Open—Steve Stewart
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I see your boys all sitting here in a row being really patient.
And it's encouraging to me sitting there quietly. You know, this meeting is an hour and a half. I was asked to take a meeting out in Tacoma, WA.
And time came for the meeting, but I was mixed up and I didn't realize. And I set my seat and set my seat, set my seat when I realized I was supposed to be talking.
And I got up and had the meeting and at the end it's a little family sitting there with boys. Boy about your size.
And he still said me. That was the longest meeting I ever sat through in my life.
And I said.
I know what you mean.
There's a verse.
Couple of verses, first one is in.
2nd Corinthians.
2nd Corinthians, chapter 5.
And this is speaking about the Lord Jesus and God.
Says, For he that is God hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, that is in Christ.
That might be a hard verse to understand. Let me read one more with it too, back in Romans.
Book of Romans.
In chapter 3.
In verse 21.
But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all, and upon all them that believe.
When you were saved.
God says you were made the righteousness of God, but what does that mean? What is the righteousness of God mean? I'm sure you've heard that.
Many times in meetings, the righteousness of God. What does it mean? Well, you know, there's a story in the Old Testament that you're very familiar with that helps us understand what that means, and that is in the book of Daniel.
Daniel.
Went through something in his life and it's a story you have heard from the earliest time you can remember.
That's the story of Daniel.
In the lions den.
Daniel, Chapter 6.
And I think we know the story, but we'll go through it. I always enjoy this chapter very much. I've never gotten tired of it. I heard it read to me since earliest days I can remember.
Says in chapter 6 it pleased Darius who is the king, to set over the Kingdom 120 Princess which should be over the whole Kingdom and over these 3 presidents of whom Daniel was first, that the Princess might give accounts unto them and the king should have no damage. Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and Princess because an excellent spirit was in him and the king.
Thought to set him over the whole realm and so Daniel had been taken captive from the land of Israel and carried the faraway land of Babylon and God prospered him he was faithful to God while he was there and God put him in a very important place in the Kingdom and he was faithful there it says he was put in that place as well as some others that.
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Should have no damage. That means he would watch and make sure no one was cheating the king in connection with the King's business in the realm. That no one was not paying their taxes or no one was trying to do something to undermine the King's purposes. He wanted to make sure the king didn't have any damage. That's what that means.
And he did a very good job, and so he was preferred above all these other presidents.
Well, they were envious.
They were envious of Daniel and you know, I think there's a reason why. It's because they were men who would have liked to.
Maybe taken a little of what the king had, but Daniel was doing a good job watching over everything and they weren't going to get away with a thing and they didn't like Daniel in that place.
So what do they do? It says in verse four, the presidents and Princess sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the Kingdom, but they could find none occasion nor fault. For as much as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. Who does that remind you of?
Well, it reminds us of the Lord Jesus, doesn't it?
The Lord Jesus knew no sin.
Knew no sin.
And he was, above all, faithful to God.
And you know, when he passed through this world is men and women in this world looked upon him, they hated him, Scripture says without a cause.
Because he was faithful to God and there was no fault in him and it just shed a light on them and showed them up for what they were.
And so they hated him.
While these men said, we're not going to find any occasion against this Daniel verse five, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.
Then these presidents and Princess assembled together to the king, and they make a plea to the king.
But they have a plan.
And it's not a very good one. They have a plan when they come to the king, and they say thus to the king. King Darius live forever all the presidents of the Kingdom.
And the governors and the Princess, and the counselors, the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree that whosoever shall ask any petition of any God or man for 30 days save of thee, O King, he shall be cast into the den of lions.
Now okay, establish the decree and sign the writing that it be not changed according to the law of the Medes and Persians which altereth not. Wherefore King Darius signed the writing and the decree. Now they lied because they said all the presidents of the Kingdom, but Daniel was one of them.
He wasn't in agreement with what they had to say.
So they came to the king, and they lie.
And they got him and their clever ways to sign this law that if anyone prayed to anyone else other than the king, rest a petition, a favor of anyone other than the king, they would have to suffer the penalty of being cast into a den of lies.
And the king, in his vanity and his own pride, he signed that decree.
Well, now what are those men going to do?
What is Daniel going to do?
Daniel verse 10 knew that the writing was signed. He went into his house, his windows being opened in the chamber toward Jerusalem, kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed and gave thanks before his gone as he did a four time.
These men Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his gone. Then they came near and spake before the king. Concerning the King's decree past, thou not signed a decree that every man that shall ask a petition of any God or man within 30 days, save of the O King, shall be cast into the den of lions.
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The king answered and said The thing is true according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.
Then answered they, and said before the king, That Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not the O king, nor the decree that thou has signed, will make it this petition three times a day, That is, he prayed three times a day to God.
Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him. And he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him. And these men assembled unto the king, and said unto the king, No, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is that no decree or statute which the king establisheth may be changed.
They got the king in a trap.
In those days in the Kingdom of the Medes and Persians, when a king signed something into law.
He even he couldn't change it.
Even he couldn't change it. Once he signed it into law, that was it.
He was not allowed to change.
And he had signed that decree into law and it could not be changed.
And when those men found Daniel praying, and they came to the king and said, we found Daniel praying, and you know what the law said? You have to cast him into the den of life.
And the king realized he was in a trap.
And he would like to change that law.
And he was not happy with himself. And he labored, it says, till the going down of the sun. He worked all day to try and figure out how he could get around that law, but he couldn't.
You couldn't.
He could not.
Break that wall.
And still be the king.
He could not change that law and still be the king.
And God has said, the soul that sinneth it shall die.
And that's unchangeable.
God cannot ignore sin.
And still be God.
God is righteous.
God is holy, He can't ignore sin. That would be inconsistent.
With His Holiness.
And he can't be inconsistent with himself.
That would make him unrighteous.
And God is not unrighteous. God is righteous.
And the scripture says the soul that sinneth it shall die.
And you could labor all day till they're going down to the sun to try and figure a way around that and you can't.
The king could not still be the king. He couldn't be righteous and not carry out the just penalty of that law.
It must be carried out.
And he didn't want to.
But he had to.
Then these men assembled unto the King, and said unto the king, No, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is that no decree in our statute which the King establisheth may be changed.
That's it.
And so he had to.
The king commanded, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of life.
Now the king spake, and said unto Daniel, Thy God, whom else service continually he will deliver thee. And a stone was brought and laid upon the mouth of the den, And the king sealed it with his own signet, with a signet of his Lords, that the purpose might not be changed concerning.
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Dan.
And the king went to his palace, passed the night fasting. Neither were instruments of music brought before him, and his sleep went from him.
Then the king rose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions.
And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel. And the king spake, and said to Daniel, Oh, Daniel, servant of the living God.
Is thy God, whom thou service, continually able to deliver thee from the Alliance?
I want to turn to some verses, think about Daniel and think of what the king called him. He called him the servant of the living God.
He said he served him continually and he asked the question, was he able to save him?
From the Lions.
You know, in the book of Isaiah.
It says about the Lord Jesus.
God says about him.
In Isaiah chapter 42.
And verse one, Behold, my servant.
Whom I uphold, mine elect, and whom I sold, aligned.
I put my Spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles, and so on verse four. He shall not fail nor be discouraged till he has set judgment in the earth. And so the Lord Jesus.
Came into this world, became a man, and he was here as the servant of the living God.
And he went to Calvary's cross.
Because God's holiness demanded that your sin require that you must die.
And be cast into a lost eternity.
And the Lord Jesus went to the cross.
And he gave his life there, and he suffered there the just for the unjust. He was made sin who knew no sin.
That we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
He went and bore the penalty that our sins deserved and that God's justice and holiness demanded. God couldn't sweep your sins under the rug and still be gone. He could not do that and still be holy. No, He is consistent with himself. He's holding. He's.
Can't have anything to do with Sam. That's what righteousness means. It means you're consistent with what you are, who you are. God is the light and holy, and he's consistent with who he is.
And so the Lord Jesus was judged on that cross.
And did he die?
Yes, he did.
He went into death. That was the penalty of sin.
It says in Psalm 22, this is the words of the Lord Jesus from his heart in Calvary's cross when he was suffering.
He cried out. Verse 21 Psalm 22. Save me from the lion's mouth.
Saved me from the lion's mouth.
Was he heard?
God hear him on the cross when he cried that.
Yes, but he couldn't answer him right away.
He couldn't answer him right away.
Because he had to go into death for you and I.
And the king went to the lion's den, and he cries out.
His expectation was Daniel was no doubt eaten by those lions.
Now what was the law?
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That had been made. The law was that anyone who prayed to any other God or asked anything of any God or man other than the king would be cast into the lion's den.
So the penalty of breaking that law was to be cast into the lions den. Was the penalty of that law carried out?
Was it?
He was cast into the lion's den, who was carried out.
What did the law say? He had to stay in the lion's den.
No, just said he had to be casted. Did it say the lions had to kill him? Farida, no.
He said he had to be cast into the lion's den.
The justice penalty of that law?
Was carried out and he was cast into the lion's den.
And they even rolled a stone on the door of that depth.
Does that remind you of something else? Reminds me of something else.
Turn over the Gospel, Matthew.
We'll hold our placement, Daniel.
Gospel of Matthew.
You know, the Lord Jesus paid that penalty and he went into death.
And he laid his life down on that cross, and then they took him down from the cross.
And they in chapter 27.
Put them in a new tomb, verse 60.
And then says he, that's Joseph of Arimathea, rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre and departed. Well, those who had delivered the Lord Jesus to be put to death, they came to pilot the Roman governor who had given the order that he was to be crucified, and they.
Come to him and they say, Sir, verse 63, you remember that, Deceiver said, while he's yet alive, After three days I will rise again. Command, therefore, that the sepulchre be made sure.
Until the third day, lest his disciples come by night and seal them away, and say unto the people, he has risen from the dead. So the last error shall be worse than the first. Pilot said of them, You have a watch, go your way, make it as sure as you can. So they went and made the sepulchre, sealing the stone and setting a watch, just like that stone was sealed.
On the mouth of that lion's den.
Well, what happened?
What happened at that grave? Well, the next chapter gives us the wonderful story.
It says in verse 2.
It was the dawn towards the first day of the week. It was even just before the dawn says there was a great earthquake. For the Angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat upon it.
And his countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow. And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. And the Angel answered and said unto the woman, Fear ye not, for I know that you see Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here, for he is risen.
All that stone was rolled away.
And the Lord Jesus wasn't there.
All the wages of sin is death, and he went into death, but it doesn't say he had to stay there.
Because he knew no sin.
And he bore the penalty of yours and mine on the cross, but he himself personally was spotless.
And God raised him from the dead. God was righteous. Was God being inconsistent with what He is in His Holiness to raise the Lord Jesus from the dead? Was that right or was that wrong? It was the right thing to do. It was the the righteous thing to do. God was perfectly consistent with who He was.
Who he is and raising the Lord Jesus from the dead, He was righteous.
And the king comes to the den of lions, and he has the stone rolled away, and he calls into that den, and Daniel answers him.
Daniel answers him from that den.
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O King, live forever. My God, his son is Angel, and I shut the lion's mouth.
That they have not hurt me for as much as before Him. Innocence, He was found in me and also before the O King of I don't know her. Oh, just like the Lord Jesus, there was innocence He found in Him. He was the spotless sinless one though He bore our sins and it's just penalty of the cross.
And Darius commanded. And what did they? He was successful. He was exceeding glad for him. Commanded. They should take Daniel up out of the den. And did anybody say, Oh, you can't do that, The law says he has to stay in the dead? No, that's not what the law said. It said he had to be cast into it, and he was.
And King Darius was righteous and taking Daniel up out of that den where he had been cast.
And God saved him.
Camilla Hinds mouth.
And in that same way, God save the Lord Jesus from the lions mouth and raised him from the dead.
An answer to his crime.
God is righteous in what He's done.
That's what righteousness is.
Darius was righteous in taking Daniel up out of that depth.
When you believed in the Lord Jesus Christ.
We read the Scripture. You've been made the righteousness of God.
In him.
God looks down and he sees you, and he sees me, and he sees his own righteousness in saving your soul, because the Lord Jesus paid the penalty and satisfied his holy claims.
Against your sin.
And he raised the Lord Jesus from the dead, righteously, having paid that penalty that was yours. And God can save you on a righteous basis. God is right if you put your trust in the Lord Jesus, He's just and justifying you.
These righteous And so when he looks at you, he says, I see my righteousness.
Because he has been righteous in saving your soul.
Well, I hope that helps you understand that very big work righteousness.
You know, I was 26 years old.
And I sat in a Sunday school class.
And excuse me, an old brother.
Name Break Jackson, Read this account.
And he explained the righteousness of God.
I think I understood it for the first time.
At least in a fuller sense.
So I hope it helps you too.
Together #35.
And #35.
Brights my soul.
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I want drinking ice, singing now. Make glory, Satan.
When I say no more can rise.
As I told to be there.
All I sins were laid upon Him, Jesus.
Lord and one of the dream.
God, you didn't let him play them on him and.
Be breathing our free.
Forever. Yeah, forever.
It's my word.
Nothing has no ransom server.
90 by now.