“Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed,
and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.” Daniel 3:25 NIV
Faith Baptist Church
There's Another in the Fire
Well good morning church, will you pray with me? Lord you are faithful, are you open our eyes to your faithfulness, Lord, that we would rejoice in that and have faith in that, delight in that, that what you have done for us in your faithfulness would be the truest thing about us, or the story of our life is about what you have done for us. Let's open our eyes to know you more in Jesus name, amen. Well I felt a little bad about how hard I was on the hot guys last week. We were watching the game and the gophers had the lead and then they blew it. So congratulations hot guys, my dad and I, my dad came down from Minnesota and we were watching the game together, once we lost, I got to think and I go, I live in Iowa now, I don't have to be sad, am I allowed to switch teams there and I don't know if I'm a very faithful fan. Those sports are hard to cheer for, they don't give us much, but you know things like that, things that we put our faith in, the tough times, they let us know if they are worthy of our faith, depending on their faithfulness. And most things in life they let us down, we looked last week at Nebuchadnezzar, he had a dream of a statue, the interpretation of the dream was that statue represents all these different kingdoms that are going to come and they're going to go, they're going to let you down. The end there is something though, a rock of the kingdom of God that won't let you down, it's going to stay firm and faithful. This tagline we've had for this series remaining faithful in a fallen world, it's been coming in to focus more and more, you know, initially I thought about these heroes of the exile of examples of being faithful and how we should be like those heroes, right, dare to be a Daniel, you know, be just as faithful to Daniel and yet I'm just John more and more to the gospel in this series. The gospel that God was faithful first, that it was out of God's faithfulness, somebody like Daniel or his friends were able to be faithful. You see today there's three of Daniel's friends, they had faith in God's faithfulness and that allowed them to be faithful, they stood before the emperor of the world and they said we will not bow, because we trust in God's faithfulness, they didn't have to muster it up on their own, they just simply had true faith, that God was king of kings and lord of lords, that Nebuchadnezzar wasn't, you see it started with true faith in something that won't perish and won't fade away and then their life was just response out of that faith. The things in life, the tough times, they test what we put our faith in, Daniel's three friends were the only ones who during a test showed faith and I want to talk to you quickly about the illustration that's going to be keyed today, which is how you get pure gold and gold is something that is valuable, it lasts, okay? Compared to about two years ago when I moved here, the price of gold went up about a thousand dollars an ounce, okay? Don't let that be the thing you take out of the sermon, okay? Even that comes and goes and Babylon, they loved their gold, they loved it, it's believed that they even were one of the first ones to learn how to refine it and they end up asking everyone at the start of our chapter today to bow before a statue of gold, kneel before this stuff and if you think about this gold, I mean, to get it, you have to take a bunch of iron or a bunch of ore, you crush it and pulverize it, you turn up the temperature, okay? Because you're trying to really separate what's real and what's not. You're after what's genuine, okay? And you've got to turn it up to 2,000 degrees to melt this stuff. And you might think that the person that's setting this into these circumstances must hate gold, why would you pulverize it and smash it to pieces and turn up the temperature? And what you're trying to do is you're trying to separate, you're trying to show what is the real thing, okay, what's true faith that won't fade away, what's real faithfulness that you can find and what's the fluff out there, what's not going to last? And so someone who loves gold, willing to do this, to find it. And I'm not sure that I mean in God's eyes he values true faith, true hope, true love. I think of 1 Corinthians 13, which says now these three remain, meaning they're not going to fade away, okay? If these are true, it's faith, hope and love, those are precious in God's sight, those are valuable. And I don't think we value those to the same degree that God does. Because when we get in the trials of life, when the temperature goes up on us, when we start feeling that separation of things that we cling to, things that God's trying to refine from our life, tend to reach for them. As this separation is happening, we tend to say, "No, God, I want to be a Christian, but I also want this too," right? I want to be an ounce of gold that's also a percentage of, well, I also want to be successful. I also want this security, and that, and yet an identity, 100% of pure gold, is what we can find. It's what James 1 says when it says, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you face trials of various kinds," because it produces something. And the first chapter of 1 Peter says that trials will come, and it says, "These have come so that your faith may be proved genuine, and they bring about different results." We usually don't view the circumstances in life that way, right? When the gophers turn over the ball, and the other team scores, you say, "Ah, man," and yet that's a gift, it's a gift to say, "Don't put your hope in the gophers," right? Put your hope in something that's going to last. It's something that has proven time and time again to not let you down. And yet we forget, just like Nebuchadnezzar, he had a dream in the last chapter about what would last forever, and you feel like he got it. And instead, he builds the same statue that he was told in the dream, represented him, and would eventually crumble. He just forgets, he just goes on and he builds a giant gold statue, and he calls all the people in the provinces, the administrators come and kneel and bow before this thing and worship this gold. Alright, next slide, please, and so here. So we're going to start in the middle of the chapter, I'm going to summarize the first half of it. As they build this big statue, it's nearly the size of the statue of Liberty if she had her hand down, made up pure gold, they set it up a hundred miles east of Babylon and the plain of Dura, and Daniel's three friends are part of this group of administrators that are brought and told to kneel before this thing. Now I'll answer the question, where's Daniel? Well, the very last verse in chapter two, it says that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were set up as administrators over the provinces while Daniel himself remained in the royal court, and then it starts in chapter three, saying that all the administrators of the provinces were gathered together. So it's not definitive, but we might assume that Daniel himself remained in the royal court during this time, and they were told, peoples from all tribes and nations and every tongue were told to fall down and worship this image of gold. Babylon's not the only society he likes gold, I think America is very similar to Babylon. I think we're the wealthiest society that's ever existed. Revelation, chapter 18, mentions a society that will be very prosperous, and it's promised to fall, just like that golden statue, and the global economy will weep over this economy that will fall. The American economy represents 25% of the world GDP, China has 17%, no other country has more than four. The wealth of our country is huge. Everything glittering with gold around here. In a lot of ways, I think we're very much the wealth and even the pride that's emerging as a mocking of God. It's very similar to this time when it felt like God's people were in exile and told to kneel before this culture, before them. Everyone does it, except these three guys don't go with the flow, they take a stand, and Nebuchadnezzar gets mad and calls for these three guys, and he says, "Is it true Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up?" Is it true? So I want to look at this real quick, first of all, a lot of us would say, "Yeah, that's true about me. I don't serve or worship or kneel before the gods in my culture." You see, for these guys, there was evidence. They were going to get thrown in the fiery furnace. They were guilty, they were guilty of kneeling before Almighty God and God alone. They were in the world, but not of it. And yet what happened to the identity of a lot of the Jews during this time, a lot of God's people, was they looked just like everybody else. Sure they claimed to have a different identity, they claimed that, but in their lifestyle, they bowed before the exact same things. They had the exact same fear of man. They put value on the exact same things. They put the exact same things on their calendars, the exact same things on their TV screens. They cut the exact same checks, maybe the same transactions. They thought about the exact same things as the world around them. In this case, it was true, Shadrach, Meshach and Ben and Gil were not bow in the knee to the gods of their culture. They did not fall down and worship and serve those things. Then Beknezzar, he says this, he says, "I'll give you another chance to do that, but if you do not worship it," this is verse 15, "you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace, then what God will be able to rescue you from my hand." Oh, that arrogance to this guy. He's about to find out what God will rescue them from his hand. You forget Proverbs 21-1, that he himself is in God's hand, that God holds the hearts of kings like water in his hands. And so, this is their response. Beknezzar, he goes, "What God is there?" Shadrach, Meshach and Amen, and Gil replied in verse 16, "King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter." The literal translation is, "We don't have to give an answer." That doesn't make someone very happy. Nebuchadnezzar threatens them with the furnace and they say, "We don't have to answer you." You're not our judge. You see this image of gold that says that you set up these systems and rules of giving value and taking away value from people, telling them if they're important or good enough. You're not our judge. We've got a buddy named Daniel whose name means God is our judge. What he says is valuable, is valuable. We don't have to answer to you. Verse 17 says, "If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it." So, they have faith in the faithfulness of God. And they're confident too. I've always missed this part in this story, next line in verse 17, it says, "And he will deliver us." So, they're confident. He will deliver us from your hand. But 18, this is great, but a lot of preachers have preached this. They've titled the sermon, "But if not." But even if he does not, we want you to know your majesty that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up, but if not. You see, there are benefits to following Christ. There are. But we don't follow Christ just for the benefits. Mary for money, Mary for love, we love God. Take that away. Take away the benefits. We still, we still Nebuchadnezzar. We want God. We just want to be with Him. We want to follow Him. The sweet satisfaction of fellowshipping with Him is the reward. I'm not going to just go along with the flow of this culture. If you've got to kick my kid off the soccer team because we didn't make Sunday practice, so be it. If the crop's going to lay in the field one more day, so be it. You've got to fire me, so be it. But if not, I still will not bow. You can have my soccer. You can have my crops. So I want to walk with the Lord. That is the most important thing about me. That's pure gold. That's faith and hope that remains, cannot be taken away. It's a foundation that will not shatter, won't let you down in the fourth quarter. So Nebuchadnezzar, he goes, "You guys made a lot of really good points. You're off the hook." No, he gets mad. Verse 19 says, "Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Amenago, and his attitude toward them changed." He was already mad. So for it to say that it changed means that it went from bad to worse. Yeah. I'd think that the furnace here represents not just the heat of the furnace, but it's a temper, I think, got seven times hotter. And so in verse 20, commanded the strongest soldiers to tie them up and throw them into the furnace. Tie them up in case they want to walk out, right? Verse 21, "And so these men wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and clothes were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace." I like that turbans has put in there, reminds us that the story of God's story is beyond the walls of America, right? God's doing things around the world of all times, through all kingdoms. In verse 22, "The king's command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of fire killed the soldiers who took them up, and these three men firmly tied fell into the fiery furnace." You've ever seen someone fall into the fiery furnace in terms of earthly trials, and some of you are in it right now. Trials of health, financial, relationships, a lot of you guys are in the refiners fire. And it's kind of uncomfortable. And in this time, wars, end times, being in the toes of history as we looked at that statue last week, the temperature is rising, it's getting hot, it's getting hot. And yet, it's going to show us what's real and what's not. It's going to reveal your heart and where you might have loved something that needs to be scraped off the top. Verse 24, "King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement." That word for amazement means that he was quaked, he was shook, staggered, his worldview crashed. And he asked his advisors, weren't there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire? And his yes men around him said, "Yes, sir." He says, "Well, look, I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of God." You notice three things, that they were not bound, they were not harmed, and they were not alone. Let me say that to you, whatever you got going on in life. If you have faith in Jesus Christ, you're in Christ, and if you're in Christ, you are unbound and unharmed, and you're not alone. No matter how hot it gets, you're going to be okay. Verse 26, "Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening in the blazing furnace and shouted, "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God." He acknowledged God as the highest here. He says, "Come out and come here." And so they came out of the fire, and all these people that had gathered together around this statue to worship it, they come over, too, says the satraps and prefects, governors and royal advisors, crowded around them, and they too saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their head singed, and their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them. God protects his people. No matter how scary it gets out there. God protects his church and his people. You might refine them as a gift to show them what can last forever, where to invest, but he protects his people. And he just doesn't protect them from a distance. He doesn't call into the fire and say, "It's going to be okay over there. It's all going to work out." He jumps in right with him. He gets right in the fire with him. He demonstrated that love towards us on the cross, and that he jumped in to our mess. He took what we deserved, the sin and the suffering on his shoulders. It wasn't because of anything these three guys did. They come out of that fire saying, "I didn't earn that." That was a gift. God put me on his back. I'm so thankful for that. I praise him for that. That's an important thing about me is not what I've done, but what I've received. He received a gift of being a child of God, a relationship with God, a God that saves us from the fires. They're not concerned about their circumstance. So often our prayers are. So often our prayers are for a different circumstance. Lord, help me to be in a different circumstance. Their concern was, "Christ be in me." "Christ be in me, may I be in you." Help me abide. I want to be indestructible. I want to last forever in this kingdom of God with you. Look at the result of this. Verse 28. "Yeah, God was probably helping refine these three guys through this circumstance." I'm sure it grew their faith, but he used these people because people watch when you go on the fire. You want to see what you're made of. And so all these people that gathered around this golden statue that were supposed to kneel before it are now gathered around Shadrach, Meshach and Benago and it just witnessed God. And instead of praising this gold, they praise God. Verse 28, Nebuchadnezzar said, "Praise be to God, the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Benago, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants, for they trusted in him, they defied the king's command, or were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any God except their own God." The Jews during this time, they needed this. They were losing their identity in Babylon. And the tough circumstance that these three guys went to was a reminder to the nation. They rooted in your identity as the church, as God's people, not to kneel before culture, to be in the world but not of it. And the decree goes out in verse 29. The chapter starts with the decree going to the whole world saying, "Come and worship this statue that I made in my image of gold, and now a new decree comes out. The newspaper comes out the next day, and it says, "This just in." There is a God in heaven. And so the decree goes out that the people of any nation or language, we've got to show some respect here to the God of Israel. The reason for it is it says, "For no other God can save in this way." We never hear these three guys again, "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego." Because that they prosper, they get promoted, continue to serve in Babylon. So that's the end of their story. It was in their greatest trial that God used them the most. We forget that. Sometimes we always think, "God, the suffering I'm in in this tough spot, are you punishing me for something? Are you trying to teach me a lesson that I'm just not learning? What if God is answering our prayer of, "Lord, use me, use me how you want to serve you?" And we realize that that doesn't mean being a celebrity pastor. God uses people in these types of spots. Because you can't argue with these guys. They proved that God was with them. A lot of times we see it in each other's lives. It's the value of being in a church community is when you see someone go through the fires and you see someone that looks like a fourth with them, you see, "Man, I don't know how they're doing that. They're acting like God is right beside them." It blesses the rest of us, shows us that God is among us and that no other God can save in this way. Love Philippians 2 that mentions that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. That's how this chapter ends, recognizing that Jesus is that foundation that doesn't fade away. This idea of being saved from the fires, being cast and thrown into the burning fire, I mean, does that remind you of Jesus saving the day through the cross, saving us from the fires of hell? Reminds me of Jesus shielding and protecting us, no matter how messed up the world gets. It's so enclosing, and I want to bring us to 1 Peter chapter 1. It's written to the exiles during the time of the church that get spread across all sorts of cultures and he says, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." In his great mercy, he's given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. He's brought us into an inheritance that will never perish or spoil or fade, kept in heaven for you, who through faith are being shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that's ready to be revealed in the last time. You see, we're being shielded by God in the fire. Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, he's protecting us, we're covered in his blood, and it goes on and says, "In this you greatly rejoice. Don't lose your joy, Church, when the temperatures rise." Because it says, "Though now for a little while some of you have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials, these have come so that the proven genuinuous of your faith, which is of greater worth than gold, more valuable than the gold of Babylon, of Nebuchadnezzar, which that even perishes even though refined by fire, but that the proven genuineness of your faith may result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you've not seen him, you love him, and though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy for you receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of yourselves. Much like the people of Israel and exile, much like these Christians that were scattered abroad. The church in America needs to realize what lasts forever, and to put our faith and our hope and our love into that. This is an exciting opportunity to be alive, for we've been called for such a time as this. We are God's people placed along the way as signposts, pointing people to the true God of heaven that as things fall apart, it wakes them up. Let's ask those questions. What God, what God can save us from this world, we have the answer. And they need to know, and they're watching, and I hope that they get to see a fourth walk in among us. Let's pray. Lord, as a church, we bow our knee to you, and forgive us, Lord, for when we bow at other things, but Lord, the Sunday morning we bow at to you. We claim the truest identity that we are children of you, we are recipients of your faithfulness, and if God is for us, who can be against us? Let us live lives of a worthy response to your faithfulness, lives like these three guys, Michelle, Han and I, and Azariah, the names before Babylon tried to rename them, and these three guys who stuck to their identity of who they are in relationship to you. So pour grace on your church today in Jesus' name, pour grace in each family here, each marriage here, each person here, that we might greatly rejoice even in our trials. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. [BLANK_AUDIO]