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Daniel chapter 3
this may be a story some of you are familiar with or maybe not
but nonetheless it's a good story it's one of those stories that every time I
read it or kind of stumble back on it again it's like oh this is good we need
to
we need to talk about this it's it's a good story because it's it's kind of
rich in imagery in our in our imagination as we as we begin to think
about the what's going on in this story it's it's really beautiful and there's
there's good application for it in our life it connects with us good this is
this is one of those stories there's a handful of those in scripture that just
really seem to connect and and this is one of them really there are several of
these good stories here at the beginning of the book of Daniel Daniel 1 through
6 if you're looking for something to read this week I would encourage you to
read those chapters because that whole whole beginning the first half of
Daniel there is beautiful kind of how this unfolds and would make a good movie
but nonetheless somebody's probably made a movie out of it but we'll be in Daniel
chapter chapter 3 this morning we'll pray and we'll talk a little bit and then
we'll we'll eventually get to our text Daniel chapter 3 verse 15 but let's
pray God we come to you we thank you for this land that we have to live in this
land of freedom dear Lord I thank you that we can come here today and we can
read your word and we can sing these songs dear Lord without fear dear Lord I
pray that we would never take this this freedom for granted but dear Lord I pray
that is a nation that you would have mercy on us that we'd be a nation that
seeks you and dear Lord we hadn't done too good a job of that God maybe even
amongst Christians we haven't done too good of a job of standing up for you and
living for you but I pray God that you would pour out your spirit on this land
that you'd send revival on this land dear Lord that we would be men and women
who seek you as individuals and as a nation I pray God that as we look at
your word today that you had hide me behind the cross that I'll be able to
preach and teach in a way that brings glory and honor to you and I pray that
you'd free us from our worries and distractions and thoughts of the world
but that in these few minutes that we would just hear from you today meet us
where we are dear Lord we need you and I ask these things in Jesus name amen a
little bit of a history lesson God's people were living in the land that he
had given them but but things were not good for God's people and it was it was
because of their disobedience they continually would find themselves into
trouble and eventually the 12 tribes of Israel would split into into two separate
groups the northern tribes retained the name of Israel there were ten of them
and then the southern tribes there were two of them and they were referred to as
Judah in the scripture well God's people were disobedient and I see it told them
earlier in the scripture look if you if you follow me I'm gonna bless you but if
you're disobedient to me I'm gonna curse you and that's exactly what happened
eventually the Assyrians came in about 722 BC and they overtook the ten
northern tribes that were referred to as Israel and and Judah had a couple of
good kings and so they kind of helped get God's people back on track but but
ultimately the southern two tribes failed to Judah fail as well and around
586 BC the Babylonians who were the superpower of the day came in and they
overtook what was left of God's people and and by this point God's people had
been scattered all around into the foreign lands and we see that in some of
the later books and in the Old Testament and the Babylonians come in and deported
many of these people who were living in the south and and and and took them back
to Babylon and and when they took them back they didn't really have much of a
choice they were foreigners living in a foreign land and you can imagine the
difficulties there you can imagine how that must have felt I mean I believe
that we could probably only imagine if somebody were to come in here today and
take you and say okay I'm taking you to another place to a foreign land that
speaks a different language with different customs and you're gone just
like that and that was that was what happened to God's people and this is
where we see the book of Daniel taking place now there was a king of Babylon at
the time and his name was Nebuchadnezzar you'll see a lot about him in the first
parts of the book of Daniel and what the the officials of Nebuchadnezzar were to
do is they were to get some of the some of the stronger men so some of the
stronger men that they had captured and deported and brought over here they were
to take some of these men and they were to make sure that they were fit to serve
on the King's Council in the King's Court they were they were going to be
those who were going to essentially be servants of the king and so they had a
certain diet they were supposed to eat and and they were to make sure that that
they learned the language so that they could speak well obviously they're in a
new place a new language they had to learn it and so so the best of the best
were supposed to be picked out and they were supposed to be ready and prepared
to serve in the King's Court and there were four that are mentioned here early
on in the book of Daniel one of them is Daniel the other one is Hananiah
Michelle and Azariah and these four men were chosen and after they were chosen
it was pretty clear that they were godly men we see that as we read through the
book of Daniel these were these were godly men who feared God and who served
God and who wanted to remain obedient to God and so so these men were were blessed
by God as a result of that early on in the book of Daniel it says that they were
ten times wiser than the King's wisest men and so God had blessed Daniel with
the ability to interpret dreams and the the the wisdom of Daniel and and
Hananiah Michelle and Azariah was great and so these men were certainly
prominent in the King's Court now perhaps you're not familiar with those
names you you may know the other three other than Daniel by the name of Shadrach
Meshach and Abednego their names were changed once they were brought into a
foreign land names that would be more fitting for that land and as we begin to
read through this story we see that Nebuchadnezzar was probably not so unlike
the other kings of the day and and and there were certainly many gods that were
worshiped in those lands and God had certainly told his people though should
have no other gods before me you worship me I am God I am one I am God alone you
worship me and don't worship any other gods and Daniel and Shadrach Meshach and
Abednego were godly men they appeared to be men who feared God and who served God
well King Nebuchadnezzar decided to erect this huge statue of gold so huge in
fact it was about 90 foot tall and about nine foot wide so this was quite the
statue that the King had erected and the King sent out a decree throughout the
land he said okay this big statue is here it is set up and whenever you hear
the music play he lists a bunch of instruments whenever you hear this the
instruments play whenever they begin to make music everybody of every tribe and
every nation of every language everybody it don't matter who you are it don't
matter if you come from the tribe of Judah it don't matter if you were born
and raised in Babylon whoever you are wherever you're from
Nebuchadnezzar is the king he's made this giant gold statue and when the
music sounds every one of you better bow down to this statue or else or else you
will be thrown into a fiery furnace you're gonna be burned alive this is
the command of the king you will worship the statue that I have set up or you
will be thrown into the fire well as we see when you read through the book of
Daniel you'll see that Daniel and Shadrach Meshach and Abednego are not
fazed by the by the the possibilities of what may happen to them if they don't do
what the king says because they are well aware that they serve God and so they're
not so much concerned about King Nebuchadnezzar and his commands whatever
they may be or whatever consequences they may suffer well there was a group
there Chaldeans that we see in the scriptures and it says that they took
this opportunity to bring these charges against Shadrach Meshach and Abednego
because guess what they wouldn't do well they wouldn't bow down to the golden
statue why they weren't gonna worship some statue they weren't gonna worship
false gods they weren't gonna worship the gods of that land because they
worshiped Yahweh the God of Israel so these Chaldeans went before the king and
they said look King you know may the king live forever you're good King you're
awesome and what you say is right and everything you say is good but the king
we hate to tell you this but there's some guys here and they well they're not
they're not bowing to this statue that you have set up they're not doing what
you have said and King you said that those who won't bow to this statue were
gonna be thrown into a fiery furnace well when King Nebuchadnezzar heard
this news he was he was furious he went into a furious rage that here the king
the highest official in the land that someone would say we're not gonna do
what you say to do so the king calls for Shadrach Meshach and Abednego and he
gets them in there and he says look now here's the deal here is this statue I am
the king and I'm telling you what to do and you're gonna do what I tell you to
do or I'm gonna throw you into the fiery furnace and in Daniel chapter 3 at the
end of verse 14 listen to what the king says at the end of excuse me at the end
of verse 15 here he says at the end of verse 15 and who is the God who can
rescue you from my power so the king's pretty full of himself here he says I am
the king I am the one in control I am the one who has all power I am the one
who has all authority and you're rejecting me and my power and my
authority for your God you're gonna choose your God over me and what does he
say and who is the God who's could rescue you from my power what Nebuchadnezzar
is saying there is I'm more powerful than God there is nobody who is more
powerful than me I've got the power and authority to kill you and there is no
other God in this world who can do anything to help you well those are
pretty strong words Nebuchadnezzar is treading on thin ice right there boy if
God had been God I might would have just struck you down right there but praise
the Lord God smarter than me God says okay I'll show this man he says who is
the God who can rescue you from me and so God being brilliant as he is he
answers that question for Nebuchadnezzar he shows Nebuchadnezzar his power let's
read verse 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king Nebuchadnezzar
we don't need to give you an answer to this question okay what's the question
who is the God who's gonna rescue you that's the question that he asked him
and they said we don't even need to give you an answer to this question and why
here's why verse 17 if the God we serve exists then he can rescue us from the
blazing from the furnace of blazing fire and he can rescue us from the power of
you the king now it says here if the God we serve exists Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego didn't have any doubts it's not like they were saying well I thank God
for real but I'm not sure if he exists he can save us I don't think that's what
they're saying there at all I think they're saying that for the sake of the
king because the king had just said what God can rescue you and they're saying
okay it's our God who can rescue you and if he exists he's gonna show you you
might not think he exists you may question whether or not he exists but
I'll tell you this the God we serve can rescue us from you king we're not
worried about you you think you have the power you think you have the authority
but King we want to tell you you were just a man but we serve God and the God
we serve can rescue us from this fire what a beautiful beautiful passage for
us to think about today the God we serve can rescue us from the fires that we are
up against he could do it now there are lots of fires in our life now I hope
that none of us are ever thrown into a literal fiery furnace maybe that day will
come if it does we need to remember this story but nonetheless there are things
that we may call fires in our life trials in our life difficulties in our
life things in our life that are really tough that feel like they are going to
overwhelm us and they're going to consume us and they are going to destroy
us but we need to remember that time and time again through the Word of God that
we see that God can rescue his people from their fires he can rescue us from
the fires of bad health he can rescue us from the fires of those who come
against us he can rescue us from the fires of fear whatever the fires are
that sometimes rage on our lives we serve a God who has the power to rescue
us he is greater than all that comes against us he is greater than anyone who
comes against us and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego remind us this morning that
we have a God who has the power to save us no matter what we are going through
so they said look look King we don't care what you say you don't believe our
God is real but we serve a God who can rescue us from you and we're not worried
about your power because he is more powerful than you are listen to this
next part here verse 18 but even if he does not rescue us we want you as King
to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up
now this is a good verse for us to remember too we serve a God who can do
whatever he wants he has the power to work miracles and sometimes he does he
has the power to deliver his people and sometimes he does but sometimes it may
not be God's will to work in the way in which we are asking him to work it's not
a it's not a limit to the power of God it just is simply that some things are
not the will of God some things that we desire and that we think and that we
want are not the will of God but Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego we're not
going to give up on God they said we serve a God that we know that we love
that we trust and he is all-powerful and he can do what he wants to do and if he
wants to save us King that he will save us but even if he does not even if he
does not deliver us from this King we will never turn from him that's what
they're saying King even if God does not save us in the way that we might want to
be saved right now we will not turn on our God we will not turn to you we will
not turn to false gods we will not turn to anything else because God is our God
and we will stand by him and what a beautiful word for us to consider today
because there are fires in our life and there are difficulties in our life and
there are hardships in our life and there are praise prayers that we pray
that sometime God doesn't answer them in the way that we want and things that
linger on and go on for days and weeks and months and years that we wish would
in and sometimes we may say why God are you there do you care God but what we
need to say God I don't understand why this is going on I don't like this God
this is difficult I wish you would make it in but God I know you are God and
even if you don't answer my prayer the way I want God even if you don't save me
from this sickness God even if you don't get me a better job God even if you
don't restore my marriage God you are good and I will not turn away from you
that's what Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego said their very life was on the
line but these are men who trusted God and loved God do we have that type of
love and trust for God in our life are we willing to be that bold today are we
willing to recognize who God is and say this is our God there is no one else we
can turn to that's what they told the King look we serve a God who's mighty
powerful way more powerful than you so we're not worried about you King who
knows our God might just deliver us from this but even if we don't even if he
doesn't we still love him we're still gonna praise him well they told the King
this you can imagine how the King took this how dare they question his
authority how dare they speak back to the King in such a way so the King is
furious at this point so he gets his strongest soldiers the scripture says
and they time up now you can imagine the strongest strongest soldiers probably
probably tying them up pretty tight he gives command he says I want you to heat
up that furnace hotter than it's ever been seven times hotter than normal I
want you to heat this thing up I want it to be a blazing fire so they do just
what the King offered they get some of the soldiers they begin to take Shadrach
Meshach and a bed to go up to the door of the furnace well the fire is so hot
by this point that the ones that are taking Shadrach Meshach and a bed to go
up to the fire burn up and their Shadrach Meshach and bed to go go right
into the midst of this blazing hot furnace they're thrown in there bound
tied up still wearing the clothes they were wearing and lo and behold as King
Nebuchadnezzar watches on he calls out to those with him and he says how many
people do we throw in that fire didn't we throw three people into that fire
then why is it that I see four people in the fire and they're not bound these men
were bound they were tied up by my strongest soldiers but yet there are
three men walking around in the fire but not only three there are four the King
says we threw three men into the fire but there's four men in the fire and he
says and one of them looks as though he is the son of God or a son of the gods
that is to say there's a divine being there in the midst of the fire with
them now you can imagine that this caught Nebuchadnezzar by surprise and he
calls out to him he calls out to him here a couple of verses down verse 26
Nebuchadnezzar then approached the door of the furnace of blazing fire and called
Shadrach Meshach and Abednego you servants of the most high God come out
so Shadrach Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire here's a God he wasn't
even willing to acknowledge here's a God that King Nebuchadnezzar had said that
he was better than that their God couldn't do anything to him and how does
he refer to the God of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego he says those who are
of the most high God come out of the fire and any sense of command throughout
the whole land he says anybody who says an offensive word against the God of
Shadrach Meshach and Abednego may their limbs be torn from their body and may
their homes be made as a garbage dump because there is no other God like the
God of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego what a powerful story for us to think
about today because there are fires in our lives and there are difficulties in
our lives and there are hard times in our lives and there are times that we
are called to stand up for God these men were willing to stand up for God knowing
that they were going to be thrown into a furnace of fire and too many times we
are not willing to stand up for God because we are afraid it might hurt
somebody's feelings or it might might cause trouble with us and our families
or at our jobs and we're just too ashamed to speak up yet these men were
willing to speak up with their life on the line and this is the example that you
and I need to look to that we need to be men and women who are not ashamed that
when the world comes out of us telling us what is right and what is wrong oh
you don't need to listen to the Bible it's old-fashioned that's not relevant
to us anymore here's the new way here's what's cool here's what's right here's
what the world said is good that we have the bonus to say we're not worshiping
that junk we're not worshiping the gods of this world we're not worshiping the
lives of this world we are going to stand by the Word of God because God's
Word is right and too many times what the world does is wrong and we have to
be men and women of God that are like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego men and
women who say I am ready to go through the fire for you Lord I am ready to
stand up for you God and here's the most beautiful thing is it's not always easy
I'm gonna tell you it's not always gonna be easy now God is with us God gives us
the words to say God gives us the strength but that doesn't mean that when
we stand for God that it's going to be easy the New Testament is full of people
who stand for God and it's not easy they're on trial they're in prison there
are some who lose their very lives for standing up for God we still see it in
our world today I'll tell you brothers and sisters in Christ it's not easy to
stand up for God and it doesn't mean that it's not going to result in a
difficult time sometimes it does but here's the beautiful part about this is
that God is with us just as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego went through the
fire we go through fires in life but they weren't alone there was another in
the fire God was there with them and whatever form he took I don't know but
it was God who was there with them in the fire that day it was God who walked
with them in the most difficult time in their life it was God who walked with
them and we need to learn that kind of trust maybe some of you have discovered
that in your life that there is there is nothing worse than when we are suffering
in this life there is nothing worse than when when sickness is just eating
up our bodies there's nothing worse in life than when our families are falling
apart our marriages are falling apart there's nothing worse in life when
there's conflict and when there's hard times there's those those things are
real and they're serious and they hurt and they're difficult but there's
something beautiful about those times for the brother or sister in Christ
there's something beautiful in those times for the child of God because if we
really seek God's Word and we really love God then it's in those times that
we begin to pray to God and we begin to call out to him and we begin to trust
him and depend on him more than ever and I suspect for some of you in this room
today you could probably tell me a story about how you were as low as you could
possibly be but you turned to God and you called to him in the midst of your
fire and there was God the presence of God and there's peace and there's joy
and there's comfort that comes even in the midst of our fires when we trust
God there's probably some of you in this room today and you're looking for that
peace and that comfort and your fire is raging on I don't know what it is I
don't need to know what it is but I know that there's some in this room because
life is hard for all of us and there's some fires that are raging on in your
life today and you need some peace and you need some strength and I'll tell you
you'll get it from the presence of God because just as Nebuchadnezzar said that
there is one like the Son of God who is there with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
I'll tell you today that there is the Son of God Jesus Christ who is with us
today in our fires that Jesus Christ died on a cross for you and I so that
we would not have to walk through our fires alone but though but that so our
sins could be forgiven so that he could strengthen us so that he could restore
us so that we he could make us better men and women and prepare us for our
eternity so that when we go through the fires we'll be unaffected because we'll
know that God is greater than whatever we are up against and Shadrach, Meshach
and Abednego were thrown into the fire with their clothes on and yet at the end
of the story it says they came out and they didn't even smell of smoke whatever
your fire is today that you think you can't go through by the power of God
he'll be with you he'll deliver you maybe he'll deliver it deliver you from
it in this life maybe sometimes the way God delivers us is by taking us to the
life to come but when we trust in Jesus Christ the fires that we are up against
they will not consume us when we give our life to Jesus Christ and trust him
as our Lord and Savior he delivers us we're unaffected just as Shadrach, Meshach
and Abednego were unaffected for all of eternity we will reign victorious with
Jesus Christ and what a beautiful story this is for us today what a beautiful
example to teach us how to trust in God and what a beautiful example of how God
shows up when we need him the most he wants to show up for you today if you'll
call out to him and seek him let's pray dear Lord we come to you we thank you
for these good words and I pray that you would bless these words dear Lord I
pray that as we battle against the things of the world dear Lord there are
always things that are that are that are pushed on your people dear Lord things
of the world that we are called to accept and just to to to essentially
worship dear Lord and praise these things but dear Lord we don't want to be
those who praise the things of the world dear Lord Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
did not praise the things of the world they did not praise the gold statue they
did not praise King Nebuchadnezzar God they praised you so God let us not
celebrate and rejoice sinful things in our world today God let us be those who
are bold enough to stand up for you God I pray that you would help us to trust
you like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego did that we would not we would not doubt
you for a second dear Lord God I pray that we come to you with our fears and
our and our troubles and our and our difficulties dear Lord that we pray for
your deliverance and for your guidance God but even if you don't answer our
prayers the way in which we ask God even if things don't work out the way we want
God we will not turn from you I pray that we would be those today that would
not turn from you God maybe there's some here today and they've never put their
faith and trust in Jesus Christ God maybe they've been walking through the
fires of life and they feel like they're about to burn up dear Lord I pray you
today that they would know that Jesus Christ is your son that he gave his life
on the cross that his blood was shed so that our sins could be forgiven so that
you could give us deliverance and peace in the midst of our fires so God I pray
that if there are some that do not know Jesus today that they would repent of
their sins turn from their sinful ways and turn to Jesus God maybe there's
some in here today and they are yours but nonetheless dear Lord those fires in
life they come there are seasons dear Lord where life is tough and maybe
there's some here today and they're in a tough season I pray dear Lord that they
would know that they are not alone as they walk through the fire that just as
you were with Shadrach Meshach in Abednego that God you are with us today
that you walk with us and I pray God that if there are some who are
struggling that they would seek you that they would call out to you God that that
they would feel your presence today that they would feel your peace that they
would feel your joy that you would encourage and I ask these things in
Jesus name amen