Faith Under Fire
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Introduction:
Sometimes no matter how unpleasant, how dangerous or how
unpopular an action may be, you still have to take that action. In other words,
standing up when the world is falling down is not easy, popular or pleasant,
but the child of God will still stand up, every single time.
Image of Gold Daniel 3:1-7
Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height
was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the
plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to
gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the
treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces,
to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set
up. Then the princes, the governors, and captains, the judges, the treasurers,
the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were
gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king
had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and
languages, That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp,
sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship
the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up: And whoso falleth
not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a
burning fiery furnace. Therefore at that time, when all the people heard the
sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of musick,
all the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshipped the
golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
Veneration Assimilation
This image of gold was very tall and very thin, roughly 90
ft tall by 9 ft wide. This meant it was probably a statue that was set upon a tall
pedestal or perhaps and obelisk. We are not told what the image was, nor was
that important. It could have been an idol, it could have been a image of the
King or something that represented his kingdom, like the Babylonian lion. What
is important is the command given to the people. When they would hear the music
plays they all bow down and do obeisance to the image and to what it
represented.
Several times in the passage we are told, all people, all
the officials, from all the conquered lands, all the nations and all the
languages were to bow down. And in verse 7 that is exactly what they did.
Except for 3 lone figures, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego.
Conformation Temptation
What is the “image of gold” the world is trying to make you
bow to? There are many images of gold today.
Everything from pop culture, to fashion, to sexuality, to the sanctity
of life.
These things to which others want us to bow down may not even
seem that bad. What was so bad about H,M, A bowing before the idol? They didn’t
believe it. They could just go along for the time, not rock the boat, not
embarrass themselves, not suffer the cost.
But you see, the problem they faced then is the same problem we face
today. If they had fallen down before
the image, then it meant they were declaring, for all the world to see, that they didn’t belong or obey God.
There is place in our hearts and lives for the worship of
one and only one. You can belong to one and only one. You can worship and belong to this world and
the god of this world, or you can worship and belong to the God of all
creation, but you can’t claim both. There
is room in our hearts and lives for only one.
You must choose to conform to the world or transform the
world by standing for God.
Romans 12:1-2 1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed
to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may
prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God
D.L Moody answers the question, Do I give up the world?
A young man who had recently been converted to Christianity
was talking to DL Mood.
"Now that I am a Christians must I give up the
world?" He asked.
"No, you need not give up the world, " replied
Moody. "If you give a ringing
testimony for the son of God the world will give you up pretty quick."
Standing Bold Daniel 3:8-18
Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and
accused the Jews. They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live
for ever. 10 Thou, O king, hast made a
decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp,
sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, shall fall down and
worship the golden image: And whoso
falleth not down and worshippeth, [that] he should be cast into the midst of a
burning fiery furnace. There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the
affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men,
O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden
image which thou hast set up. Then Nebuchadnezzar in [his] rage and fury commanded
to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before
the king. Nebuchadnezzar spake and said
unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my
gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear
the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all
kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well:
but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a
burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my
hands? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O
Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so,
our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and
he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto
thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image
which thou hast set up.
Rejection Conviction
A. M, H & A stand for God's commandments. When I was a boy in Sunday School, the teacher asked my
little brother, Cory, the names of the three Hebrew children that were thrown
into the fiery furnace. He thought for a
moment and then a smile came on his face and he said, "Shadrach, Meshach
and a Billy Goat."
Their real names were not Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego,
those were their captivity names. Their true names were Hananiah which means
"God has favoured" it was
changed to Shadrach = "royal" or "the great scribe",
Mishael = "who is what God is"
to Meshach = "guest of a king" , and Azariah = "Jehovah
has helped" to Abed-nego = "servant of Nebo"
They are challenged by the King, himself, in Daniel 3:14-15,
“Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods
or worship the golden image that I have set up? Now if you are ready when
you hear the music to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well
and good. But if you do not worship, you will be thrown into a fiery furnace.
(and notice his last question) And who is the god who will deliver you out of
my hands?”
Why did these three stand when all others fell down? It was
because of who they were and who their God was. They were the Hebrew children,
and their God was Jehovah, the creator of the earth and sky, Jehovah was the
only true God and Jehovah was the only God worthy of worship or obeisance. Their
God had commanded them never to bow to an idol and because they were His they
would not bow they would not fall. They may have been in captivity, stolen from
their home and family but they still belonged to God.
Their answer reveals the depth of their conviction and
belief. Daniel 3:16-18 O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in
this matter. (There is no need for us to answer this question, it did not need
to even be asked.) 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 thine hand, O
king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve
thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
They had the conviction of their faith and identity and they
would reject the kings command. God would deliver them, either by death into
His glory or through His providence or by supernatural event our of danger. It
did not matter, how, they were convinced that God would deliver them because dead
or alive they belonged to God.
Renunciation Determination
There is great strength of will for the person who knows
they belong to God. When you know that then you will also know that you can stand
up in this falling down world. You’ll stand just as these three stood, because
you are His and those that are truly His will always stand.
1 Corinthians 3:21-23 Therefore let no man glory in men. For
all things are yours; Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world,
or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;
And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's.
Hebrews 13:6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my
helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
“The power of greatness in not found in physical strength or
even in internal courage, but in commitment to righteous convictions.”
Mark Twain once said, "The size of the dog in a fight
is not as significant as the size of the fight in the dog."
That's what faith and convictions are in the Christian,
that’s what knowing you belong to Him is, it’s the power of righteous
conviction, it’s the fight in the dog.
It’s the power to stand when the whole world around you is falling down in sin,
conformity and deception.
The difference between David and John Livingstone
There were once two Scottish brothers named John and David
Livingstone. John had set his mind on making money and becoming wealthy, and he
did. But under his name in an old edition of the "Encyclopaedia
Britannica" John Livingstone is listed simply as "the brother of
David Livingstone."
And who was David Livingstone? While John had dedicated
himself to making money, David had knelt and prayed. Surrendering himself to
Christ, he resolved, "I will place no value on anything I have or possess
unless it is in relationship to the Kingdom of God." The inscription over
his burial place in Westminster Abbey reads, "For thirty years his life
was spent in an unwearied effort to evangelize."
On his 59th birthday after the New York reporter Henry
Stanley had implored him to come home to a nation that loved and adored him,
David Livingstone wrote, "My Jesus, my King, my Life, my All; I again
dedicate my whole self to Thee. Accept me and grant O gracious Father, that ere
the year is done I may finish my work.
In Jesus name Amen." A year
later he was found on his knees in his tent where he had died in prayer.
David Livingstone belonged to God, dedicated himself to
serving God and that made him a great man even if the world had never noticed.
Fire Turned Cold - Daniel 3:19-30
Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his
visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake,
and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it
was wont to be heated. And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his
army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning
fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their
hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning
fiery furnace. Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the
furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Then
Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said
unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the
fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men
loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of
the fourth is like the Son of God. Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth
of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire. And the
princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered
together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an
hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of
fire had passed on them. Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the
God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered
his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded
their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own
God. Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which
speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall
be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is
no other God that can deliver after this sort. Then the king promoted Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, in the province of Babylon.
Conflagration Protection
A. M, H & A are bound and thrown into the furnace, this
was a smelter, a furnace or forge used to melt and purify metal. So hot was the
fire that the men who through them in were killed from breathing the
superheated air, Then Nebuchadnezzar looks into this furnace, probably through
the door that was not shut after the guards died and gazing from a distance he
sees them walking in the middle of the fire and someone walks with them.
Nebuchadnezzar sees this one, standing out in the furnace.
Now he is a pagan and he would not know diety from a
doughnut, and he did not know who he saw when he looked in that fiery furnace, but
he knew the one he saw no ordinary man, the one he was supernatural, literally,
like a son of god.
The one Nebuchadnezzar did not know we do know. The KJV translators, made sure you would not
mistake who was walking with the Hebrew children. It was Jesus Christ.
Jesus, God the Son, was with them protecting them from the
fire and I believe that as they were thrown in and fell down in their bonds,
Jesus picked them up and set them free.
This was a miracle of deliverance and protection so amazing that
every detail was recorded. They were roughly thrown in but they boldly walked
out, they went in like bound like slaves but they came out unshackled and free,
they went in to be burnt to ash but when they emerged from walking with the
Savior, they did not even smell of smoke. That is the power of knowing God and
obeying Him.
Resolution Validation
In this day and age more than ever we need to be standing
with the outstanding One, just as A, H and M did that day.
Yes, if you stand up for what you know is right, if you
stand up for what is true, if you stand up and declare I belong to God, then
prepare yourself because you will be punished by this falling down world. You’ll be punished by ridicule, by exclusion, by backbiting,
by pressure from your peers and even your family.
In many countries today God’s people are still suffering the
fate of H, M & A. When Isis invaded
Christian towns and neighborhoods in Iraq, they crucified men on lightposts and
burned entire families in iron cages lowered into the flames. They marked them and
their houses with the 14th letter from the Arabic alphabet, the letter noon,
like our letter N and it stood as a mark of identification to those who belongs
to “the Nazarene” those who belonged to Jesus Christ.
But Jesus promised to be with his own in the fire. His
promises are personal and they are powerful.
I am with you always even until the end of the world.
I will never leave you nor forsake thee
I will not leave you comfortless I will come unto you.
It is worth the cost? Can I say along with those who have
suffered over the centuries or those who being persecuted today in the middle
east or Africa or India, Can I say with them, “I would rather be in the fire with Jesus than
escape the flames and be without Him?
Listen to what Paul said, in …
Romans 8:14-19 For as many as are led by the Spirit of
God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of
bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we
cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit,
that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and
joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also
glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time
are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For
the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons
of God.
The earnest expectation, the intense desire of creation, is
waiting to behold the revealing of the children of God!
When will the children of God be revealed? When they come
through the fire. When they stand up in a falling down world!
The Path I Feared
I said, "Let me walk in the field."
He said, "No; walk in the town."
I said, "There are no flowers there."
He said, "No flowers, but a crown."
I said, "But the skies are black,
There is nothing but noise and din."
He wept as He sent me back.
"There is more," He said, "there is
sin."
I said, "But the air is thick,
And fogs are veiling the sun."
He answered, "Yet souls are sick,
And souls in the dark undone."
I said, "I shall miss the light,
And friends will miss me, they say."
He answered, "Choose tonight
If I am to miss you, or they."
I pleaded for time to be given.
He said, "Is it so hard to decide?
It will not seem hard in Heaven
To have followed the steps of your Guide."
I cast one look at
the fields,
Then set my face to the town;
He said: "My child, do you yield?
Will you leave the flowers for the crown?"
Then into His hand went mine;
And into my heart came He;
And I walk in a light Divine,
The path I had feared to see. -George McDonald
Conclusion: Forty Wrestlers For Christ
In the days
of the Roman Emperor Nero, there lived and served him a band of soldiers known
as the “Emperor’s Wrestlers.” Strong, brave men they were, picked from the best
and the boldest of the land, and recruited from the great athletes of the Roman
amphitheater.
In the
great amphitheater they upheld the honor of the emperor against all
challengers. Before each contest they stood before the emperor’s throne. Then
through the courts of Rome rang the cry: “We, the wrestlers, wrestling for
thee, O Emperor, to win for thee the victory and from thee, the victor’s
crown.”
When the
great Roman army was sent to fight in far-away Gaul, no soldiers were braver or
more loyal than this band of wrestlers led by their centurion Vespasian. But
news reached Nero that many Roman soldiers had accepted the Christian faith.
Therefore, this decree was dispatched to the centurion Vespasian: “If there be
any among your soldiers who cling to the faith of the Christian, they must
die!”
The decree
was received in the dead of winter. The soldiers were camped on the shore of a
frozen inland lake. It was with sinking heart that Vespasian, the centurion,
read the emperor’s message.
Vespasian
called the soldiers together and asked the question: “Are there any among you
who cling to the faith of the Christian? If so, let him step forward!” Forty
wrestlers instantly stepped forward two paces, saluted, and stood at attention.
Vespasian paused. He had not expected so many. He read to them the emperor’s
edict.
“Until sundown I shall await your answer,” said Vespasian.
Sundown came, again the question was asked. Again the forty wrestlers stepped
forward.
Vespasian
pleaded with them long and earnestly without prevailing upon a single man to
deny his Lord. Finally, he said, “The decree of the emperor must be obeyed, but
I am not willing that your brothers should shed your blood. I am going to order
that you march out upon the lake of ice, and I shall leave you there to the
mercy of the elements.”
The forty
wrestlers were stripped and then, falling into columns of four, marched toward
the center of the lake of ice. As they marched, they broke into the chant of
the arena: “Forty wrestlers, wrestling for Thee, O Christ, to win for Thee the
victory and from Thee, the victor’s crown!” Through the long hours of the night
Vespasian stood by his campfire and watched. As he waited through the long
night, there came to him fainter and fainter the wrestlers’ song.
As morning
drew near one figure, overcome by exposure, crept quietly toward the fire; in
the extremity of his suffering he had renounced his Lord. Faintly but clearly
from the darkness came the song: “Thirty-nine wrestlers, wrestling for Thee, O
Christ, to win for Thee the victory and from Thee, the victor’s crown!”
Vespasian
looked at the figure drawing close to the fire. Perhaps he saw eternal light
shining there toward the center of the lake. Who can say? But off came his
helmet and clothing, and he sprang upon the ice, crying, “Forty wrestlers,
wrestling for Thee, O Christ, to win for Thee the victory” and from Thee, the
victor’s crown! - Paul Tassel
What are you standing for? What are you falling before?
This world will make you believe that the most important
thing is money, acclaim and popularity.
It’s a lie and should you achieve those things you will be broken
hearted and empty when you realize how great was the lie that deceived you.
Take a stand for eternity! Take a stand for God, turn your
back upon this world and looking into the open arms of Christ, go where He
leads, do what He commands, stand where He tells you to stand. Yes you will pay a price, but the reward will
be worth it all.
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