STAY TRUE
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We have seen this week what it looks like for Christ to have made us ALIVE AND FREE.
If you want to be ALIVE AND FREE you must ACT NOW
If you are ALIVE AND FREE your life is one that SPEAKS LIFE to people and not destruction.
If you are ALIVE AND FREE, your life is going to be marked by HUMILITY.
This morning, to wrap things up, we’re going to talk about the fact that if we are ALIVE & FREE… we tend to STAY TRUE to what we believe.
What does it look like to STAY TRUE to what we believe?
To not change because of the whims of our own hearts which are deceitful,
or not change because of an outside perspective or an outside pressure. from friends, from family or from an enemy.
WHAT DOES IT LOOKS LIKE FOR US TO STAY TRUE?
We have a great story from Daniel 3 where it shows us what that looks like.
The first way we see Daniel 3 show us to stay true to our God is....
1. WE PROCLAIM HIS NAME DESPITE THE UNKNOWN. (V. 1-23)
1. WE PROCLAIM HIS NAME DESPITE THE UNKNOWN. (V. 1-23)
V. 1-3
Rising to a height of ninety feet (roughly the size of a nine-story building) and expanding to a width of nine feet, the statue was enormous
All of these government officials were brought out to the plain of Dura, where their loyalty was to be demonstrated to the king by bowing before the massive statue.
Theologians think that it could have been in the likeness of King Nebuchadnezzar himself (a monument to praise his achievements), or that it was a statue in the likeness of one of Babylon’s god’s.
The air was charged as the host of people (probably several hundred) from all over the empire stared at the colossal structure, wondering exactly what would happen next.
V. 4-6
Verse 4 indicates that many different nationalities (“peoples, nations and men of every language”) were present.
As they stand there awaiting, they are told that at the sound of the music, all of Nebuchadnezzar’s officials were to “fall down and worship the image of gold.”
Now… this is now a situation where the loyalty of these people was being tested. They were actually being required to worship this image...
SOMETHING NO GOD-HONORING JEW COULD DO.
THEY FIND OUT THE CONSEQUENCES IF THEY DON’T DO WHAT THEY’RE ASKED… AND THAT’S TO BE THROWN INTO THIS FIREY FURNACE.
As a graphic object lesson, the fire in the furnace already was ablaze, smoke billowing out of its top, Nebuchadnezzar daring anyone to defy his power and authority.
Jeremiah 29:22 also records that Nebuchadnezzar burned to death two men named Zedekiah and Ahab.
Nebuchadnezzar probably chose this means of punishment not only because it was a horrifying way to die but because it was convenient.
A huge kiln would necessarily have been available to smelt metal for the gold plating and for manufacturing the bricks to construct the base and possibly the inner parts of the statue itself.
People believe that smelting furnaces tended to be like an old-fashioned glass milk-bottle in shape, with a large opening for the insertion of the ore to be smelted and a smaller opening at ground level for the admission of wood and charcoal to furnish the heat.”
The temperatures in these kilns could reach as high as 1800 degrees .
One can only imagine the fear that engulfed the crowd as the flames leaped from the top of the furnace and the smoke billowed forth.
V. 7
When the music began, the sea of government officials fell face down and worshiped the statue of gold just as they had been commanded.
However vv. 8-12 tell us that there were three exceptions.
THREE MEN STOOD ALONE.
V. 8-12
Within a vast crowd the king evidently could not see that the three men were left standing, and so certain individuals came to the kings and reported the fact.
Daniel (1) The Accusers (3:8)
Daniel and his three friends had received leadership positions in this group, and some of the native Babylonian astrologers resented it. At the first opportunity they attempted to rid themselves of these foreign intruders.
“BUT THERE ARE SOME JEWS”:
Once more the astrologers emphasized that these disrespectful and treasonous men were “Jews.”
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are now named as the guilty parties, and three charges are brought against them:
(1) they paid no attention to the king (and his commands),
(2) they did not serve the king’s gods,
(3) they refused to worship the golden statue the king himself had set up. The penalty for such actions was death.
vv. 13-18
V. 13:
Tells us thatNebuchadnezzar becomes Furious with rage.
V. 14:
Almost in disbelief, Nebuchadnezzar asked Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego if the report was really “true.”
Had these three foreigners actually refused to worship the gods of Babylon (the gods who Nebuchadnezzar himself worshiped) and disobeyed the king’s command to bow before the great image?
V. 15:
We read the king says here… “Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”
This language is emphatic, “What (at all) god is there?”
The question seems to reflect the king’s previous experience with Israel’s God .
Yahweh had proven himself powerful by revealing the dream, but even such a great god would not be able to protect his followers from death in the furnace.
Nebuchadnezzar may even have been deliberately challenging Yahweh.
Only a short distance away the fire blazed. If the young men did not change their minds and bow to the image, no power (no god) could deliver them.
V. 16-18:
The young men responded that they did not need to present a defense to the king.
No apology was to be given for their stand.
This was not a “proud reply”, it was a “firm” reply. Their minds were made up.
V. 17:
Regarding the king’s threat of death in the furnace, they replied that their God was able to deliver them.
I love this!
Because although no doubt existed in the minds of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego about the ability of their God to deliver them, they humbly accepted the fact that God does not always choose to intervene in human circumstances, even on behalf of his servants
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s refusal to worship Nebuchadnezzar’s image communicated their profound faith in God’s sovereignty and goodness in their lives.
Though these men knew God could deliver them, their course of action was not dependent upon what their Master chose to do.
Some of the most COURAGEOUS words ever spoken are recorded in v.18.
Christ told His followers
28 Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
We see this kind of confidence exhibited by Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego as they declared,
18 But even if he does not rescue us, we want you as king to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.”
Even if they had to suffer a horrible, painful death in a burning oven, these three young men refused to forsake their God and worship idols.
Similar words have been uttered countless times throughout the centuries as believers have suffered martyrdom for the Lord.
Foundational to this profound display of faith was the conviction that God is always working for the good of His children, even if it is not obviously clear how.
These three men STAYED TRUE TO THEIR GOD DESPITE THE UNKNOWN.
2. WE PROCLAIM HIS NAME THROUGH THE TRIAL. (V. 24-27)
2. WE PROCLAIM HIS NAME THROUGH THE TRIAL. (V. 24-27)
V. 24
3:24 Nebuchadnezzar was prepared to watch Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego disintegrate in the flames, but he was not prepared for what he saw.
Verse 24 says that the king was startled and jumped to his feet “in amazement”.
He asked his advisers if they had really thrown only three men into the fire, evidently desiring to check the facts with someone else. They assured the monarch that his recollection was accurate.
V.25
Most likely the fourth man in the fire was the angel of the Lord, God himself in the person of his Son Jesus Christ, a view held by many expositors.
The three Hebrews experienced literally the promise,
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you and the rivers will not overwhelm you, When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched and the flame will not burn you.
V. 26
Nebuchadnezzar calls the men out of the furnace. They obey his word, as they have always done when his commands have not conflicted with their higher commitments to God.
He gives them a new title:
servants of the ‘Most High’ God.
It no longer matters that they will not serve his gods (see 3:8–15).
Nebuchadnezzar has begun to understand something of God’s power, but Daniel 4 indicates that he still has much to learn.
The king was now convinced that Yahweh, the God of Israel, was truly great, “the Most High God.” Yet this faith in Yahweh was well within the scope of pagan, polytheistic religious concepts, for the king merely considered Yahweh the great God (at least for the present) among many.
V. 27
When the three came out of the fire, the other officials crowded around to examine them.
There was no evidence that they had been in the furnace, for their bodies had not been burned , their hair was not singed, their robes were not scorched , and there was not even any “smell of fire on them.”
All were convinced that they had witnessed a miracle.
This miracle has certainly saved Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. God has done a great thing for them.
Beyond that, he has done a great thing for those who witnessed this deliverance: the king, the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, and the king’s counsellors, indeed all who had bowed before the stele in 3:1–7.
This is not just the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, or simply a heroic story about them. It aims at the hearts and minds of all the people watching then, and all the people reading or hearing now.
THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRETY OF THIS TRIAL… AS THEY WERE THROWN INTO THE FURNACE...
THEY STAYED TRUE TO GOD PROCLAIMING HIS NAME THROUGH IT.
3. WE PROCLAIM HIS NAME TO THE WORLD. (V. 28-30)
3. WE PROCLAIM HIS NAME TO THE WORLD. (V. 28-30)
King Nebuchadnezzar directly challenged the power of God through the construction of his statue.
V. 28
Then the pagan King expressed his admiration for these young men because of their willingness to defy a king’s command and suffer a horrible death in order to remain true to their god.
Although angered by their actions, he respected their commitment.
Even in today’s world unbelievers may not understand or appreciate Christian convictions, but usually they respect those who are willing to take a stand for their God.
V. 29
According to this verse, Nebuchadnezzar issued a decree forbidding all subjects throughout his kingdom from saying anything offensive against Israel’s God on penalty of death and destruction of their property (“be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble,” cf. 2:5).
The reason for the decree was that “no other god can save in this way.”
Such a command emanating from the lips of a heathen king is astounding, but one must consider the circumstances—Nebuchadnezzar had just witnessed a miracle. This decree may also have been an attempt to appease the God of Israel, for the king had mistreated Yahweh’s followers and actually challenged his power. Nebuchadnezzar may have feared that he was in danger of divine retaliation.
V. 30
REMEMBER he had bragged that no god could deliver the friends from his hands;
HERE he confessed that their God had done just that.’
He THEN promotes the three to higher positions in the province of Babylon.
Daniel (6. The Result (3:28–30))
Wright makes the point that each miracle “had some distinct purpose,” and “to render it credible as such, a cause worthy of the Divine intervention must be pointed out.” Such a cause may be observed in this case.
Babylon had defeated Judah in battle, and pagans commonly held that victory over another nation was proof that their god was greater than the deity of the conquered foe. Yahweh wanted to dispel any such notion. Through this miracle and others recorded in the book, Yahweh made it clear to Nebuchadnezzar (who blatantly challenged Yahweh’s power by his actions in this incident) and to all the world that Judah’s defeat was not because their God did not exist
By rescuing Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, God demonstrated His ultimate power to make His name known to the king and to all of Babylon.
BY STAYING TRUE TO THEIR GOD. THEY ALLOWED THERE TO BE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR HIS NAME TO BE PROCLAIMED TO THE WORLD.
CLOSING
BEING ALIVE AND FREE MEANS STAYING TRUE.
Despite the unknown we proclaim His name
We proclaim His name through any and all trials.
and we proclaim His name to the world. ANYBODY who will listen to us!
These are aspects of being ALIVE AND FREE.
The question is… WILL YOU ALLOW GOD TO WORK THROUGH YOU AS YOU LIVE BY THESE TRUTHS?
Thank you for allowing me to speak to you this weekend!