Daniel 3:1-27
Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits and its width six cubits. He set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. 2 And King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to gather together the satraps, the administrators, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 3 So the satraps, the administrators, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered together for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 4 Then a herald cried aloud: “To you it is commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, 5 that at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, you shall fall down and worship the gold image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up; 6 and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.”
7 So at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the horn, flute, harp, and lyre, in symphony with all kinds of music, all the people, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the gold image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
8 Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and accused the Jews.
12 There are certain Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego; these men, O king, have not paid due regard to you. They do not serve your gods or worship the gold image which you have set up.”
13 Then Nebuchadnezzar, in rage and fury, gave the command to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. So they brought these men before the king. 14 Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the gold image which I have set up? 15 Now if you are ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, and you fall down and worship the image which I have made, good! But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?”
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. 18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”
19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. He spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. 20 And he commanded certain mighty men of valor who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, and cast them into the burning fiery furnace. 21 Then these men were bound in their coats, their trousers, their turbans, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. 22 Therefore, because the king’s command was urgent, and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. 23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?”
They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.”
25 “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”
26 Then Nebuchadnezzar went near the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke, saying, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here.” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego came from the midst of the fire. 27 And the satraps, administrators, governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together, and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them.
1 Jn. 2:15-17
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
Ge. 11:1-4
Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. 2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. 3 Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. 4 And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”
Isa. 14:12-15
“How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
13 For you have said in your heart:
‘I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the
clouds,
I will be like the Most High.’
15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol,
To the lowest depths of the Pit.
1 Peter 1:6-7
6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,
2 Chron. 16:9
9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.”
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We are called to worship only him the one true God not many gods not the idols of the world but worship him and it goes with today’s message from Daniel Chapter 3. Broke it down we’re going to read part of it talk a little bit and read some more if you’re familiar with the Book of Daniel love the book of Daniel are so many amazing stories of God’s power and God’s grace in God’s provision and God’s protection found in the Book of Daniel it’s kind of like the Old Testament version of Revelation. Today story’s going to be about Shadrach back in the bed to go again in God’s great deliverance and titled it or God is able to deliver us he is indeed it will begin with verses one through 8 here the word of the Lord never can as. I want to pause already if you remember last week we talked in Chapter 2 Daniel gave the king the dream and the interpretation of the dream was the image in his dream made of all gold no to the head was gold the chess and the arms were silver the belly in the thighs were bronze the legs were ironed the feet were iron and clay but Oh never you can as Or I’m going to build me an image and I’m going to make it all gold my friends this is in direct the finance to God’s word to him God gave him this dream revealing to him what was going to happen but old never can as are full of his pride narratives I’m going to make it all gold as if my kingdom is never going to end the whole thing’s going to be gold so they made him he’s of gold whose height was 60 cubits and it’s with 6 Cuba it’s he set it up in the plain of Dura and province of Babylon and King never can as are sent word to gather together the say traps the administrators the governors the councillors the Treasurer’s the judges the magistrates and all the officials of the provinces to come to that of a dedication of the image which the King Nebuchadnezzar had set up so the say traps the administrators the governors to councillors the traitors the judges the magistrates and all the fish bowls of the province gathered together for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up and they stood before the image that never can as your head set up then a herald cried aloud to you it is commanded 0 people ZN Asians and language that at the time you hear the sound of the horn the flute the harp the Lear and sultry and symphony with all kinds of music that you shall fall down and worship the goat image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up and whoever does not fall down and worship. Cast immediately into the midst of the burning fiery furnace so at that time when all the people heard the sound of the hort the horn the flute the harp the ear and symphony with all kinds of music all the peoples nations and languages fell down and worship the goat image which King advocate measure had set up there for at that time certain Saudi INS came forward and accused the Jews so there’s a little bit of correction here all bow down except for a few Sajak me shakin the bed again let us pray Heavenly Father we praise you and magnify you we thank you for your faithfulness Father we thank you that you are always with us that you watch over us that you protect us and father I just sank you for your word nor did I just pray that your words will just permeate our hearts and our minds father that we would completely and totally surrender our lives but also to trust our lives into your hands by others today’s passage reveals that we can trust you father at all times that you are always with us Father that we are faithful to you that you will always be with us Father I just prayed your spirit to be in this place help us to receive what you have forced today and father that we would truly live lives that would bring glory and honor to your kingdom in Jesus’ name amen so to refresh our memories a little bit at the closing of chapter 2. We learned where King Nebuchadnezzar honored Daniel because Daniel was the one that was able to not only tell him the interpret the dream but also telling what the dream was to remember the to of the NS The the sorcerers the magicians none of them could do what the king was asking they said no one has ever asked such a thing but Daniel was able to do this of the King honored him and promoted him in his cabinet so it says he said at the gate that means he was part of his if we would think in modern terms part of his cabinet those it was closest to him part of his officials but Daniel also if you remember he petitioned the king on behalf of shadow Acme shakin Abednego they too were promoted not to the level that Daniel was but they was promoted also so here you have these 4 captives from Jews from Jerusalem that were promoted and never can AS Hers cabinet or his. Where we want to cause officials part of the fish oils now we don’t know exactly how much time had passed from the time that Daniel gave the interpretation in the dream to the king to the time he build this image we do know that it says it was a 2nd year of his reign whenever he had this dream and then Daniel interpreted so some commentators believe that it was in the 7th year that he built this a lot of times you know rule say in the 4th year the 10th year of his reign he did this or that but it doesn’t say in the 70 year he built the simians but the commentators feel that it might have been in the 70 or so it may have been up to 5 years from the time of the dream till this image was completed now you gotta keep in mind that this thing was nearly 100 feet tall and about 9 to 10 feet wide and I don’t think that it was gold through and through it was probably built of some other material and then overlaid with gold but think about it an image a 100 feet you’re not just going to build that image and plan and set it or set it right on top of the ground so it’s got to have a foundation so it probably would take quite a while to build an image that long and I don’t know if it took the whole 5 years if it really was 5 years but however long it did take he builds this impressive gold image and set it up there for all to worship he found the finished it however long it did take my friends Babylon was already full of all kinds of items all kinds of idols and Babylon that the people worship it was common practice for the people of Babylon to worship idols so for them this grand celebration that the man did them to bow down and worship would bring no great conviction upon their hearts because they had many images many things to worship in Babylon. You know whenever someone warships idols or false gods whatever you want to call them they always have the tendency to multiply to need more idols to worship more false gods to worship why because you never find fulfillment and so you worship the One True God So they have to have more idols and more idols you know remember when Paul went into epis is and he seen all of the images and things that they worshiped and they even had assigned to the Unknown God and Paul says this is the god I’m going to tell you about but they just want to make sure they cover all the bases they need multiple idols to worship my friends is saying the same thing holds true today whenever one makes their passion to collect things I don’t care could be from the smallest knickknack to yachts or boats are gone whatever when we warship the things that are created by man’s hand will never find true fulfillment because it will never fill that void in your heart that can only be filled by God John 1st John rather 25 through 17 says do not love the world or the things of the world if anyone loves the world the love of the Father is not in him for all that is in the world the lust of the flesh that is the things that we can touch the lust of the eyes the things that we can see and the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world and the world is passing away and the lust of it but he who does the will of God abides forever found out a lot of the interesting information as you searched about Babylon it is said that Babylon or I should say that Babylon is called the birthplace of all false religion through the city of Babylon or. Came many many false religions that are still very much in play today around the world even though Babylon was destroyed as Jeremiah For told the religious concepts and customs that were birthed there spread throughout all the world and are in play today some even in a Christian churches when you look at Babylon what is Babylon where how did it begin know was great great grandson Nimrod Noah’s son Ham had a son named Kush Kush had a son named Nimrod and it is said of Nimrod that he was a great warrior a great hunter and to God but that does not mean that he was faithful and serve God Nimrod was actually the one who encouraged the people encourage God’s people to build the tire of Babel that they build this tower Babel for right purposes that they could serve God No they built this tower of Babel out of pride in arrogance it says in Genesis 11 verses one through 4 it says now the whole earth had one language in one speech and it came to pass as a journey from the east that they found a plain in the land of sonar and there they dwelt then they said to one another Come let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly they had bricks for stone and they had asphalt for mortar and they said Come let us build ourselves a city in a tower whose top is in the heavens let us make a name for ourselves thus we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth it was pride pride in are the things that they made of themselves they set us make a name for ourselves and they did this under the leadership of Nimrod. If you search Babylon and false gods and Nimrod you will learn some very interesting things thing that you may not even like Lent comes directly from Nimrod’s in the practices he put in the place paganism so lent has its births in Paganism you won’t like this one Christmas when do you think Nimrod was born the center of the 25th on no you wouldn’t like that one but it if you ever wondered you’ve heard said Christmas has paganism backgrounds search out Nimrod you’ll find it so this pride in arrogance to make a name for oneself is nothing more than continued then the continuation of the lie that same used on even the Garden of Eden he said unto her you will be like God The people wanted to build a tower into the heavens that they could be like God they could exult themselves it wasn’t for God it was for themselves that they would be like God the same pride that had Lucifer cast out of heaven in Isaiah 1412 through 15 he reveals his fall from heaven he says how you are fallen from heaven Lucifer son of the morning how you were cut down to the ground used to weaken the nations for you have said in your heart I will ascend into heaven I will exalt my throne above the stars of God I will also sit on the Mount of the congregation on the further side of the north I will ascend above the heights of the clouds I will be like the most high yet you shall be brought down to show to the lowest depths of the pits Satan is the father of all false religions that began in Babylon. Let’s go back to Daniel you know there I have read the story of sad wreck me 2nd Abednego many times it’s an amazing story of God’s power and you know as I’ve read through that so many times in the year you read where it says they had the horn a flute the harp the Lear the symphony with all kinds of music they mention all of those instruments like 4 times in 15 verses so I found myself yeah and they had the horn flute and a harp in the Lear. I will ask you this why do we have music why do we have praise and worship in our services hot. To prepare to make a noise on the Lord to praise the Lord to prepare ourselves to prepare our hearts and our minds to worship God Well that is exactly what they had the horns the flute the lar the harp in that what did they have the leered 70 that’s why they had all those to prepare the people to warship this go damage to prepare their hearts for worship the same reason that we do today but my friends we must not worship idols God said that we shall have no other God before the nun we are to worship God and God alone may our hearts in our minds be prepared to worship Him the one true God the all powerful God who is worthy of our praise we can find so many glorious accounts of God’s power in the scriptures. We can read of the parting of the Red Sea and over a 1000000 people entering through walking through on dry ground and then the gypsum is destroyed we can read where he backed up the Jordan River and again they could walk through and dry ground we could read were wombs were open the had been barren and women given birth at the age of 90 we can read of an axe head floating seems like a small one but it’s a miracle right we can read where the dead were raised we can read where Jesus touched year and put it near back on a servant or guard we could read were blinded eyes were open we can read were water came out of a rock so many amazing miracles large and small but our passage in Daniel to me ranks right up there is one of the most amazing miracles the fiery furnace so let’s go back to Dana chapter 312 through 18 there are certain Jews now the Chaldeans came forward and accused the Jews told King African as are they said there are certain Jews whom you have sent over the affairs of the province of Babylon Shadrach me shakin the bed Nego these men Oking have not paid due regard to use they do not serve your gods or worship the goat in the Age which you have set up the net beacon as are in rage and fear for her fury gave the command to bring sad wrecked me 2nd to Bendigo So they brought these men before the king that never can has or spoke saying to them is it true Shadrach Meshach and Abednego. That you do not serve my gods or worship to go to me which I’ve set up so he’s given them a 2nd chance he says now now if you are ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn flute the harp the Liard of sultry and symphony with all kinds of music and you fall down and worship the image which I’ve made good but if you do not worship you shall be cast immediately into the midst of the burning fire of furnace and who is the God who will deliver you from my hands Shadrach me shack in the Bendigo answered and said to the King Nebuchadnezzar we have no need to answer you in this matter if that is the case our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning Fahri furnace and he will deliver us from your hand who king but if not let it be known to you a king that we do not serve your gods nor will we worship the goat image which you have set up the king thinks he is he thinks he’s a god he thinks he has all timid authority he thinks he has altered the power he says who is going to deliver you from my hand but shout Drac and me shakin Abednego you talk about faith Lord let my faith be that strong that my faith be that complete where I could say but if not you know my God will be the will deliver me but if not let it be known I will not serve your God I will not worship your idols is our faith that strong today is our faith that strong these men these ones that came in accused them the Chaldeans they were the astrologers of the magicians those who were unable to interpret the dream unable to tell in the dream. You wonder when you think about this whenever Daniel and the friends membership drive me check the Bendigo prayed they had a hand in this whenever they were able to do this to tell the king the dream they save their necks because the degree went out to destroy them all so Daniel Shadrack I’m a shack and Abednego saved their lives but here they are now turning your backs on him Ratan them out because they wouldn’t bow down you would think well maybe we should be a little bit grateful because they saved my skin save me from being killed but they didn’t Charles L. Allan in the miracle of love writes of a fisherman friend who told him that one never needs a top on a crab basket because if one of the crab starts to climb up the sides of the basket another crab reaches up and grabs imposing back down right crabs think I’m getting out of your hole no US No you’re not keeps pulling him down well people are kind of like that right they don’t want anyone else to be on Earth or lifted up or promoted their jealousy outweighed their thankfulness for saving their lives these foreigners got promoted we’re going to pull them down right just like the crabs we’re going to pull them down jealousy they pulled them back down but they wouldn’t back down they would not bow down you know Shadrach me shakin the Bendigo they could have came up with all kinds of excuses couldn’t they they could have said well we’re going to bow down but we’re really not going to worship in our hearts will back out so that we won’t go into the fiery furnace but we will not worship or they could have said we are captives in a land and we’re to obey the authority so I guess we should bow down they could have done that. By my friends your actions reveals your heart yes your actions reveals what’s in your heart today not just back then so they chose to stand to stand for God and not bow down to the image so they didn’t they chose to entrust their very lives to God the God that they served they were put to an extreme test and they passed with flying colors our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace and he will deliver us from your hand a king but if not let it be known Oking that we do not serve your god nor will we worship the image that you have set up faith will be tested faith will be tested to determine if it is true if it is faithful if God can miraculously deliver if God did this go back on me back up if God miraculously delivered every person from every form of evil everything that could be follow us where there would be a line millions of millions of people long just to be saved from what may be false or right for that insurance policy if you will so no god does not keep us from every form of evil people who are robbed every day people are martyred every day for the cause of Christ so he does not deliver everyone but he did choose here to deliver Shadrach me 2nd Abednego we will get to that. 1st Peter 16 and 7 says in this you great rejoicing even though now for a little while if necessary you have been distressed by various trials so that the proof of your faith being much more precious then gold which is perfectly even though tested by fire may be found to result in praising glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ trials and tests to come but often times the test in the trials that we experience in life will help us to grow help us to build character help our faith to grow stronger I found a story about how the enemy can help improve our character make us stronger in stories about that in tempt to ship fresh North Atlantic cross North Atlantic cod from Boston to San Francisco during in 1000 century at that time the only way to ship the fish to the West Coast was to sail around the south of South American continent a trip that took months so as you can imagine the 1st attempts to address the cob in Boston and packed them even said that with the Boston accent in out and me too and the packed them in ice failed miserably by the time they reached California the fish were as expected unfit for consumption next to cod were placed in a holding tank full of fresh water shipped to California alive and dress their the results were less than satisfactory the fish didn’t get much exercise during the trip and as a result they were pacing and relatively tasteless Finally someone came up. With an interesting idea why don’t we put some catfish in with the caught because catfish are Codd’s natural enemy sure enough when that when the catfish were placed into the tanks the cars were swimming around the entire time this time when the fish reach San Francisco they were fresh and very tasty very good so the enemy kept them going friends the enemy sometimes makes us stronger I can remember some young girls that their faith really came out whenever it was tested by a foreign exchange student we had for a year you know many people were over the years have been killed for their faith martyred for their faith throughout the ages the basic Greek word for being martyred being killed for your faith is martyr No The Greek word is witness I’m sorry I can’t read my own notes it is witness So when Jesus said You shall be witnesses and to me in Acts Chapter one it had great significance for the hearers for his followers it does not mean that every follower of Christ will be killed for the faith but would you be willing to be killed for your faith would you be willing to take the stand for your faith. Let’s go back and read of the great miracle and. Yeah in Daniel Chapter 3 verses 1927 then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach me shakin the Bendigo and he spoke in commanded that they heat the furnace 7 times more than it was usually heated and he commanded certain mighty men of valor who were in his army to bind Shadrach me shakin to Bendigo and cast them into the burning fiery furnace then these men were bound in their coats their trousers their turbans and their other garments and they were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace therefore because the king’s command was urgent and the furnace exceedingly hot the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach Meshach and Abednego and these 3 men sat directly 2nd in Bendigo fell down bound into the midst of the burning fire a furnace then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and he rose in haste and spoke saying to his councillors did we not cast these men band into the midst of the fire they answered and said to the king true okaying look he answered I see 4 men loose walking in the midst of the fire and they are not hurt and the form of the 4th is like the Son of God The never can as or went near the mouth of the burning fire a furnace and spoke saying Shadrach me shakin Abednego servants of the most high God come out and come here and Shadrach me 2nd Abednego came from the midst of the fire and to say traps the ministrations governors in the King’s councillors gathered together and saw all these men whose bodies the fire had no power the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected and the smell of fire was not on them that’s why I say I call this one of the most amazing miracles that you’ll find in the scriptures and though the most amazing miracles is Christ’s resurrection. Resurrection from the dead and the liver and us from our sins but this is an amazing miracle the men that took them up that fire was so hot that they died and these 3 Caston near the only thing that burned was the ropes that bound them and they were up walking around and at Fire God had delivered them what a miracle of miracles an amazing miracle God can deliver us to he can burn away that which binds us and that is the sins in our lives that is the power that Saint may have over our lives God can burn out a way and set us free revelations go back to speaking to Babylon a little bit revelations 1418 another angel followed saying Babylon is fallen is fallen that great city because she had made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication my friends as I spoke a couple weeks ago the kingdoms of this world are going to come crashing down and God will set up His Kingdom the false religions of the world will come crashing down that’s what this is talking about in Revelation where are we going to be standing are we going to stand for God are we going to stand for his righteousness or are we going to trust him to deliver sin a matter what comes we’re going to trust him through all the trials through all the things that come in our lives or are we going to bow down to the things of the world are we going to bow down to the false religion we’re going to bow down to the idols of the world were we going to trust in Him Satan is still the mastermind behind doubts lies confusion and every form of evil but the true believer must only trust in Jehovah God believe that he can deliver you. 2nd Chronicles $69.00 says for the eyes of the Lord run to and fro through the whole earth to show Himself strong will be half of those whose heart is loyal to him that’s the question for us today are our hearts loyal to God are we strong enough in our faith to say I will not bow but I will stand for my God because my God is able to deliver me our God can deliver us has delivered us from our sins set us free through the blood of Jesus Christ amen.
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