Saved From The Furnace By JESUS For Not Surrendering to satan 
A Sermon by Elise Beatrice

Let's pray.
Glorious Father, thank You for everything, for the great things You do, for Your son Jesus, Your Holy Spirit, Your holy angels. 
Thank You for Your people down here, those who belong to You, those whom You will bring to Yourself. Please teach us in this Daniel three, in the name of Your Son, Jesus. Amen. 

Daniel 3
3 King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue ninety feet tall and nine feet wide and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. 2 Then he sent messages to the high officers, officials, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the provincial officials to come to the dedication of the statue he had set up. 3 So all these officials came and stood before the statue King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
4 Then a herald shouted out, “People of all races and nations and languages, listen to the king’s command! 5 When you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and other musical instruments,bow to the ground to worship King Nebuchadnezzar’s gold statue. 6 Anyone who refuses to obey will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.”
7 So at the sound of the musical instruments, all the people, whatever their race or nation or language, bowed to the ground and worshiped the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 8 But some of the astrologers went to the king and informed on the Jews. 9 They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “Long live the king! 10 You issued a decree requiring all the people to bow down and worship the gold statue when they hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and other musical instruments. 11 That decree also states that those who refuse to obey must be thrown into a blazing furnace. 12 But there are some Jews—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—whom you have put in charge of the province of Babylon. They pay no attention to you, Your Majesty. They refuse to serve your gods and do not worship the gold statue you have set up.”
13 Then Nebuchadnezzar flew into a rage and ordered that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought before him.When they were brought in, 14 Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you refuse to serve my gods or to worship the gold statue I have set up? 15 I will give you one more chance to bow down and worship the statue I have made when you hear the sound of the musical instruments. But if you refuse, you will be thrown immediately into the blazing furnace. And then what god will be able to rescue you from my power?”
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. 18 But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.”
19 Nebuchadnezzar was so furious with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that his face became distorted with rage. He commanded that the furnace be heated seven times hotter than usual. 20 Then he ordered some of the strongest men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. 21 So they tied them up and threw them into the furnace, fully dressed in their pants, turbans, robes, and other garments. 22 And because the king, in his anger, had demanded such a hot fire in the furnace, the flames killed the soldiers as they threw the three men in. 23 So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, securely tied, fell into the roaring flames.
24 But suddenly, Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in amazement and exclaimed to his advisers, “Didn’t we tie up three men and throw them into the furnace?”
“Yes, Your Majesty, we certainly did,” they replied.
25 “Look!” Nebuchadnezzar shouted. “I see four men, unbound, walking around in the fire unharmed! And the fourth looks like a god!”
26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came as close as he could to the door of the flaming furnace and shouted: “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!”
So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego stepped out of the fire. 27 Then the high officers, officials, governors, and advisers crowded around them and saw that the fire had not touched them. Not a hair on their heads was singed, and their clothing was not scorched. They didn’t even smell of smoke!
28 Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! He sent his angel to rescue his servants who trusted in him. They defied the king’s command and were willing to die rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. 29 Therefore, I make this decree: If any people, whatever their race or nation or language, speak a word against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they will be torn limb from limb, and their houses will be turned into heaps of rubble. There is no other god who can rescue like this!”
30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to even higher positions in the province of Babylon.


Wow, what a story! What a miracle! This is just great! This is a great example of faith and of trust in the Lord. We can really, truly learn from this story. We can learn from it.
When we look around us today, we can still see these kinds of stories happening in some places where the Christiansare heavily persecuted. But in most Western countries, we hardly see such a great faith like the one of Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego. 
King Nebuchadnezzar was a frightening king. Horrible. He was ruthless. He could just kill like that with no mercy.

So, the word of a king means something to him. Everybody abided by it to bow down and worship his gold statue, except three servants of the God Most High. In this situation, the life of Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego did not matter to them. They loved the Lord God more than their lives. While the others loved their lives and feared death, Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego did not fear death. It was more important for them to obey God than surrender to the decree of Nebuchadnezzar. And the Lord loved that very much because He came to their rescue. This is a perfect example shown to us in writing, and should we visualize this? It is a very powerful story confirming what the Lord Jesus said to us. “Whoever wants to save their life will lose it.”

This passage is also reminding us of the Last Days when the Antichrist will finally be revealed. And there will be the mark of the beast, and this same condition will be given to all who are trapped, and they will say the same thing, “If you do not take this mark, you will be killed.” Nebuchadnezzar said, “If you do not worship my idol, the statue of myself (which is idolatry,) you will be thrown into the furnace.”
So, the thought of the furnace being so hot can already make people fear death and take irrational decisions and bow down and surrender to the ruthless king. The soldier of Nebuchadnezzar did not know the God Most High, God, who is above all, God, who is a protection. For this, by just approaching it, they died. But Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego, who entered the fire, were unharmed because of the Lord who came and protected them and made the fire, the burning furnace, like a place where they could be comfortable. And that was amazing. That was such a great miracle that only God could do.

So, why should anyone be forced to worship somebody’s statue?  In the same way, why should anyone be forced to take the mark of the beast when the Lord has given everyone free will?
Because when the devil is in the place, that is what happens. The devil wants to get his way by force. He wants to take everyone’s freedom from them. So, we should read this passage, learn from it and see that though we are not yet in the time when the Antichrist will finally be revealed, we are already in the Last Days. We are not yet at the end of it. 
And when we look around us today, we are seeing lots of people denying Christ out of fear because they fear persecution. The fear that they will be left out. They think they are missing out on the things of the world, the same very thing the Lord will destroy. 
So many, when they face a challenging situation like this, they give in to fear and they surrender to the devil. 
Of course, we are looking at another human, but behind every human is the devil if their ways are evil, and there is God behind every human when their ways are just. There is not a single evil person who is not coached by satan. Yes, we can understand that the decree of Nebuchadnezzar was wicked. He loved himself so much. 

So we should not fear. The Lord God has the power to save us from hell, to save us from spiritual death and even physical death when He sees that our time has not yet come. We can put our trust in Him by doing what is right. 

King Nebuchadnezzar was not asking these people to do something that was righteous. We should not be afraid to reject immorality, especially if we are the servants of the God Most High. If we are the servants of the God Most High, why do we fear when He’s above all things? Who else can jump into the fire and protect people in the fire, and not even a smell of fire touches them? Who else can do that but the Lord Jesus Christ? 
The verse in Isaiah says, ‘When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, and even its flame shall not consume you.’ 
This is when we walk through the fire in such a situation that we wanted to do something good, something just in the eyes of the Lord when someone instead wanted us to sin against the Lord Most High.
Now, we must understand. Choosing that out of fear is to condemn ourselves already, for 

Choosing to do something immoral in a situation when we have a choice to do something good is already proclaiming our condemnation and choosing hell over Heaven and Satan over God. 

So, this is a beautiful story, and it fills me with joy. Because, yes, we have a Lord. The Lord Jesus came and said, ‘yes, I am here, I am here. I am your God. If you listen to Me, you will no longer walk in darkness. I am the Light. Those who walk in the Light will no longer walk in the darkness,’ says the Lord. 
So, we are not alone. We have the Lord. And the Lord never abandons those who strive to be righteous.
When a situation presents itself, and we are forced to choose what is wrong, we should not fear death in that situation, but we should seek to do what is right, even if we die along the way. For even if we die, and the Lord lets it happen, that means our time to die has come. But if it is not our time to die, the Lord Jesus Christ won’t let that happen. Because then, the Lord, who is the Author of morality, will defend you. 
This is a perfect example, this passage in Daniel 3. And Nebuchadnezzar himself was blown away. He was amazed. 
This situation of the furnace brought him now to praise God. Wow. This coming from someone, from an idolater, fromsomeone who was so proud, someone who was so full of himself, coming from someone like that, that means he was proven wrong. And, of course, this was the beginning of his conversion. For he ended up being the worshiper of the God Most High. And that was a great miracle. It is a great miracle. So, this is a beautiful passage. We can learn a lot from it. See the power of the Lord God, His faithfulness, His promise He always keeps that He will never leave us nor forsake us, given that we are doing His will, the will of His Father. 
So thank you for listening. 

So thank You, my Lord, that You are so good, so great, Lord. Your grace, my Lord, that is Your beauty, Your power, Your mighty power from Heaven. Yes, Lord, You are Almighty, Everlasting Father, Mighty God, Prince of Peace, Wonderful Counselor. 
Yes, thank You so much, Lord. I love this. Nothing is too hard for You, Lord. Nothing. 
Thank You that You are our strength when we are tired and our power when we are weak. 
We love You, God, forever. 
Please, as You have always been doing, coming to our rescue when we look up to You instead of facing darkness.
In Jesus’ name, Your holy name, Lord, I pray. 
Thank You. Thank You, Lord. Amen.