I want to read verse 28 to begin
the message this morning, but this won't make much sense to
us if we don't look at the context of this verse. Daniel chapter
3 and verse 28 says, Then Nebuchadnezzar spake and said, Blessed be the
God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel,
and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed
the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might
not serve nor worship any god, except their own God." The title
of the message this morning I think probably would be appropriate
to say, Trust and Obey. Trust and obey, for there is
no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. They that
trust in the Lord shall be as mountains high, they shall never
be moved. Trust in the Lord with all thy
heart, lean not to your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge
Him, and here is the result, He shall direct thy paths. He'll
keep you. Trust and obey. That's what we
get from this lesson this morning. These three Hebrew children,
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Now let's look at it in this
way, and I would ask you to give me your attention and be patient
this morning for a few minutes. And maybe you and I can learn
something from this incident that took place years and years
ago. In verse 1, let's look at it.
Nebuchadnezzar, this great king, No doubt the most powerful king
at this particular time ruled in Babylon, what we call today
Iraq, Baghdad, down the Tigris River, ruled over many nations
and languages. Nebuchadnezzar, this great king,
added in his heart for some reason or another to make an image of
gold. When we say an image, we could
say that it was a very attractive image. Made of gold. I don't know if it was solid
gold, if it was made out of some sort of rock or wood and overlaid
with gold. But it was an attractive image.
It was a beautiful image. And look at this. It was 90 feet
tall and 9 feet wide. Whose height was 3 square cubits. and the breadth are of six cubits,
and he set it up in the plain of Gura in the province of Babylon."
Can you imagine how this looked? Setting out in this plain, this
level plain that many nations of language could gather And
the sun came up and rising and shining upon this 90 foot tall
image made of gold. How it sparkled, how it glowed.
It awed you. You stood in awe of this image,
90 foot tall. And look here at all the men
that he called to worship this image. He called the heads of
states. He called the military officers,
and he even called his spiritual religious leaders. Look in verse
2. And Nebuchadnezzar the king sent
together together the princes, the governors, and the captains,
And the judges, and the treasurers, and the counselors, and the sheriffs,
and the rulers of the provinces. Anybody that was somebody that
was there. He was there. Rulers, great men,
influential men were called. And here's what they were called
to do. Come to the dedication. Come and let's consecrate. Come
and let's set up this image which Mabuchadnezzar, the king, hath
set up." Now can you imagine the influence this man had? The
power that this man had? To send out flowers, to send
out a command for such men to gather themselves together to
him? He was a mighty man. He was a
great king. Had influence and power and authority. We know that because the next
verse tells us that. Then the princes, the governors,
and the captains, and the judges, and the treasurers, and the counselors,
and the sheriff, and all the rulers and the prophecies, were
gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar
the king had set up, and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar
had set up." Now that's amazing. He's a great man. He was a great
king. A ruler. And when he sent out
a word, they heard and they obeyed. And look what he tells us here
in verse 4. And it heard, cried aloud, to you it is commanded,
O people, and nations, and languages." Now notice this, he didn't say
this is a suggestion, or this is a recommendation, but this
is something that you're commanded to do. He sent out this word,
and he gave this commandment, and what was it? We're told here
in verse 5, look at it. That at what time ye hear the
sound of the cornet, flute, and the harp, the sap, the psaltery,
the cumber, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship
the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up. And whoso
falleth not down in worship shall the same hour be cast into the
midst of the burning fiery furnace." Now, there's three things we
see here about this worship. And I don't think I need to tell
you that it's idolatry. And there's three things about
this idolatry that we see here. And this is amazing about this. It was to be in unison. That is, everyone was to do it
at the same time. At what time, he said, you hear
the music, then are you to fall down and worship. In other words,
it showed that they were in agreement, that they had communion one with
another in their idolatry. Can you see this looking out
on the plain of Dura? I mean, if you just imagine you're
on this mountain, and you're looking out on this giant plain,
and here's this 90-foot image there in the mist, and what are
those people doing? They're all bowing down. But
they're doing it in unison, in perfect timing, one with another. That's the first thing we see
about them. And the second thing we see about
it is this, their worship, was to have a sense of pleasure about
it. He was to have a sense of sweetness
about it. He said this, when you hear all
manner of music, they not only bow down, but they had in their
minds this sweetness about bowing down. This smoothness. Their carnal minds enjoyed it. They were soothed in their minds
by doing this. This music aided them in their
worship. See that? Music. Music. And thirdly, something
else we see here about this idolatry is, they were to fall down. They
were to bow down before this image. In other words, that told
us that they were to adore this image. That's what that implies. If you bow down before something,
you adore it. You esteem it. You acknowledge
your weakness and your dependency upon this. They fell down. Now
this is true idolatry. This is true idolatry. They all
did it together in unison. They did it with a degree of
pleasure. Their minds were soothed by this
music. And then they all owned this
isle by falling down before it. And we see here in verse 6 that
it wasn't optional. This wasn't optional. He didn't
say if you want to, if you find it in your heart to. But he says
if you don't, Then I'm going to kill you. You either worship
at my command, or you'll be thrown alive into the fiery furnace. To preserve your life, you must
worship this idol. If you valued your life in this
world, you would fall down and worship this idol. So here's
the two things about this ideology. First of all was this. This wicked
king ruled over the enemies of the Lord. He ruled over the Gentile
nation and he commanded them to worship this image. He was an idolater himself, and
he commanded those under his wicked rule and influence to
live in idolatry themselves. And they had to comply. There
was no choice. That's the first thing about
this. Here was a great king. He was
a wicked man. He ruled over the enemies of
the Lord, and he secured their idolatry. He commanded. And secondly, this wicked king
used these two means to secure their idolatry. The first was
this. He allured them. He drew them
into it by this sweet music. He soothed their mind. That's
the first way he did it. He used the furnace, number two,
to drive them to idolatry. If he couldn't lure them through
the sweetness of this music to do it, he would frighten them
into doing it. That's the two means he had.
If they did not do it willingly and with pleasure, they would
do it out of necessity to preserve their lives. That's the two means
that he had. Therefore, what's the effects
of this? It was effectual. He accomplished his end, because
we're told in verse 7, look at this. Therefore, at that time,
when all the people hear the sound of the cornet and the flute
and the harp and the saxophone and the psaltery and all kinds
of music, all the people The nations and the languages fell
down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar, the
king, had set up. He secured his purpose, didn't
he? And that's the two means he used to secure his purpose.
Through soothing their minds and through threats. And now
this is a mystery. This is a mystery. Commentators,
they have that. They have speculated on how in
the world this was brought to pass. All nations, all languages
under His influence, they all bowed down to worship this image.
How could that be? How did He bring that to pass?
All nations and languages could not have gathered here in this
plane But somehow or some way, and I know it's a mystery how
he secured the idolatry of all of those that he ruled over.
But that's what the Bible says. He did it. He did it. And if we stopped here this morning,
we could probably get a good history lesson. But there's a
spiritual application to this. These things that were written
aforetime were written for our learning. And it's not there
just for a history lesson, but it's written to teach us. And
here's what it teaches us this morning. And it's this. The unsaved,
the unregenerate people, the unbelievers of this world are
in a kingdom of darkness. And in the kingdom of darkness
they have a king. He's called the God of this world.
He's called the prince of the power of the air. He's called
the ruler of this world. The prince of darkness. And he
rules over them. They're his subject. And it's
said of this great king, the God of this world, that he blinds
the minds of those who believe not. And it's said that he deceiveth
the whole world and he takes the lost captive at his own will. And he's said to be the spirit
that now works in the children of disobedience. And he's said
to be a strong man that keeps his goods, that is in the hearts
of the unbelievers. And He keeps them by His power
in that darkness. Now, He's a great God, ain't
He? The Scripture calls Him a God.
And the Scripture says He's a Lamb. The Scripture says He's a Ruler.
And He's the King over the bottomless pit. And if the Bible, brothers
and sisters, teaches us anything concerning this God, this Satan,
this devil, that ever since the fall of man, he has succeeded,
he has succeeded in securing the idolatry of this world. Every man that's unregenerate,
every man and woman and boy and girl outside the Lord Jesus Christ
this morning is an idolater. And this God that rules over
them, that rules in their minds, that sits upon the throne of
their heart, has secured their idolatry. That's His goal in
this life. In the book of Revelations, we're
told many things about the devil. He's called, in Revelation chapter
12, a dragon. And it said, the dragon, that
is the devil, Satan. So see, he clears up who he is.
This dragon is the devil. And he deceiveth the whole world. In Revelation 13, 14, it says
they worshipped the dragon. They worshipped the dragon. Now
you say, I don't worship a dragon. That's the mystery of it, ain't
it? That's the mystery. People are
looking for beasts. People are looking for dragons.
Boy, I'll never receive the mark of the beast. That's what this
world is saying. They read all these books. They
say, man, I'll never receive the mark of the beast. And all
the time they're worshiping the beast. In Revelation 13, they
not only worship the dragon, but it tells us of a beast that
came up out of the sea. And this beast received his power
from the dragon. And the scripture says the world
wondered after the beast. And they said, who is likened
to this beast? Who's able to make war with him?
And then the same chapter tells us another beast came up out
of the earth. And he said, let's make an image
to the first beast. And they did. And what did the
world do? The scripture says they worshipped
the image. See what that teaches us? Brothers
and sisters, don't get hung up and hooked up and stuck up on
these images and beasts and dragons. Just remember this, it's all
about idolatry. That's what the scripture teaches
us. The devil is the god of this world, and he seeks to secure
this world in its idolatry. He has the means. Either through
pleasures or through threats, the devil secures this world
in its idolatry. He allures them through the lust
of the flesh and the mind. He entices them with the pleasures
of sin for a season. He makes it as appealing as the
soft sound of the flute. He makes it as sweet as the melody
of a harp. And by this melody, by this sweetness,
by this pleasure, he secured a man's loving and serving and
worshipping sin. Listen to this. In time past,
we walked according to the course of this world, according to the
prince. Who is that? That's Abraham.
That's the king. That's the ruler of the darkness.
He's the prince. The spirit that now worketh in
the children of disobedience, among whom we all had our conversation
in time past, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the
mind. See that? He makes sin appear
so sweet, and by that he secures our idolatry. Love not the world, And don't
love the things of this world. If a man loves the world, the
love of the Father is not in him. For all that's in the world,
listen to this, how has the devil used these three things to secure
this world in idolatry? What's in the world, John said?
The lust of the flesh. Oh man, we know something about
that, don't we? The lust of the eyes. I've got to have it. I want it. There it is. I see
it. I'll not be satisfied till I get it. The lust of the eyes
and the pride of life. These things are of the world.
And how the devil uses these means as Nebuchadnezzar used
this sweet music to secure men's idolatry. The bowing down to
these things and worshiping these things. Or Satan secures the idolatry
by overwhelming this world with a sense of fear and dread and
anxiety. He makes man afraid. The fear
of man bringeth a snare. Why did Peter deny the Lord Jesus
out of the fear of man? You know the devil was behind
that, don't you? Or out of dread of loss. Why would the Jews not
confess Jesus Christ? They said, we'll lose everything
we've got. Or out of anxiety over potential punishment, or
embarrassment, or shame. If you don't bow, you'll go off
the furnace. That's the way Satan secures
it, out of fear. I've often told you about Satan,
but he's not seeking worldly kingdoms. He's not seeking gold. He's not seeking houses. He's
not seeking property. He wants to be worshipped. He
wants to be esteemed. He wants to be served. And his
aim is to entice a fallen humanity to worship and serve the creature
rather than the Creator. That's his whole aim, brothers
and sisters. He has nothing else. And he has secured that in the
minds and the hearts of everybody that's under his rule. Let's read on. Look here in Daniel
chapter 3 and look here in verse 8. Look in verse 8. Wherefore, at that time certain
Chaldeans came near, and accused the Jews. And they spake and
said to 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, and the flute, and the harp, and the
psalter, and the cumber, and all kinds of music, shall fall
down and worship the golden image. And whoso falleth not down and
worshipeth, that he should be cast into the midst of a burning
fiery furnace. There are certain Jews whom thou
hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, and these men, O king, have not regarded
thee. They serve not thy gods, nor
worship the golden image which thou hast set up." Now we're getting into the Lord's
people, aren't we? How are they going to handle
this? We say everybody came to the
plain of Dura and bowed down to this image? Well, not everybody.
Not everybody. You had these three believers. You had these three men who loved
the Lord and esteemed Him and worshipped Him only, and they
refused to bow. They would not bow. And these
accusers, they noticed that. They noticed that they would
not bow. And they came and accused them to the king. Now you know
what we see from this, first of all. It's impossible to be
a secret Christian. You cannot be a secret Christian
in a world of idolatry. You're going to be noticed. People
are going to notice what you do. People are going to notice
what you say. And they're going to say, these
people are different. These people are different. These
three men did not make a big deal about not worshipping this
image. They didn't put some kind of
a sticker on the forehead that said, we will not bow. They never
got a committee together and formed a group that said, we're
the will not bow group. All they did was simply this,
they lived by faith. And their faith refused them
to bow to any God except their God. They just didn't bow. That's all they did. I'm amused and amazed by some
people who feel like they've got to let the world know what
they're against. You see them like that all the
time, don't you? We have Christian groups And they want you to join them. You see them on TV. And they
say, well, you know, they've got these TV programs that's
out now, and they're bad, and you need to join us. And we have
a group that regulates what can be shown on TV. And if you'll
join us, we'll fight the battle to regulate the TV programs.
Have you ever seen that group of people? Why not just not watch
it? Then you have a group that says,
we're against abortion, and if you'll send us your money and
join our group, we'll fight the fight for you. And you've got
the group that says, the world needs the gospel, and if you'll
join us and send us your money, we'll go do the work for you. You've got to get in our group.
You've got to send us your money. They want the world to know what
they're against. And they try to regulate morality.
A fellow was telling me a few days
ago, he said he knows this friend of his that he just insists on
praying in public. He just made a big deal out of
it. And my friend said, why do you
do that? He said, well, I want the world to know that I'm a
Christian. He said, well, why don't you live by faith then? Just live by faith then. That's
the way we have to world mold at it. There's a vast difference,
brothers and sisters, in letting our light shine as opposed to
trying to make our light shine. You don't have to announce to
this world what you're against. You don't have to join a group
to let the world know we're against this and we're opposed to that.
Just live by faith. That's all you have to do. We
don't have a single word that these three Hebrew children spoke. These accusers came to the king
and they didn't say, these three Hebrew children said they're
against your idol. They knew what they believed
by the way they acted. They live their faith out in
their daily lives. That's what the point of this
is. They didn't organize a WWNB,
We Will Not Vow Commitment, or group. They faced this as individuals
and they endeared it as individuals. Not in groups. That's the problem the church
faces today. That's the whole problem the
church faces today. We've got to get in groups. They
want us to join a group. No. No. We don't need anybody
to speak for us. We don't need anybody to cry
out to the world, this is wrong and that's wrong. Just live your
daily life by faith. That's all you've got to do.
That's all these men did. Look here closely at verse 12
again, what they say. Here's what they saw in these
men. The latter part of verse 12. These men, O king, have not
regarded thee. It wasn't, they say, we have
no regard for the king. They showed it by how they lived.
They served not by gods. They didn't say that. But you
can tell it by the way they lived. And they don't worship the golden
image which you set up. How did they know this? By what they practiced. See that? It's not saying, brothers and
sisters, just do it. It's simply do it. It's just do it. Now read on in verse 13 and 14. Look at this. Boy, here's when hell gets into
rage now. When you simply trust and obey,
simply trust and obey, here's when the devil gets into rage.
He don't care how much the church talks. Talk is cheap and he knows
it. But when he sees the church begin
to trust and obey, boy, that's when he gets in a rage then.
And look here in verse 13. Then Nebuchadnezzar, in his rage
and fury, commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Then they brought these men before the king. See that? And look what he said here in
verse 14. Now, this is amazing. The devil is very smart. The
devil is very smart. And notice how he began to deal
with these men. Look here in verse 14. Nebuchadnezzar
spake and said unto them, Is it true? O Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods? Now worship the golden
image which I have set up. Now if you be ready, that at
what time you hear the sound of the cornet, and the flute,
and the harp, and so on, and all kinds of music, you fall
down and worship the image which I have made, well, that will
be well. But if you worship not, you shall
be cast the same hour into the midst of the burning fiery furnace,
and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hand?"
Now, boy, the devil's smart. He's got all these years of experience
and he knows how to deal with us. And what Nebuchadnezzar is
saying here by way of prayer phrase, he's basically saying
this, you know what I've been told about you three men? I've been told that you wouldn't
bow to my idols and worship my God. But I don't really believe
that about you three fellows. Because I exalted you and I've
been so good to you, And I know that really, you three are good
men. And these fellas have brought
all these accusations against you, but I'm not going to believe
them. And what I'm going to do, because I'm so kind, and I believe
you're good men, and you're not willing to make waves, and you're
not willing to throw any wrenches in the cause, I'm going to give
you another chance. And I know you're going to do
what's right. Ain't it something how the devil
can take the poor man that's doing right and seek him to honor
the Lord? And he comes to you and makes
you believe that you're the one in Rome. And he fills you with
all his shame and embarrassment. You ever have anybody look you
in the face after you've stood for the truth and not disallowed your conscience?
And they're sort of aggravated at you because of that. And they're
so discouraged. And boy, you see the discouragement
on their face. What have you done? Why would
you do this? Why would you act like this? You're so dogmatic.
Why does all this matter? You should be ashamed of yourself.
We've been so good to you. We promoted you, and now look
what you've done. You've caused all kinds of...
And boy, the shame and the burden. You're to fault. That's why I
never convinced her, saying, is it so? I don't believe you
guys are like this. I just can't believe you'll do
this. Because I've been good to you, and I've exalted you,
and I'm going to give you another chance. Boy, what are they going
to do now? It's tough now. And he said,
if you don't do it, if you don't do it, then you're going to lose
your life. So I know you'll do what's right.
I know you'll think about your family, and your children, and
your jobs, and your prestige, and your influence, and you'll
do what's right. I just know that. So I'm going
to give you one more chance. I'm telling you what, Paul said
we're not ignorant of his devices. He's got ways of persuading men
to bow. And if you ever fell into the
temptation of the devil, the devil had him to whisper in your
ear, I'll tell you something about how he works you up. He can do it. And he does that.
Persecution is usually his last avenue that he takes. Because
he knows that usually persecution doesn't work. It never has worked
against the church. It didn't work against the early
church. But here's what he did in the early church. You remember
this. He started out by negotiating with them. Trying to appease
them. They said, by what name or what
authority do you do this? Let's discuss this, he said. Discuss this with us. That's
what they told Peter and John. Well, that didn't work. They
went ahead and preached in the gospel. And the second time they
called him in, they said this, if you do this anymore, we're
going to beat the living daylights out of you. They threatened him. And the third time they brought
him in, they beat the dickens out of him, didn't they? But
it never did work, did it? But that's the way the devil
does. First time, he'll try to shame you if he can. Then he'll
threaten you. And then he'll try to carry out
his threats. There's no wonder poor lost men can't stand against
him. Look what he's done to us, brothers and sisters. Look how
he's done to us, brothers and sisters. Look how he deceives
us. He deceived the very left, if possible. Boy, the last portion of verse
15 here is very important. Look what he says. And who is
that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? Boy, there's
a fiery dart in it. He can try threatening, and he's soothing, and he's pleasures,
and potential punishment. And if that don't work, here's
his fiery dart. Here's the way he weakens us,
doubting God's love for us. Doubting the Lord's care and
the Lord's concern and the Lord's ability to deliver us. Oh, let
the furnace be heated up. And let the rains descend and
the winds blow and beat against the poor believer. But he stands. He stands. Because he's convinced in his
heart of hearts that his God is not only with him, but his
God is for him and is able to deliver him. So what does the
devil do? He tries to get into doubt God's
care and God's love for him. A believer can face anything
if he knows God is for him. But he can't face anything if
he thinks God's against him. Peter faced the Sanhedrin, and
he faced the whip, and prayed, because he knew that Christ was
with him. But he couldn't even face a maid, a low maid, when
he thought Christ wasn't with him. Who is that God that's able
to deliver thee out of my hands? Now look on here at verse 16.
Look at this, 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 thy hand, O king. 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." I love this
word here. We are not careful. We are not
anxious. That's what they're saying. In
other words, they're saying we don't need time to go and meditate
on how we're going to answer you. We're not anxious that we
should go even pray about this issue. It's settled in our hearts. We know exactly how we're going
to answer you. We're not anxious about all of
this. They had the Holy Scripture as their rule of what was right
and what was wrong. And they knew the Scripture says,
Thou shalt have no other God before me. Thou shalt not bow
down to any graven image. They knew the Scripture says,
little children, keep yourselves from idols. There was no use
for them to go pray about that. There was no use to go and search
the documents of the forefathers. They had the Scripture, and they
knew what the Scripture said. And brothers and sisters, where
the word of Scripture is clear, we must not be anxious. We must
not debate or object to carnal reasoning, but simply and immediately
obey. Trust and obey. There is no substitute for a
childlike trust and obedience. That's simple. Listen now. We are not careful how to answer
them, okay? We're not careful to give you
an answer only, but we're not careful as to how to answer you. They did not seek that evasive
answer as a politician would. That would only confuse people.
But they gave a direct answer to clarify. See that? They did
not seek a smooth answer to humor, but they gave an honest answer
based upon the truth. They did not seek an answer of
eloquence and of human wisdom, but they gave a down-to-earth
answer that a simple child could understand. When I read that
to you, did you see that? There's no doubt about where
they stood when they entered. Those who really love the truth,
I mean those who esteem the truth, those who walk in the truth,
will resist the temptation to hide the truth or to conceal
the truth through outright lies or evasiveness or even implication. Those who love the truth will
be satisfied with nothing but simplicity. Those who seek to evade or humor
or confuse only seek to cover up their unwillingness to simply
trust and obey. Oh, Nebuchadnezzar, we're not
anxious to answer you. And we're not anxious how we're
going to answer you. We're going to answer you truthfully.
We're going to answer you honestly. And we're going to answer you
simply. Brothers and sisters, that's
what we need ain't it? Don't it just make you sick? I mean,
don't it just make you sick in your soul? In your spirit and
in your mind? To hear men talk and talk and
talk And they read paragraph after paragraph and page after
page. And when they're finally finished, the amount of truth that they've
spoken and the amount of sincerity and honesty that they've manifested,
you could take it all and crunch it together and put it in a little
tiny thimble and put a big cork in it. They said nothing. They ran along and said nothing.
And you know why? You know why? You know why we've
got all these religious preachers today in these gray areas and
they preach sermons and everybody leaves and don't know what they
say? Because they don't want anybody to know the truth. That's
it. And you know the difference in them and people who love the
truth. If you love the truth this morning, you want to set
forth the truth so people can understand the truth. And you're
not evasive about it. And you don't slip in the back
door. And you don't try to sneak up on people. You give people
an honest truth, a simple truth. Oh, God awaken us. God give us
the desire to be honest and truthful and simple. That's what these men did. That's
what these men did. Oh, King, we're not anxious how
we're going to answer you. And look at their confidence
there in verse 17. Look at this. Here's what they
believed. Here was the truth. If it be
so, the God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning
fire. I tell you, they said He's able
to keep us from going in there. He can overrule you. He can put
out the furnace. He can deliver us from even going
in the furnace. But if He's not pleased to do
that, and you throw us in the furnace, He's still able to deliver
us from it. Now that's plain ain't it? Our
God is able. And then He went ahead and said,
whether He's pleased to do this or not, we don't know. We know
this. He will deliver us out of your hand, okay? If you throw us in there, and
the fire consumes us, He's delivered us out of your hand. Flesh and blood can only do so
much. Flesh can persecute flesh. Flesh
can kill flesh. But flesh cannot touch the principal
part of a man. Flesh cannot touch that valuable,
essential part of a man that is his soul and his spirit. Nebuchadnezzar may touch their
flesh, even kill their flesh, but he cannot touch their spirits.
And therefore they're saying this, if you put us in the furnace
and you consume our bodies, it's just a gracious means that God
has of delivering our soul from your hand, oh Nebuchadnezzar. What would a man give in exchange
for his soul? That's what we're seeking to
secure, ain't it? And that's what man can't touch, brothers
and sisters. You and I are more concerned with our souls and
our spirit than we are our bodies. And here you have three men that
was willing to surrender their bodies because they were concerned
about their souls. And the only way they had secure
in their souls was this, trust. That's the only way you and I,
brothers and sisters, can get through this world. That's the
only way we can secure our eternal well-being, is to trust and obey. That's it. Trust and obey. Look at the resolve in verse
18. If the Lord is not pleased to
deliver us from the burning fire of Christ, we die and burn. Be it known unto the old king
that we will not serve thy God. Now worship the golden image
which thou hast set up. We won't lift one finger to serve
thy God. That's what they're saying. If it's a matter of wiggling
a little finger at that image, we won't do it. If it's just a matter of slightly
bending our knees, we just ain't gonna do it. We will not. Boy, that's a resolve, ain't
it? That's not a New Year resolution either. That's a whole-hearted
resolve. Here's God working in a man.
Here's the work of God in a man to make a resolve like this.
Yeah, there's the furnace and I see it blistering heat, but
I will not bow. That's grace, ain't it? Oh, that's
grace. They had no harsh words for this
king. They had no revengeful attitude. They did not seek to form some
group to oppose him. All they had was this heart resolved,
we will not bow. I tell you, that's a blessed
people. That's a blessed people who had rather face a horrible
death than sin against God. That's a blessed people. Look here now at verse 19 and
verse 23. Then was Nebuchadnezzar full
of fear, and the form of his vestige was changed against Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego. Therefore he spake and commanded
that they should heat the furnace seven times more than it was
usually to be heated. And he commanded the most mighty
men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
and to cast them into the burning tharic furnace. And these men
were bound in their coats, and their hosens, and their hats,
and their other garments, and were cast into the mist of the
burning tharic furnace. And therefore, because the king's
commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, The flame
of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego, and these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
fell down bound in the midst of the burning, fiery furnace."
Well, I guess you and I can say that they had the attitude of
the Master. They were obedient to death. They loved not their
lives unto death. And as far as you and I are concerned,
as far as human nature is concerned, as far as the strength of the
flesh is concerned, that's the end of the story. They've done
all they can do. What more, brothers and sisters,
can a man do when he's thrown in the midst of a burning, fiery
furnace? They trusted and they obeyed. And there they are in
the midst of the burning fiery furnace. And flesh saves and
the world saves. That's the end of that. There are certain trials, brothers
and sisters, you and I face in this life. They so greatly afflict us and
cast us down. If a supernatural power did not
support us, both our bodies and our souls were destroyed. You may not have been this morning
in a fiery furnace as these three men are, but you've been in the
furnace, haven't you? You may not have understood what
these men stood in your flesh. But there has been times when
you have been in such heaviness through manifold temptations
that if there was not a supernatural power to get underneath you and
uphold you in these trials and afflictions, you would utterly
disappear. They were thrown into the midst
of a fiery furnace. And here's what the Apostle Paul
said about some trials he went through. He said, I would not
have you to be ignorant concerning my trouble which came to me in
Asia. I was pressed out of measure
above my own strength to endure, he said. I had the sentence of
death in myself. I love the way he says it, for
this reason, that I should not trust in myself, but in God who
raises the dead. who hath delivered us from so
great a death, he is delivered us, and he shall yet deliver
us. And when Paul had received this
thorn in his flesh that so grieved him and burdened him, he went
to the Lord Jesus three times and he said, Lord, this is getting
me down. I cannot go on with this thorn
in my flesh. Would you please relieve it?
And the Lord Jesus said this to him, Paul, my strength is
made perfect in weakness. And Paul said, therefore, I'll
glory in my infirmities, in my persecutions, in my afflictions,
in my distresses, for when I am weak, then am I strong. Isn't that amazing? There's a
paradox there. When I'm weak, I'm strong. When I'm weak is
when Christ gets under me and holds me up. What's that verse
you just read? My flesh and my heart felleth
me. Now, brothers and sisters, I
don't know about you, but that's critical condition. They'll put
out a code blue or whatever they do on you if your flesh and your
heart felled you. You can't get up. You can't walk
if your flesh has felled you. You can't reach your hand out
if your flesh has felled you. Your blood will come through
your veins if your heart fails you. That's critical conditioning. But here's what he said, but
God is the strength of my heart. These men have trusted and obeyed. And here they were in the midst
of the fire furnace. What was going to happen now? I love the old words of Luther's
song that said this, Did we in our own strength confide? Our
striving would be losing. We're not the right man on our
side. The one of God's own choosing.
Do you ask who that may be? Christ Jesus it is He. Lord Sabaoth
is His name, from age to age the same, and He must win the
battle. Here's three men who trusted
the Lord with all their heart, And they simply obeyed what he
told them to do. Do not bow to any but me. And here they are now, in the
midst of this fiery, burning furnace. Those who live by this rule,
simply to trust and obey. Now listen to this. This is so
important. This is what I got as I read
this passage last week. Those who live by this simple
rule in their life of trusting and obeying can be assured that
all heaven waits to assist them. And heaven will rule over the
kings of this world and overrule the kings of this world. Heaven
will overrule wicked spirits, and if necessary, heaven will
defy the very course of nature to deliver those who simply trust
and obey. We have recorded in the holy
words of truth, brothers and sisters, the Lord, to deliver
His people, parting a sea right in the middle. That defies nature,
doesn't it? We have written in His Word that
He literally opened up the ground and swallowed the enemies of
the Lord. He can say to the son, you stand
still. Or He can say to the son, you
back up to aid my people. He'll say to hungry lives, don't
you open your mouth. And he can say to the violence
of fire, don't you hurt my people. He'll defy his own nature if
he has to, the nature of this world, to protect and deliver
his people. Heaven stands ready to assist
those who live by this simple rule, trust in the Lord with
all your heart. Lean not to your own understanding,
and all your ways acknowledge him, he shall direct your step." And look here in verse 24. Look
in verse 24. Here's the example of it. They fell down, and the world
said, that's the end of that. And it would have been. It would
have been. But they have a God that undertakes. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king
was astounded, and he rose up in his haste, and he spake and
said to his counsellors, Did we not cast three men bound in
the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the
king, True, O king. And he answered and said, Lo,
I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and
they have no hurt, and the farm of the fourth is like the Son
of God. Nebuchadnezzar came near to the
mouth of the furnace and spake and said, Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego, ye servants of the Most High God, come forth
and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
came forth in the midst of the fire, and the princes, and the
governors, and the captains, and the king's counselors, being
gathered together, saw those men upon whose bodies the fire
had no power. Nor was there a hair of their
head singed, neither were their coats chained, nor the smell
of the fire fasted upon them." Ain't that amazing? Ain't that
amazing? God will defy nature to assist
those that simply trust and obey. There are trials that you and
I may go through that really hurt us. And once we get through
it, we've got some loss. I went through some trials and
you went through some trials that we never want to go through
again. When Peter fell into that terrible
trial and denied the Lord, he didn't forget that the rest of
his life. He thought, man, I hope that never happens to me again.
When David did what he did, the sword never departed from his
side. But there are trials that you and I go through, and they're
great trials and they're great afflictions. But yet we suffer
no loss. They don't hurt us at all. We're
amazed by it. They're not a burden to us. They
don't grieve us. They don't cast us down. They
don't offend us. They have no power to do us any
hurt. We have the great liberty right
in the midst of them, and to our utter amazement, we walk
through with a great measure of ease and joy. And what's the difference in
these tribes? What's the difference in those that get us down, and
burden us, and almost offend us at times? As opposed to those
trials that, though they're severe, they just don't hurt us. We almost
look back and rejoice. We're amazed at ourselves, aren't we? Well, here's the difference,
brothers and sisters. We have it here in verse 25. Lo, I see
four men. That's it. Four men. Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou
art with me." When you go through the waters,
they'll not overflow you. When you pass through the fire,
you will not be burned. The flame will not kindle upon
thee. For I, the Lord thy God, thy Redeemer, thy Savior, I am
with thee." Ain't that the difference? That's the difference, brothers
and sisters. You can face anything. You can
face death or dying. Hell and devils, the judgment
to come, the wrath of God, eternity, you can face anything if the
God of heaven in his dear and blessed Son is with you. That's the difference. That's
the difference. There are times when you and
I can only know the special presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
the only way we can know His special presence is by severe
trials that we endure. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
I am certain, never experienced the presence of Christ with them
as they did when they went to this fire. David said, He prepared
a table before me. Word. Right in the presence of
my enemies. And what is that table? It's
Himself. His flesh to eat. His blood to
drink. We've been told about rainbows.
That the most beautiful rainbows, those who really protrude in
their colors, can only be seen in the view
of the backdrop of those violent, dark clouds. And the Lord Jesus Christ's special
presence can only be known in these severe clouds. I don't
pray for him, and I know you don't either. But oh, if they'll
let me know him better. If he'll manifest his great merits,
his love, and his kindness, and his goodness, and his power.
Oh Lord, let me know it. Let me know you. In verse 28, Ben-Nabuchadnezzar
spake and said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego, who hath sent his angel to deliver his servants
that trusted in him, and hath changed the king's word, and
yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any
god except their Lord. Now there it is. You have it. May God bless it to your hearts.
Lord, we do thank You. We bless You, our Lord, for Your
Word. For what would we do if we were
faced with such a trial? O Lord, You know us, how we stumble
and fall at such minor things. Give us grace to be faithful
in our hearts, to trust You in our hearts, to obey You in our
hearts. Knowing this is the battleground
where Satan tempts us and whispers to us to try to get us to yield. O
Lord, give us grace in our hearts to say with these dear Hebrew
children, we will not bow to any but our Lord and our God. Please be your own interpreter
this morning for this message. And bless it to the hearts of
those who are gathered here. And Lord, we pray that as you
frustrated this great king in times of old, that you'd frustrate
the devil now in delivering many from the power of darkness and
translating them into the kingdom of the dear Son of God. For your
glory we ask these things. Amen.