or his enemy, however you take him to be, King Darius.