We'll be turning to the book
of Daniel I Guess it's been a little over
over a year year and a half that's for right before Christmas and
21 I told you all so I had care my Christmas gift and I'm gonna
let you listen in and that woman that the Lord sent here and It's made faithful, made an example. Today's her birthday. And so
I'm going to give my wife a birthday present and y'all just listen
in. I like what our brother read.
They speak not according to this word. that's not consistent with
the scriptures, the Lord ain't with them. And that's the understanding
of it. We can read things and our nature
is law. Our nature is checklists. Lord,
how many times do I have to forgive my brother? Now you tell me a
number and I can laminate it. Get me a dry race car, right?
We have to get an understanding. God has to teach us these things,
not just read law, right? We're going to learn something
about Daniel today, too. We're going to talk about three
Hebrew children. We'll talk about the three of them quite a bit,
but the Lord told us, he said, call no man father. We know that
one. Call no man father. So we don't
call, we don't call preachers or elders or whatever, father.
We don't call him that. And he said, call no man, master. Call
no man, doctor. Right? That applies about the
same thing. We don't just deal with degrees only. We're reverent
and respectful, but we don't call no man, father. Call no
man, master. Call no man, rabbi. Teacher. Hello, teacher. What about reverend? What do
we say in Psalms? His name is reverend. So we don't call him
father, we don't call him reverend, we don't call him teacher, we
don't call him doctor or master. Now what do we call him? I got
my check plan. We get the gist of it. We are to count those
at labor in a word of double honor, but we're just men. We ain't nothing. We count Daniel
of double honor, don't we? Boy, everybody says, have the
faith of Daniel. We sang about it in Bluegrass
Song. Three were the Hebrew children, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Where was Daniel? Sitting at the right hand of
Nebuchadnezzar the whole time. Daniel had some strong faith
in a season. He walked by faith when God saw
fit to make him walk by faith, didn't he? In Daniel 1, it starts
out, Nebuchadnezzar took over and he come into Israel and he
said, you're going to give me some of your youngins. And it
said in Daniel 1, for children in whom was no blemish, but well-favored
and skillful in all wisdom and cunning and knowledge and understanding
science. And such as had the ability in
them to stand in the king's palace, they're able to come in front
of me, whom I teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.
They're able to learn another language to work for me. And
the king appointed them daily provisions of the king's meat
and of the wine which he drank. So nourishing them three years
that at the end of their, thereof, they might stand before the king.
He said, I'm going to feed them good. Now among these were the
children of Judah. Daniel, we know about Daniel.
Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah. Chemist, what was the name of
them Hebrew children that went in the furnace and like that
fast? I just went Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And I grinned,
you know why I grinned? I was 15 years old and I committed
to memory the pronunciation and the names Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego. Years later, at the ripe young
age of 42, I was so embarrassed I couldn't see straight when
I went and studied there. I had done so good. You know what these
names mean? I'm gonna do everything in my
power to remember Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Hananiah means favored
of God. You know what Shadrach means
in Chaldean? Nothing. Mishael means he who
knows God or who is God's possession, your God's property. Do you want
Meshach means in Chaldean? Nothing. Don't mean nothing. And Azariah, do we know what
that means? If we do, I don't need to go
study all week. I hope I got something for you. It means God
surrounds, God protects. You want Abednego means in Chaldean? Nothing. It's worthless, just
don't mean nothing. Don't stand for anything. Hand
and eye, the favor of God. Mischiel, God's possession. Azariah,
God protects, God surrounds. That's names. Y'all named something. Do you know that? I'm gonna preach
on your name Wednesday evening. I named you on purpose, meaning
something. But they took these children,
they took their kids. How is that set with you? Everybody misses that. Commentators
didn't grab that. They came to town and said, give
me your best kids. They took the children. They took their
children. And they gave them new names, didn't they? Look
here in verse 7. And to whom the prince of the
eunuchs gave names. For he gave unto Daniel the name
Belshazzar, and to Hananiah Shadrach, and to Meshach, and to Azariah
Abednego. They took them, and they said,
we're going to feed them some stuff. And of course, there was a thing
there. They said, well, we're not going to eat the king's meat. We'll
just eat pulse and we'll have vegetarian diets. But that's
not what they had before, was it? I want you to get the picture
of this. Nebuchadnezzar came into town and he said, give me
your best children. They're going to work for me.
They're going to be mine. He took them from their families.
He told them what they were going to eat. They're all about 15
years old, okay? They're old enough to be smart,
old enough to know science. He took them from their families.
He told them what they're going to eat. He told them the language
they're going to speak from now on. He told them that they're
going to be working in his palace. Here's where you're going to
work. Here's what you're going to do. And you're going to be
wise men. My wise men, I'm going to train you up. You're mine.
And he gave them heathen names. What'd they do? I'll never have
some good, no. That ain't what they did. All
right, that's fine. We'll do that. That's fine. It
don't matter. You call me nothing. You can call me anything but
late for dinner, I don't care. It don't matter to me. They were
hardworking and they were industrious people. They weren't lazy. They
gave it all they had just like the rest of God's people do.
They did. Verse 18. Now at the end of the
days that the king had said should bring them in, Then the prince
of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar, and the
king communed with them. You know how good a job they
did in three years? He sat down and had dinner with
them. You ever ate dinner with a king on this earth? He communed with them, and among
them all was found none. He had all of them. There's a
bunch of them, more than just these four. But out of all of
them, there was none like Daniel and Hananiah and Mishael and
Azariah. Therefore stood they before the
king, and in all matters of wisdom and understanding, no matter
what he brought up, the king inquired of them. He found them
10 times better than all the magicians and astrologers that
were in his realm. They were some sharp cookies. They were
wise, they were serious, they were sober, and they just, you
speak as somebody that has authority. Where'd you come from? Where
do you reckon they learned all that? They were children of God.
They had heard, they understood the scriptures. They didn't just
memorize scriptures. They understood the God of scriptures, and they
acted like it. And it showed out. It proved
out, didn't it? Well, the king had a dream. And
even the king didn't know what the dream was. He cut all his
wise people in. He said, I had a dream, and you
tell me what it is. And they said, well, tell us
what the dream is, and we'll interpret it. And he said, no, I don't know what
the dream was. Oh, King, what are you? No man
can do what you've asked us to do. He didn't even remember.
How are we supposed to remember? How can I interpret a dream that
you don't even know what it was? And he knew those men were frauds. Hey, he knew it was fake. You think anything's changed?
Mankind today knows it's fake. You can feel it. I can feel it,
and it's so. He knew they were fakes. They
were just soothsayers, and he's gonna prove it out. And he said, you
can't tell me what's happened. You can't tell me my dream. Kill
every wise man in the kingdom. Now, remember who was made wise
men? Whoever held that physical, that political office that the
king come in, took them, and changed their names, and changed
their diet, and changed their language, and did all this stuff,
and they just did it? That's all right, Lord did this.
What's it matter to me? Daniel spoke up. Hold on now.
Hold on. Let, let, let me and Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, me and Hananiah, and Mishael, and Azariah
go pray before y'all go jumping to conclusions. And so they did,
they did. And the four went and prayed,
and the Lord gave Daniel understanding, and Daniel thanked the Lord.
He prayed to the Lord and said, thank you, Lord, you did this.
And so he went to the king and he interpreted the dream. He
said, Nebuchadnezzar, here's what your dream was, and then
I'll explain it. There's a huge statue, 90 feet
tall. You're the head. It's gold. This thing's massive. It says
in chapter two, verse 34, Thou sawest until that you saw this
thing. You had body parts all over you
and all the body parts are kingdoms that you've conquered. That's
what that means. And he said, that's right. And he said, you saw a
stone was cut without hands, which smote the image upon its
feet of iron and clay and break them into pieces. You had this,
you were this big stone. This is your kingdom. You're
the head of it. And this is all you. And he said, keep going.
I love this dream. This is great. And then there's
an uncut stone. No man's hands ever laid to it.
It comes out, it crushes you, destroys you in little bitty
pieces. Verse 37, thou king or king of kings, you're the head,
you're gonna be the head honcho for, because, don't you forget
it, the God of heaven hath given thee the kingdom and power and
strength and glory. You are what you, who made you
to differ? That's why I say it. Has anything changed? Some different
New Testament? No. God made you that way. Well,
it ain't fair that somebody's so good. Who made them that way?
It ain't fair. Somebody's wounded in the body.
Who made them that way? Now, we can bow to God or not.
If he teaches us these things, he applies it to our hearts.
He said, you're the head over all these other kingdoms. Those kingdoms
are your arms and legs and body, and then this uncut stone. Why
are gems, let's talk about uncut gems and then we cut them. Why
do we cut gems? They ain't perfect, they ain't pretty enough. Why
was this stone uncut? It is perfect. It don't need
to be whittled on. Verse 45, for as much as thou
sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands,
and it break into pieces, the iron, the brass, the clay, the
silver, and the gold, The great God hath made known to the king
what shall come to pass hereafter. You see that, Murat Cutstone? God's telling you what's gonna
come to pass. And the dream is certain, and the interpretation
thereof, sure. You know it happened, because
you dreamed it. We're on the same page there, and my interpretation
of it, I'm telling you so. Stone's gonna get you. God's
gonna let you get built up real good. real high and real mighty,
and then Christ is gonna bust you to pieces and have everything
too. Everything else too. What's that
mean? And whosoever shall fall on this
stone, Matthew 21, shall be broken. But on whomsoever it shall fall,
it'll ground in the powder. I pray in this lifetime, Those
that I care for as you do. If that stones broke you pretty
good into pieces, you pray it breaks those you love into pieces
in this lifetime. Because if it don't, it's going
to fall on them and grind them to powder for eternity. Don't
we? What's the king's response? Daniel
got promoted, verse 46. And the king Nebuchadnezzar fell
upon his face. And he worshiped. Well, worship's
good. Worship's always good. No, it
ain't. You stop saying that. No, it
ain't. Look here. And Nebuchadnezzar
fell upon his face and worshiped Daniel. It's man worship. A lot of people go to church
sometimes when somebody comes into town. They won't go when
God's man's there. We've had brothers that died
in the last couple of years, and he knew it. He knew that's
what it was. But it's just man worship, that's
what it is. Worship the man. You'll find out when they don't,
when that man's gone, I can tell you that. Nebuchadnezzar, he's
starting though. The Lord's working in him. He
worshiped Daniel and commanded that they should offer an oblation
of sweet odors unto him. And a king answered unto Daniel
and said, of a truth that your God, is the God of gods. He didn't know God yet, it wasn't
his God. That's your God, but he knows he's important. And
Lord of kings and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou could
reveal the secret. Then the king made Daniel a great man and gave
him many great gifts and made him ruler over the whole province
of Babylon, the chief of the governors over all the wise men
of Babylon. He's a head honcho. And Daniel
requested of the king, he didn't demand, he requested, and he
set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He sent Hananiah, Mishael, and
Azariah over the affairs of the province of Babylon. That's important,
we'll say in a minute. But Daniel sat at the gate of
the king. He was a right-hand man. Hananiah, favored of God. Mishael, owned by God. Azariah,
God surrounds and protects. That's who's running the province
of Babylon. They got promoted, didn't they?
Why did the king do that? The king's heart's in the hand
of the Lord. It says there that that eunuch, not for his eternal
benefit, but he loved Daniel and Hananiah and Mishah and Azariah. And that's why he gave them new
names and looked after them. He went in and talked to them so they
could have the pulse. Was that his eternal benefit? No, but
God made him care for those men. for their benefit. So the Lord
made Nebuchadnezzar's heart turn, just like the rivers of water.
He turned it wherever and wherever he will, and said, them three
right there, you want that, Daniel? Put them in charge. They're running
the show. What's the first thing Nebuchadnezzar does? That's a
picture of the evil prince of this world, you know what I mean?
That's what this shows. What's the first thing Nebuchadnezzar
does when he hears God's going to destroy his great big statue?
He goes and builds a great big statue. Can't make this up. I wrote this down in the office
earlier. Dull ears do the opposite. Paul said, you're dull of hearing,
and dull ears do the opposite. Love your neighbor. Don't say
ornery things to people, and then people go say ornery things.
Forgive you, brethren. And I say, you know what you
did to me 10 years ago? Husband loves you. I can't even
say that out loud. Y'all may go home and beat him. It may
pop you in the head. Dull ears do the opposite, didn't
they? Daniel 3, verse 1. Nebuchadnezzar the king made
an image of gold whose height was three-score cubits, and the
breadth thereof six cubits. He set up in the plain of Dura
in the province of Babylon. This statue was of him. Y'all
get that? Daniel told him, said, you're
the head, didn't he? It was of man. This great big statue to
be worshipped is man, a mortal man to be worshipped. Has anything changed? I'm so sick of that. I don't
listen to it. I hate other people have to. The world's drowning. Oh, this is the mark of the beast.
And that's the mark of the beast. And this is the mark of the beast.
You know what it is? 666. What's six in the scriptures? Man. So
what's man done? Made himself prophet. I don't
need to go hear somebody tell me what the word says. I got
a library back here. I can stay in my basement. I'm
smart. They made themselves priests. I don't need nobody praying for
me in public. I can pray for myself. I don't need anybody
preaching the word to me. I can figure this out. And they made
themselves king. Not that those people that preach
and read the board and all that stuff suck special. Christ is
a prophet. You can figure it out yourself.
You don't need him to save you. He's the priest. He's the only one
that intersects. I can talk to God on my own. I ain't that bad.
And he's the king. Well, now he'll do what we let
him do. Let God. You don't know God if you think
you can let God. I don't know how to tell you that any plainer. That's the mark of the beast.
And it's in their foreheads. It's on their mind all the time.
Me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me. That's a whole lot more dangerous
than whatever aluminum pole hats and robots people put up your
nose. I don't know what the world thinks. It's absolute tomfoolery. And you're going to die and go
to hell if you're so worried about them things to the holy God you offended.
knock it off. Verse 2, Nebuchadnezzar the king
set together princes and the governors and the captains and
judges and treasurers and counselors and sheriffs and all the rulers
of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image which
Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. We're going to honor people
here today. Nebuchadnezzar just happens to
be the one today at this particular time. It's his birthday. It's
his, this is Father's Day. We're having a special occasion.
All the popular people are coming. Big event. It's Mother's Day.
We're going to hand out roses to everybody. Oh, it's so-and-so's
golden anniversary or silver or whatever it is. Make it up. We're having special Sunday schools
just for the kids. Easter egg hunts or some nonsense.
Get all the famous people here to do it. There's a 40-foot tall
picture of a famous quarterback down the road down there because
they're having church this Sunday. I'd love to talk to that fella. I
ain't going to church with him. We can talk down at the pool hall,
get us a cold beer. Everybody showed up for this
big reveal party, wouldn't they? Verse 4, and the herald cried
aloud, to you it's commanded. You've got to do something. All
people, nations, and languages, that at the time you hear the
sound of the cornet and the flute and the harp, sackbuck, psaltery,
dulcimer, and all kinds of music, you fall down and worship the
golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up. Well, everybody's
here. Let's do this. We've got a big
band. There's lots of activities. There's special people. This
is a worship service. And on cue, because it's playing,
we're all going to bow together and sing together and this and
that and whatever. a child of God, believers know
when something's wrong. Just because this looks like
what the world would call worship service, that doesn't mean there's
any worshiping going on. Natural man can't tell. They
might have a checklist. Oh, here's what we do, here's what we don't
do, right? I can teach a dog to bark at election. That don't
mean nothing. But the believer knows in their
heart when something's wrong. I don't think any of y'all is fans of
bluegrass music, but if you say, Kevin, oh, we have a wonderful
bluegrass band. You're from Eastern Kentucky.
You're from a bluegrass state. You're going to love it. And
I show up, Tim, there's a set of drums in the back. See ya. That ain't a bluegrass band.
Are you kidding me? Or you listen to it like, what's
that? It's cymbals, like this is, something just don't sound
right. This is as much as I know a bluegrass
band from not a bluegrass band. A child of God knows this. I
can't put my finger on it. Something ain't right there.
Something ain't right. They know. And you feel just,
oh man, it just crawls all over. And people, guitars, we're gonna
have a worship ceremony and everybody's like, ah, ugh. It's gross. Something's wrong. I get goosebumps
thinking about it. Just walk away. Just as I'd walk
away from a bluegrass band with electric guitars and drums, if
you go to a service, it's just, ugh, just get your purse and
go. Pack up your tools and leave. They also had church discipline
at this worship service. Look at verse six. And whoso
falls not down and worshipeth shall the same hour be cast into
the midst of the very fiery furnace. That's a little rougher, but
you'll get kicked out all the way out, ain't you? People heard
that. When they heard that, I'm gonna
lose my status as a celebrity, as somebody with a title, and
my eldership, are you kidding me? I'm gonna fall instead. Now,
I know it ain't just right, but we're gonna do, it'll be okay. We'll go along and get along.
Just do what everybody else is doing. Just sing like everybody
else is singing. Just wave your hands in the air
like everybody else is waving their hands. It's all right.
Just say amen when everybody hears those certain words and
they say amen. You start head-bobbling whenever grace is said. Faith,
election, atonement, yeah. Nod our heads when someone asks
a rhetorical question and pray like everybody else. Pray like
everybody else. Why do people pray the way they
pray? Because that's how they've been taught, they just do what
other people do. How would people worship, quote unquote, how would
people worship if you put a gun to their head? I probably shouldn't
say that. They put a sword to the neck,
how about that? How would a child of God sing
if the clouds be rolled back as a scroll? Would you sing like everybody
else sings? I think it'd be a little bit louder. How would we pray? Right there's a fiery furnace,
get in. I will now petition, you're gonna
say a bunch of churchy stuff and junk you've memorized your
whole life, you're gonna say, Father, glorify your son. Let's go, boys. You see the difference? One's
talking to God and the other one's acting like they're talking
to God. Or teach us to pray. You reckon we ought to be taught
how to pray? The apostles did, didn't they? How would a child
of God sing? How would a child of God pray?
How would they declare what the Lord did if this happened? Well,
let's see, verse eight. Wherefore at that time certain
Chaldeans came near and accused the Jews. They spake and said
unto King Nebuchadnezzar, O King, live forever. Smoochy, smoochy,
smoochy. I've been alive long enough to
know if somebody's blowing smoke at me. Haven't you? Can't you
tell? It's like, just knock it off,
dude. That's what you gotta ask. Thou, O King, hast made a decree
that every man shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp,
sax, psaltery, all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the
golden image. And whoso falls not down and worship it shall
be cast in the midst of the burnery of fires. I remember what you
said. There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs. Why'd they bring that up? That
was a problem, isn't it? There's certain Jews whom thou
hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach,
Meshach, Bendigo, Hanani, Mishael, Azariah. That's who it was. They just called them by their
Chaldean names, didn't they? These men, O king, have not regarded
thee. They serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image
which thou hast set up. That's the rub. Them fellows
you put in charge. The one that's favored of God,
the one that's God's property, the one that God protects. God's
man, right? God's man. You put them in charge,
and that's the rub. That's the rub. You know, Israel
had somebody ruling them. And they said, we want a king.
What do you need a king for? We need a king to judge us. You
got Samuel right there. God sent him, what's so hard?
Well, should I do this? Well, what's God's word say?
I don't even tell you my opinion. I'll just tell you what God says.
And with the understanding of the gospel, right? I know people
read scripture to you and they can say, this is what this is,
this is what this is. And you ain't got a, they ain't got a clue what
you're talking about. Cause they don't understand the
gospel. Samuel was there to tell them. And he said to him, behold,
there are old. Samuel, you're getting old and
your sons don't walk in the ways. Your house is in shambles just
like David and everybody else's, right? Make us a king to judge
us like all the other nations. We won't be like everybody else.
Give us a king. And this displeased Samuel, he knew what was coming.
And when they said, give us a king, so he prayed to the Lord, that's
wise. And the Lord said to Samuel, hearken unto the voices of the
people that say they want a king. Do what they want. He warned
them several times, but do what they want. They have not rejected
thee, but they have rejected me. Why did they reject Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego being in charge of stuff? They rejected
the God that they served and they walked after. That's why.
That's why. If the Lord puts us in a position
and somebody goes against it, it's because they hate God and
don't take it personal. If the Lord gives you something
to do, don't take it personal. Look to Him. You'll be alright.
He said, they've rejected me that I should not reign over
them. Samuel was the one in charge. No, Samuel wasn't in charge.
He knew he wasn't in charge. The Lord did. God sent some men
he favored, he possessed, he protected to run things, and
just a couple old hillbillies. Ain't nothing special about them.
and they bend over backwards and they kiss their heels to
do everything for these people. Change my name, that's fine.
You want to be vegetarian? I'll be vegetarian. I don't care.
I'll do what you want. You're going to live over here? I'll live
over there. You're going to speak this language? I'll speak that language.
I don't care. I'll do whatever you need. That's all right. But
I ain't putting up with religious garbage. If it comes to the times change
and I gotta wear Hawaiian shirts and the flip-flops and the hats
indoors and all that nonsense, well, I ain't putting up religious
garbage. You know what I mean? When I chose God, I never hated
God. You still do. Ain't betting on
the gospels, see. I'm not playing those games.
We're gonna do things God's way. You know we're gonna run this
place, we're gonna watch our feet, and we're gonna do it the
way God says. That's what we're gonna do. You know why we don't
pass the plate? Because God says you have a box
in the back, drill a hole in it, and that's a tactic that
man used when there's a separation of church and state. We're gonna
do things God way. What's natural man do whenever
they're faced with something like that for the first time?
What did these fellows do? Look at verse 13. Then Nebuchadnezzar,
in his rage and fury, commanded them to bring Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king. The
Lord put these people in charge. They hated them for it. That
old eunuch loved them. And they was in rage and fury.
Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, you don't serve my gods or worship the
golden image I've set up? Is this true? Nebuchadnezzar liked
those boys. Everything went great until the
root of the matter come out, and he liked them so much he
gave them a second chance. Look down at verse 15. Now, if
you be ready at the time you hear all the sound, all these
things are halfway through, and you bow, it's well. That's in
italics, but that's good. If you do all those things, it's
okay. Everything will be all right. Like they should have
been thrown into fire already, shouldn't they? About the first
time. He said, I'll give you a second
chance. I'm a fair man. I'm not an austere man. I'm bendable. Just like that law we pretend
we worship. In his eyes. He said, you just do it this
time and everything will be okay. But if you don't worship, you
shall be cast the same hour into the midst of the fiery furnace.
And who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?
That's the problem too. That is man's thoughts. I can
resist God. What's God going to do? What
God's going to keep me from doing what I'm going to do? I was a
little tiny fella. I was about four or five years
old. We went to a funeral. Preacher got up and preached.
He's a he-hawer. I didn't know if he's breathing in or out.
Ha! Ha! All that. And he said, he said, I chose the Lord to
save me. He said, if I didn't want to,
he goes, I could have put my bony hand right in his face and
stopped him. I was four years old and I got goosebumps. I was
like, who's this guy think he is? You go warm a shower up,
you stick your hand, you stop that water? I was a little kid
and I knew better than that. Whoever he's talking about ain't
God. You better watch out, buddy. Man ain't nothing. God's almighty,
all-powerful and holy, ain't he, buddy? Young people know
that. Old Nebuchadnezzar said, whose
God is going to deliver you out of my hand? What did Laban say to Jacob?
We remember that? That was just a couple of weeks
ago. He said, it's the powers in my hand to do you hurt. But
you know, your Lord asked me real nice and told me not to.
He said it. Pilate said the same thing. He
said, why don't you answer me? Don't you know that I have power
to crucify you and I have power to release you? No, you don't,
Pilate. They don't know nothing. They don't know God. That's a problem. We need to
tell them. How are they going to know unless
we tell them? Verse 16. Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they answered and said unto the
king of old Nebuchadnezzar, we're not careful to answer you in
this matter. I don't need to go think about that. He said,
now you take some time, take 15 minutes, cool down, have a
cool down period, and you think these things over, I'll give
you a second chance. I don't need no time. That's all right.
I kind of mulled over that vegetarian diet. I didn't really, I wouldn't
be a fan of that, to be honest with you, but I don't need to think about
this one. We're not careful. We don't have
to think about this matter. Is that what it says? We're not
careful to answer thee in this matter. Had they been popping
off at the mouth the whole time? Is that a rule? Is it an ordinance
or is it a law? Well, now hold on now. Can you
break this down for me now? I just do it. That's all right.
It don't matter. It don't matter. Let's do it.
Now, this matter. I hope this cow patty's dry enough
that we can pick it up and throw it around like a frisbee. But
if it ain't, I grew up on a farm and I don't really mind a smell
if I can't tell. Where are the masks? Is that the matter? Get vaccinated,
don't get vaccinated. I don't know. Pick something
in the last 10 years. What was it before acid rain? Whatever it
is, that generation. Is that the matter? For some
people, that's the matter. These three children of God,
they said, this is the matter. Now the matters I've been quiet,
but you changed my name, took me out of my country, gave me
a new language. Uh, took me, I was away from my family, my
parents and, and everything else. And we got a problem now. We can swallow a lot of other
stuff for the, for the furtherance of the gospel to walk in as men
and women that know God in this generation. Now we got a problem. Now we got a problem. gave us
these new jobs and new languages. Here's the bulk. Here's what's
just highlighted and circled and underlined and stars next
to it. I don't need to read it so often. Daniel 3, 17. We don't
have to be careful with this. If it be our God whom we serve,
he is able to deliver us from the burnery, fiery furnace. If
you're gonna throw us in there, he is able to deliver. and he
will deliver us out of thine hand, O King. It may not be the
way I think. It may not be the way you think.
Christ ain't gonna lose a sheep, is what they're saying. Burn
me at the stake, so what? You gonna kill me? You're doing
me a favor. I think I have a job on this
earth, but for me to die is gain. Oh, I can't die. Oh, I can't
die. That's what the heathen says. I would like to watch my
children grow up, but if the Lord ain't gonna have me do that,
I'm going home. That'll prove out on her deathbed. I've seen
one or two deathbeds, and it proves out. But, if not, You
be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods,
nor worship the gold image which thou hast set up." If I'm not
the Lord, he still deserves to be worshipped. That means you
are. If you know him like that, you're going to worship him.
But whether we die in this body or not, I don't care. You know
one thing. We serve the Lord, I ain't serving
nobody else. You want me to go eat hummus, and you want to call
me chickapoo, I don't care. We'll get over that. I serve
God. I ain't bending. Oh, that we could have such faith.
Oh, that we could have such faith. In the face of the furnace. I
mean, standing where it consumed the man that threw him in. He'd
up seven times and died. Right in the face of the furnace.
I worship God. I ain't bending. And if he kills
me, so be it. I'll be with him. Let's go. Quit
talking about doing it and do it. Man up, gird yourself like
a lawn, get after it. Gird up your lawn, gird yourself
like a man. Gird up your lawn and get after it. Let's go. Oh,
I could do that in the face of the fiery furnace and in the
face of mild discomfort. Somebody park to my parking spot.
Somebody didn't call me sir or ma'am or whatever hoopty loopty
title I want to be called. I gotta wear a mask when I go
to the grove. That's a fiery trial sometimes,
isn't it? God's gotta teach us. We gotta grow. If we're alive,
we will. He may be willing to deliver
and he may not. You get that? In the face of
the fiery furnace or in just a mild discomfort, God is able
to deliver, comma, and he will deliver one way or the other. Either this will carry out the
way I want it to, I prefer not to go in a fire and furnace.
If I have my druthers, I don't want to do that. But that's all
right. I'm delivered either way. That's
for sure. I'll be with him. I pray we can
remember that in a trial. The Lord is able to deliver us,
but physically he may not be pleased to do so. Our brother D, the Lord could
take that cancer out of his body right now. He's able. You think he's able? Now, if
you own that side of the coin, you own the other side of the
coin, he may not be pleased. Own it. Put it in your pocket
and rub it. I'm telling you. If we believe
he's able, we also have to believe he does what he will. Bow to
both of them. We petition, we ask him. We got
enough sins. Lord, I just really assume I
get burned today. I don't like heights and I don't
like snakes. I don't want nothing that has to do with either one
of those. But if you kill me, that's all right. Though he slay me, yet will I
trust him. The Lord might not be pleased to do so, but I want
to bow to him until my death, just like Job, though he slay
me. Not though he may slay me, though he slay me. Well, I won't
die, yet will I trust him. We're delivered from the death,
ain't we? Walking by faith. God's going
to take everything near and dear we hold on to in all of our grave
clothes and whatever it is. God's going to take that away
from us and burn it in front of us and we're going to be okay
with it. One of that don't sound like health and wealth and I
thought was going to win the lottery and get a Porsche. Well, that's
what the world, that's what Nebuchadnezzar did. They're going to have a
big party and have a band and stuff for everybody. Come one, come
all, come as you are. The walk of faith's a little
different. Some may say they arose to God's calling, didn't
they? We don't even get out of bed without him. I've said that
before, and people stop short. Like the Lord clothes us, but
we put our pants on, don't we? The Lord feeds me, but I take
a spoon and put it in my mouth. I went on to say, however, he
makes us hungry, gives us enough sense to do so, and gives us
the power to do so. People leave that part off. I
don't make things up. I pray I don't. I tell you what
God says, right? What's he say? He said unto me,
son of man, when Ezekiel was called to preach, stand upon
thy feet and I'll speak unto you. Get up, Ezekiel. And the
spirit entered me when he spake unto me. When he spake, that
spirit worked right then, buddy. God commanded it was so. And
set me upon my feet that I heard him speak unto me. I can't even
stand up unless God does it. proud or foolish, and I'm a fool.
Without him, I'm nothing. He's all in. Verse 18. 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. What great faith. What
is everybody talking about? Oh, the faith of Daniel. I'm
about time I preached that. Alright fella made me so mad,
I still see his long long hair and curliness and flippantness
and like everybody oughta have the faith of Daniel. You don't
even know what that is. Hush. Out there speaking words they
don't even understand on behalf of God. Knock it off. Where was
Daniel's faith whenever these three Hebrew children was? We
don't call it the four Hebrew children, we call it the three
Hebrew children. He was sitting at the gate, he was sitting at
the right hand of Nebuchadnezzar. Was he not? What's that mean? Lord, be our
faith. Give me faith. Keep my faith.
Make it the faith of Christ. Not mine. Not my thumbprint.
Yours. I ain't got enough sense to hold
on to it. We need Him every hour, don't
we? Verse 19, and Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the form
of his visage was changed to get Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
And therefore he spake and commanded that they should heat the furnace
one seven times more than it was wont to be heated. And he
commanded the most mighty men that were there to arm, take
those three and throw them in the furnace. Verse 21, and these
men were bound in their coats with their hoses and their hats
and their other garments, and they were cast in the midst of
the burning furnace. Therefore, because of the king's commandment
was urgent, And the furnace exceeding hot, the flames of the fire slew
those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, killed
those that threw them in there. And these three men, Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah, they fell down
bound, says it is bound, bound into the midst of the fiery furnace.
But they were favored of God. They were God's property, and
God's the one that protects them. That's what their names mean,
wouldn't it? Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and
he arose in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors,
Did we not cast three men bound in the midst of the fire? The
answer said, Yea, king, true, O king. And the answer said,
Lo, I see four men loose. And he said, Is this bound? He
said, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and
they have no hurt. They walk around like it ain't
nothing. I've seen some strong, mature believers walk through
some fiery trials like it was nothing. Oh, what a thing. What a thing to see. God did
it. God did it. And the form of the fourth was
like the Son of God. How would he know such a thing?
What do you reckon for three years and fellas told him when
they had dinner? Sit down and let me tell you something, bud.
Verse 26, Nebuchadnezzar came near the mouth of the burning,
fiery furnace and spake and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
ye servants of the Most High God, come forth and come hither. Come on. And Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego came forth of the midst of the fire. Were they
bound anymore? They weren't bound, they were consumed. What happened? The Lord looses his people. He
unwounds them. Lazarus was wound tight, wasn't
he? And he said, loose him, let him go. You had bondage. That's gone. And the princes
and the governors, the captains, the king's counselors being gathered
together, saw these men. This was on display publicly.
Upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor a hair was of their
head with sins." The Lord numbers our hairs, don't he? He said,
they ain't gonna get sins, not even a hair. Neither were their
coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed upon them.
Three came out. Four was in there. You know who
that was, don't you, buddy? Who was that fourth one in there?
The Almighty God. We come out of the fire unscathed.
We come out of the fire loosed. We come out of the fire not even
smelling like smoke. Why? He stayed in the fire forest. He bored. Did it consume him?
No. He's satisfied and he's sitting
on the right hand of the almighty God. Because he is God. Don't
we? We know who that was. We know
what that means, don't we? What do you reckon they smelled like?
Smelled like the son of God, didn't it? Sweet smelling savor. When through fiery trials thy
pathway shall lie, my grace all sufficient shall be thy supply.
The flame shall not hurt thee. I only design. Boy, that was
right. Where do you think him trials
come from? God gave it. God gave the trial. What do we
pray for? Lord, show us, teach us what
you're going to teach us in this trial. I'll give you the cliff
notes. He's going to show us the gospel and Christ in it.
What we are, who he is, him, him owning us, us, him loving
us before time, us being his property and him protecting us. We just assume it'd be nice if
we learned that pretty soon on in that trial. It hurts. Not then. What about every fiery
trial of life? We're going to smell the same
thing anyway. Verse 28, Nebuchadnezzar spake
and said, blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
who has sent his angel and delivered his servants that trusted in
him and have changed the king's words and yielded their bodies
that they might not serve nor worship any God except their
own God." It's starting to sound a little better, isn't it? Old
Brother Nebuchadnezzar's come in contact with some people that
believe the gospel, and he may have sent through a worship service,
a true service of God. He ain't there yet. The Lord's
working on him. Verse 29, therefore I make a
decree. Ain't much bowing is it? That every people, nation,
and language which speak anything amiss against the God of, he
still ain't saying his God, the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego shall be cut in pieces and their houses shall be made
a dunghill because there is no other God that can deliver after
this sort. Wouldn't that be something right
now if we had a king? Could you imagine having a president
of this country? that said, if a dog wears its tongue against
one of these people, kill that dog. And anybody else, we're
going to cut you to pieces. What kind of nation do you think?
Well, they'd be austere men running this place. No, they wouldn't
either. Long, suffering, tender, and kind, wouldn't they? Verse
30, and the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the
province of Babylon. He's finally getting there. He's
starting to respect that one that's favored of God, Hananiah. You know what? Maybe Mishael,
maybe he is God's possession and not his own. Maybe he is
bought with a price. And Azariah, I'm starting to
think, them bullets are bouncing all around him. I'm starting
to think maybe he is the Lord. Maybe the Lord does protect him
as his time goes on. What was their message? They
got promoted. They was already running the show. And they got bumped
up an arch too, didn't they? What'd they say? King, everything
that just happened, that's what really is gonna happen. You ain't
got a hold of it yet. Nebuchadnezzar, you're gonna bow to the sun or
burn. Bow or burn. And I'll tell you
what, if he makes you bow, you're gonna get a new home. And you're
gonna get a new name. and you're going to get a new
language. You ain't going to talk the way you used to talk. And you're
going to eat new food. You can't eat that food you used
to eat. Now you got to have this. That's what's going to happen.
I pray the Lord to put us through some fiery trials. Go brother
Muse. Oh, Dr. Muse pray. Fella come to him and said, pray,
Brother Mews, that Lord would give me wisdom. He said, let's
pray. Old Luther Martin, his name was. And they sat down,
and he said, Lord, be hard on this boy. Strip him, take things
from him, and be rough with him. They said, what are you, elbowed
him. What are you praying like that for, Brother Mews? He said,
how do you think you get wisdom? Want your faith to increase?
It's gonna come by the fire, isn't it? Prayers of blessing
to you. Lord be with you.