a springboard from this here
in Hebrews 11 to what the Apostle intended for us to look at in
Hebrews and Daniel chapter 3. We've been studying about true
faith. This all has been in Hebrews
11 concerning true faith. It is incumbent upon everyone What good is your faith if it
is not true faith? If your faith is nothing more
than a decision that you've made, if it's nothing more than a mere
act of volition of your will, then your faith is not true faith. True faith is that which is given
of God, that which God gives, and by it we receive Christ. By it we receive Him as all our
salvation. And as we've gone through, we've
seen that true faith has only one offering, Jesus Christ. True
faith forsakes all and follows Christ, like Moses forsaking
Egypt. We forsake the world, like Abraham,
who even offered up his own son. True faith forsakes all, follows
Christ, adores Christ, loves Christ. These are all aspects
of true faith. And so what we've done is take
the gem at every manger, so as to look
at our faith to see if it matches the faith of these saints. And
right now, we've not come to specific acts, but we're looking
now, because the Apostle doesn't have enough parchment to write,
he just takes love sums of these acts of faith, and he shows us
the departed to us who believe. True
faith obtains the promises. By receiving Christ, we then
know that all the promises of God are ours in Christ. They're
what? Yea and Amen. Where? In Christ. Only in Christ
are the promises of God effectual to you. Now then, this last one,
stop the mountain. alone can shut the mouth of our
accuser. True faith does not debate with
him, true faith does not argue with our enemy, but true faith
looks to Christ to be our advocate, our lawyer, the one who pleads
our cause. Now the Apostle no doubt had
reference to those three Hebrew children mentioned in Daniel
chapter 3. And so let's go here and look
at the faith of these men, see the accomplishment of their faith, and by it we can see believe. What's the benefit of
true faith as we live in this world? Scripture says true faith
quenches the violence of fire. Now these three men, we call
them children, a lot of people think they were little, they
were men, they were young men. They were not babies, they were
not little children like you would think, they were men. They
were given rulership over kingdoms. These three were cast into a
fiery furnace by that king. Now let's look at this. Here. In verses 1 down through verse
7. What we have is this king Nebuchadnezzar. He being probably the greatest
king in earthly standards because his kingdom He makes a statue of himself. He makes a statue of himself
of gold, pure gold, 35 to 40 feet high, the statue was. And
what he had done is he had said, okay, when I play the music,
when I play the music of flutes and harps and drums, he said,
I want all the kingdom to bow to my image. So as he does this, some men
come to him, and verse 8, down through verse 12, these men being
jealous of these They come to the king and they
feign this worship of him and said, Look, if you not do this,
you not command everybody to bow down. And he said, These
three men, these three Hebrews, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
O king, they have not regarded thee to serve thy gods, nor worship
the image which you have set up. And so what ends up happening
then in verse 13, down through verse 18, he brings these three
And he said, did you not bow down? Why did you not bow to
my kingdom? Why did you not bow to my gods
and my image? And you know what he said? He said, maybe you didn't
hear. He wants to give these boys a chance. He said, maybe
you didn't hear the music. Maybe you didn't understand what
I was saying since you're a foreigner. Maybe I'm going to give you a
second chance to bow down. And when you hear this music,
you better bow down or I'm going to throw you into this furnace. who disobeyed. And look what
they said. They said this in verse 16. O
Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
That word careful, it means we don't need no time. That's what
it means. We don't need a second chance.
We don't need you to play the music again. You know why? We're not careful in this matter.
Because if it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver
us from the burning fire and furnace, and He will deliver
us out of your hand. But if not, if not, we don't care. If not,
be it known to you, O King, that we will not serve that God or
worship that God, His fury and his visage changed. He went from this kindly old
man and saying, oh, maybe you didn't. Let's give you a second
chance now. He is furious. And what does
he do? He heats this fire seven times
as hot. Verse 19, seven times as hot,
he heated it. And he commanded the most mighty
men, the most mighty men to subdue these three men and bind them coats and all, and threw them
in the furnace, and the furnace was so hot that even his mighty
men were consumed." Now the king, curious, looks into the furnace. Now he says, did we not send
three men bound? I see four men loose, and one looks
like the Son of God. And he said, bring them out.
And when he did, he saw this, that there was no hurt on them,
that the smoke, there was not even a smell of smoke in their
clothes when he brought them out. Then the king gave that decree.
He said, look, I've given a decree now that you should only worship
their God. If this God is the one whom you
should serve, you should bow down to the God of Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, and if you don't, I'll kill you and
your family. Now that's not real Christianity
right there. That's not true faith. Nebuchadnezzar's
faith was fear, but it wasn't true faith. We don't command
men to worship God in that way as we kill them. But this is
the story that is meant to show us true faith. Now, I want you to see five things.
Five things about this faith of these three Hebrew men. The first thing I want you to
see is faith is despised. True faith is despised. When they would not bow down
to this king, what happened? He was furious and threw them
in fire. The second thing I want you to
see is that true faith quenches the violence of fire but not
the fire. True faith quenches the violence
of fire but not the fire. Third, all true faith is going
to be tried by fire. For faith enjoys the presence
of Christ in the fire Let's look at these five things.
True faith is despised, yet uncompromised. Man by nature is like Nebuchadnezzar
in your picture. They all make God like themselves. It is natural for man to make
God as it is for man to breathe. Man is not irreligious by nature. Man is religious. But his God
is the wrong God. His God is life unto himself. So as Nebuchadnezzar put that
gold image up and built it, even so, listen, does all men may
put up a God that they love, that they adore. A God that is
valuable to them. But make no mistake, it is a
God made by them. Natural man is like a God factory.
He loves to make a God. but not the God, the God of His
own image. Paul said that those things that
might be known of God are seen in the more visible creation.
You can see the power of God, you can see the omnipotence of
God, you can see these things in creation. But what does man
do with that knowledge? Man then worships the Creator,
the creature, rather than the Creator, because he's the Because
his nature is corrupt. God says this in Psalm 50, He
said, Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such and one as I
said. But I'll reprove you. I'll set them in order before
your eyes. I'll show them who's God. Just as the God of Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego was not the God of their making, they
would not bow down to a God of man's making. And with their faith, they were
uncompromising. They would not compromise with
Him. They knew that image was not God, and they would not say
it was God. You know how sometimes a lady
is wearing something that's not really that beautiful? And what
do other ladies do? Well, that's nice. You don't mean it's nice, but
you're trying to help her out. You're trying not to hurt her
feelings. But in this matter of deity, feelings are not what
we're trying to save here. I would rather your soul be saved,
rather than your feelings. And so, as a matter of true faith,
as a matter of principle, we do not accept gods that are not
God. I will not try to save your feelings
so that you may continue to worship your false god. That's not what
true faith does. True faith exposes false deities
for what they really are. Nothing but the works of man's
hands. You see, our God is God. Our God says this, I am God and
there is none else. You got that? That's pretty clear,
isn't it? So there's no compromising with
true faith in the matters of deity. God is God and there is
no other God. There is no other God. I know
that some of you have children that do not desire or love God,
but they've been around the Gospel long enough that they can't stand
to hear any other. Because they know within themselves
it's false. They're not saying it, but they
know this. God is God. They heard it. He said, I do
that. He said, uh, it's in, I'm going
to misquote it now. Isaiah chapter 42. He said, I am God and there is none
else. declaring the end from the beginning, from ancient times,
the things that were not yet done, saying, My counsel shall
stand, and I shall do all my things. This is the God of true
faith. He is a God that is sovereign.
Our God created all things, and by Him all things consist, and all things now are moving
according to His ruling and sovereign decree. What is our God doing? And our sovereign God, what does
He decree? He has decreed this. I have loved
people. I have chosen a people for myself. Our God is sovereign in election. Our God has chosen a people for
Himself. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with all spiritual
blessing in heavenly places in Christ. Clearly, our God is sovereign
in this matter of salvation. absolutely sovereign in all things. You see, our God is purchased
to save us by one man, Jesus Christ. That's it. There is no
salvation in any other besides Christ. You see, His crucifixion
was not on accident, was it? It was on purpose, Him being
delivered because it was not possible that
it should be molded. See, the work of Jesus Christ
was not by chance or by faith, but by design, sovereign purpose.
And I tell you, He has come to redeem His people, to save them.
And He has saved them. He has redeemed them. And the
Holy Spirit will come to every one of them and give them life
and faith in Christ. And they should believe. And
this is the means by which our sovereign God has determined
they be saved through the preaching, through the declaration. It is simply to be declared and
the Gospel goes out in power and demonstration of the Spirit
of God. And the Spirit of God takes hold
of the dead soul and raises Him to life as He pleases. This is
our God. Is there no reason why they stood
there and said, look, we don't need no time for this. You don't
need to give us a second chance for this. Just as Nebuchadnezzar, his visage
changed. He was a little upset with them.
He wanted them. He liked them. They were good
rulers in his kingdom. He didn't want to throw them
in the furnace. They were doing well. He didn't
want to get rid of them. He liked them. So what he'd do,
he's going to give them a second chance. They said, look king,
we don't need a second chance. And so when people question our
God, and they give us opportunity to compromise, We don't need
opportunity. You see, true faith is going
to be despised and you should expect it. When they will not
hear, don't be surprised. You see, I'm surprised when men
hear. Isn't that true? I'm surprised
when men believe. That's surprising. It should not surprise us, yet
we're in opposite scenes where people believe we're not really
surprised. That's more surprising, wasn't
it? Don't you suppose the Jews were surprised when Paul was
saved? Wow! This was a guy going to
kill Christians and all of a sudden, bam! He's saved! He believes
in Christ! Surprised! But isn't grace always
surprising? The one you think should be saved,
and he goes on to sin the one you think shouldn't, and all
of a sudden he's saved. Surprise! That's how God works. And this is our God, and you
listen, true faith is going to be despised. It's going to be hated. We believe salvation is up above,
and on this point we will not compromise. even upon the pains of death. Now, believer in this day, we're
not really at the point of being burned at the stake. But don't think things couldn't
change anymore. How many of our brothers and
sisters have suffered the fires at the stake? I remember one man, he had 13
children, I believe. And on his way to the stake,
they lined up his children and his wife to plead with him to
the camp. And he did not move. He would not compromise. That's
what he fought for. Will not bow and serve another
God. Number two, true faith, listen, quenches the violence
of fire, but not always the fire. Not always the fire. As these three men stood in their
faith, it did not deliver them from the furnace. They were bound. They were cast
in the fire. Saints of God, these saints of
God, they were never promised to be delivered from this physical
fire. They knew God was able, but they
did not as yet know if He was willing. How many things have
you gone through as a believer in Christ that you know God is
able, but you don't know if He's willing? How did they handle that? How
does true faith handle it? We'll read what they said. What did they say? They said this. In verse 16,
they said, we're not careful about 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 your hand. Now look,
I don't know if we're going to get out of this fire or not,
but either way, we're done with you. Isn't that right? You see how, if it be so, look
at that. But if not, look, it doesn't
matter. You see, to true faith, it doesn't
matter. Burn me or let me go. Somebody asked a seminary professor
a long time ago, not today, a long time ago, what does it mean to
be dead to the world? And he said, OK, well, I've got
a friend in the cemetery. He's dead. I want you to go out
there, and I want you to yell at him. I want you to curse him. I want you to throw dirt on his
grave. I want you to spit on him. Then I want you to praise Him.
I want you to tell Him how good He is. How great He is. How wonderful. How much you appreciate Him. And come back and tell me how
He responds. What would He respond? He said, well He's dead. He's not going to respond anymore. That's what it is to be dead
in the world. If God delivers us or if He don't
So, we're still delivered from it. Isn't that faith? But yet,
recognize that that faith, though strong, though bold, though confident,
did not stop the fire from burning. They were thrown into the fire. Nonetheless, our boldness and
confidence and faith You are never promised to be
delivered from the fires of affliction, of torture, or whatever, of providence,
whatever providence of God comes to us. We're not promised that
we should be healthy, happy, wealthy, and wise in this world.
No. No. As a matter of fact, the opposite. We are promised so. And so if you expect the bold
faith to get you out of the fire, you're mistaken. Your faith is
not going to get you out of the fire. Their boldness didn't. Listen, they were tied up, they
were bound, they took the strongest of men. There was no way for
them to escape. No way. And verse 23, these men fell
down now into the fiery furnace. Is that not so with our trials
and troubles? Do we not often feel bound? Do
we not often fall down because of our troubles and trials? Into
the midst of them? You see, the promise of God It burns. It will kill you. The smoke and
the smell of it. Now take all those away and would
you fear fire? No. If you take the violence
of fire out, fire is nothing. So God doesn't promise to get
us out of our trouble, but He promises this, I'll take all
The stuff that hurts you is the trouble. All the hurt that you
think the trouble would cause you, I take that away. So what
then is the trouble? What does this? Faith in Christ. Faith in Christ. In Zechariah chapter 13 verse
9, God's promise to us is this, I will bring a third part through
the fire. You get that not around the fire,
but what? Through the fire. Through the
fire. For what purpose? I will refine
them as silver is refined. I will try them as gold is tried.
And this is the result. They shall call on my name and
I will hear them. I will say, this is my people,
and they shall say, the Lord is my God. You see, the furnace
was ordained for these children, and so is every trial and trouble
in our life. Ordained of God. Does that not
take away the sting of them? They're ordained of God. Your
trouble is ordained of God. Your difficulty, believer, is
ordained of your Father. He is intending to refine you. He is intending to burn off the
dross of your faith. So that your faith should become
purer. Isn't that what you desire? That
Christ become clearer to you? That His blood and righteousness
be more affectionate to your heart? That you would draw Him
nearer? Is that not your desire? To have
Him closer? Only through the fire. He says
that. Only through the fire. And listen, the hotter the fire,
the greater the power, the greater the display of God's power and
glory. Isn't that right? When He heated
this fire seven times, did that not show the greatness of God's
power to deliver them? I mean, if you lit a match and
you said, God, I'll save you from this fire, what do you mean?
You've got the pit so hot that it burns the man that threw him
in. How great then is the display
of God's power? So the greater then the fire
of our trials, the greater God is willing to display His power. This should take away, this should
quench the violence of the fire to believe and trust that God
has our best interest at heart. That God is not hurting us, but
He is helping us. He is taking away those things
that would hinder us from worship, from glory by glorifying Christ. That's what He's doing. And so as we look to Christ,
it then takes away the pain of these things. Knowing that God
is intending them for our good. All things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are called according
to their purpose. Even the buyers of our troubles. Go to verse Peter chapter 1.
Verse Peter chapter 1 and verse 6. also by the Spirit promises that
God will keep all those that He has chosen and put in Christ. He said in Deuteronomy 5, we
are kept by the power of God through faith and salvation ready
to be revealed for the last time. Wherein you greatly rejoice.
Don't you rejoice in that? The salvation is ready to come. Though now for a season, Though it be tried with what
fire, not be found in the praise and honor and glory at the appearing
of Christ. What is the purpose of your fire?
It is to glorify Christ. How do we glorify Christ in the
fire? Believing Him. Trusting in Him. What did Job
say? Though He slay me, yet will I
trust Him. This is true faith. True faith
is casting the fire knowing full well God is evil and God will
deliver us. Why? They weren't afraid of that
fire because of God. Neither should you and I be afraid
of the fire because of our God. Our God will deliver us. Third
thing, true faith enjoys the presence of Christ in the fire.
Look at that one thing that happened. Three men found. Verse 24. Do you not catch four or three
men found in the fire? They said, yes, King. Verse 4. Lo, I see four men loosed, walking
in the midst of the fire. And they have no mercy. In the
form of the fourth, the life of the Son of God. When are you closest to
God? When do you need Him the most? In or out of the Father. I know that as you pray for it
to come to you, Lord, show yourself to me. Lord, please, I need you to show me. Teach me. Love me. Embrace me. And then when you're
thrown in the fire, you're wondering what's happening. No, He's answering
your prayer. And notice, these men were bound
outside the fire, but in the fire they were free. If you're walking along with
Christ in the midst of your trouble, is there anything more freeing?
If this doesn't hurt me, what will? Nothing. What then should I fear? He is
near. In the fire? Stop looking at
the fire. Look to the Son of God. You'll
see Him clearly. Only in the fire. The fire reveals
the Son of God clearly to us. Our God says in His Pyrrhon, ye not dismayed, for I am thy
God, I will strengthen thee, and yea, I will heal thee, yea,
I will uphold thee by the right hand of my righteousness. Why
is it that we are so free of the fire? Because we see that
the Son of God is all our righteousness. God's wrath will never consume
me because He consumed my sin on Calvary Street. Because when
he bore my sin, the wrath of God, the fire of his wrath fell
on Christ. And you know what? It did not
consume Christ. It consumed my sin. Like the
burning bush, isn't it? The bush burned and was not consumed.
Behold the Son of God on the tree. He is burning, but he's
not consumed. So my sins were gone. and there's your mission. Peter says, but if you suffer
for righteousness sake, happy are you. Be not afraid, neither
of the terror nor of the trouble, but sanctify the Lord God in
your hearts. What are you to do in the midst
of your fire? Sanctify the Lord God. What does that mean? That
means to set Him apart Look at His holy character in the midst
of your fire. In the midst of your trouble.
Look at His person. Look at His work. Sanctified! Set it apart! In your heart, not with your
lips! In your heart! This is what we do in the midst
of the fire, and we are free. And notice this. In the violence within the fire,
true faith is a witness. true faith that these men were
a witness to everybody around them that God is God. Now, right? You want a witness? Our greatest
witness is in the fire. When the whole world is left around
us, yet we stand loose, free. Looking only and always to Jesus
Christ, the Son of God. You know, there was never a freer
man. I think Ms. Merton wrote this about Jack
the Hubster. Jack the Hubster. This is an
amazing thing. They noticed this about this
man. He never was moved. He never seemed to have troubles.
I'm sure he did. But to others around him, he
never seemed to have. They said, Jack, what is it about
you? They said, I'm always going up
and down, up and down, up and down. And Jack says, look, I'm
a sinner in nothing at all. Jesus Christ is my all in all.
I'm a sinner. I cannot go much further down.
I cannot go further down. I'm a sinner in nothing at all.
But I cannot go up. Jesus Christ is my all in all.
Higher than this I can't go. This was his constant saying.
This was his constant meaning. singular, and yet it brought
him so much comfort, so much joy and peace in the midst of
his trouble. And it should you. Remember,
the gospel is singular. It's not multiple things. It's
one person. It's Christ. Christ. So remember,
true faith is going to be despised. And it should be uncompromising.
True faith quenches the violence of fire, but not the This is the will of God for everyone
who are in Christ. I'll bring you to the fire and
I'll be with you in the fire. True faith. True faith is a witness. In the fire. May God even sustain us in which
the violence of fire. Is there anything else you want? Stay tuned.