WEBVTT 00:00:03.759 --> 00:00:06.459 Hey friend, welcome back to the Seminarian. Another 00:00:06.459 --> 00:00:09.000 week, another episode of our Bible study series 00:00:09.000 --> 00:00:11.500 called The Bible for Grown Ups. This is another 00:00:11.500 --> 00:00:15.320 one of those childhood stories. Tonight we're 00:00:15.320 --> 00:00:21.960 going to look at how we have a faith that once 00:00:21.960 --> 00:00:24.899 it's tested, when we go through hard times in 00:00:24.899 --> 00:00:29.260 our lives, what happens is that faith is a faith 00:00:29.260 --> 00:00:33.549 that in the future can be trusted. Even when 00:00:33.549 --> 00:00:37.670 we don't know the end to our own story. Tonight 00:00:37.670 --> 00:00:40.509 we're going to look at the famous story of Shadrach, 00:00:40.609 --> 00:00:43.909 Meshach, and Abednego. And I will see you on 00:00:43.909 --> 00:00:50.729 the other side. Now I'm going to get started. 00:00:51.630 --> 00:00:53.850 So we're going to continue talking about Daniel, 00:00:53.909 --> 00:00:56.070 doing those kind of Bible stories that we talk 00:00:56.070 --> 00:00:59.770 about. We give them the... We have a childlike 00:00:59.770 --> 00:01:01.679 understanding. We need to look at it from an 00:01:01.679 --> 00:01:03.399 adult perspective. This is another one of those 00:01:03.399 --> 00:01:04.760 stories that you're going to probably be familiar 00:01:04.760 --> 00:01:08.319 with from your childhood if you were around church 00:01:08.319 --> 00:01:10.599 at all. We're going to be looking today at Daniel 00:01:10.599 --> 00:01:17.159 chapter 3. And the reality is right now for many 00:01:17.159 --> 00:01:21.180 of us, we've said this before, that many of us 00:01:21.180 --> 00:01:24.239 are going through difficult times. And we have 00:01:24.239 --> 00:01:28.049 talked about the truth and the saying that If 00:01:28.049 --> 00:01:30.469 you're not going through a difficult time right 00:01:30.469 --> 00:01:34.890 now, you unfortunately probably will before you 00:01:34.890 --> 00:01:40.390 know it. And we acknowledge as adults that the 00:01:40.390 --> 00:01:43.549 Bible doesn't prevent, Jesus doesn't prevent 00:01:43.549 --> 00:01:46.909 trouble coming to us. In fact, the Gospel of 00:01:46.909 --> 00:01:50.189 John in 1633 says in this world you in fact will 00:01:50.189 --> 00:01:54.030 have trouble. Take heart for I have overcome 00:01:54.030 --> 00:01:57.959 the world. And I don't know everyone's situation, 00:01:58.299 --> 00:02:00.480 but I know a lot of people are battling one fire 00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:03.579 or another. It could be a financial or a health 00:02:03.579 --> 00:02:08.060 -related fire, a relational situation, job instability. 00:02:09.259 --> 00:02:14.180 Maybe it's not unstable. Maybe you've just been 00:02:14.180 --> 00:02:16.020 searching for a while and you haven't found it. 00:02:16.599 --> 00:02:19.259 Maybe you start to begin to feel that things 00:02:19.259 --> 00:02:22.639 aren't going to get any better. You feel like 00:02:22.639 --> 00:02:25.099 you've done everything that you know how to do, 00:02:25.259 --> 00:02:30.319 but you're still struggling. What do we do when 00:02:30.319 --> 00:02:33.620 we're in the middle of the fire? Well, I'd like 00:02:33.620 --> 00:02:35.439 to read a portion of Scripture that hopefully 00:02:35.439 --> 00:02:38.680 can establish some direction for us this evening. 00:02:38.879 --> 00:02:41.419 I pray this speaks to you the way that it speaks 00:02:41.419 --> 00:02:45.379 to me. Then I'll introduce this story we're going 00:02:45.379 --> 00:02:51.409 to find in Daniel 3. 1 Peter 1 and 7. It says 00:02:51.409 --> 00:02:54.509 these trials, whatever it is we're going through, 00:02:54.770 --> 00:02:59.110 the trials will show that your faith is genuine. 00:02:59.889 --> 00:03:03.569 As you endure these trials, they'll show the 00:03:03.569 --> 00:03:06.590 quality and depth of your faith. It is being 00:03:06.590 --> 00:03:11.229 tested as fire tests and purifies gold. Though 00:03:11.229 --> 00:03:15.139 your faith is far more precious than gold. When 00:03:15.139 --> 00:03:17.280 your faith remains strong through many trials, 00:03:17.439 --> 00:03:20.099 it will bring, Scripture says, much praise and 00:03:20.099 --> 00:03:23.460 glory and honor on the day when Jesus is revealed 00:03:23.460 --> 00:03:27.379 to the whole world. Apostle Peter says these 00:03:27.379 --> 00:03:30.780 trials will reveal your faith. It will show that 00:03:30.780 --> 00:03:33.199 the faith that you have is, in fact, genuine. 00:03:34.139 --> 00:03:36.840 In fact, the key thought for us this evening 00:03:36.840 --> 00:03:41.680 is this. A faith that has been tested is a faith 00:03:41.680 --> 00:03:45.180 that can be trusted. And we're going to look 00:03:45.180 --> 00:03:49.139 today at faith truly being tested in the lives 00:03:49.139 --> 00:03:53.439 of three teenage boys, probably of the age of 00:03:53.439 --> 00:03:57.039 14 or 15 years of age, by the name of Shadrach, 00:03:57.080 --> 00:04:01.580 Meshach, and Abednego. Now remember King Nebuchadnezzar, 00:04:01.599 --> 00:04:06.620 he's the evil king. And at one point, you may 00:04:06.620 --> 00:04:09.139 remember from the story, he decides to build 00:04:09.139 --> 00:04:13.819 this gigantic... Statue of himself. Tell everybody 00:04:13.819 --> 00:04:18.819 in the kingdom, you must bow down and worship 00:04:18.819 --> 00:04:24.439 the golden statue of me. The statue was over 00:04:24.439 --> 00:04:28.019 90 feet tall. So a nine story building tall, 00:04:28.279 --> 00:04:33.160 right? 30 yards straight up in the air. And it 00:04:33.160 --> 00:04:36.680 was nine feet wide. He says every government 00:04:36.680 --> 00:04:39.819 leader, every advisor, every judge, every magistrate. 00:04:40.250 --> 00:04:42.670 I want you all to come to this dedication. In 00:04:42.670 --> 00:04:47.470 Daniel 3, verses 4 through 6, the herald shouts 00:04:47.470 --> 00:04:51.250 out. When you hear the sound of the horn, flute, 00:04:51.529 --> 00:04:55.350 zither, lyre, harp, and pipes, and all of the 00:04:55.350 --> 00:04:59.490 other musical instruments, he tells us to bow 00:04:59.490 --> 00:05:02.149 to the ground to worship King Nebuchadnezzar's 00:05:02.149 --> 00:05:07.089 gold statue. Bow to the ground and worship the 00:05:07.089 --> 00:05:13.579 statue. Then he says in verse 6, anyone who refuses 00:05:13.579 --> 00:05:20.000 to obey will immediately be thrown into the blazing 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:25.120 furnace. Verses 12 through 15 of chapter 3, we 00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:32.100 see, well, everybody bowing low. Except for these 00:05:32.100 --> 00:05:36.420 three teenage boys who continue to stand firm, 00:05:36.519 --> 00:05:40.019 even... When there was a trial they were facing, 00:05:40.180 --> 00:05:43.620 right? And the result of that trial could be, 00:05:43.680 --> 00:05:47.879 they could be thrown into a fire. Remember, a 00:05:47.879 --> 00:05:50.459 faith that's tested is a faith that can be trusted. 00:05:50.480 --> 00:05:53.459 In this story, we have three teenage boys who 00:05:53.459 --> 00:05:56.319 are staring down a very, very difficult day. 00:05:57.160 --> 00:06:00.420 And there's some qualities of faith that occur, 00:06:00.680 --> 00:06:02.360 I'm sorry, there's some qualities that occur 00:06:02.360 --> 00:06:06.389 within our faith. when we're facing these seasons 00:06:06.389 --> 00:06:11.810 of trials, or for today's purpose, the fire that 00:06:11.810 --> 00:06:16.209 we're looking at. And I really believe, I believe 00:06:16.209 --> 00:06:20.329 that God could speak to us, specifically, as 00:06:20.329 --> 00:06:24.110 to why God would allow the circumstances of some 00:06:24.110 --> 00:06:27.050 challenges that we experience. That's one of 00:06:27.050 --> 00:06:31.250 the big questions we so often ask God. God, why 00:06:31.250 --> 00:06:37.509 is this happening to me? Because a faith that 00:06:37.509 --> 00:06:41.370 is tested is a faith that can be trusted. Right? 00:06:42.110 --> 00:06:44.649 And so I want to talk about the qualities of 00:06:44.649 --> 00:06:47.930 faith we see in this story as we navigate our 00:06:47.930 --> 00:06:50.769 way through the fire. The first one is this. 00:06:51.870 --> 00:06:58.629 Faith obeys God, not mankind. Everybody's bowing 00:06:58.629 --> 00:07:01.170 down. These three boys are standing. Scripture 00:07:01.170 --> 00:07:05.600 says in verse 16, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego 00:07:05.600 --> 00:07:08.720 replied to him, to the king, King Nebuchadnezzar, 00:07:08.839 --> 00:07:13.480 we do not need to defend ourselves before you 00:07:13.480 --> 00:07:18.040 in this matter. Now, remember how I told you 00:07:18.040 --> 00:07:21.180 that these Babylonian and Persian kings, they 00:07:21.180 --> 00:07:25.279 thought of themselves pretty highly. They were 00:07:25.279 --> 00:07:28.779 convinced that they themselves were gods. These 00:07:28.779 --> 00:07:31.920 are very, very powerful, important individuals. 00:07:33.129 --> 00:07:36.050 Now put yourself in the sandals of these teenage 00:07:36.050 --> 00:07:41.949 boys who have the audacity, who have the confidence 00:07:41.949 --> 00:07:49.149 to stare down a king, almost certain death, and 00:07:49.149 --> 00:07:53.269 say, you know what, king? We don't have to answer 00:07:53.269 --> 00:07:57.670 to you about this. Because this, this isn't even 00:07:57.670 --> 00:08:02.689 between us and you. This, what we're doing, is 00:08:02.689 --> 00:08:07.370 between us and God. Faith obeys God instead of 00:08:07.370 --> 00:08:10.470 obeying mankind. They didn't have to pray about 00:08:10.470 --> 00:08:12.910 it. They didn't have to think about it. They 00:08:12.910 --> 00:08:17.610 didn't have to fast on it. They didn't have to 00:08:17.610 --> 00:08:20.550 take this dramatic circumstance of their life, 00:08:20.689 --> 00:08:25.050 post it all in graphic detail on Facebook, ask 00:08:25.050 --> 00:08:28.069 everybody to comment what they should do, right? 00:08:28.129 --> 00:08:31.430 None of that. They had one predetermined plan, 00:08:31.509 --> 00:08:34.870 and that was obedience to God no matter what. 00:08:34.970 --> 00:08:39.549 That's it. We'll be obedient to God no matter 00:08:39.549 --> 00:08:45.029 what. Now, remember, we talked about this last 00:08:45.029 --> 00:08:47.750 week, about Daniel being challenged about praying 00:08:47.750 --> 00:08:51.990 and stuff. And we can rationalize very easily 00:08:51.990 --> 00:08:56.490 excuses by which we think we might be able to 00:08:56.490 --> 00:09:01.110 fake it. It would have been easy for these boys 00:09:01.110 --> 00:09:08.070 to rationalize this and compromise. Everybody 00:09:08.070 --> 00:09:12.750 is bowing. Everybody. They could have easily, 00:09:12.909 --> 00:09:16.490 easily said to each other, all right, look, just 00:09:16.490 --> 00:09:21.470 bow down. Pretend that you're worshiping this 00:09:21.470 --> 00:09:25.850 90 -foot ridiculous statue, right? But in our 00:09:25.850 --> 00:09:30.220 hearts, we're seeing. to god in our hearts we're 00:09:30.220 --> 00:09:33.960 praying to the one true god we'll just fake it 00:09:33.960 --> 00:09:40.879 or they could have said hey all right we'll worship 00:09:40.879 --> 00:09:44.779 the idol then tomorrow we'll wake up with a lot 00:09:44.779 --> 00:09:48.139 of guilt and we'll do what we've done before 00:09:48.139 --> 00:09:54.019 i'll just ask god to forgive me that hits home 00:09:54.019 --> 00:09:57.179 for a lot of us Because many of us live our lives 00:09:57.179 --> 00:10:00.039 in such a way where maybe we find that it's okay 00:10:00.039 --> 00:10:03.980 to go out, do what we want, wake up feeling guilty 00:10:03.980 --> 00:10:08.220 and just, oh, I'll ask for forgiveness. These 00:10:08.220 --> 00:10:12.759 boys didn't do that. It's a predetermined outcome 00:10:12.759 --> 00:10:16.779 that was them saying, well, honor God, obey God, 00:10:16.919 --> 00:10:19.879 no matter what. We are not following what everybody 00:10:19.879 --> 00:10:23.289 else is doing. And I promise. You hear me say 00:10:23.289 --> 00:10:25.610 this ad nauseum. If you're a follower of Christ, 00:10:25.809 --> 00:10:29.529 Satan, your spiritual enemy, will give you ample 00:10:29.529 --> 00:10:35.870 opportunity in this world to compromise. To trick 00:10:35.870 --> 00:10:39.149 yourself into not believing what you know to 00:10:39.149 --> 00:10:43.389 be true. What you know God's purpose to be for 00:10:43.389 --> 00:10:49.970 you. But we're not to listen. Because faith... 00:10:50.379 --> 00:10:54.379 Our faith, we want our faith to focus on an audience 00:10:54.379 --> 00:11:00.220 of one and not the approval of others. The second 00:11:00.220 --> 00:11:03.639 thing that we see from these boys is that faith 00:11:03.639 --> 00:11:08.879 obeys in spite of what it sees. This is the walking 00:11:08.879 --> 00:11:14.279 by faith, not by sight bit. Faith in spite of 00:11:14.279 --> 00:11:20.659 what it sees. Daniel 3, now verse 17. The boys 00:11:20.659 --> 00:11:23.960 speak again to Nebuchadnezzar. They say, if we're 00:11:23.960 --> 00:11:28.240 thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom 00:11:28.240 --> 00:11:36.519 we serve is able to save us. And he will rescue 00:11:36.519 --> 00:11:42.139 us from your power, your majesty. No matter what 00:11:42.139 --> 00:11:48.129 I see, I believe my faith is convinced. That 00:11:48.129 --> 00:11:53.889 my God is all -powerful. And my God is willing 00:11:53.889 --> 00:11:58.789 to save me. And this is something I think we 00:11:58.789 --> 00:12:02.049 need to really wrestle to the ground and understand 00:12:02.049 --> 00:12:05.909 in our own spiritual walks. Because it helps 00:12:05.909 --> 00:12:10.809 a lot of things make sense. Because there is 00:12:10.809 --> 00:12:15.129 a big difference between a God being able to 00:12:15.129 --> 00:12:19.049 do something in your life who wants to do something 00:12:19.049 --> 00:12:22.529 in your life. No matter what the circumstances 00:12:22.529 --> 00:12:30.029 look like in your world, we believe no matter 00:12:30.029 --> 00:12:32.769 what. And you might be saying, well, what do 00:12:32.769 --> 00:12:34.269 you mean? I mean, I'm talking about even like 00:12:34.269 --> 00:12:36.750 maybe in the last month you may have left the 00:12:36.750 --> 00:12:39.330 doctor and you had news that you did not expect 00:12:39.330 --> 00:12:44.409 to hear. And it rocked your world. So what do 00:12:44.409 --> 00:12:46.769 we do in those situations where we have to rely 00:12:46.769 --> 00:12:49.889 on our faith and not on what we see? Well, A, 00:12:50.070 --> 00:12:53.750 we have to trust God. The second thing is our 00:12:53.750 --> 00:12:58.669 faith has to rise to those situations and believe 00:12:58.669 --> 00:13:02.809 with everything in you that my God, that our 00:13:02.809 --> 00:13:07.350 God is not only able to heal, but I believe our 00:13:07.350 --> 00:13:13.500 God is willing to heal. Now. What God actually 00:13:13.500 --> 00:13:18.679 does, well, that's up to God. But he's called 00:13:18.679 --> 00:13:23.240 us to pray and believe prayers of faith. Right? 00:13:23.399 --> 00:13:25.980 Maybe we're looking at a dangerously low checking 00:13:25.980 --> 00:13:30.059 account. Well, one, maybe we sell the sea, dude. 00:13:30.580 --> 00:13:35.799 Maybe, secondly, get a job. Third, believe with 00:13:35.799 --> 00:13:38.960 everything in you that my God is willing and 00:13:38.960 --> 00:13:44.259 able to provide for me. Maybe it's a relationship 00:13:44.259 --> 00:13:48.320 that's falling apart. So what do we do? What 00:13:48.320 --> 00:13:50.299 does our faith do? Our faith has to grow and 00:13:50.299 --> 00:13:55.379 say, I believe that my God is powerful and is 00:13:55.379 --> 00:14:02.960 willing and able to restore relationships. There's 00:14:02.960 --> 00:14:07.740 so much doubt in our world. And I think we are 00:14:07.740 --> 00:14:10.570 so often lured in. to the thought that the things 00:14:10.570 --> 00:14:13.230 that we allow ourselves to think, the things 00:14:13.230 --> 00:14:15.730 we allow ourselves to pray, the things that we 00:14:15.730 --> 00:14:19.629 allow the circumstances around us to define in 00:14:19.629 --> 00:14:24.070 our lives, God is not confined to those things. 00:14:25.629 --> 00:14:28.750 He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 00:14:29.509 --> 00:14:33.649 God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly more 00:14:33.649 --> 00:14:36.870 than you would ever even dare ask God to do. 00:14:38.919 --> 00:14:43.240 So if we believe that, why doubt? Our faith says 00:14:43.240 --> 00:14:46.600 that God is with us. Our faith believes no matter 00:14:46.600 --> 00:14:52.779 what we see. Now, here's my last thought. Faithful 00:14:52.779 --> 00:14:56.559 obedience is our responsibility. The outcome, 00:14:56.659 --> 00:15:02.039 though, is God's. This is a big, big deal. This 00:15:02.039 --> 00:15:06.580 is a key to successful Christian living. Understanding. 00:15:07.470 --> 00:15:10.830 That living out what God has called us to do, 00:15:10.970 --> 00:15:15.730 the life that God has purposed you to live, that's 00:15:15.730 --> 00:15:21.389 your job. But that's where your job ends. What 00:15:21.389 --> 00:15:26.870 does God do with it after His job begins? It's 00:15:26.870 --> 00:15:29.970 up to God. Our job is to be obedient, to be faithful. 00:15:30.809 --> 00:15:37.340 How it plays out is up to God. No promises. Right? 00:15:37.940 --> 00:15:42.919 Recognition. Our job is obedience. Outcome is 00:15:42.919 --> 00:15:46.440 God's. Daniel chapter 3 and 18. I think we see 00:15:46.440 --> 00:15:49.320 this illustrated. Now remember, these are three 00:15:49.320 --> 00:15:54.340 teenage boys staring down a powerful king saying, 00:15:54.480 --> 00:15:56.960 I believe my God is able and I believe my God 00:15:56.960 --> 00:16:00.820 is willing. And then at 18, he says, they say, 00:16:01.080 --> 00:16:08.179 but even if he doesn't, I believe that my God 00:16:08.179 --> 00:16:12.840 will save me. I believe that my God can save 00:16:12.840 --> 00:16:17.919 me. And I believe my God wants to save me. But 00:16:17.919 --> 00:16:23.220 even if He doesn't, we want to make clear to 00:16:23.220 --> 00:16:31.799 you, Your Majesty, that we will never, ever serve 00:16:31.799 --> 00:16:35.299 your gods. or worship the gold statue that you 00:16:35.299 --> 00:16:41.139 have set up. No matter what, we will do what 00:16:41.139 --> 00:16:45.019 is right before God, and we will simply trust 00:16:45.019 --> 00:16:50.659 Him with the outcome. And guys, it is super, 00:16:50.779 --> 00:16:54.220 super easy for us to listen to the story and 00:16:54.220 --> 00:16:57.700 think, well, duh, of course they did say that. 00:16:57.799 --> 00:17:00.799 Because we know the outcome of the story. We 00:17:00.799 --> 00:17:04.269 know how it turns out. We think, well, that's 00:17:04.269 --> 00:17:06.690 not such a big deal. We know already they're 00:17:06.690 --> 00:17:11.069 going to be rescued. Because we're several thousand 00:17:11.069 --> 00:17:13.309 years removed from this story. We've got three 00:17:13.309 --> 00:17:18.630 young boys that are facing a very hot oven. They 00:17:18.630 --> 00:17:22.289 are about to become crispy critters. They don't 00:17:22.289 --> 00:17:24.549 know what God is going to do, but their faith 00:17:24.549 --> 00:17:29.289 is unwavering because they know intimately the 00:17:29.289 --> 00:17:31.670 goodness and the power and the heart of their 00:17:31.670 --> 00:17:35.309 God. And so... In response to this insolence, 00:17:35.369 --> 00:17:39.349 this rebellion, what does King Nebuchadnezzar 00:17:39.349 --> 00:17:44.589 do? For the first time, King Nebuchadnezzar orders 00:17:44.589 --> 00:17:47.450 that the furnace be stoked seven times hotter 00:17:47.450 --> 00:17:50.809 than normal. He orders that the strong soldiers 00:17:50.809 --> 00:17:54.490 would bind these boys' hands and throw them into 00:17:54.490 --> 00:18:00.630 the furnace. They are going to die. And the furnace, 00:18:00.890 --> 00:18:06.440 the Bible says, The Bible was so hot. The Bible 00:18:06.440 --> 00:18:08.960 actually describes that the soldiers who were 00:18:08.960 --> 00:18:13.140 throwing the boys into the furnace died instantly. 00:18:14.519 --> 00:18:19.079 Not in the furnace. Outside of it. That's how 00:18:19.079 --> 00:18:24.599 hot it was. And so seemingly, they get thrown 00:18:24.599 --> 00:18:32.710 to their death. But God, verse 24, Then King 00:18:32.710 --> 00:18:37.009 Nebuchadnezzar was astonished, and he rose in 00:18:37.009 --> 00:18:40.430 haste and spoke. He spoke to his counselors and 00:18:40.430 --> 00:18:43.789 said, Did we not cast three men bound into the 00:18:43.789 --> 00:18:47.230 midst of the fire? And they answered and said, 00:18:47.309 --> 00:18:54.650 True, O king. Look, he answered, we see four 00:18:54.650 --> 00:18:58.269 men loose, walking in the midst of the fire. 00:18:59.170 --> 00:19:03.359 They're not... and the form of the fourth is 00:19:03.359 --> 00:19:08.019 like, Scripture says, is like the Son of God. 00:19:10.059 --> 00:19:14.359 This isn't the New Testament. This is not Acts. 00:19:14.440 --> 00:19:16.980 This is not Ephesians. This is Daniel from the 00:19:16.980 --> 00:19:24.440 Old Testament. Many people, many people, I don't 00:19:24.440 --> 00:19:27.029 know that it necessarily to me matters. whether 00:19:27.029 --> 00:19:30.150 it is or isn't, but many people see that fourth 00:19:30.150 --> 00:19:35.630 character in the furnace as Christ. It's something 00:19:35.630 --> 00:19:38.410 that's called a Christophany. That's the big 00:19:38.410 --> 00:19:41.170 word for tonight, Christophany, which means a 00:19:41.170 --> 00:19:44.890 Christ appearance in the Old Testament. Another 00:19:44.890 --> 00:19:50.789 one is King Melchizedek. I don't know if you 00:19:50.789 --> 00:19:52.490 guys have ever heard of that character from Genesis. 00:19:53.440 --> 00:19:57.299 He's another guy that a lot of people think might 00:19:57.299 --> 00:20:00.640 be this Old Testament incarnation of the person, 00:20:00.680 --> 00:20:03.839 the one we know as Jesus. Not the person, but 00:20:03.839 --> 00:20:08.940 the one we know as Jesus. Now remember too, not 00:20:08.940 --> 00:20:12.000 only were there three, now there's four, but 00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:14.339 when they were thrown into the fire, Scripture 00:20:14.339 --> 00:20:17.759 says that they were bound up. But now it says 00:20:17.759 --> 00:20:22.220 that they're running around loose. As they looked 00:20:22.220 --> 00:20:28.079 in, they saw four men in there, unbound. Now, 00:20:28.119 --> 00:20:33.400 why is that relevant? Because, using an illustration 00:20:33.400 --> 00:20:36.480 of fire versus troubles or whatever, if you're 00:20:36.480 --> 00:20:40.059 facing a fire right now, some big, some small, 00:20:40.259 --> 00:20:44.339 and maybe you're begging God to deliver you from 00:20:44.339 --> 00:20:48.700 the suffering. You're begging God to bring an 00:20:48.700 --> 00:20:52.349 end. to this season of challenge, a season of 00:20:52.349 --> 00:20:58.130 hurt, a season of trial. And I appreciate that. 00:20:58.230 --> 00:21:02.210 I've been there and will be there again, just 00:21:02.210 --> 00:21:07.529 like you. But could I propose, perhaps, even 00:21:07.529 --> 00:21:10.130 as we saw in this story, that the very thing 00:21:10.130 --> 00:21:15.609 that you want God to remove from you might be 00:21:15.609 --> 00:21:18.390 the very mechanism that God uses to set you free? 00:21:19.019 --> 00:21:21.039 Right? I mean, the idea is that the fire would 00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:25.539 have burned the bindings off of their wrists. 00:21:26.740 --> 00:21:32.420 And so we conclude with verse 28. Then Nebuchadnezzar 00:21:32.420 --> 00:21:35.960 said, Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, 00:21:35.980 --> 00:21:39.779 and Abednego. Here we see this foreign king again. 00:21:40.900 --> 00:21:46.099 After seeing what Yahweh is capable of, we see 00:21:46.099 --> 00:21:52.019 them now say, Praise their God. See, when God 00:21:52.019 --> 00:21:57.180 shows up in our hurts, the world will look on 00:21:57.180 --> 00:21:59.859 because the world will know what we're going 00:21:59.859 --> 00:22:05.799 through. And when they see us with that faith 00:22:05.799 --> 00:22:09.980 that can be tested, they see God being glorified. 00:22:10.720 --> 00:22:20.410 They'll see you and your lack of... Sorry. Your 00:22:20.410 --> 00:22:25.210 lack of doubt. Started with a D, word couldn't 00:22:25.210 --> 00:22:28.269 come up. Words sometimes are hard, especially 00:22:28.269 --> 00:22:31.789 late in the day. Right? When they see your lack 00:22:31.789 --> 00:22:35.329 of doubt, they'll see God shining through. And 00:22:35.329 --> 00:22:38.630 they'll say, praise be to the God of Jason, who 00:22:38.630 --> 00:22:40.509 was set free from addiction and never went back. 00:22:41.789 --> 00:22:44.670 Praise be to the God of Samantha, who stood by 00:22:44.670 --> 00:22:47.279 her husband when she didn't have to. God made 00:22:47.279 --> 00:22:50.880 their marriage better than new. Praise be to 00:22:50.880 --> 00:22:53.920 the God of Jonathan who began to honor God with 00:22:53.920 --> 00:22:58.079 his finances. When you stand in the midst of 00:22:58.079 --> 00:23:00.940 a battle, people will look on and they'll see 00:23:00.940 --> 00:23:06.420 you, but they'll honor God. Verse 28. Praise 00:23:06.420 --> 00:23:08.920 be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego 00:23:08.920 --> 00:23:11.940 who sent his angel and rescued his servants. 00:23:12.970 --> 00:23:15.589 They trusted in him and defied the king's commands 00:23:15.589 --> 00:23:18.869 and were willing to give up their very lives 00:23:18.869 --> 00:23:23.349 rather than serve or worship any god except their 00:23:23.349 --> 00:23:27.829 god. Remember, friends, a faith that is tested 00:23:27.829 --> 00:23:33.269 is a faith that can be trusted. Amen? Amen. Any 00:23:33.269 --> 00:23:42.559 questions? Cool. Thanks, guys. You know what's 00:23:42.559 --> 00:23:45.140 interesting to me about the end of this story? 00:23:45.200 --> 00:23:51.660 In fact, the end to a lot of the stories of the 00:23:51.660 --> 00:24:00.859 Bible, from Abraham to Joseph to Job to Jesus. 00:24:03.599 --> 00:24:09.710 All, all of those stories exhibit a faith. to 00:24:09.710 --> 00:24:14.450 obey God despite the fact they don't know the 00:24:14.450 --> 00:24:18.250 end of the story. We do now, thousands of years 00:24:18.250 --> 00:24:22.869 later, but those steps of faith that were taken 00:24:22.869 --> 00:24:26.289 that we read about, they were taken before they 00:24:26.289 --> 00:24:33.130 knew the end of the story. And if they can have 00:24:33.130 --> 00:24:37.609 the power to do it, the faith to do it, so can 00:24:37.609 --> 00:24:42.109 we. At least something to think about. Until 00:24:42.109 --> 00:24:43.690 next week, friend, be blessed.