 Now, what this chapter includes for us is an account of Daniel's three friends. We were introduced to them in chapter one, and we saw their names, their Jewish names are Hananiah, Michelle, and Azariah. But we know them best by the Babylonian name, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These three young men were companions of Daniel, and as we began our study, we were introduced to them in chapter one. And as we looked at chapter one, and I'm going to kind of like go through a few things to develop this with you, chapter one tells us that these men were part of what was called the nobility of Israel. When Babylon began taking captives, they were among the first to be taken to Babylon. Now they weren't much more than boys at that time when they were taken. They were around 15, perhaps 20 years of age. And so we saw a description of them there in chapter one, because their appearance and intellect was described to us, and they were outstanding in every way. They had no blemish, meaning they had no exterior physical or moral stain. They were good looking, meaning they were attractive or handsome. They were gifted in all wisdom, being superior in understanding. They were perceptive, skilled, and prudent. They possessed knowledge. In other words, they were trained and had educational experience. They were quick to understand. That means that they were bright. They were sharp-minded. They were quick learners. And so, as we saw in Nebuchadnezzar, wanted to make them forget their Jewish culture. So he put them into a three-year training period to make them into Babylonians. So they learned the Babylonian language. They were schooled in Babylonian literature, because his intent was to convert them into Babylonians. He wanted to take away their Jewish heritage. Now they were boys. They were young. They were 900 miles away from home. And now they're being immersed in a new culture. They're being introduced to new foods, new way of dressing, different customs. And so they're being acculturated to a foreign way of living. He poured into them the religious beliefs of the Babylonians, because he wanted to cause them to forget the God of Israel. He wanted them to be fully converted Babylonians. And so they ate delicacies. They had vintage wine and a three-year educational scholarship. And these men were young. They were young boys, young men. They were impressionable. They were at the mercy of the greatest and most powerful king on earth. And they're in a city that's incredible. It was filled with majesty. It was beyond anything they'd ever seen. The history tells us that Babylon had what are called the hanging gardens. There were temples and parks. And the military was amazing. And so imagine what impressionable teenage boys would be thinking when they were offered positions in this empire. To be such, to be, to be part of such an incredible empire would be a staggering temptation. And that's the kind of temptation that could draw someone away from their faith in God. I was thinking of this as I prepared it because I was remembering the temptation of Jesus and how that one of the temptations that had been offered to him was the temptation for power. In Matthew chapter 4 verses 8 through 10, it says, the devil took him up on an exceedingly high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, all these things I will give to you if you will fall down and worship me. And Jesus said to him, away with you Satan, for it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and him only you shall serve. The enemy gives temptations of power and prestige. And that's what was taking place here with these young men. You see this temptation to power and to have a reputation was being offered. So I want to begin by asking the question because we're going to be looking at this in some detail tonight. I want to begin by asking, what is it that helped them to deal with the temptations? What is it that kept them strong? Well, the first clue that we have is found in their names. Again, Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah, that was the Jewish name. Hananiah means Jehovah is gracious. Mishael means who is he that is God. Azariah means Jehovah has helped. These men had been raised in a godly home. And that's what prepared them for the temptations that they would eventually have to experience in life. They were trained by godly parents, parents who gave them names that meant something. Their name wasn't Buffy and Jody, Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah. And though Judah had sunk into idolatry and disobedience, the parents had not. Even in the time of Israel's growing unbelief, their parents were faithful to train their children in the ways of the Lord. The Proverbs in chapter 22, verse six says, to train up a child in the way he should go. When he's old, he will not depart from it. Train up a child. Provoke them to know the things of the Lord. Train up the child in the way he should go. Train up a child according to his disposition and the direction that his life is taking him. Train him up in that way and give him the things of the Lord because when they're old they won't depart because they have a foundation of those things that will keep them strong. In Ephesians chapter six, verse four, it says, fathers do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. Do you want to keep your children strong if you're a parent? Train them up properly. Give them devotions every day. Pray with them often. You know, my children gave a brief testimony on Sunday night. Some of you saw them. They're not really children anymore. They're adults with children of their own. But I was sharing with somebody. I said, you know, everybody in the church who knows me or knows of me knows I love my children. Everybody knows that. But that's the first time the church ever had an opportunity to see how much my children love me. And so we have a relationship that has been built on something more solid than just the fact that I'm their dad. We have a relationship that has been built on the faith of Jesus Christ. And yeah, they admitted to it. I've never hidden my children aren't perfect. They got their nature from their mother. And so they just, they got their father's edamic nature. And they had their moments. Every young person does, right? Or not every single one. There are some who perhaps never went through some tough times. Thank God when that doesn't happen, praise the Lord. My children went through a normal childhood. My children went through ups and downs. But my children stayed with the Lord and came back to him in full strength. How they were trained up in the way they should go. The scripture says, and when they're old, they will not depart from it. Parents don't give up. There are some parents right now that I know are struggling, perhaps watching online or even in this room. They're struggling. They're thinking, God, what are we gonna do with my kid? He's going in the wrong direction. She's making bad decisions. Did you train him up in the ways of the Lord? If so, keep him in prayer. Talk to him honestly when opportunity is granted to you. Love him for the sake of Christ. And trust the Lord that the foundations that were laid in them will remain firm and strong. That their life ultimately will be built on that. Because I did that. I wrestled with the enemy in prayer against the enemy in prayer many times for my children. I still do lift up my children. Of course I do. Every father does. But train them up properly. These young men were raised in a godly home in the midst of difficult times. And Judah was entering into idolatry, ultimately was judged by the Lord and taken into captivity. And yet these young men had been raised properly by their parents. And so we saw them already. We've been introduced to them. These are the men who held fast to their faith in the one God. And when Nebuchadnezzar had troubling dreams, he had demanded an interpretation of them by through his wise men. But none of his counselors could provide an interpretation. And as we saw, he began to arrest them and he was going to put them to death. Well, when this was taking place, Daniel and the young men went into prayer. They sought help from God. They had not become Babylonians. They stood firm in their faith in the one true God. And they sought God's mercy. They didn't want to perish with the others. And God answered their prayers. They were spared. And as we saw last time, we're together in chapter two, they were given high positions. Now they hold high political positions. But even though they do, they have not compromised their faith. And so chapter three, as we're looking at it today, is the last time that you see these godly young men. Now until this day, they remain models of godly men who have held tightly to their convictions. These are men that we're going to see remain strong. They literally had courage under fire. And so chapter three begins with the king's reaction to the events of chapter two. And one thing you may, you might find interesting if you take notes is this is not immediately following a one commentator, actually two commentators pointed out that the events we see in chapter three didn't take place immediately afterwards. It was no less than 15 to 20 years later. So it's been quite some time, 15 to 20 years. They've held this position in all and time has gone by. Well, at this time Nebuchadnezzar begins to consider the dream that he had. Remember he had dreamed about a huge image in the form of a man. And this image was of gold. He was making, he made an image of gold whose height was 60 cubits, which is 90 feet. And it was nine feet wide at the base. It might have been shaped like one of our national monuments. And so in Daniel's interpretation, he had told Nebuchadnezzar that he was the head of gold. And in response to this, Nebuchadnezzar decided to build a giant golden image. Apparently the king set out to build a statue that visibly represented him and his power. More than likely he desired to use the statue to draw people to recognize him, to compel people to worship this image would be the recognition of his personal glory. It would seem that he didn't accept that he would have such glory only temporarily. And so we're gonna be looking at this image. And I'll give you one more thing before we actually begin verse by verse here. One last thing, when I read through this, I want you to note that the word image was used repeatedly. The word image is used in chapter three 11 times. So it's a word that is used over and over again to emphasize, to emphasize the reason that the men didn't worship this image. Remember in Exodus in chapter 20 in the Old Testament, verses three through five, first portion of verse five, God gave the commands and he said, you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. And so this emphasizes they're retaining their faith in God and their faithfulness to him in obedience to a command not to worship graven image, a graven image. So in verse one it says, Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold whose height was 60 cubits, it's with six cubits, he said it in the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. He made an image of golds, it was 90 feet high and nine feet at the base. Now these images, these kinds of images weren't unusual at that time. When you look in history, you'll see that there are various well-known images like that. Maybe you're not interested in these things neither am I but you had the Colossus, the Colossus of Rhodes. One of the ancient wonders was 105 feet high. That's a huge statue. There were three images that were found on top of what is called the ballast temple in Babylon, one of which was 60 feet high. And so this was fairly common in the ancient time. The image that we're looking at and we look at it, notice verse one again, it says, Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold. When you read that, you may think gold, that much gold, that doesn't make sense to me. Well, we need to remember that the images during that day were likely made of wood and covered with gold plating. That was common during that day. In Isaiah 40 verse 19, it says the workman molds a graven image. The goldsmith overspreads it with gold and the silversmith casts silver chains. And so they would make a wooden image but then they would overlay it. So it's not like it's a solid piece that's that high but it's an overlaid wooden statue. It set up notice with me in what is called the Plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. Conservative scholars place the location about six miles southeast of the city of Babylon. So the statue reminds the reader of the tower of Babylon. The tower was intended to unify the existing nations on earth. And now there's another statue that's trying to do the same thing. Verse two, King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to gather together the satraps, et cetera. And then I don't wanna go through their names again. And it repeats that in verse three. And it says that they were gathered together for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And so this is speaking of national solidarity. These people are representing his entire kingdom. They're representing the leaders and the influencers of the kingdom. This would be calling together, if you will, the major branches of government. For us, when you look at what we call the branches of government, we have the legislative and we have the judiciary and the executive. We have various branches, three branches. Well, these represent the branches of government. They represent governmental executives. You have the satraps or satraps. They were princes, they're government officials. They're also called administrators. You have the administrators who are actually military chieftains. You have the governors, they're civil government officials. You have the counselors. These are chief arbitrators. You have the treasurers. They're the keepers of the public treasury. You have the judges. There were judges there, speaks of the guardians of civil law. The magistrates are the judges in the strict sense of what a judge is. And then you have the officials, various officials of provinces. So what you have is you have a gathering of the governmental officials. And so as this has taken place, first of all, Harold cried out, "'To you it is commanded, O people's nations and languages, that at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, et cetera, you shall fall down and worship the gold image that King Nebuchadnezzar set up. Whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace." So at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the worship team, I mean the horn, the flute and the harp and all of that, all the people, nations and languages fell down and worship the gold image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. These are all the representatives of the nations under subjection to Babylon. And the command is you must fall down and worship the gold image, the gold image being a symbol of Babylon as world power. By bowing down in worship to the image, two things are occurring. One, they're giving respect and praise to the gods of Babylon, which is religious. But second, they're honoring the values of the nation which is political. So you have a combination of the religious and the political in the worship of this image. Now, I wanna point something out to you. Nebuchadnezzar wasn't demanding people to not worship their own gods. He wasn't demanding that of them. This, they were free to continue to do. But by worshiping his image, they were admitting that he and his gods were greater than what they worshiped. One of the things you might find interesting in the ancient world, you see this in scripture quite often, is that if one peoples will say the, will say the Philistines come against the Israelites, they would actually give credit to the god if they had a victory. And so the Philistines worshiped a god called Dagon. And so when they had victory, they would set up an image of Dagon so that people would recognize that their god had given them victory over the Jewish god. And so that's what was taking place here is they were, they were, it's okay, you can keep your gods, your gods aren't as powerful as ours. That's all you have to admit. That's all you need to understand. Sure, go ahead and worship your weak gods. We have a greater god, why? Because Babylon destroyed Israel. And Babylon was a great major power in the world and in every country and every place that it had gone and had defeated, all of the people were now subject to the king and the god of Babylon. And so that's what's going on in this. That's where there's this problem. You can worship what you want if you want to worship something inferior. And so a refusal to worship was regarded as hostility to the king as well as a rejection of his religion. And that's something he's not gonna tolerate. And so it says in verse six, whoever doesn't fall down and worship will be immediately burned up. I'm pretty sure there was nobody saying, I don't feel like worshiping today. I'm pretty sure. Now let's look at this for a little, a moment of practical application. Obviously in our day, government may intrude on the free expression of religion. Many saw the forbidding of gathering or singing together in worship service as intrusions on our right as Americans to worship. In the book of Acts in chapter five, I want to remind you of how that the apostles were arrested by religious officials and had been imprisoned. And as you read Acts chapter five, you note that an angel opened the prison doors and told them to go and to speak all the words. He said, go and speak all the words of this life. Well, the religious leaders heard of this and they strictly commanded them not to teach. They commanded them, don't be gathered and teaching in the name of this man. But Acts 529 says, Peter and the other apostles answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than men. And so what was taking place in Babylon had a similar thing going on even in the time of the early church. One of the things that we need to remember is that we are pilgrims, we live in a land that is really not our home. In 1 Peter 2 11, it says, dear friends, I urge you as foreigners in exiles, abstain from sinful desires which wage war against your soul. We are just passing through. We have to be aware of the fact that we too are living in a foreign land. We need to understand that today. And there are going to be demands made on us on occasion that may be subtle or sometimes they may be just right in your face. You cannot gather, you cannot worship. We were told that, you're not together, you're not to worship. And at a certain point, what we had to do was we had to do what Peter said. We will obey God rather than man. That's what you do. Not, we don't shake our puny little fist in the face of the governor or the president. That's not what we were doing when we decided to return to worship and to do the things that we were doing. It was just that we have been called by God to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together as a matter of some is. We've been called by God to have community. And the worst thing that you can be is alone. You're not the first thing God ever said is not good. It is not good that the man should be alone. We were created for fellowship. We were created for fellowship with God, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. We were created for fellowship with one another. That's what we were created to do is have relationship and people when they were alone and weren't able to worship and weren't able to gather together, there was a high rate of depression. And in some places there were suicides because it's not good to be alone. And that's why when we made the decision last year, no, we're gonna gather. It wasn't so that we could shake our fist in the face of the government. I don't have any martyr complex. I don't wanna be thrown in jail. If they came to take the person who was responsible for it, I would have sent John. He would have gone because he loves me. It's just that we have to make choices in life, guys. And it isn't done out of rebellion and anger. It's done out of faith and worship for God and wisdom too, by the way. We don't presume on the Lord. We haven't gone about it in such a way as it can impose dangerous circumstances for the members of our church. We didn't do that either. We simply said, we need to obey God rather than men. And that's what we've done and that's what we'll continue to do. You see, when we're given the choice of worshiping God or something else, we choose God. Now in verse eight, he goes on and he says, "'Therefore, at that time certain Chaldeans came forward "'and accused the Jews. "'They spoke and said to King Nebuchadnezzar, "'O King, live forever. "'You, O King, have made a decree "'that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, et cetera, "'shall fall down and worship the gold image. "'Whoever does not fall down and worship "'shall be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.'" Well, there are certain Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O King, have not paid due regard to you. They do not serve your gods or worship the gold image which you have set up. Notice how they three times, you have, you have, you have. They're putting the blame on Nebuchadnezzar is what they're doing. Notice again, in verse eight, it says these were the Chaldeans. They were what is called the priestly class. They resented another race ruling over them. You notice that when it says they accused the Jews and in verse 12, certain Jews, there's a, there's a hint there of anti-Semitism. And so they resented another race ruling over them. They were actually rivals for the positions that these three men held. And they were angered and they were offended at the Jews because they were rejecting the orders of the King. And they didn't like the fact that they would not bow down to their religion and their rules. You see, when everyone else was bowing down, these three Jewish men remained standing. Now they didn't draw attention to themselves. They made no loud outbursts. They weren't screaming in protest. They respectfully remained standing while others were bowing. Their allegiance and worship was reserved for God and for the love of the nation that they were part of. So these people came with accusations. These accusations are what are called malicious. They were against the Jews. And they began politely, but they immediately went for the kill. Notice in verse 12 where they say, you have set. So they're placing the blame on Nebuchadnezzar and they're giving him a three-fold charge. They've dishonored you. They don't serve your gods. They won't worship the image. Now these men that they're charging were what we would call today men of conscience. They obeyed a higher rule in their life. They worship God according to his word. They would not worship the image because, and this is an important point, because what you worship, you will serve. Keep that in mind. What you worship, you will serve. Whatever takes up your time, your talents, your finances, that's your God. That's your God. And what you worship, you serve. And they knew that. In Deuteronomy 613 it says, fear the Lord your God and serve him only. Serve him only. And so they're placing the blame on Nebuchadnezzar and they're saying these men will not worship, but these men were men of conscience. And of course they're not going to why? Because they belong to the king of the universe and they're not about to bow down to any false God. Well, verse 13, Nebuchadnezzar in rage and fury gave the command to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. So they brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar spoke. Imagine what that would have felt like, by the way. Did you ever have to go into the principal's office? This is worse. I had a reserved place in the principal's office. Nebuchadnezzar spoke saying to them, I can almost hear the growl in his voice. Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the gold image which I've set up? You can hear the threat. Now remember when you looked at, we looked at chapter two, how he is the head of gold. He was an absolute monarch. He had an absolute authority and he was merciless when opposed. He had already shown his temperament when he arrested the wise men of Babylon and said he was going to cut them in pieces and make their homes into an ash heap. He's already said that and he would do that. So he was not one who liked being disobeyed. In Proverbs 16, 14, it says a king's wrath is a messenger of death, but a wise man will appease it. Proverbs 20, verse two says a king's wrath is like the roar of a lion. He who angers him forfeits his life. And so this isn't something where they're just kind of lightly saying, no, we're not going to do that. You know, it's no biggie. It wasn't that way at all. They knew that in their standing there quietly, and you got to picture all these others who were bowing and these three men are standing up. Nobody even notices it. You know, it's not, they're so openly noticeable that they can't miss them. And I don't see, they're not making noise. They're not doing anything. They're just standing up, but it is noticed. And so Nebuchadnezzar says in verse 15, if you're ready at the time, you hear the sound of the horn, et cetera, and you fall down and worship the image, which I've made good. But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the God who will deliver you from my hands? How would you feel? Who is the God who's going to deliver you from my hands? Okay, remember, they're in this incredible kingdom with walls that are huge with a military that has conquered the whole area. The most powerful king in the world at that time is addressing them. Their heart could have been pounding in their chest because of what's taking place. But it's interesting when he asks, and I want to look at this in verse 15, the last portion, he asks, who is the God who will deliver you from my hands? Well, he forgot who was responsible for the interpretation of his dream. He now believes he has supreme power. He doesn't believe the God of Israel will interfere with him. Well, that can't help it. Remind me of Pharaoh when Moses went and told the Pharaoh, let my people go. In Exodus five, verse two, Pharaoh said, who is the Lord that I should obey him and let Israel go? I don't know the Lord and I will not let Israel go. So that's human pride there. That's that arrogance of man. So who's the God who will deliver you from my hand? Your God may be able to give interpretations for dreams, but he's not going to save you now. Well, in verse 16, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego answered and said to the king, oh Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace and he will deliver us from your hand, oh king, but if not, let it be known to you, oh king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you've set up. I love these guys. They get you in trouble if you're hanging with them, but you can't help but admire them. You know, here's something for you. Let's make this practical before we approach it. They knew that he wasn't open to listening to their answer. He wasn't open and this is important for practical Christian faith and living out your faith today. He was not open to hear the answer. They knew it. And that's the reason that they, by the way, they said that we have no need to answer you in this matter. They knew that he was not open to hearing their reason for not bowing to his idol. And that's something that today we need to be aware of. You see, this attitude that many have today that I already am holding to my opinion and it's you who have to change yours. We have to have wisdom when you deal with people. There was a time in the United States when you could actually have a reasonable debate. You could actually be what is called a liberal and a conservative and you actually would debate ideas. There was a time when you could do that. The liberal, we'll say, would present their case and respectfully would listen to the conservative as he would rebut. That happened all the time. We used to see that in presidential debates. Some of you are too young to know that, but we used to see that in presidential debates. But that doesn't happen today. What you have today is I've got an opinion and I will shout my opinion above yours and I'll swear at you and I'll get angry at you and I'll threaten you and I'll bring some people behind me to shout out with me or I'll begin to invent all this horror to people who agree with me and I'll say to you, well, we don't, but it's just you. What do you mean, we, you're by yourself? No, well, we, I represent a great multitude. That's kind of how people are today. And when you converse with them and you know this because you're in the war, you live there, you live amongst these people. They don't want to hear, you know, they say, why, you know, you Christians are, wait a minute, we're not that, well, yes you are. I know, because you're this and you're this and you're, they already have it all set up in their mind, what you are. And they've already had their arguments arrayed and they do this and that's not new. This was taking place in the time of Nebuchadnezzar. They knew that he wasn't open to hearing the reason. He was so angry, he wanted to kill him. Then he's not going to listen. That's why they're saying, we don't have a need to answer you in this matter. We know you're not going to listen to attempt to reason isn't going to occur. You're not open to discussion. You want to shut discussion down. So for them arguing, their point was fruitless. At the bottom line in their heart, it boiled down to one thing, we honor our God, something that you don't understand. And so let me say this, sometimes an argument is not necessary and it's not worthwhile. Don't feel that you have to fight everybody who disagrees with you, Christian. I see it on Facebook quite often. I guess it's the place where people are behind their screen and their keyboard and they're typing furiously their angry comments and they're like, we used to call it, there's a term called paper tiger, the real brave behind a screen, but when they stand there and talk to you face to face, they're not that way at all. They're not, most of the time, you know, people, I don't deny it. You know, there've been people in the past who would write letters about me to the newspaper and things. They were real brave on paper, but they wouldn't come and speak face to face. They wouldn't have a rational conversation. They wouldn't present the points to the disagreements. I had a guy call me up one time. He was angry at me. I know that you can't believe that. He was angry at me because Ontario had wanted to put out as a symbol for the city a wizard. This is years ago now. And so somebody from my church called and said, listen, I'm concerned about having a sorcerer, is actually a sorcerer, a sorcerer as the image of the city. Is there something we can do because it really doesn't represent Ontario for what it is. And we were Calvary, Ontario at the time. Can you do something about it? Nice. So I did. I did a couple of things. I met with the Marin's people and also wrote something to the newspaper. And some guy read it. He read my article in the newspaper that was printed. And he called me up at the church and he started to tell me how, you know, backwards I wasn't this and that. And then he goes to me. He says, how would you like it if I show up at your church? And I said, okay, look, we meet on Wednesdays at seven o'clock at one, you know, at this address. And we meet at such and so times, Sunday mornings. And we also have a Sunday night service. And if you come, please come and talk to me and introduce yourself to me. I'd love to talk to you. You know, sometimes they think that threatening you is going to make you back off. And sometimes it's just not worth talking. And some of you have learned that. You've tried to communicate. And they don't want to hear. And what happens is you get angry. And before you know it, you're pouring out something that isn't good. The wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God, James says. So being angry and all. And so here they're showing respect. I mean, it would be unwise to be angry in front of the king anyway. But it's just wise for them not to say anything. What they did though is they drew a line in the sand. They knew who they served and they knew who they feared. They knew that faith in God could result in physical harm to them. And that's sometimes where Christians may get a little bit confused. Our faith in Christ doesn't mean that we won't endure afflictions. Sometimes the road to faith is lined with trouble. In Psalm 71, verse 20, it says, though you have shown me many troubles and misfortunes, you, speaking to God, you will revive me once again. Even from the depths of the earth, you will bring me back up. Afflictions are part of the process that God uses to strengthen our faith and all of that. So just because I'm a Christian doesn't mean I'm not gonna endure an affliction. And Jesus made that very clear in Matthew 10, 28. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who's able to destroy both soul and body and hell. If you're gonna fear someone, fear God and worship him. But you will suffer an endure affliction. And so he says in verses 17 and 18, if that's the case, our God whom we serve, notice, is able to deliver us. Our God has supreme power and therefore has the ability to deliver us. Our God is good. We worship a loving, good God who is able to deliver. And he will, he says in verse 17, he will deliver us by life or by death. He will deliver us one way or another. We know that martyrdom is a possibility and we're willing to die for our faith in him. Now Nebuchadnezzar had asked, who is the God who will deliver you from my hands? And these young men were pleased to tell him, the God whom we serve is able and we will not bow to your gods. Well, verse 19, Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, the expression of his face changed towards Shadrach, Mechech and Abednego. He spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. And he commanded certain mighty men of Valor who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Mechech and Abednego and cast them into the burning fiery furnace. And these men were bound in their coats, their trousers, their turbans, their other garments and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore, because the king's command was urgent and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Mechech and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Mechech and Abednego fell down bounding into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. He's so angry. He actually reduces their punishment by heating up the furnace because the hotter, the quicker they would die. While it was intended to make them more tense as they were waiting in their doom, it noticed in verse 20, he commanded mighty men, these were his special forces. And there was an opening at the top of this furnace and there was a window, if you will, at its base. And he commanded his forces to take them up there but in doing so, they actually gave up their lives. Now, Nebuchadnezzar and his counselors are at the base of the furnace. He's expecting to see these three men cremated instantly. Well, verse 24, King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished. She rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said to the king, true, okay. Look, he answered, I see four men loose walking in the midst of the fire and they're not hurt. And the form of the fourth is like the son of God. There's a fourth person in there. This is what is called a Christophany. It's called a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ. Isaiah 41.10 says, fear not, for I'm with you. Be not dismayed, for I'm your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 43.2, when you pass through the waters, I'll be with you. Through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flames scorch you. These are three men walking free. The ropes that had bound them have been burned off. So they're walking free, but they're not making any attempt to come out, which is interesting. So verse 26, Nebuchadnezzar went near the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke, saying, Shadrach, Meshach, Mednago, servants of the Most High God, come out and come here. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Mednago said, no, you come in here and get us. I said, come on in, it's fine, it's warm. Shadrach, Meshach, and Mednago came out from the midst of the fire. And the traps, administrators, et cetera, saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power. The hair of their head was not singed, nor were the garments affected in the smell of fire was not on them. Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Mednago, who sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him. They have frustrated the king's word, yielded their bodies that they should not serve or worship any God except their own God. Therefore, I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Mednago, you just love to do this, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made in ash heat because there is no other God who can deliver like this. He immediately recognizes God is the great God. Now, what is it that impressed him? Verse 28, they yielded their bodies. They refused to compromise. Listen, I'll say this quickly. If it's possible for me to say anything quickly, I just say that to lie. I have not, from the time I was a young believer to this day, one of the things that I've never done, to my knowledge, is when questioned about my faith in God, I've never compromised it. Don't compromise your faith. It's not worth it. I didn't prepare these thoughts. I'm just having them as I speak to you. I believed as a kid when I got saved at the age of 20 that this word is truth. And I believed, as I do today, even more so than ever before, that God is with us. And I knew that I would never be the wisest and smartest and best. I'd never be the deepest theologically. I knew all of that. I know my limitations. But I knew that I could do something, one thing that I could do and that is hold fast and not let go. And yes, I've been in colleges. I've been in various colleges, Cal State Fullerton, Cal Poly Pomona. They're not Christian colleges. And I've had the angry, agnostic, or atheistic professors. I've had them say things to make us look stupid, to try and intimidate, and I've never let go. I've said no. You know why? Because I learned a long time ago that God is true. Let God be true in every man a liar. And that the Lord's word is true. Now I may not be able to defend. There's some great, great men of God who are scientists and they can speak about things that I have never even heard of and they can debate certain fine points of theology. I respect that. I really do, very much. They become heroic figures in my life. But I know I can do this and I'm telling you the same thing, just hold fast. Don't compromise. You don't have to fight. You don't have to argue. You'd have to win every argument. You're not capable of it and neither am I. But I know what I believe and I know in whom I have believed. And I have never let go of that. Never let go of that. In the case of these young men, in the case of these young men, they were willing to die for their faith. Our God is able. But even if he doesn't, absent from the body the Christian would say, present with the Lord. Even if he doesn't, we will not serve your gods. We will not. We're gonna hold fast to what we know is true. If there's anything we need to see today, it's a revival of courageous people for Jesus Christ. That's what we need. That's true. And guess what? Guess what? This room is filled with those people. All of you, no matter where you are, no matter what you do, no matter your neighborhood, your school, your job, you can be courageous and hold fast. None of you to borrow, I don't expect you'll be thrown into a furnace. I hope not. But you will have a temptation to compromise. You will. It comes every day. The one form or another to deny. It comes in one form or another. Hold fast. Don't let go. Don't be argumentative. Don't try and win every argument. You can't. But know whom you have believed in. Hold fast to him and pray that God gives you opportunity to share with other people. Nebuchadnezzar saw that these young men were willing to lay their lives down for what they knew was true. In Romans chapter 12, verse one, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. He said in Romans 14, seven and eight, Paul said, none of us lives to himself and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord. If we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lords. We belong to him. And so as he saw this and was so impressed with their strength, it says in verse 29 and 30, I make a decree that nobody is to say anything against your God. And then in verse 30, the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the province of Babylon. So he says, there is no one to speak against you. Now, obviously this is something he can't really control because they can be in the houses speaking against the God of Israel. But it's a strong statement. What he's doing is he's giving them permission to fully worship their God without penalty. And then the king promoted Shadrach and Meshach and Abednego. They were given promotions. He now has given them special favor. And so in closing, the key to the greatness of a believer is like what Paul in Acts 20 verses 22 through 24 said. He said, see, now I go bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. None of these things move me, nor do I count my life dear to myself so that I may finish my race with joy and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. Many years ago, and I'll close with this. I mentioned, it was mentioned on Sunday at our 40 year anniversary that there was a time when we were in a small place called Central School, we'd been, excuse me, our church had been going maybe six months. And as I was sharing, there was a storm. It was storming and I was sharing. And one of the guys brought this up. They said, you remember when it was storming and you said, if nobody in Ontario stands up for God, I said this, if nobody in Ontario stands up for God, I will stand up for God. And it was a thunder clap. It was loud. It was very loud. And everybody kind of was stunned at that. And I looked up like, wow. And I still remember this small group of people, everybody cheering and not me, but the idea that we should stand up for the Lord. Hey, you know what? You have been appointed for such a time as this. You know, the world is out there telling you everything you shouldn't believe. It's time for us to tell the world what they need to believe. They need to believe the gospel. And don't be, I am not ashamed of the gospel of God. It's the power of God into salvation to all who believe. So you preach it to the Jew and to the Gentile. It's by God's grace, it's through faith that you're saved. Don't be ashamed of the gospel. And don't be ashamed of the Lord because he's not ashamed of you. Hold fast to him. Speak the truth in love. And let's see what the Lord will do with people who are sold out to Jesus Christ. The Jesus movement that I was part of and still am was only made up of young people who said, got tired of the devil, I'm gonna serve the Lord. That's what we were. I'm tired of the lies of Satan. I'm gonna hold fast to the truth of God. And guess what? I was 20 years old when I made that statement, but I knew that and I'm 70 years old next month, 71, getting old. But guess what? Love in every minute of it because God has been good to me for all of these years. He has never disappointed me. He has always been true. And guess what? You can know the same thing. Serve the Lord. Hold fast to him. Don't let go. Father, we ask that you would work on us and we give you praise because we know you are. And even as our eyes are closed for just a moment, perhaps there are some here who need to get right with the Lord or perhaps even watching online or outside. The Holy Spirit is speaking to you and you know it's time for you to get right with him. As our eyes are closed and our heads are bowed, if you need to get right with the Lord even right now, I would like to pray for you. And if you need prayer, would you raise your hand right now? Right where you're at so I can pray for you. Father, you see these hands. You know the reason why they're being raised to you right now. I ask in Jesus' name that you would reach down and touch and minister to each person whose hand is raised. Fill them with your presence. Wash them with your blood. Forgive sins and empower that they might serve you Lord and that they might have the same kind of boldness to yield themselves to serve you. And so Lord in Jesus' name, I pray that you would do that work now. We receive by faith from you and we will live for you Lord from this moment on, bless you Lord. And we thank you. You can put your hands down. Jesus I ask that you keep moving in every person in your name, amen.