May it please God to bless us
together this morning as we meditate in his word. Let us turn to the
book of Daniel, chapter three, and we'll read verses 16, 17,
and 18. The book of Daniel, chapter three,
and reading verses 16, 17, and 18. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not
careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God,
whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace,
and he will deliver us out of thine hand. But if not, be it
known unto thee, O King, that we will not serve thy gods nor
worship the golden image which thou hast set up." We should be very thankful to
God that in his wonderful providence we have such an account as this
recorded for our spiritual good. It is of course a very interesting
account, but it is also an account which directs us very clearly
to our spiritual condition and our spiritual needs. But also
there is the positive side that these three men were able to
show their concern and their desire to do that which was right
in the sight of God and not to waver in that condition and you
may remember this of course wasn't the first time that these men
stood firm for the things of God because we read that there
was in the first chapter you remember when these three men,
plus Daniel, not long after there'd been that assault on Jerusalem
and they'd been taken captive back into Babylon, that there
were the desire of the king, Azariah, to Nebuchadnezzar to actually bring
some of the people who were the Jews Israelites to actually be
occupied in his kingdom and he desired there might be those
who would be able that they should be found and set apart and then
eventually brought before him and in order to do that these
men were to be fed with the king's meat and and with the king's
wine, and therefore to hopefully look very well. But you see,
God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince
of the eunuchs. And he asked the prince of the eunuchs, who
said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king who hath appointed your
meat and your drink, for why should ye see your faces worse
than the children which are of your sort? Then shall he make
me endanger my head to the king. you see Daniel then asked and
he said prove thy servants I beseech thee ten days and let them give
us pulse to eat and water to drink then let our countenances
be looked upon before thee and the countenance of the children
to eat the portion of the king's meat And as thou seest, deal
with thy servants. Well, that was allowed. And after
10 days, God, in his wonderful providence, proved that the four
Israelites, Canaanites, was much better to look upon than all
those who had partaken of the king's meat. You see, they were
not willing to do that, which was not in accordance with the
will of God. Now we have this occasion, the
three men, not Daniel, the three men were now found, they weren't
bowing down to this image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And
he set before them a very clear picture that all the nation should
bow down, and yet these three men would not bow down. And of
course the princes realised they weren't bowing down and therefore
they came and told the king. They told the king about what
had occurred and should they therefore be brought to the king
and yes they were. And so they came to the king
and they wouldn't actually bow down
because we're told Then spake and said unto the king Nebuchadnezzar,
O king, live forever. Thou, O king, hast made a decree
that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute,
harp, sackbark, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music,
shall fall down and worship the golden image. And those who don't
fall down will be cast into the burning, fiery furnace. And then
the king is told that there are certain Jews which haven't obeyed. And so Nebuchadnezzar, in his
rage and fury, commanded to bring these people before the king. The king asked them if what he'd
been told was true. And if it was true, he now says,
well, now if you'd be ready, that at what time you hear the
sound of the cornet, flute, harp, saxophone, sultry and dulcimer,
and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the image which
I have made well. But if ye worship not, ye shall
be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning, firing furnace. And who is that God that shall
deliver you out of my hands?' So the scene is set, it's very
clear. These three men are before the
king, and the king has told them what they must do, and if they
don't do it, what the result is going to be. So here was a
tremendous test for them. And we're thankful that we have
such accounts in the Word of God to encourage us in our life
today. Because in various parts of the
world there are similar situations occurring today. And there are
those who are given strength, just like Shadrach, Meshach and
Abednego, not to bow down, to false gods about to stand firm
for the truth. And of course we read of these
things, and well we think they're very wonderful, but if you and
I were faced with a situation like this, and we were told if
we didn't bow down to this particular graven image we would be cast
into a burning fire furnace, that would be a real test for
our religion, wouldn't it? It wouldn't be something we could
just say, well I don't think it's too important, and I think
I can bow down. Many people historically have
done just that, they denied the Lord God Almighty because they've
been afraid of their skin, they've been afraid of what would occur
to them. But we should therefore be encouraged
that we have accounts like this, to see the reaction of these
three men and to see the way that they answered such a demand
by the king. And they answered the king very
soberly, there was no arrogance with them, there was no great
fast or statement, but they answered the king very simply and very
humbly. And again that should be a lesson
to us. to always answer when people are against us and want
us to do wrong things, not to kind of produce the effect, well,
I'm more righteous than you are and this is the situation, because
that really is only vaunting ourselves. But we need to realise
that in this situation that we might be blessed with a right
spirit, a humble spirit, a godly spirit. Well, we see this here
in this account and it's a wonderful statement that these three men
were able to answer. And they told the king, they
said, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in
this matter. That means they weren't trying
to be clever, they didn't want to answer in a dishonest way,
they just wanted to make a very clear statement. And therefore
they said they weren't going to be careful, They were just
going to tell the truth as they believed it to be. And again,
that's good, isn't it, for you and us today? To remember that
we should be not careful, therefore, because in being careful, we
might be concerned about our own skin, might be concerned
about the effect. Well, these three men, they knew
what was going to happen, but nonetheless, they weren't careful. They were happy to tell the king
the truth, what they believed. And so they make this statement,
if it be so, our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us
from the burning fiery furnace. And he will deliver us out of
thine hand, O God. Now remember what is being said
here, if it is the will of God. It's his will. And therefore
they go on and say, but if not, be it known unto thee, O king,
that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image
which thou hast set up. You see, it was very clear, wasn't
it, their position. They weren't going to bow down,
but they were going to accept the punishment that was to be
due to them through disobeying the command of the King Nebuchadnezzar. Well, may we ponder such words
and ponder our own situation because it's very easy for us
by actions, perhaps not words, to deny the Lord Jesus Christ,
because we are willing perhaps not to bow down to an idol like
this, but to go along perhaps with the desires of worldly people,
perhaps to accompany them to some ungodly situation, and to
not be prepared to stand out and make a very clear statement
as to why we would not do such and such a thing. You see, these
three men, they didn't make any excuses. They didn't produce
any other reasons than that which was the truth. So the king wasn't
left under any misunderstanding as to why they were not prepared
to bow down to such a graven image. And you know it's good
if you and I today are blessed with a like godly spirit so that
when we are asked to be involved in certain things which we know
are not right, Because we all have a conscience and we all
know what's right and wrong. We sometimes try and change things
a little to make it more reasonable so that we have a good excuse
to get involved in such things. Well, you know, these people
here, they only had to bow down and that would have achieved
a requirement. Sometimes we're requested to
do far more than just bow down, to get quite involved in things
which are not really right or not godly, and definitely won't
be profitable for our souls. But you see, we have therefore
these kind of words to encourage us, and especially you young
people, we live in a very difficult world today, when people don't
like to accept any reasons, they expect us to go along with the
ways of the world. Well, if that should be so, then
let us never forget the wonderful example of Shadrach, Meshach
and Abednego. Faced with a certain death, unless
the Lord intervened, and yet you see willing to stand firm
for their religion. Now, it's a great blessing if
God enables us to stand firm for our religion, not counting
the cost. That's really what they said
here, when they said, we are not careful to answer thee in
this matter. They knew what the cost was,
but it didn't matter to them. They were going to stand firm
for the things of God. So may we, in our day and age,
be able to stand firm for the things of God. Now, these three
men, they didn't know the outcome. They didn't know what was going
to occur. And you and I do not know in our lives what will occur. We perhaps may only see on the
surface that which appears to be difficult. We are probably
going to encounter the anger and wrath of perhaps those who
are over us, perhaps in business, perhaps in school, perhaps in
university. And yet what a blessing it is
to not be concerned about that, but to be more concerned to do
the will of Almighty God. And in this case there was an
amazing deliverance, but they didn't know it was going to be
so. And they were quite prepared to accept the consequences. So
as we may enter into situations and which we think well it may
cause tremendous problems in my life and therefore I don't
think I can go along with it. Don't forget Shadrach, Meshach
and Abednego. Don't expect that there will
be a wonderful deliverance. There may not be. There may not
be. We may have to suffer for the
sake of the Lord but sometimes the Lord does deliver. But in
any event we can be sure that if we do that which is right
and God-honouring, it will be a blessing to us. And it's something
that you and I will never regret. But we will regret if we walk
contrary to the will and Word of God. If we do that which is
just pleasing to ourselves, to try and avoid any difficulty
in our little lives. then we will find that we will
have a nagging conscience which will be there directing us to
recognise that that which we are doing is wrong. So what a
mercy if God directs us then to do that which is right. Just
like these three men. Remember they had confidence
in God and that's a good thing for us today to have confidence
in God. And the confidence they had in
their God was this, that whatever was going to occur, it would
be right. It would be right. They didn't
therefore say, well if this occurs, I'll go along with it. If it
doesn't, I won't. No, they had confidence in their
God. and that he could deliver them
if it was his will, but if not, to realise that still they would
not bow down to this false God. It's a wonderful testimony, isn't
it, for us to recognise and to realise that we have a God who
is the same today. Now this beautiful account goes
on to describe what happened. These three men, with this right
spirit, were bound and were thrown into the burning fiery furnace
which had been heated up seven times hotter than normal. So it was obviously a very, very
hot furnace. And naturally speaking, the end
was in sight and come about quite quickly. The king commanded they
should be bound up and thrown into the furnace and so that
came to pass. And the flames were so hot, the
natural fact that they slew The men took up these three men to
throw them into the burning fiery furnace. And so there they were
in the burning fiery furnace. And what did we read then? King
Nebuchadnezzar, he looked and he was astonished. He couldn't
believe what he saw. And what did he see? He says,
did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? He
said, True, O King. He said, Lo, I see four men loose,
walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt, and the
form of the fourth is like the Son of God. So, what had occurred? The Lord had been mindful of
them. The Lord had appeared to them. The Lord had loosed them. from all the ropes that tied
them up. They were free and they were
walking in this furnace and not alone, the Lord was with them. So we might ask ourselves, well,
so what is the situation What is the position that we can derive
from this with regard to our spiritual life? Because we do
need to always look for a spiritual direction as we read such accounts
as this. Well, I believe it shows to us
that if we do the will of God, we may find that we are, as it
were, having to endure a very difficult situation. We may find
as in a figurative way we are thrown into a burning fiery furnace
and thinking of that in a spiritual way we may find we are in times
of deep trial, difficulty, opposition. Well if we are doing that which
is right in the sight of God, we can believe that in those
situations, in such trials, in such opposition, we can humbly believe and hope
the Lord will be with us. The Lord is with these three
men. The Lord is with his people. You look through the Word of
God, so many occasions there are when people came into difficult
situations The Lord was with them The Lord was gracious to
them The Lord did not leave them. He did not forsake them. Now,
of course these three men They didn't know whether God was going
to come to them. Did they they expected the worst? But the Lord was mindful of them
and that is so true today The Lord is mindful of his people
We do face trials. We do face temptations. We will face times which put
our faith, our religion, to the test. Yes, and it's a good thing when
that is so, because I believe what happens in those occasions
is this. That which is of our flesh is
burnt up. We lose that. that which is of
the Spirit remains and therefore we are blessed. And the Lord
does bring us into trials and oppositions to test our religion. These people, their religion
was being mightily tested. Today we won't have to be thrown
into the fiery furnace. But we may have situations which
are rightly testing our religion. And to see whether we are standing
firm for the truth of God. These people, they weren't worried
about what really happened to them. Their concern was to do
that which was right in the sight of God. And what a good thing
that is for you and me today, to do that which is right in
the sight of God. We have, of course, in the 11th
chapter of the Hebrews, the testimony of many who did that which was
right in the sight of God, and yet they endured much, but they
were blessed with living faith, to hear the Word of God and to
walk in that way, like Moses, choosing rather to suffer affliction
with the people of God than to enjoy the treasures of sin for
a season. What a mercy if you and I are
given that grace to make right choices. It's not easy to make
a choice which seems wrong to the flesh. Things which we perhaps
think will be good for us, to recognise that they are not in
accordance with the purpose of Almighty God. And therefore to
turn away from them. Now of course Moses didn't know
really how things were going to work out in his life, but
they did work out for good. And they did work out for God's
honour and for God's glory. We're not told precisely in Moses'
life when the Lord directed him to realise that he would be the
one that God had ordained to deliver Israel under the bondage
of the Egyptians. But we do know that when he came
to have to escape, having killed that Egyptian, that he thought
his brethren would understand that he was the person. Well, they didn't. and poor old
Moses had to spend another 40 years being taught, learning
what he would have to do. But you see, God was with him
and God is with his people today. Moses knew and therefore we read
that wonderful statement, choosing rather to suffer affliction with
the people of God. What a good thing it is if we
receive that grace to choose that which is difficult for our
flesh, that which perhaps our flesh doesn't look forward to. The answer of a good conscience
is a wonderful blessing. So not only Moses, but also as
we come towards the end of that 11th chapter, We have a reference
to these three men, not naming them, but there is a reference
and first of all the Apostle says, what shall I more say for
the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and of Barak and of
Samson and of Jephthah and David also and Samuel and of the prophets
who through faith subdued kingdoms wrought righteousness, obtained
promises, stopped the mouth of lions, quenched the violence
of fire, that's what they really did, quenched the violence of
fire, escaped the edge of the sword, at a weakness were made
strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of
the aliens. Now it's a very comprehensive
statement really to encourage us today, in our little life,
to not think well, Of course, I'm not just in this position.
My friends, whatever position you and I come in which tests
our faith, tests our religion, we will need the help and the
strength of God to do that which is in accordance with His will
and not to be following that which is our will. These three
men are a wonderful example to us. And as we then think of it,
what a blessing it was their deliverance. The Lord was with
them in the fire. That puts things straight, you
know, doesn't it? That makes the crooked things straight.
That makes the mountains flow down. If God be for us, who can
be against us? Encouraging words, aren't they?
Words of the Apostle Paul, weren't they? And the Apostle Paul had
many trials, didn't he, in his life. But you see, he stood firm
for the truth of God. He stood firm. The Lord told
him to go and preach here and to journey there. He didn't say,
well, I'm not going now, I'm not doing this. He obeyed the
word of God. And God was with him. And therefore, he said, I can
do all things through Christ that strengthens me. Nothing
is impossible. Nothing is impossible. We think
they're impossible so often, because we lack this true living
faith. But when the Lord brings us into
situations like this, to be blessed with this faith that these three
men had, to clearly answer the King, and to not fear what the
result was to be, and yet to enjoy What a wonderful time it
must have been in that burning, fiery furnace. How they must
have been amazed that nothing was happening to them. And then
to realise that they weren't alone. The Lord was with them. The Lord was with them. So what
a favour it is if God is with us. It's a very sad day if God
is not with us, isn't it? You see, God was with them whatever
the situation. In this account, He was to deliver them, to bring
them out. And again, it's amazing as we
read this to see how they were delivered and it was a complete
deliverance. It was a miracle, wasn't it?
A wonderful miracle. And when you think that there
wasn't even a smell of smoke upon them, You know how strong
smoke is, you know if you're having a bonfire, you stand by
it, it doesn't take long before you smell strongly of the smoke. And yet you see these three men
didn't smell. No effect. All that the king
had endeavoured to put upon them had no effect. I believe that
can be so in our lives. When we realise our need of the
Lord, And pray to him. There is a wonderful deliverance,
a wonderful blessing. And then what were these three
men doing? Well, they were going in the
strength of the Lord God, weren't they? They weren't going in their
strength. And you and I won't succeed if
we go in our strength. If we're looking to our own abilities,
it's just rottenness, isn't it? But what a mercy it is if we
are wonderfully blessed to go in the strength of our God and
to know that God will indeed deliver them. Just one little personal thing
I told John and Frank this morning. The preacher yesterday, Dr. He
said, he preached from, I believe, but God. But God. Well, I remember years ago, in
this pulpit, Clement Wood preached from but God. And it was an effective
sermon. I remember going home and searching
out in the Bible the number of but Gods. I think there's about
90, and I can't remember exactly, but it's about that number. And
I listened to them out and it was very interesting to see these
but-gods. And I went to bed that night
and I woke up in the night and the words in Philippians,
the fourth chapter, the 19th verse came. And it says this,
it says but-god but there's a word in between. And it says, but my God shall
supply, not some, but all your need according to his riches
in Christ Jesus. Well, that was a wonderful blessing
really, wasn't it? And it's a wonderful blessing
for us if we realize that this God is our God. You see, these men here, they
realised this God was their God. That's why they were able to
say, if so be our God. It was personal. And you and
I, my friends, would need to know this ourselves, our God
or my God. He's the one that will support
us. He is the one that will deliver
us. He is the one that will come
alongside us and strengthen us and help us. So may we be thankful
to know that today God hasn't changed. God hasn't changed. He is the same. Yesterday and
today and forever. May you and I have that confidence
to know then that this God who was with Shadrach, Meshach and
Abednego in the burning fiery furnace, today still comes and
is with his people in the burning fiery furnace of our trials that
we enter into in our lives. The oppositions that we face,
let us not think we are alone. Because God knows. God knows
the path. He knows what we're in. And therefore
he directs us in that right way. And I think, therefore, if God
is there with us in these trials, you know, what will occur is
there will be, well, there will be fellowship, I'm sure, with
the Lord Jesus Christ. There will be union with the
Lord Jesus Christ. He didn't lead them to walk alone.
He was with them. He doesn't leave his people to
die, to walk alone. He's with them, to help them.
And surely, in that situation, what does he do? He reveals himself
as their all-glorious Saviour. They may come and realise their
utter unworthiness of any deliverance. They may think of their sinfulness,
the evil of their heart, and they think the Lord has had compassion
on them. and is with them, and to reveal
himself unto them. Now, the Saviour was revealed
to them here as their physical deliverer. My friends, the Saviour
reveals himself to his people as their spiritual deliverer.
When they're in times of trial and opposition, when they're
perhaps almost overcome, God's people are never totally overcome,
They might think they're overcome, but God doesn't leave them. He
doesn't forsake them. He says, I will never leave thee,
nor forsake thee. And so in these times of trial,
in the furnace, to have that fellowship with the Lord Jesus
Christ. And as he then reveals to us,
perhaps, what we're not having to endure, what he endured, to
redeem our souls. When we see then the cost of
our salvation, that puts everything in a right and a good perspective.
We then recognise that the trials and the tempests and the storms
we're having to pass through are really very light compared
with what the Lord Jesus Christ faced and endured. Yes, He endured. He bore our punishment. The flames of God's wrath in
the furnace the Saviour had to endure. Not only on the cross
when His Father forsook Him for those three hours of darkness,
also in the Garden of Gethsemane. Yes, there He was. The Lord was
in the furnace, enduring the anger of God that was due to
us. So as we read such an account as this, may our eyes ever come
to the Lord Jesus Christ with regard to our own personal life
and to realise what a blessing it is to know the Lord does permit
us to come into these situations so that he joins us in them and
not left then isolated by ourselves. Well, may we contemplate this
account we have here in the book of Daniel, because it's so appropriate
to our spiritual lives in the day and age in which we live.
And we should be thankful to know that these men were given
that living faith to answer the King in the right way. And you
and I may be found in places where we have to answer people
in a right way, and we should desire to follow the example
of those in the Word of God and to not get heated and not get
angry, but to be calm and very quiet in our responses, so that
His name is honoured and glorified. And then you see, we can realise
that the Lord is with us, and the Lord will go with us, and
the blessing is the Lord will take us all through life, and
at last receive us unto Himself. The good prospect for the Church
of God. And so may we be encouraged today, encouraged to know that
we worship the same God and to bow down before him and to continually
seek for his help and for his strength and his blessing that
we may be able to speak in these words that the three men were
able to join together in unison when they said, if it be so,
our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning
fire of furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand,
O King, but if not, and always come thou, but if not. For there may be that situation,
if not, be it known unto thee, O King, that we will not serve
thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. For may we pray for much grace
and strength to not bow down to those golden images. And that's
just, of course, a picture, but it refers to many things in our
lives. And let's not bow down to anything
which is wrong, which is not serving the Lord. May we be found
as true servants, serving the Lord, remembering the Word of
God, which is so powerful. Those that honour me, I will
honour. And those that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. Amen.