A Fiery Furnace and a Fiery Faith - 22

Christian lady asked welcome to Turning Point.

We give the Bishop is you will fight strong enough to help you stand alone in the mobile 300,000 today David Jeremiah. She is the story of three men fearlessly refuse to go along with the crown is David to introduce fiery furnace, and the fiery flame, see friends what would you do if you knew that standing for your faith in Jesus Christ would consign you to being thrown into a furnace of fire let that one settle for a moment. Most of us don't know what we would do.

We hope we would do the right thing, but today were going to read about three guys who didn't flinch when the penalty was explained to them it made no difference in their decision were going to talk about a fiery furnace and a fiery faith on the weekend edition of Turning Point beginning right now. Now we come to the third chapter and one of the first things we notice in the third chapter is that notice is the book of Daniel.

We can't find Daniel anywhere. He's gone.

It doesn't show up in the third chapter and there's a great deal of conjecture as to where you might be what most scholars believe that he's away on the king's business is representing thing that you could measure in some foreign court so we don't see anything about him. All we hear about her history buddies Shadrach me shack and Abednego so when were at the end of the second chapter king that he could measure makes what sounds like a public profession of his faith. Sounds like he's almost becoming in the Old Testament since of the word Christian is so impressed with Daniel and what Daniel is done and he knows that it's the God of Daniel. That's involved in so he makes all these positive statements about Daniel's God.

So when we meet him now in the third chapter were not too impressed.

For we read in the first three verses that Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of go whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth of its six cubits, and he set it up in the plane of Dürer in the province of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, the king sent to gather together the princes the governors the captives the judges the treasures the counselors the Sheriff's and all the rulers of the province to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar became set up in the princes, the governors captives the judges the treasures of counselors and Sheriff small rulers of the province were gathered together under the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Now here's the story.

Point number one.

The dedication ceremony verses 1 to 3. Nebuchadnezzar had become so impressed with the dream he had and he was so enamored with the fact that in that dream. He was the head of gold. They must've reasoned in his own heart. If they had, why not the whole body and so he built himself an image of goal and he set it out there in the plane and he caused all the people to come and worship that image and it's time now to dedicate this project in order to dedicated officially invites all of the official family to come to the dedication ceremony now.

From what we can learn concerning that particular time.

It is probable that the image or the statute of gold was made out of wood overlaid with gold that seems to abandon the way they did things and babbling in that day, and as you remember from one of our previous studies. Babbling was the golden age of gold was very prevalent in babbling, so he made this huge image out of wood overlaid with gold and he set it up in this flat place called the claimant Dürer project probably took a number of months, perhaps even years to complete and now it's finished and he's invited everyone to come to the dedication I just like to point out to you as we've studied in the past that this man represents the beginning of the times of the Gentiles. Do remember that he is the first ruler of the first Emperor if you will the world empires of significance.

He sets up an image and it causes the people to bow down before it go all the way through the history of the world all the way over to the book of Revelation clear to the 13th chapter of the book of Revelation and you see the last ruler of the kingdoms of men. The Antichrist himself, and what does he do, he builds an image and he puts it out there and he causes all the people to fall down and worship just the way man started out he ends up.

Have you ever noticed that man, even apart from Christ is incurably religious. He inevitably has to have something he can worship and he's always creating something other than the God who made them.

If you don't have any knowledge about. I encourage you to read the first chapter of Romans you will see the history of it in that book. Now this image that he built was a grotesque and strange looking thing Scripture says it was 60 cubits high and six cubits wide. It was 90 feet tall, the great Colossus of Rhodes is only 70 feet high, so this was a gigantic image were not told specifically that it was an image of Nebuchadnezzar, but it is very good conjecture that it was the image of a man 9 feet tall, 60 cubits by six cubits now the thing that's grotesque about that is this that the ratio of the image was 10 to 1, Tyson. That's a skinny man but the average proportion is 51. This image is 10 one.

It's all along skinny you think about the desert waving in the sunlight, and in the wind and in the brain that gold shimmering in the sun sticking up out of the horizon.

You could see it from miles away because the people of his kingdom to come bow down before it, and worship the image. Now we don't have time to go and all the people on his guest list.

Let me just quickly go down the list and we will talk about each one very much but let me tell you who they were the satraps or the princes were protectors of the realm. The prefects were the superintendents. The governors were those who ruled an assigned region. Then there were the judges of the chief arbitrators and the treasurers masters of the treasury and then the lawyers are the guardians of the law and the Sheriff's interesting fellas. It says in the Scripture.

They were the ones who passed out the sentences and all of the officials and all the Royal ambassadors. All of them were invited. Now when you read the text. It's a little bit redundant, isn't it. I want to point out that this is not by accident. It says in verse two Nebuchadnezzar, the king sent together, the princes, governors, captives, the judges treasures counselor Sheriff Saul Rosen province, dedication, then princes, governors, captives, judges, treasures, counselor Sheriff Saul Rosen province go together dedication. What that means is when you got an invitation from King Nebuchadnezzar you came you just came everybody who got an invitation showed up it was peer pressure in the highest form.

All of those people games were going to see they all fell into what the king wanted them to do.

That's what Nebuchadnezzar is doing is trying to unify the people around this image well. He has all of these people there now we come secondly to the decree commanded verses four through seven then Harold cried aloud to you is commanded all people, nations and languages that at the time he hear the sound of the hornpipe flyer sack with salty dulcimer and all kinds of music you fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up and whoever follows not down and worship of show the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

Therefore, the time when all the people heard the sound of the hornpipe flyer sack but salting all kinds of music all the people the nations and the language spelled out worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king would set up. I can see that picture clearly in my mind's eye when they heard that word. They were all looking for a piece of ground to hit as soon as the music was playing on just the foot right hit the ground. When the music starts at the fiery furnace is the alternative hitting the ground.

Now it's interesting as you read this that Nebuchadnezzar, like all false gods and all false religion had his paid preacher. The hero I use that word for this fella. That's what the Bible says he was he was a Harold. He was a paid false preacher got up and said just exactly what he was told to say I will go off on that rabbit trail, but I wanted to there dozens of those folks around paid preachers who just get tell everybody what they're told to say, and he announced that when the orchestra played everybody had to worship the false God. Now this was a weird orchestra. I mean I try to find out what all these instruments were not look them all up. I'm telling you it must've been a strange sounding thing. There was a horn of a wind instrument. There was a flute. The word in the Hebrew is to his sword to whistle for that instrument. Then there was a thing called a Harper a liar. Another instrument: some versions of try God triangular instrument for strings which played real high notes and then the sultry was another instrument which had it's for strings beneath the sounding board.

Then it was just a plain old bagpipe from what we can gather, this was the King's Royal orchestra.

You never heard anything strange that your life and when the band played. Everybody had to fall down when the orchestra leader got up and directed the orchestra was assigned. Everybody in the worship someone is estimated that in this royal family. There may have been as many as 300,000 people from the vast empire and all of them bowed down all of them but three. Can you imagine how they stuck out when 300,000 bow down and they stood up they just stood up while everybody else was kneeling and it was obvious they were different than the rest. Well the plot begins to thicken. We come to the devious conspiracy verses eight through 12 wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came here and accuse the Jews and they spoke and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar is what they always say these guys, Nebuchadnezzar will king live forever now okay estimated decree that every man shall hear the sound of the hornpipe flyer sack but salting dulcimer all kinds of music shall fall down and worship the golden image, and whoever follows not down worship with that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

Now that the Chaldeans, there are certain Jews, who now settled the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach me shack and Abednego these men okay have not regarded me they serve, not by God's no worship the golden image which thou has set up.

I want to remind you who these fellows are these Chaldeans you remember them. We met them back in the early verses of this book and we found out that the word Chaldean is not a technical word for a Babylonian, but it's a word for a wise man. It's the word from which we get the word Magi.

These wise men and the wise men are the ones who are going to work on Shadrach me shack and Abednego said I can't help but believe it is plain old jealous because Daniel and his friends have been exalted over them. Daniel has been put in charge of the whole province in the Bible says that he brought in his three buddies any gave him a place of prominence to these Chaldeans who used to be the prominent ones were really mighty sick and tired of the Jews coming in and taken their place. I also want to remind you that when the king said that he was going to kill all of his wise man if they couldn't tell them the dream that the Bible says in chapter 2 that one of the reasons Daniel was so excited about learning about the dream and interpreting it was because he didn't want these fellows to die and he literally saved their lives.

Remember that now here they are and they got their shot. Boy are they going to get Daniel.

You know when you do the Lord's work. There's always somebody standing in the wings waiting to watch, watching just for a moment for you to do something that they can catch you on and really sock it to you. And that's what the Chaldeans were going to do you know the three Hebrew children could have reason just as Daniel might have reason to in the first chapter when in Rome do as the Romans do. I mean after all were only 3/300,000. Surely the Lord won't mind if we just sort of move in and try to conform ourselves. I mean after all, don't bring all your Jerusalem prejudices to babbling with you when you come, but they didn't do it. They stood up when it was right to stand up and now they are being accused.

The devious conspiracy verses eight through 12, we come to verses 13 to 18 now and we see what we know is been coming throughout all the chapter and that is the direct confrontation notice, then measuring his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach me shack and Abednego and then they brought these men before the king Nebuchadnezzar spoken set up to them is a true low Shadrach me shack and Abednego do not see serve my God's no worship the golden image which I have set up now if you be ready that at that time that you hear the sound of the hornpipe flyer sack but salting dulcimer and all kinds of music fall down and worship the image which I have made well, but if you worship not, you shall be cast the same hour into the midst of the burning fiery furnace who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands. Well, it's pretty plain and it now notice. First of all, that king that he could measure doesn't repeat one of the accusations that the Chaldeans have made against the three Hebrew children. The Chaldeans said to the king that the three Hebrew children did not regard the king, he knew better. That certainly they regarded the king had great respect for the king so he doesn't repeat that charge, but instead of accusing them. He brings them in before him, and he says I want to ask you question. Is it true, almost incredulous. How could it be that you would not obey my commands is a true I need to ask you to just put a partition right there and let me tell you something else is going on in the mind of these three children. These three Hebrews and let me tell you what it is going on in their mind, through all this time is the realization that there's really no option for them. They know the Old Testament law in the Old Testament law is so very plain in this matter. The Old Testament law speaks clearly about idolatry in Exodus chapter 20 in verse four we read thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them. For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God. Those three guys in their mind and their heart coursing like blood or spiritual beings.

There was the king's instruction in here was God's word, the theologian Hodges has said that idolatry consists not only in the worship of false gods. But in the worship of the true God by images God's statement is very conclusive. Thou shalt not make any likeness of anything.

John Calvin, the great theologian is said but true image of God is not to be found all of the world, and hence his glory is defiled and his truth is corrupted by the lie whenever he is set before our eyes in the visible form. Therefore, to devise any image of God is itself impious because by the corruption of his Majesty. It is adulterated and he is figured to be other than who use to the extent that your image fails to tell the truth about God, to that extent, you will fail to worship God in truth pretty strong in lot of idolatry goes on in our day folks, not just in the church out in the marketplace.

God is not interested in being worship through something he wants to be worship in spirit and in truth these three Hebrew children knew that to worship an idol to worship the beast to worship some image created by a man would be to fly in the very face of an Almighty holy God. And so the chance and the commandment under the direct confrontation leads ultimately to the confrontation. Verse 50. The question that the king asks is most important at the end of the verse. He says if you do what I say. I'll give you another chance. I'm going to forget what's happened so far don't know that you didn't bow down before me. I just want to tell you guys I give you another chance and when you hear the orchestra playing this time. If you do what you're supposed to do with this.

Forget about the whole thing. But if you don't the very power that you refuse to do it you're going to the fiery furnace, and then I want to ask you who is the God that will save you. You can see the snare on his lips.

Interesting question is who is that God will that God is the God who recently honored Nebuchadnezzar with a wonderful dream and that God had renewed the dream to Daniel and that God had graciously granted the interpretation and that God had made known the whole history of the world to him is that God that God had created.

Nebuchadnezzar had protected him had provided for him and called him and fed him and honored him with the rulership of the first Empire and he was so stupid that he had asked the question who is that God would take some we get to chapter 4 he's going to find out that God is not hard to recognize as you study the history of the church that the history of the church is been written in blood. There's always been warfare between the powers of darkness, and the powers of light, and always will be. There will always be pagan Gentile rulers who will cry out in sarcasm. Who is that God what you notice as we move out of the confrontation to the courage under this third thing. Verse 18. Probably one of the greatest statement you find any place in the Bible it thrills me to read it. Verse 16. First of all, Shadrach me shack and Abednego answered and said to the king own Nebuchadnezzar were not carefully answered in this matter. I was there talking to the king.

You know the guy that those people in the fire and when the king said you bow down or you go down. They said was not hard for us figure out what to tell you about that king means no matter know it's very simple to get all wrought up and start calling him names or get involved in some dialogue with me to say we've already figured out what to do about that. There was no hesitation. There's no argument there was no reasoning, no parlay with CM the path of duty was playing.

They had a word from God if they were hesitating to do it and when the king said this is what's going to happen if you don't do what I say. Their answer was king when I think about that. We don't have to take counsel with one another.

We already know what we see. Their principles were more to be regarded in his policies and they already knew. Acts chapter 5 it's better to obey God and man. So, notice what they said 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 my hand. Okay, now there's a great part but if the okaying that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

Take that as a little kind cockiness and that faith is not bad cocky but good. They knew where they were. They were on the ground of historic word of God and had a word from God. That's all they needed to judge that situation right square in the face and they say listen when I think about it when you talk about it. God said something we know what he said is if you want to kill us. But if God wants to build a sense find if he doesn't, that's all right to my Job in the Old Testament, though he slay me, yet will I trust him and I want to tell you something young people, men and women. That is what this world is crying out for men and women who have conviction of heart. Do not change their conviction on the basis of their circumstances. Someone once told me that the definition of integrity was that you are consistent in your decision. When the circumstances under which the decision was made of change. Here were three men who know what God wanted them to do weren't afraid of the consequences when the circumstances change. Then they were in jeopardy of their very lives said it doesn't make any difference to us what God has told us to do. We will do it and were not careful to answer the in this matter. We are indebted theologically to one of our church fathers by the name of Athanasius. I don't expect most of you know very much about him. But if you study theology know the we are indebted to him for the purity of the doctrine of the deity of Jesus Christ.

He thought many of the battles that we have one over the deity of Jesus Christ. And I'm told that when he was fighting this battle in standing up for the deity of Jesus Christ.

But someone came to him and he said Athanasius don't you know the emperors against you and the bishops are against you and the churches are against you and the whole world is against Athanasius and Athanasius replied that I'm against the whole world and I phrase was coined out of that little experience they became rather famous in the early church Athanasius against the whole world. The kind of faith I'm talking about the kind of courage I'm talking about is the kind of courage. These men exhibited when they said if the whole world says God is wrong. I cast my vote with God.

Let God be true and every man a liar. We need some people in the pulpits like that who don't vacillate with peer pressure who don't move when the circumstances change with find out the best they can. What is God said, stand up and say it. Course there courage was based on their conviction and the conviction was that there God was able, our God is able.

This may be where we got that song he is able he is able he is able to deliver the bog.

God is able to deliberately get on the New Testament. There's a lot about that telling us that God is able to deliver us if we just put our trust in him. That was the conviction of these Hebrew children not only conviction of the word of God, but the conviction of the power of God. The okaying kept his promise and he threw them in the fire, and I know you know the story already but I can't wait to tell you the rest of how God preserved them.

The okaying heated the fire up seven times harder than it ever been heated and ended up killing all of his people and the three Hebrew children got through it.

You know that because they were courageous to do what was right. I have in my library. Some poetry written by a fellow by the name of Studdard Kennedy is sort of a interesting man who's written some rather simple poetic lines started.

Kennedy was a chaplain during the world war because of his role as a chaplain.

He was often thrust up to the front of the battle lines and places of danger, jeopardy. One day while he was going through France. He wrote a letter home to his son, his young son. I guess about 10 years of age. I have that letter to summarize everything we talked about. Listen carefully. This is what he wrote to his little boy. He said the first prayer I want my son to learn to say for me is not God. Keep daddy safe. But God make daddy brave and if he has hard things to do, make him strong to do them. Kennedy went on to write to his son son life and death don't matter what right and wrong. Do daddy did, his daddy still but daddy dishonored before God is something too awful for words. I suppose you'd like to put in a bit about safety to and mother would like that. I'm sure well put it in afterwards always afterwards, for it really doesn't matter nearly as much is doing what is right.

Oh God, how we need that in our families and our churches in our country and our world. People who are willing to put what is right before what is convenient and what is safe. We just been praying that maybe God would do something in one or two hearts to begin that process and you you vacillated all over the place when you're with one group you're one way and when you're with another group you're another way. There is no stability to your life because you are not focused in on the truth you're trying to please your peers if you will stand up for what this book says courageously doing what God is called you to do.

He has made himself responsible for you and he is able to deliver you and give you courage to stand.

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