World sets shining things before us and commands that we bow just as it was in Babylon. We know the Lamb. We worship Him who is ours, the Savior. Like the three Hebrew boys, we may face the pressure and take courage with conviction. (Daniel 3:4-6)

Speaker(s): Bailey Norman, Thomas Schaller
Sermon 12327
6:30 PM on 6/26/2022

P. Schaller –

One or two verses here. Psalm 34, we’ve definitely heard a lot of messages this week and have heard and thought
about the messages and repeated them sometimes. We have one message tonight from P.
Bailey Norman. He’s going to share with us. And then what I want to say here for a few minutes.
Psalm 34:1, so, how much praise do we have in life? What does it mean that it would continually
be in my mouth? Praise. Vs. 2. We will boast in the Lord, and what the Lord has done. Now turn
to Proverbs 10 and just being thankful tonight for many things, many people, the activities of the
week, much work that happened this week.

Proverbs 10:21, one of the things we heard last night from P. Justin was I don’t have to know much
but just a little more than somebody else maybe. I find somebody that knows a little less and I
can teach them. The tongue, my tongue and what it is. Have you discovered the power of your
tongue, what I can do with your tongue. My praise to God and then my thanksgiving and then
my recognition of good things around me.

I have a list here of people just to honor by words: Scott Dubay. Thank God. Trish Watson and
Tech Ops. Amazing. P. Taggart and his team. Anu and Emma who with Ryan and that team they
got this Take Courage – we gave them the subject and then they did all the art work. The
creative stuff. Amazing. The creative stuff that they did and then just amazing people, really.
Security. Juan and everybody who are aware and care about us having pe ace and security.
They did a great job. Amazing. It was fun. This week being with each other.

Some people I see them once a year. I stopped in the driveway and spoke for three minutes and
that was it. We just have a three minute talk every year. What we say and how we think of
people. Love and encouragement is powerful. Then when it’s on the level when God speaks to
our hearts.

We can give a shout out to all the speakers: the pastors, the teachers, and all the translators. In
Europe, they are watching and how does this get to Europe but by Paul Nye and Sebastian and
the whole – Cody Walker. Tina Nye and the volunteers. It was amazing.
Then what was it? In one service, was it 200 children. I think for the week, more than 300
children in the programs – 375? And I heard the number of workers. One hundred youth
workers. Megan Ackerman, P. Love, Krista Wileczek, P. Paul and Kimmy Andrulonis, P. Pete who
is like running nursery. I mean he’s overseeing it. Krista is overseeing it. It’s amazing how much
gets done when I don’t need to be noticed or I’m doing it before God and I have peace in my
heart and I just jump in. Then the café, Ryan Regan. They did a great job. They were serving
food, coffee, even water. They gave out water. That’s a joke! They gave their hearts.

They gave their hearts. People gave for this to happen. Sometimes helping people get here financially. Just
saying we want to help you. What do you need? Maybe we can help. The giving that happens in
the Body. Sometimes the right hand doesn’t know what the left is doing. When we put this together, Scott and his team, the booths. There was a work night that we had. Then the booth vendors, the volunteerism, the ushers, hospitality, and how about the music? Was that on a scale of 1-10? What do you think? A five? Approaching six? Harold, what
do you think? Ten? Generosity prevails! Wow! How do we measure what happened?
I want to know if I am loved. Isn’t that a part of life. I believe I am. But the Body of Christ is
really the flesh and the bones of love, that people show up and they actually care. They learn
our names or they give us some concentration or focus.

This happened all over the place. I love to see all the little kids running around out there in the parking lot, dodging cars. Crawling under them! See. There’s something twisted inside of me! No, I love to see the kids loving their
friends. Loving their little friends. I love to see parents with parents. I love to see people talking
and there’s connection and encouragement. This is the Body of Christ and the grace of God.
The grace of God that is on us. Grace where we are not unhappy or critical or have bad words.
We’re not judgmental. We’re not evaluating people in a bad way. We are loving people and
encouraging them in the faith.

Lastly, how did this get to Europe? How did this conference get to – I mentioned Paul Nye and
you think of all of the talking that happens in homes. When people are at home and they’re
talking and they are Spirit filled people and they are behind it and believing it and they are
praying and encouraging. All of the unseen things that happen. What the angels do. Prayers
prayed and answered. The people that get encouraged and edified and go back home and say I
was refreshed. I saw something. I heard something. I was encouraged. It was fresh to me. It was
a conference that came from God to us. That’s how we feel about it.

So, when we go home and we carry this in our hearts, maybe we are relaxing a little bit. We are
resting. We are meditating. We are thinking about all the good things and then we have that in
our lips and our praise continually. We continually say and appreciate all the goodness that God
has showered on us. We would love everybody. The music. Did I mention the music? Julius and
all the music that made this happen. Just absolutely I’m so thankful and I just believe that we
have the righteousness that feeds – the lips of the righteous feed many. From you. Your life,
your words feeding many. Encouraging and loving people. That’s it. Would you pray with me for
the offering tonight right now.

P. Bailey Norman – Good evening. Let’s see. A couple things. Thank you. Thank you, P. Schaller.
Thank you, church. Amazing conference. Amazing convention. P. Schaller mentioned at one
point in the message that maybe the kids are having more fun than the adults. I think, I don’t
know, I think it’s true. As good a time that we had, our kids, my kids had an incredible time. I
don’t know if you saw my son dancing at the missions march but that was a subtle expression
of it. They had a great time. We felt so safe and so secure. Just an amazing time with brothers
and sisters from everywhere. So, thank you. Thank you for making it happen.

Then my dad. I want to thank my dad. Isn’t he amazing? I just want to stand here before all of
you and tell my dad I love him cause he’s the man. Aw, shucks. His bow tie is spinning! And then
to be in a room with – watching everyone come in – and to be in the room with people. P.
Misha. P. Misha. What a man of God. He asked us in the pastors’ meeting would you pray for
me? I think in all of our hearts we said we have been. We have been, but yes we will. We
continue and we will. P. Szabo. I love you. It’s amazing to be together at the pastors’ meetings
to be arm and arm with these guys from around the world and just we’re together. It’s
incredible. Can you stand with me and we’ll read a couple verses?

Open with me to Daniel 3:4-6. “A herald cried aloud.” P. Harold? Can we hear it? There it is. Vs. 3-
6. You may be seated. Also, our Marlborough crew. Phyllis is here. Phyllis is here. P. Donald and
Rosie. Where are they? Back there. Amazing. Can you guys stand up? Do you know P. Donald
and Rosie? P. Donald went to Bible college here. He moved back and through the trial of his
faith, his wife has finally come. They’re married, and they have taken over our children’s
ministry. But much more than that, they are a huge encouragement to me and my wife. They
have made a huge impact in our church. We love them. So, if you don’t know them, there they
are. Get an autograph after! Anyone else here from Marlborough? Am I missing anyone? There
was a crew. Oh, Carol Desmarais. Of course. She’s from everywhere! Of course. Okay.

I was on evangelism some weeks ago. How many people go on evangelism? How many people
when you go out on evangelism you say I know exactly what is going to happen today? We have
no idea, do we? I think that’s the fun of it. That’s the fun of it. It’s like jumping out of a plane
has nothing on evangelism. I don’t know but I’ve only done once. I was on evangelism with
another gentlemen and I spoke to this young girl and we just approached her and said hey, we
would like to tell you about the love of Christ. Do you know that God loves you? She had a lot of
questions kind of. More like statements. By her appearance, you can kind of assume what
people believe. She said one statement to me. She said isn’t sin the most human thing we can
do. Isn’t it that that’s the most human experience that we would sin? I paused for a second
cause it’s hard to argue maybe. I said to her, I don’t think so.

Though we are very good at it. We are very efficient and very productive in our sin. Yes, but there is something more to us than just sinning. I said to her I think worship is the most human thing we can do is worship. But then
thinking about this through the weeks, depending on what I worship will determine what I do.
It could be what I worship leads me into sin. Or it could be that what I worship leads me into
righteousness.

So, we see here in Daniel 3 that there is a command to worship. This story is incredible.
Nebuchadnezzar is a global superpower, right? He is the king. Babylon. The great Babylon. He
built many temples in Babylon. They’ve discovered some of these temples. Each brick has an
inscription on it. You know what it says? I am Nebuchadnezzar. I built Babylon. What do you
think? How do you feel about yourself Nebuchadnezzar? This is him and he has insecurity in his
kingdom. We don’t know what this event is coming out of, but it’s possible it’s coming out of a coup. That someone was trying to take his place. He sets up this image in the plain of Dura that
is nine feet wide but 90 feet tall. Ninety feet. Do you know what that is? Nine basketball hoops.
Do you know how long it took me to figure that out? Ninety feet tall. Huge. Covered in gold.
Shining in the sun. Out in the plain there is this image. I think I’ve always assumed it was an
image of Nebuchadnezzar but actually in the story it doesn’t say that. It just says it’s a golden
image.

We have this image out in the plain and it’s kind of unknown. I don’t know what it is. We don’t
know what it is, but there is a command to worship it. So, in his insecurity and maybe in this
place where there is a coup and they try to take his position, he calls in all the counselors, all
the people. Maybe three thousand people are coming to this plain. He says to them, you see
that? You see that? It’s hard to miss. It’s a lot of gold. Do you see it? yeah. Do you know what it
is? It doesn’t matter what it is.

When you hear these instruments and the whole symphony together, just worship it. What if I
don’t? I’m going to throw you in the fire. He had done this before. If you read in Jeremiah 29: 21-23,
there is a story of two false prophets who were thrown in an oven by Nebuchadnezzar. It’s not
an empty threat, but it’s something that he will do. If you read the book of Daniel, you’ll see
he’s kind of crazy. There are threats that I will chop you to pieces and burn your whole house
down and that’s it. Now, if you don’t bow down and worship, then you’re going to be thrown
into the fire.

What is it that we are worshipping? No, no, no. That’s not the question. That’s not for you to
know but for you to bow down to. It says it a couple times. Vs. 4. It is commanded. Then in vs.
5. We live in a world today that is worshipping all kinds of stuff and there are all kinds of things
that are raised up that are elevated and we are told to bow down to them. We are told to
adjust to them. And even there is a call for the church to adjust downward, adjust to culture,
adjust to the world. This adjustment is never upward. It’s never upward. This adjustment is
always downwards and it never leads to righteousness but it always leads us to the depth of
depravity. But there is a blindness in it.

I don’t know what I am worshipping and I don’t know why I worship. I don’t know the thinking
behind Nebuchadnezzar. I don’t know the purpose behind it. I don’t know what this image
means. I don’t know what that flag represents. I don’t know what any of it is but I’m
commanded to, so I’ll just bow down and worship. Hear the thing. Do the thing. Hear the music.
Do the thing. Don’t ask. Just do it. What if we don’t? We will destroy you. How dare you ask
what you are worshipping. Is there any care for what fruit is produced by this? There isn’t.
There is no care. There is no care. Lives are destroyed in bowing down and worshipping these
things. But what are we doing? Who are we? We are like these three Hebrew boys who maybe
coming into this meeting they might have an idea. I don’t know. I don’t know what they’re
thinking.

We could speculate but we won’t. They are coming into this meeting and they’re there and they hear the command and maybe they are looking at each other and they are saying, this is it. This is it.
They’ve been here for some time at this point. They’ve been in Babylon for some time. They’re
not new arrivals at this time, but they’re educated in Babylon. They are leading in Babylon. This
is maybe some 20, 30 years after they came in. They still have something in them. They are
saying, no. We won’t bow down. And they come into this place and they are looking at each
other and bowing their heads and saying, oh man. Here we go. I don’t know about you but I
can’t read this passage without thinking about Joe Zucker’s drawing. The Keith Green album.
Isn’t that it? These three guys are just standing here and they’re kind of looking down. I picture
they are smiling. This is it. This is it. How can they stand? How can they in the midst of this
crowd of people? Maybe there are other Judeans there. Maybe there are other Jewish
nobleman there.

But these three are able to stand in the midst of this. They hear the sound. They see the
emotion. They see it all happening, but they just stand there. They say, no. We’re not going to
bow. Where does that come from? It comes from another type of worship. It comes from a
type of worship where we know. We know what we believe. We know who we believe. And
although we might seem like we are in a difficult place, they are the ones in captivity. They are
the ones that are outnumbered, but that doesn’t change who they worship and the fact that
they know the one they worship.

Isaiah 43:1-2 says it. Though you go through the floods, you will not be overwhelmed. Though you
walk through the fire, you will not be burned. And then it says this, I am your Savior. I am with
you. There is someone that we have and it’s not that he commands worship. It’s not that he
says to us that if you don’t worship me, then I’m going to smack you. Or the opposite idea that
if you sin, I’m going to hit you with a lightning bolt. Have you ever met that attitude or
statement? If I walked in there, the place would burn down. I said to a woman once. Please,
come in. I would love to see, if that – I haven’t seen lightning bolts flying into the church
meeting and I know there are some sinners here! No, I’m just kidding. I’m the chief. But like I
haven’t seen. Come on in. That attitude that God wants to simply give me a hard time because
I’m a sinner and it would distract me from worship.

Okay, but then there’s this. Hear the music. Do the thing like Pavlov’s dog. Pavlov’s dog. Ring
the bell. Get the kibble. Ring the bell. Get the kibble. Ring the bell. Get the kibble. Ring the bell,
right? Over and over again. Ring the bell. Why am I drooling? What’s happening? I don’t even
know why. I’m totally numb to everything. I don’t know what I hear. I don’t know where it’s
coming from. I don’t know what it means but I’m hungry for something.
The world would love to just like bring us or even intimidate us into this way of worship. There
it is. I got to go. I got to worship. What is it? I don’t know. It’s big and shiny. It seems like they have a lot of move. They’ve got some movement behind them, but how about this instead.

We have the courage and we got it this week. Did anybody take courage this week? It’s all over the
place. It’s laying around everywhere. Did you take any? Where do we get this type of courage
where we can stand and say no. I don’t even know what that is. I don’t care to know what it is
cause this: Paul says in 2 Timothy 1:12, I am not ashamed. I am not ashamed cause I know whom I
have believed and in knowing the one I believe; he has persuaded me that he is able to keep
the thing that I have committed unto him against that day.

Do we know? Epheisans 4:20 says you have not so learned Christ. I like that. That’s an answer for me
when I am intimidated or fearful or when I feel weak. P. David Moore said twenty years ago he
had two seconds of being a coward. Did you hear that? Twenty years ago, two seconds of being
a coward. That was enough for him to never feel that way again. Wow. I want to be like him,
right? But when we have this weakness, when we have this cowardness, what do we have? We
look to the one that we know. When the image is raised, the flags run up the pole, whatever it
is and we are intimidated and fearful, what do we have? Oh, we have an answer. We have one
that we know.

We have not so learned Christ that he is simply an image or icon or idea or myth or symbol that
we look to but we have learned that Christ is ours. That he is our Savior and we have so learned
Christ. We have so learned Christ this way that we can go through the entire Bible and we can
find Christ. We know who he was. We know who he is, and we know who he will be. He is the
same yesterday, today, and forever and the whole Bible is filled with descriptions of one man
we can know and in knowing him, we confidently stand three among a thousand and say,
halleluiah! We are not afraid. I will not bow down. Whatever you need to do, you go ahead and
do it. Didn’t they say that?

Nebuchadnezzar is furious. Furious. Furious. Get them in here right now. Get them in here. I
want them lined up. They’re marched in there. Nebuchadnezzar, how are we doing? What’s the
problem guys? Didn’t you know you hear the sound and you bow down? Didn’t you know that’s
what you are supposed to do? They could say no, worship is not commanded. Worship is not
something you command but worship is something that can be drawn out of us. They say to
him, you do whatever it is you need to do, Nebuchadnezzar. And if that means throwing us into
the brick kiln, go right ahead. Because we know who we believe, and we know that he is able to
deliver us from the fire and if not, then we know we will be with him. But either way, your
image and all of your little gods are not getting our worship.

My worship is worth so much more and I will not give it to some little thing. Rom. 1, they have
taken he image of God and made it into the image of cows and bugs and creeping things. What
is that? What is that? Why? Why? Because then I’m free to be myself, right? That’s a whole
other thing. There’s no check. If I give my moral standard, if I get it from something that is a
lower creature than me, then there is no challenge to it. There’s no glory in it. There’s no worship in it. But when I look at Christ, he is so right and so perfect but then so humble and so
loving that he leads me into himself and he gives me life that I cannot have. That is worthy of
our worship.

Abraham knew him, didn’t he? Abraham knew this Christ. He sat and had a conversation with
him. He walked with him through the plains of Mamre. He pleaded with him and Christ was
drawing him into a conversation and leading him into an understanding that things are bigger
than what he sees and knows.

Moses met him, didn’t he? It says that Moses would not, he forsook the wealth and the image
of Egypt. Why? For the sufferings of Christ. Because he knew Christ. He spoke to him in a
burning bush. He interacted with Christ. Who is Moses? He’s a poor shepherd who can’t even
speak but he walks into Pharaoh’s court and he says, let my people go. I’m going to be back. I’m
going to bug you and bug you and bug you and bug you until you let my people go. My dusty,
dirty shepherd clothes. Moses was this way.

Samson’s mother was this way in Judges 13. She met Christ. Samson’s mother and father, they
met Christ. He went up in a flame in front of them. It’s an incredible story. They knew Christ.
We are reading these stories and through the comfort of the Scriptures we are also knowing
Christ. We come into the gospels and we see Christ walking in this world and when he is
walking in this world, everything is moving at his presence. Have you seen that in the gospels?
The natural course of things are moving at response to his presence. The star is coming across.
The star is traveling and people are following because it is going contrary to the course of
things. When his birth is announced the angels fill the skies and the shepherds are moved. This
is not natural. This is not normal, but there is something significant happening.

When he is on the cross – you can read it in Matthew – everything is moving in response to
Christ on the cross. The ground is shaking. The veil is tearing. The heavens are ripping.
Everything is happening in response to this one, this Christ. And then when he is buried, death
is moved by him. Death has to move out of the way because of the glory of Christ.
We told this story. How funny would it be if Jesus is in the tomb and the women came to the
tomb and they hear him on the inside, help! Help! Help! There’s only twenty minutes of oxygen
left in here. I rose but I can’t get out. No, no, no. That’s not worthy of our worship. But there is
one who is worthy of our worship. He gets up from death. He folds, he makes his bed.
Everything is neat and in order. Then he just moves out of death, moves out of the tomb and
walks into the world and says, hey guys? Are you hungry? This is the one who is worthy of our
worship. We know him. We know him.

He is ascending up into heaven. Can you imagine it? The angels said what are you, why are you
looking into heaven? The disciples say, I don’t know. Somebody just went up there. I’ve never
seen that. It’s different. And now everything is moving in response to him.
And if we can say what is the hardest thing to move in the earth? What is the hardest thing to
move? He moved it all. Imagine this. Joshua fought and he called the sun to stand still and it
did. Why? Cause Christ allowed it. The sun stood still and the moon stood still and nobody fell
off the face of the planet, right? It was all kept in order because he is able. He is able. He goes
up. He ascends up into heaven and he tells us exactly where he is, doesn’t he? He said, I am
going to my Father. We are told he is seated at the right hand of the Father, there advocating
for you and for me.

So, when we are in our weakness and we have our failures, we look and say I know what to do
with this. I know what to do with this. I’m not going to sit under the weight of condemnation.
I’m not going to sit under the weight of shame. Instead, I’m going to recognize my Advocate in
heaven that he is praying for me and he has given me forgiveness and through his blood I’m
cleansed. We get up and move on.

But then also what are we waiting for? We are waiting for the one that we know. We are
waiting for him. Whether we are like Stephen who is welcomed home in heaven when we die
or we see the clouds again. The sky is moving. Everything is moving and the sound is different
than anything we have ever heard. He cracks the sky and says come on up. He is able. He is
worthy of our worship. Do we know him?

Then finally, you can go to Revelations 5. What a scene. Revelation 4 and 5. Have you read it? Have you
imagined it? The throne room of heaven where God is seated and all the stones and all the light
and all the glory and all of the song and all of the order and John is there and he is weeping.
He’s weeping. Why? Because no one is able to even look at what is in the hand of the Father.
No one is able to approach it. No one is able to touch it. No one is able to look at it. He is
weeping.

He can say to us, are you weeping at the way things are? Are you weeping at your view of the
world? Are you weeping at your family? Are you weeping? Are you torn by something? But then
the angel comes, taps him on the shoulder and says, there is one. There is one. There is the lion
of the tribe of Judah and he has prevailed. He walks up to the right hand of the Father and
there he takes the scroll out of his hand and there is a response. There is a response drawn out
of all of heaven and drawn out of all of creation that says, worthy is the Lamb! Worthy is the
Lamb! Glory and honor and majesty be unto the one. It’s incredible.

He is who we have. He is our Shepherd. We are in his hands. He cares for us. He loves us. He
leads us. So, when you see the image and when you are called to worship and something is commanded of you, just consider the one you know. And say, no, no, no, no. I have not so
learned Christ. But in learning Christ, I have so learned that I have something greater. My
worship is meant for something greater.
He grabs the scroll out of heaven. All of the beasts and elders fall down and worship and then
there is a statement made. And then all of creation, every animal, every person, every tribe,
every nation, every tongue cries out, worthy is the Lamb! We are in that. We are in that chorus.
We are in that, and we now in time have the freedom. We now have the freedom and the
liberty to be knowing him, to be walking with him. He’s not abstract. He’s not distant but he’s a
very ever present help in time of need. He walks with us. He talks with us. He tells us that we
are his own. And he wants us to know it. We revolve it around in our mind. We live it this way.
We stand on it.

And it might be that some time you find yourself standing three among three thousand.
Everybody is down on their knees saying, hey! Hey! Get in line. You say, no. No. I’m not getting
in line. This is too base for me. Worthy is the Lamb. I will sing to him. They’re going to throw
you in the fire. The fire is nothing. The fire has someone to be afraid of. I’m not worried about
it. Those are empty threats. There is fear in that. That’s fine. I’m okay. I know whom I believe
and I am persuaded. I am persuaded. Know him. Amen. Amen.

Please enjoy these sermon notes from the messages preached at Greater Grace Church in Baltimore. These notes are provided to aid in your study and understanding of the Word. Note that these notes do not represent complete, word-for-word transcriptions. Also, they may contain omissions as well as some errors in spelling and structure, etc., as we attempt to provide them as soon as possible. Our hope is that these notes serve as a way to help you search and connect with messages on related subjects and passages. Thank you for your interest in the ministry of Greater Grace