Services/Sermon in Cokato 13.05.2020

Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Let us quieten our hearts and minds this evening in thanksgiving and prayer.

Holy and righteous God, our dear Heavenly Father, as we have come here once again, dear Father, to gather around the hearing of Your holy and precious Word. Dear Father, we wish to thank You for the many, many blessings that You have bestowed most abundantly upon us. Father, we thank You, dear Father, for our homes and our families. We thank You for that work that You have provided for us. We thank You for those dear escorts that You have gifted unto each one of us. But above all, dear Father, we desire to lift up our humble thanks for this greatest gift of Your dear Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, whom You saw it good, dear Father, to send down from heaven to save sin-fallen mankind.

Dear Father, we pray that You would keep us as little children. Keep us safe in Your precious kingdom. Remember those, dear Father, who are struggling with heavy trials and difficulties in this life. Comfort and uplift even the weariest traveler. For we know, dear Father, we hold to those promises that You will not forsake us, but rather You will lift and carry us towards the mark there in heaven.

Dear Father, we pray as Your dear Son taught us to pray. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Dear brother and sister, some near, some far, I thought I would read a portion of God's Word from the book of Daniel. A very familiar portion. It's found in chapter 3. I'll read verses 19 through 25 with that prayer that God would open His Word as He sees good at this time. The words are in Jesus' name.

Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Therefore He spake and commanded that they should heat the furnace seven times more than it was wont to be heated. And He commanded the most mighty men that were in His army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.

Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, their hats, and their own garments and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down, bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished and rose up in haste and spake and said unto his counselors, Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. Amen.

I'm not certain, dear brother and sister, why this portion came to my mind this evening. But nevertheless, it did. And if God would be so good to us, He would give us of His goodness. Because I come very empty before you. And in the beginning I asked, can I have my sins and doubts forgiven?

These three young men that we heard about in this portion, Daniel had been able to choose these three men to help him with the affairs of that province. Daniel was our brother in faith. He was a believer. God had given him many blessings and protected him in his life. He was obedient to the Word of God. God had also given him a gift to interpret dreams, which he had done for Nebuchadnezzar.

Nebuchadnezzar was very troubled about a dream that he had had. He had tried getting magicians and astrologers and who knows who all to try to interpret these dreams for him, and they could not. The king's captain Daniel had went to and inquired about what was happening at that time. Because of what had taken place with these dreams, the king sent a decree and it said that the wise men should be slain, and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain.

Daniel then had talked to this Ariok, the king's captain, and told him that he would want to talk to the king. And it's interesting when we read this portion of God's word that Daniel understood through the eyes of faith that it was not his own interpretation but God had revealed it unto him.

If we were to read in the second chapter verse 20, it says in verse 20 here that for wisdom and might are His. And then he continues and he changes the times and the seasons. He removeth kings and setteth up kings. He giveth wisdom unto the wise and knowledge to them that know understanding. He revealeth the deep and secret things. He knoweth what is in darkness and the light dwelleth with him.

Then it continues and says in verse 28, But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets. Daniel understood that these God-given gifts were not of his own. And when I was reading this portion of God's Word, I was thinking about this. Is it not the same today? When God's Word is spoken and revealed to us, it isn't revealed to us of our own wisdom, of our own strength or power. But it is revealed to us by and through the Spirit that is gifted unto each one of us who believe.

The Spirit of God is such a Spirit. It is a perfect Spirit. It is of God. It is God. It is God in the third person. And when we come and we hear God's Word, it isn't the man that is speaking. It's not His Word. But it's God's Word. God's Word. God's Word. God's Word.

When I was thinking about this, there are many portions in the Bible that Jesus spoke about hearing what the Spirit saith unto the church. That portion even came to my mind when I was looking at this of the parable of the sower where Jesus had spoken those words about this seed that was being spread and the different grounds that it fell on.

And when He spoke that parable, He said then that he that hath ears to hear, let him hear. It's important, dear brother and sister, that we hear that Word, we believe that Word, and we are also doers of that Word. That this Word that is spoken, that we believe that it is God's Word, because it is. And that we desire to be obedient to the Word.

We want to be of those that Jesus spoke of in this parable that the seed fell on good ground, and it sprang up, and it bare fruit an hundredfold. These three brothers that we heard read of in this text that we read this evening, they were obedient to God's Word.

The king at that time wanted them to worship some false God. Well, dear brother and sister, what's a false God? A false God can be many things. A false God would be something that has become more important to us than that gift of faith that God has given us. It is something that we need to be careful of. Because those things in this world, our work, they can become too important. And they can become to take us away from the hearing of God's Word. God's love. God's love. God's love.

We live in a trying time right now. There's many ideas and many thoughts, many wonderings. It's an uncertain time. But dear brother and sister, let's put our trust in our Heavenly Father. Just as these three men put their trust in God, God's love.

I think about today and how things have gone where we haven't been able to gather together as one congregation in one building, but yet we've been able to gather around the hearing of God's Word. In fact, it's been even more so. Hasn't it been amazing to you, dear brother and sister, when we have been able to, I believe, tune in to live services or song services every day except for Saturday, I believe?

I ask you, has God not been taking care of us? He's even prepared the way even more so that we would be able to hear the Holy Word of God even more often when we haven't been able to gather together. We have a good God. A God that has promised He will not forsake us.

These young men here in this text, they knew what they were supposed to do. They knew that when that music started, they were supposed to go and worship that false God. What did they do? They didn't go. They just went about their business quietly, peaceably, knowing that God will not forsake them.

They were being watched, these three men. And they were reported to the king that they weren't going to worship that false God like the others were. The king was very angry with them. Before this, the king had very much liked those boys, those men, young men. And they had chosen them to help.

It's interesting when we read this Bible portion how the king had even told those men to heat that furnace seven times more than it normally would be heated. The king was for sure wanting these men to be burned in that fire and destroyed. Did that happen? Did that happen?

These boys trusted in the living God. That God would protect them. And if He didn't, that they were going to a better place if they would die there. No matter what takes place in life when we are obedient to God's Word, the rewards and the blessings are innumerable.

If we were to read later in this chapter, it says after those men were loosed from that fire, it says the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

Dear brother and sister, dear youth, God blesses obedience. May we always pray to God that He would instill in us this kind of heart to do that which the Spirit teaches. To be obedient to God's Word. To be obedient to God's Word. To be obedient to God's Word. To be obedient to God's Word.

God blesses obedience. And we see in this portion that when the king looked upon that furnace, he just didn't see three there. In fact, he asked those ones there, Did you not put three in the furnace? The answer was yes, only three. Four. And he said, I see four.

Dear brother and sister, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, He is with us all the time. He will continue to protect us. He will continue to guide us. Forgive us. We don't have the freedom to sin. But, thanks be to God that He sent His Son into this world to conquer Satan and his angels so that we could have this hope, this lively hope of heaven one day. Amen.

Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

This portion of God's Word is a comforting portion to me. Because, especially in this time where we're just kind of like uncertain as to what's going on. But, dear brother and sister, we don't need to worry. God is in control. He is almighty. He is all-powerful. God is and He knows what is taking place this day. No question. And we can be thankful for that.

And it's comforting to us to know that God is leading and guiding. And He will give us direction. No question. He will give us protection. No question. Just as He protected these three young men in that fiery furnace.

Jesus prayed on our behalf. He didn't pray to take us out of this world. But He prayed that we would be protected from all evil people. Isn't that comforting? Dear brother and sister, uplift your hearts this evening, even amidst your many doubts and your fears, your wanderings, believe all sins forgiven in Jesus' name and precious blood. Be of good comfort.

We need not worry. We need not doubt. Our heavenly Father will continue to lead us and guide us all the way home to heaven. And isn't that what matters? That we are accounted as one of those holding on to that precious gift of faith when that call comes for each one of us.

Dear brother and sister, it pays to believe. Uplift your hearts and believe all sins forgiven, all doubts forgiven, all fears forgiven in Jesus' name and precious blood. And be of good comfort.

We have a good God. God. A God that has seen it good. And that has continued to feed us with His Word. And He has promised He will continue till that day when the doors of grace are closed.

So be comforted and uplifted, believing all sins forgiven in Jesus' name and always blessed name. Amen.

Let us quieten our hearts in closing benediction. The Lord bless us and keep us. The Lord make His face shine upon us and be gracious unto us. The Lord lift up His countenance upon us and give us peace. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Amen.