The title of this morning's message is God is in control.
You're probably thinking, Oh well, I can't see that.
Well, actually you will. God is in control.
Daniel chapter 2, we find God's word very powerful.
We're in Daniel and for the first six chapters we will learn
from Daniel and from three of Daniel's friends how to live for
God in a fallen sinful world. Our Babylon, our Babylon.
You know, it's nice to find a Christian.
You, I don't know if you've ever travelled and you travel and you
can find someone who is a Christian, You go, oh, I'm a
Christian and straightaway you, you're able to communicate, talk
and, and, but it's hard to find another believer, isn't it?
I look at the AFL. I'm with the Fremantle Football
Club as a chaplain, have been since about 2000 and we've had
one, one player that I remember 2, two players become Christians
in that period of time and the through the AFL there's a lack
of Christians as one who play Ollie, Ollie Dempsey I think his
name is, he plays for Geelong. He's a devout believer, a solid
follower of Christ, but we just lack role models, athletes.
Whereas in America, you know, you get a quarterback, the
champion quarterbacks, Mahones or whatever they call or someone
else and they'll just tell you straight out.
First thing I want to say, I want to thank the Lord Jesus
Christ. And we, we see that.
And so we're, we're really behind the 8 ball in, in, in
our, in our land as far as can I see a Christian, can I see, will
the Christians stand up? Because we don't see any
standing up. Well, we're going to learn how
to stand up. God wants us to stand up.
And so we find out in the first six chapters just how to do
that. In chapter 1, we learned how God
was faithful to Daniel and his three friends, how to live
faithful to the Lord even under great pressure.
They were told you got to eat this, you got to drink.
This is what you got to do. This is the God you got to
worship. And they went, hang on.
No, no, wait, wait, wait, wait. They did it politely and they
said we'll eat what the food that we eat back back home, the
proper food. We're not going to eat food
that's been offered to idols. We're not going to drink this
and do that. And after 10 days, they were the
they were the most graciously good looking, healthy looking of
of all the captives that have been taken into Babylon in
chapter 2. We're going to see, We saw how
God taught four young Hebrews that God is in control because
Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and he called all the wise men,
supposed wise men that came in, all the con men said, tell me my
dream and then tell me the interpretation.
They said that's too hard. And he said, no, that's what you
got to do, otherwise you'll die. Daniel hears about that, goes
home to the house where his three other young Hebrew friends
are, and they seek the Lord and they pray and God gives him the
dream and the interpretation. And we're going to see that and
we're going to see how that unfails.
And Daniel goes back to Nebuchadnezzar, says, here's the
dream and here's the interpretation.
Nebuchadnezzar's, wow, this is amazing.
Only God could do that. And so in chapter 3 now we're
going to see how to stand for God when everyone else false.
Let's read the interpretation of the dream chapter 2 verse 36 on
follow along with me in your Bible.
This is the dream. Now we'll tell you the
interpretation of it before the king you were king because
Daniel told him there was a a great image.
Sorry, back in the first couple of verses 31 on there was this
image, huge image in the dream. The head was gold, the chest and
arms with silver. The stomach and thighs were were
bronze and the feet and and the toes were clay and iron, iron.
And then the toes were clay and iron.
And Daniel said, this is the great image.
This is the image that you saw. And the king says, yeah, that's
what I saw. And he says, well, this image
what what's going to happen is at the end, it's going to become
like chaff because these are going to be all the empires of
the world. And a great stone will come, a
stone that's not cut out of a mountain and like a great
mountain. And and it will this, this, this
coming thing that will wipe out all these other empires.
That image that that stone and that empire will fool the earth
forever and ever and ever. So let's pick up the
interpretation. This, this, this is the dream.
Now I will tell you the interpretation of it.
You, O King, our King of kings. For the God of heaven has given
you a Kingdom. Notice God's given
Nebuchadnezzar the power. He's given him the Kingdom for
purpose. Wherever the children of men
dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the
heaven, he has given them into your hand.
He has made you ruler over them. You are his head of gold.
OK, but after you shall arise another Kingdom inferior, and
it's going to go down, gold, silver, bronze, iron.
But after you shall arise another Kingdom inferior to
yours, then another 1/3 Kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over
the earth. And a fourth Kingdom shall be as
strong as iron in as much as iron breaks in pieces and
shatters everything. And like iron that crushes, that
Kingdom will break in pieces and crush all others.
Also. You saw the feet and the toes
partly of Potter's clay and partly of iron.
That's Speaking of a future Kingdom, a Kingdom where in the
time that we're now living, the Kingdom shall be divided, yet
the strength of the iron shall be in it.
Just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay, and as the
toes of the feet were partly of iron, partly of clay, so the
Kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragment or fragile.
As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay.
They all mingle with the seed of men, but they will not adhere to
one another. Just as iron does not mix with
clay. And in the days of these kings,
so in the, in the final king, which is going to be the New
World Empire, it's currently the United Nations or the EU
European Union started in 1950 and, and called themselves the
the big 10, even though there wasn't 10 at the time.
And now there's more than 10, but it's going to end up it's
10. And that will be the European
Union, of which the Antichrist, who will come after the church
is raptured. And he'll head this, this union,
the toes and the clay. And then in that time, as the
Antichrist is ruling during the Tribulation period, God of
heaven will set up a Kingdom which shall never be destroyed.
Jesus Christ will return. He'll wipe out the Antichrist.
The the rule and reign of men governing the world will be
over. The Kingdom shall not be left to
other people. It shall break in pieces and
consume all these kingdoms and it shall stand forever.
This is the Millennium, the thousand year reign, beginning
with Christ at the end of the seven year tribulation, the
second coming of Jesus. In as much as you saw that the
stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, the
stone is Christ. Then it broke in pieces.
The iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold.
The great God has made known to the king.
What will come to pass? King, this is what's happening.
You're the you're the gold empire now you're Babylon.
And he doesn't even know about the Medes and the Persians and
and the Grecians and who had to come and the Romans, They're not
even on the on the scene yet. And God lays out this dream to
Nebuchadnezzar of the future world empires yet become
amazing. That's why people say, well,
Daniel cannot have written this. It's too prescriptive.
It's too detailed. How could this happen when all
these kingdoms weren't even around?
Well, it's the word of God because Daniel says the dream is
certain and its interpretation is sure.
You can bank on it. And King Nebuchadnezzar fell on
his face prostate before Daniel and went, wow man, this is
awesome. Truly.
Your God is the God of gods, Lord of kings, revealer of
secrets. And he said Shadrach, Meshach
and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon.
Daniel sat in the gate of the king.
That means Daniel was given a higher order.
He was like a magistrate over the rule of Babylon.
So we pick up. So the dream has been revealed
and Daniel gives the interpretation.
So the entire head of gold, the Kingdom of Babylon or the empire
of Babylon, of which Nebuchadnezzar was the first and
only ruler since to have been the only real world dictator, he
was in charge of the whole world and he ruled or sorry, Babylon
ruled, but only for about 87 years.
Head of gold, the chest and arms of of silver.
They were the Medes and the Persians.
That's why this too, the Medes and the Persians combined and
they conquered the Babylonians in 539 BC.
And the valley and the thighs of bronze, The Greeks under
Alexander the Great. And they conquered the Medes and
the Persians in 334 to 330 BC. And who conquered the Greeks?
Romans iron, Roman Empire conquered the Greeks in 63 BC.
Jesus said in Matthew chapter 21.
Did you never read in the Scriptures the stone which the
builders rejected? The stone, the same has become
the head of the corner. This is the Lord's doing, and it
is marvellous in our eyes. Jesus went on to say, therefore
I sound to you, the Kingdom of God shall be taken from you,
given to a nation, bring forth the fruits thereof.
Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken, but on
whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
The stone is none other than the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
The stone shall become a mountain.
Jesus, when he returns at the second coming, will set up his
millennial reign, and he will rule and reign from Jerusalem
for 1000 years, then a new heaven and a new earth.
After the great White Throne judgement, when all the unsaved
are resurrected, all those who have died without Christ are
resurrected, will be judged, cast into the Lake of fire, and
then a new heaven and a new earth.
Revelation 21 And Christ will rule, and we will rule and reign
with him during that time, and there'll be no end to that, to
the Kingdom. The image that Nebuchadnezzar
saw, this statue, we see Heaven's viewpoint had a gold
chest and arms of silver stomach, thighs, bronze legs,
iron feet, iron clay toes, etcetera.
That's God's view. This is what's going to happen.
But Nebuchadnezzar had a different viewpoint and we're
going to see a difference because in chapter 3,
Nebuchadnezzar, the king verse one made an image of gold, all
gold, 60 cubits and it was width was 6 cubits, cubit was between
18 for those in the old imperial, 18 to 2021 inches.
It was the measurement from the elbow to the tip of the finger.
So Nebuchadnezzar, he says, you know what, I'll build an image.
It's going to be all gold, all gold.
The king did not build the image according to the dream.
Why did he do it his way? Because he said my empire.
I run the show. I'm the most powerful man on the
earth. I'm the most powerful king.
What empire is never going to run out?
I'm always going to rule. It's always going to be Babylon.
No one will defeat us. In Proverbs 14, verse 12, it's
one of my favourite proverbs, it says there is a way that seems
right to a man. I've got an idea.
But it's end is the way of death.
Why shouldn't Babylon continue in its power?
Nebuchadnezzar thinking I'm the most powerful man on the earth,
biggest army. I rule and reign, I do what I
like, no one tells me what to do.
Why shouldn't whole image be of gold?
Why didn't Nebuchadnezzar go and build this image and change what
he had dreamed? We're not told, but actually
chapter 3 is some 18 to 23 years later after the dream.
So it's kind of like not overnight.
He wakes up and says this is what I'm going to do.
It's 18 to 23 years after Daniel has given him the dream and the
interpretation and he builds this image on the plain of
Juror. 20 odd years for Nebuchadnezzar to muse to, to
plan against the change his mind on what should happen.
And as he's gone on, he's began to think he's got proud.
He's like, I know what I'm going to do.
This is what I'm going to do. Oh God says, but this is what
I'm going to do. Did he fear the downfall of his
empire and therefore try to strengthen his position?
Well, I'll sort this out. Isn't that what we say in
Australia? I'll sort it out, I'll fix this.
I used to do that and it always broke.
It always got worse. You know when you go, I'll fix
this, I'll sort this out. Don't.
Your first reaction is the worst reaction.
It's usually the flesh reaction. It's like when you write emails.
Don't write emails. You ever write an email, say oh
I'll send this away, leave it and read it again the next day
and burn it? Did Nebuchadnezzar begin to
doubt Daniel's prophetic interpretation of the future
events revealed by God? Well, he heard them, he said,
But I'm not going to pay attention to that.
You can pay. You can do the same about the
things of the Book of Revelation.
Well, is the church going to be raptured?
Is is there going to be a tribulation?
I don't believe any of that man. If I said to my dad, he's been
passed away for a number of years now, Dad, there will come
a day that on Friday you won't get paid in cash.
He said, Oh my dead body. I want my pounds, shillings and
pence in my hands on Friday. There's no way I'm going to get
this a thing going somewhere that I can't identify how we've
changed. So what's the lesson?
Well, many Christians. The first lesson is many
Christians have the same thought pattern as Nebuchadnezzar today.
You see, none of us are immune from the temptation to cling
tenaciously to our little earthly possessions unless we've
truly seen them as they really are.
Unless God has brought you to a place where they are now of
little value. I tell you when all the times
that I visited Murdoch Hospice or or intensive care units, I
never had anyone talk to me about cars, boats, houses, never
we we never discussed bank books.
How I, you know, miss work. But the trouble is for you and
I, and so many of us sitting here today, many of you are, are
under the control of idols. The bank tells you what to do.
Your house mortgage tells you what to do, your job, the way
you structure it, the things that you're involved in.
You're so choked up with the affairs of the world, you don't
control anything. Your week is laid out by
everybody else. Why does it take for a doctor to
tell us we've got three months to live before we finally
realise what truly are the most valuable things in the world to
us? Why does it have to come to
that? Don't let it in your life come
to that. Many Christians, sadly, have
lost sight of the prize at the end of the race and many have
veered off course into the ways of the world.
Demas did. He left Paul.
They have lost sight of the brevity of life.
Because I tell you, my heart beats.
Your heart beats today. It's a red involuntary muscle.
Your lungs are moving. You have no control over them.
There's someone else who holds your very breath in his hands.
We'll get to that in chapter 5. And tomorrow, 40 people who are
living today in WA won't be living tomorrow.
They'll die between now and tomorrow.
Not planned, not organised, just didn't wake up.
Popped in a car, never came back.
The brevity of life. Life is it's a fragile many
churchgoers hold to their earthly possessions with a a
tight fist, falsely, falsely imagining in a falsetto, falsely
imagining that we shall have them forever.
You will remember that point forever now, won't you?
That'll be the only thing you'll remember this morning.
It was funny. Yeah, I can't.
I know what he said for 45 minutes, but I remember when his
voice went up. I remember that.
Yeah. Good on you.
Jesus said in Matthew 6 verse 19.
Hear what Jesus says, not what I say.
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth
and rust destroy, where thieves break in and steal, but lay up
for yourselves treasures in heaven when neither moth nor
rust destroys, where thieves do not break in and steal.
Jesus words, you know, it's usually in the time of of when
we're at our healthiest, when we're at our strongest, when our
finances are doing so well that we forget God.
That's Australia in a nutshell. We're so blessed in this nation,
we're so wealthy in this nation, we're in the top 3% of the
wealthiest people in the world, and we've forgotten all about
God completely. Looking back to Daniels time
from here in 2025, with perfect hindsight, who was right?
Nebuchadnezzar or God battle on last.
So Daniel chapter 3 verse 1, he builds this image in today's
language it's 27.432 metres high.
Now this building is, I think it's 9 metres, so it's 27 metres
high, it's 2.7 metres wide. There you go.
It's the same Chrysler Redeemer statue is 30 metres, the Tower
of London, 27 metres, there you go.
Gives an idea how big it is. It weighed some 3730 kilos.
It was a cost. Some estimate the cost depending
on if it was solid gold or stone or wood overlay with gold, some
$200 billion. Or if you're the wealthiest man
in the world, that's nothing. It's not your money.
Just get money, gold, wherever. King Nebuchadnezzar made an
image of gold, 60 cubits high, 6 cubits wide.
Set it up on the plain of Jura in the province of Babylon.
Archaeologists have found the pedestal on which the the image
sits. He builds it on a plane.
Why does he build on a plane? So it's even more imposing a
structure. It's 9 storeys high, 9 stories.
Everyone could not help see this massive image, including three
young Hebrew men. Verse 2.
King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to gather together the SAT traps.
That's just another term for administrators as well.
Pin pushes the governors, the councillors, the treasurers, the
judges, the magistrates and all the officials of the province to
come to the dedication of the image which King Nebuchadnezzar
had set up. So they, the administrators, the
governors, all of them, again came judges, magistrates, they
gathered for the dedication of the image, and they stood before
the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
Then a herald cried out to you. It is commanded.
So there's no choice in the matter.
O peoples, nations and languages.
So people from all over the world are invited.
This is a gala event that all at the time you hear the sound of
the horn, the flute, the heart, the lion, the sultry in
Symphony. Notice the word Symphony with
all kinds of music. This is a full Symphony
Orchestra. You shall fall down and worship
the gold image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.
And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast
immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace, a brick
kiln, basically. So at that time when all the
people heard the sound of the horn, flute, harp, so on the
Symphony with all kinds of music, all the people fell down
worship. Now, the dedication of the image
was not political or patriotic. It was religious.
Look at the crowd. It was politicians.
Everyone from Hollywood was there, the who's who.
All the rock stars were there. It's funny how rock stars and
people in Hollywood always tell us about politics.
Paul Hogan, an Australian actor, some of you remember him, said
this about being an actor. I get paid to pretend to be
people and I I really it's just a pet peeve when someone who
makes a movie gets up, you know, Free Palestine, Leonardo Capra,
free Palestine, Madonna, free Palestine.
All they write. I'm leaving this country.
I feel like writing. I'll help pack your bag.
This was a religious gathering. So all the pomp you just it's
just everyone's turning up in their in their camels.
Big limos pulled up, you know, the donkey, 100 donkeys in
front, all getting out. Who you dressed by?
I'm dressed by so and so of Babylon.
I'm wearing this is either jewels from the Nile and all
this. So they're getting out.
One law, one religion for all peoples, the nations and
languages. Notice it's a snapshot of what's
coming with the Antichrist who will set up his image.
And if you don't bow down and worship his image and receive
his mark on your right hand or your forehead, you'll die.
You'll die. The music is important.
Notice this. It's to arouse the emotions or
and also the threat of being thrown into the furnace.
Picture the scene. The Babylonian Philharmonic
Orchestra full kit starts playing.
The Herald cries out down on the knees, the noise.
It's thousands and thousands, hundreds of thousands of people
get down on their knees worshipping the golden image.
What a religious experience. Wow, how powerful can the
influence and emotionally persuade persuasive pulse music
can provide? You know who knows a lot about
music? So if you read he's actually
built, has inbuilt music into him, read of what the Bible says
of what he looks like. He was in charge of music in
heaven. He uses music massively.
It was designed to have you. Oh, wow, bow down the pomp, the
ceremony. You know, we Helen and I went to
Nuremberg. I specifically wanted to go to
Germany to try and understand how such a nation could be the
cause of the Holocaust. How could this happen?
So we went to Nuremberg. They call it Nuremberg.
We went out to the place where Hitler held in Nuremberg.
How? That's why they had the trials
they're numbering how these great events from 1932 to 1938,
The Nuremberg rallies, though the largest scale theatrical
events that you could you could imagine, only those who are
blonde and blue eyed were filmed at the front.
Any true Bavarians who are a bit pudgy and like eating pork and
drinking beer. They had to go over there.
They weren't going to be in the in the filming.
So all the blondes to the front, blue eyes to the front because
they all look like Hitler. As the evening came and the
darkness came, up would go searchlights all the way around
the whole area where hundreds of thousands of people are gathered
like a cathedral wall. It was so powerful that they
built had to build their own powerhouse.
Down the road we saw the powerhouse to run just the
service, the worship service in Nuremberg.
The rallies would last for up to 8 days.
The religious fervour was frenetic and the Fuhrer and I
stood where Hitler stood in the very place would stand there
above all the people, and there he would be worshipped.
You know, sadly, many churches are falling for a religious
persuasion. What do I mean by that?
Music. We got to manage music very
carefully. I thank, I'm so thankful for our
worship team and those who run our worship services here.
They're pastors because there's a danger in in church services
and music and how it's how it operates.
This is swing to to which way you're going to have a song and
it's a hit parade now and and you can have songs and you could
be singing to a a girlfriend or a boyfriend.
That's not the words of the song.
It's such an emotive and so many Christian singers sadly move out
of, I mean many of the black African American singers move
learnt to sing out in church with their heart and soul.
Then they moved out and ended up tragically in the ways of the
world. What does God have pleasure in?
A soul filled experience. Wow, that just wow.
It was just all the music. Wow, or a spiritual experience.
John chapter 4 verse 24. Jesus said to the woman of the
world, God is spirit and these that worship him must worship
him in spirits truth. Let us remember today that it is
the preaching of the word of God that is actually and essentially
an act of worship. Did you know worship is not just
singing that each as I'm now preaching the word of God.
This is worship. You are worshipping the Lord.
This is worship, AW Tozer writes on this.
He says it is now a common practise in most evangelical
churches to offer the people, especially the young people, a
maximum of entertainment and a minimum of serious instruction.
It is scarcely possible to get anyone to attend a meeting where
the only attraction is God. One can only conclude that God's
professed children are bored with him, for they must be wooed
to meeting with a stick of striped candy in the form of
religious movies, games and refreshments designed to house
the golden calf. The three young figures, as all
the people are bowed down, and the music and the emotion, Oh
wow, and Nebuchadnezzar, how good is this image tell you?
Oh, I know what's going on. And three figures are standing.
You can see them from miles away because everyone else is on
their face. Three figures stand out against
the masses, standing upright together, not bowing down.
They were making the most courageous choice in standing
when all around them was a sea of backs bowed low to the
ground. If you do not worship what the
world worships, you will stand out.
Therefore, verse 8. At that time, Chaldeans came
forward. These are the guys that Daniel
and the three others saved their lives by giving the dream in the
interpretation, because they were being executed.
The guys that were being executed because they're jealous
of what's happened with these other 4 Hebrews came forward and
accused the Jews. We're all Jews, they're in it
again. They spoke and said to King
Nebuchadnezzar, Old king, live forever.
You, O king, have made a decree that everyone who hears the
sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and sultry in Symphony
with all kinds of music shall fall down and worship the golden
image. And whoever does not fall down
and worship shall be cast into the midst of a burning fiery
furnace. Yes, there are certain Jews whom
you have said over the affairs. Notice this is where it's
coming, of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach and
Abednego. These men, O king, have not paid
you regard to you. They do not serve your gods or
worship. The gold image which you set up
is a great thing. Isn't it good to have someone
who's not a Christian tell you that you're a Christian by the
way that you're living? You must be a follower of
Christ, because I can see by the way you it's when a non believer
picks you out means it's good. The king on hearing this news
about the three young Hebrew men flies into a rage, takes this as
a personal affront demands then be brought before him so he can
interrogate them himself. You see, we can bow down.
This is could be going on the three of them standing there and
everyone's you know, they could have said we just got to bow
down. I mean, we can just go about our
business. We can still worship God.
They're allowed to worship the God of Israel, but they have to
just bow down and worship the other gods, but they can still
worship their own God. That's what a lot of people do.
They worship all their gods through the week and they bow
down and then they come to church on Sunday.
They could have said we can bow down, we can keep our jobs, we
can live and not get killed, or we can stand or we can stand.
Romans 125 Those who exchanged the truth of God for the lie and
worshipped and served the creature, because all these
people are worshipping an image made by man and God made man,
they won't worship God, they worship an image made by man
It's foolish. The Nebuchadnezzar Enrage and
Fury, verse 13 gave the command to bring Shadrach, Meshach and
Abednego. So they brought these men before
the king Nebuchadnezzar spoke to them.
Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, you do not serve
my gods or worship the gold image which I've set up.
Now notice this because he likes these guys.
They're good value. Verse 15, the compromise.
Here's where it happens at work. This is what they tried to do to
Eric Little when he wouldn't run on the Sabbath day.
He says I can't run on the 7th. I'm going to church the Sabbath.
I don't run. And they got the Prince royalty
to come and say, look, we know you stand.
Maybe we can just sort something out here.
Here's the next step. Here's what happens in your
workplace. Here's the compromise.
Now look, if you're ready at the time, you hear the sound of the
horn, flute, harp, lyre and sultry and you fall down, no big
deal. Just worship, which I've made.
Hey, it's all good. Like I say, anymore, it's all
good. I know you're a Christian, I
know you're going to, but if you could just, you know, just go
along with everybody else, it's all good.
It's just a smooth voice of compromise.
Be reasonable. Isn't that what the world tells
you and I to do When we make a stand?
It does just bow down. But if you do not worship,
you'll be cast immediately into the midst of a burning, fiery
furnace and hear what Nebuchadnezzar says.
And who is the God who would deliver you from my hands?
I run the show. I'm in charge of your life.
I dictate whether you live or die.
God cannot overrule me. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
answered and said to the king. Oh, Nebuchadnezzar, we have no
need to answer you in this matter.
So with calmness and courage, they don't go, Oh, you're,
you're, you're a pink king. We don't like you.
You know, I didn't do anything stupid.
This is where this is where you've got to be wise as
serpents, as general as doves, when you're dealing with, with
fractures and situations in your workplace, in your school, in
your situations, in your family, where don't, don't be arrogant.
Learn from the guy who's just been killed.
Assassinated. What was his name again?
Charlie. Yeah.
Always, always said. Oh, hi.
What's your name? Good to hear your point.
Oh, Kim Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this
matter. So with calmness and courage,
they offered no alibis. They were not arrogant, but they
were firm and resolute in their choice to not bow with everybody
else. And here's what you can do in
your workplace in your situation.
Exactly. I'm not sure if you're aware,
but I am a Christian. I'm, I'm a devout follower of
Jesus Christ. I believe he is my Lord and
Saviour. What you're asking me to do is
against my faith. And you know, by law, by law
they have to give you room because they do it.
Everybody else just that we don't speak up enough.
That's all. By law they have to give you
room in what you're saying. Their reply was to the point, no
waffling. We need no need to answer you in
this matter. Psalm 119, verse 11 says thy
word, have I hidden my heart that I might not sin against
you. They knew they couldn't do this.
Verse 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.
Well, but if not, verse 18, let it be known, O King, that we do
not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which
you've set up. In other words, our God is still
God will be delivered either way.
Jesus prayed the same, didn't he, in the Garden of Gethsemane?
Not my will, but Lord, your will.
That's your prayer. Please add that at the end of
each time you pray about something.
Not my will, but your will, Lord.
Sadly, some people will serve God only as long as He does what
they tell Him to. Every one of us will face a
furnace of sorts sometime. It could be a literal one, as
Polycarp did in Turkey and 155 AD, where they burned him at the
stake because he wouldn't go Caesar's Lord and put the
incense down. That's all he had to do.
Caesar's Lord, sprinkle some incense.
He would have lived. The Roman guard said, just old
man, you're a lovely old man. Because he fed them, fed the
soldiers came to us. Just just just say Caesar's
Lord, sprinkle a bit. What's what's the deal?
He says, I can't do that. It might be a furnace of
mocking, being laughed at in your school, by your own family,
your workplace, or your sporting team.
You know you can be laughed into hell, but you can't be laughed
out of hell. The ifs in verse 17 and 18 were
strong, clear, with no questioning of God's ability,
His omnipotent power. God will deliver.
They each believe that God was able to deliver them alive.
Their response was strong, but they did not know the mind of
God. They didn't know what God was
going to do, whether his plans included their deliverance.
If they died, well, God would still be vindicated like Job.
Job says Job 13 verse 15. Though he slay me, yet I will
trust him, Even so, I will defend my own ways before him.
Nothing would change their convictions.
They chose God's will above their own.
If only you and I would do that. If you left today and you chose
God's will above your own, your life will change dramatically.
Why? The Word of God was clear.
Exodus 20, verse 4. You shall not make for yourself
a carved image, any likeness of anything that is in heaven
above, was on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under
the earth. You shall not bow down to them
nor serve them. It's pretty clear for I, the
Lord your God am a jealous God. Nebuchadnezzar goes off, throw
them in the furnace. Verse 20 So he commanded the
mightiest men of his army to come forward.
They grab Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
They stoked the the brick kiln furnace.
It's just glowing. And as they throw these guys in,
the fire is so bad that the men who grabbed them and arrest them
are burnt. As the three fall into the fire,
it says verse 23, these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego, fouled down, tied up into the midst of the burning
fiery furnace. But here's the greater miracle.
The three young men were seen not laying on the ground being
cooked. Now they've seen walking around
calmly, around and around in the flames, no longer tied up,
unaffected by the flames of the furnace.
They're not screaming help Get Me Out, Get Me Out.
They're just walking around calmly.
The king then sees something even more amazing.
Verse 24, he said, can we cast in how many?
We cast in three, three men, right?
Yes, true old king. He says, look, I see four men
loose walking in the middle of the fire.
They're not hurt and in the form of the 4th is like the Son of
God. Wow.
There was a fourth person in the furnace walking with them who
wasn't It was the Lord in Isaiah 43 verse 2 before this event
happened. Isaiah wrote when you pass
through the waters, I'll be with you through the rivers.
They shall not overflow you. The Jordan, remember sea, Red
Sea, when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned.
How can he say that? Nor shall the flames scorch you.
That's specific. I am with you always until the
end of the age. Jesus said.
John 1633. These things I spoken to you,
that in me you may have peace in the world you will have
tribulation. But be of good cheer.
I've overcome the world now some and I've heard teach incorrectly
stated well these men when they said well we're not sure what
God's going to do lacked faith. It's a good Hebrew Australian.
They're buffets that say that because in Hebrews Chapter 11
verse 32, the writer of Hebrews says, what more shall I say?
For the time would fail to tell of Gideon and Barack and Samson,
Jephthah, also David and Samuel and the prophets who through
faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained
promises, stopped the mouths of lions that's going to come
quench the violence fire. Nothing could be further from
the truth of the faith of these three young men.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were only in the fire.
Why? You know, it was God's will for
them to be in the fire, to be thrown into the fire.
Because they chose God's will, ended up in the fire.
They put God's will above their own.
But because of their decision, because of their stand, the
following blessings, which we miss out on so much because we
won't, we won't go that but why? What?
No, it's too risky. I'm not doing I'll just I'll
just keep quiet about it. I won't say so we miss out on
the blessings and we we, you know, we sing, we come to oh,
God would bless me and bless me. Well, the blessings come, but
they only come to those who stand up.
You can't get the blessings if you're bowed down like everybody
else. What were the blessings they
received in the fire? They were aware of God's
presence. They experienced God's
protection. They saw God's power.
They did not try to leave the furnace.
They didn't say like, OK, we're walking out, we're not giving,
let's get out of here. They stayed.
You know why they stayed? Because Christ was with them.
It was better in the fire with Christ than outside of the fire.
The only reason they came out of the fire is Nebuchadnezzar
called them out. Otherwise they would have stayed
in there. They had fellowship with God in
the trial. Many of you going through
trials, let me tell you, you grow closer and stronger in your
relationship with the Lord because of the trial.
Look at the trial, the trials. God is allowed to come down and
upon your life you go. Keith, I'm not enjoying it.
No, we're not here to have a happy life, people.
That's why people got well, I want to go to church to have a
happy life. That's not what church is about.
Our role is to grow into a, an understanding and knowledge and
closeness of who God is. And the way that that happens is
God says we're going to go through some fires, but then
you're going to see how great and mighty I am.
Then you're going to experience my closeness and then you'll see
how much I love you. You'll understand who I am.
So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came from the midst of
the fire. Everyone stand around.
They're all gathering. They're gaping, their mouths
open. They saw these men on whose
bodies the fire had no power. The hair of their head was not
cinched. I know all about that.
I'm good at barbecues. I've blown myself up several
times. Nor were there garments
affected, and the smell of fire was not on them.
I love this because I can imagine all these other dudes
going and Shadrach, Meshach just stand there, go sniff away.
It's the smell of fire. Nebuchadnezzar spoke saying.
Blessed be the God of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego who said
his Angel delivered his servants who notice.
He said notice. Why, even Nebuchadnezzar, who
trusted in him? That's what God says.
And they are frustrated. The King's word, they have
noticed he's picking out all the points.
They have yielded their bodies. They they should not serve nor
worship any God except their own.
This is the second time the three young men have been
identified as godly by the ungodly.
Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, language,
whatever that speaks against the God of Shadrach and and Meshach,
and he says all this shall be cut in pieces.
There is no other God who can deliver like this.
Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the
province of Babylon. So where does promotion come
from? Bible tells us it's from the
Lord. Promotion only comes from the
Lord. If they aren't standing up,
there's no promotion. Do you get that?
We often go. Why can't where come?
Well, God's going well. Because you won't even stand up
for me. Why should I promote you
anywhere over here? As they stepped out of the
furnace, there was no smell of smoke.
No hair is singed. And because these three young
men chose God's will above their own, the king saw the power and
presence of God in their lives because of their obedience.
You know, do you have unsaved loved ones?
Yeah, we all do. Can they see because of the way
that you stand up for God? Can they see the presence and
power of God in your life because of your obedience to
Him? Were the King's own proud words
now ringing in his ears? And who is the God who will
deliver you from my hands? Verse 15.
Are you in a fiery furnace this morning?
A fiery trial? At the moment we each experience
them, but we must not bow down. We won't worship what everyone
else worships. I won't worship what the world
worships. You should say that I won't
worship what the world worships. Jesus says in Acts 18.
But you shall receive power after the Holy Ghost has come
upon you. Why?
You shall be witnesses. You testify of how great I am.
God delivered his servants who trusted in Him, and they
frustrated the King's word. They yielded their bodies that
they should not serve nor worship any God except their own
God. They yielded their bodies not
merely the risking of their lives, but the giving of
themselves. What does Romans chapter 12
verse one say to you? And IA letter written by Paul to
Christians and it's written to you.
I pray you hear what it says. Verse one, Romans 12 and so dear
brothers and sisters, I plead some of the Bible say, I beg you
to give what your bodies to God because why of all that he's
done for you? You think they stood up because
what God has done for them already.
So what has God done anything for you?
Has He done anything for you? Let your body be a living and
holy sacrifice. What is a sacrifice?
It's something that you give up, isn't it?
The kind he will find acceptable?
And then it says, this is truly the way to worship Him.
These three young men were honoured by the king, and God
gave them protection and prosperity.
Jesus said Matthew chapter 10 verse 32.
Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men him, I
will confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
But whosoever shall deny me before men, him also I will deny
before my Father, which is in heaven.
As we look back. All the things in the dream, did
they happen? Babylon fell, didn't it?
Read your history. Babylon fell to the Medes and
the Persians. Who beat them?
Greeks. And then who?
Who beat the Greeks? The Romans.
What's yet to come? Feet and toes.
A10 world union. A union led by an antique.
It's coming, these things have happened, so the word of God is
going to happen. You and I are going to see, and
we see it in Europe already. Everyone is arming up.
Mr Trump has got that organised. You can live and stand for God
in a lost world. Stop blaming everybody else and
God for your situation. It's time to not be a victim.
It's time to stand up and be a living sacrifice.
In spite of separation from their parents, living under the
pressure influences of the Babylonian religion, political
pressure, immorality, the threat of death, these three young men
did not waver. Paul says in One Corinthians
1557. Thanks be to God who gives us
the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour
is not in vain in the Lord. Do you pray?
Oh God, I'd love to see you. I'd love to experience you.
Do you pray that I do, You know, for Stephen to experience seeing
the Lord, you know, what it took, and being stoned to death
and then as he was dying, he saw heaven open and the Lord Jesus
welcoming him home For the apostle John, when did he, yes,
he walked with Christ, but when did he see Christ in all his
glory on the island of Patmos? Exiled.
When Paul, when did Paul get a glimpse of heaven and all its
wonders? When Paul was stoned and left
the dead in Lystra, he was caught up into heaven.
This morning as I close and the worship team comes forward, God
invites you today you can do it in your seat where you are to
sacrifice your life to serve him.
You can make a statement in your seat where you are.
You can say today, God, I'm going to be like those three.
I will stand as the forest in the furnace.
I come through the fiery furnace.
I will stand. I won't be arrogant, I'll be
gracious. I'll stand because Jesus says if
you want to follow me, what do you have to do?
Deny yourself? Take up the cross?
What does that do That kills you, Kills your old ways, your
old plans, the old self. Follow me.
God invites you. Everyone of you seated here
today, those of you listening online to today, make a stand
and say, today I will not worship what the world worships.
Today I will lift you. I will stand for you.