Faith and the Fiery Furnace, Part 2

Let's bow in a moment of prayer, all right? Father, we thank you Lord for today and just the opportunity to gather together and to study your word. There's nothing more wonderful than to open the word of God and see the glory of our God. Tonight, as we look once again at the book of Daniel, Lord, we are mesmerized by the power of your name and how you orchestrate the events of life and how you're in charge of everything. And it's such an encouragement for all of us, Lord, to realize that there's nothing that happens by accident in our lives, that Lord, you are in complete control of all situations and all circumstances.

And we need to trust you and believe in you. May we learn from these three Hebrew men this evening and how they learned to trust the true and living God in Jesus name. Amen. Daniel chapter three. Daniel chapter three, as we look once again at Daniel's friends, their faith and the fiery furnace. As you're turning there, I want to remind you of Romans chapter 15 verse number four, which states these words, for whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the scriptures, we might have hope.

Whatever was written beforehand, whatever the scriptures tell us about our Lord, it is for our encouragement. It is for our perseverance. It is for our hope. And the book of Daniel encourages us to have hope in the true and living God. You know, everything about the scripture is all about the Lord, right? It's not about us or how we see ourselves in this or that, or it's not even about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego or even Daniel himself. It's all about how God is on every page of the scriptures and how God manifests himself all the time.

And so when you read the scriptures, you're looking to see the glory and honor of God. And as you do, the Lord will teach you more about himself. And the more he teaches you about himself, the more he teaches you about yourself and how to better follow the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. So what was it that brought Daniel encouragement or Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego encouragement? They had to be encouraged. They had to know something about what the Bible said because they would stand alone in this furnace.

They would not bow to the golden image. What did they read? Do they know what the psalmist said in Psalm 34 when it says, I sought the Lord and he answered me and delivered me from all of my fears. This poor man cried and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all of his troubles. And then it says, the angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and rescues them. It says in verse 17 of Psalm 34, the righteous cry and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the broken hearted, saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. The repetition of the word all is incredible. All his fears, all his troubles, all his difficulties. He cries to the Lord and this is what the Lord in turn does. Could it be that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego would know the scrolls of the Psalms and be able to trust in this God and believe in him alone? Maybe over in Psalm 56, when I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. In God's word I praise. In God I have put my trust.

I should not be afraid. What can mere man do to me? Maybe that was on their mind. What can Nebuchadnezzar do to us? He's a mere man. So I called upon the Lord. He delivered me from all of my troubles. We know they had the scroll of Isaiah. Isaiah said these words, chapter 43 verse number one, but now thus says the Lord, your creator, O Jacob, and he who formed you, O Israel, do not fear, for I have redeemed you and I've called you by name.

You are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy one of Israel, your savior. And it says down in verse five, do not fear, for I am with you. Verse 11, I, even I am the Lord and there is no savior besides me. Maybe they knew those verses that when they walk through the fire, there was no need to fear because the Lord was with them.

They had to have encouragement. They had to have strength. They had to believe in something that was said, right? They were men of faith. How do we know that? Well, it's evident by the God they believed in, but the right of Hebrews, which we will get to in weeks, probably more like months from now, but we'll get there. Hebrews 11 verse 32, what more shall I say for time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah of David and Samuel, and the prophets who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire.

Could that be Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? The right of Hebrews did not have to expound on that. Why? Because these were heroes in the Old Testament that the Jewish people would know, men who walked by faith, who trusted in the true and living God and sought to honor only Him. Now, our Lord, very important to understand, is to help us grasp all that He is doing. And so let me just say this, God wants us to experience His power and His presence.

I firmly believe that. God wants us to understand those things because that's who He is. He's the omnipotent God who never leaves us nor forsakes us. So He wants us to experience His power and His presence. Therefore, He does not eliminate your problems and your pain. Think about that. Because He wants you to experience His power and presence, He does not eliminate your problems and pain. Why? Because without the problems and without the pain, you would not experience the power and presence of God.

It's just that simple. Listen, if you had no difficulty in life and you went down life on an easy street, you would never even look to God, pray to God, talk to God. You wouldn't need to. Things were so good. So God doesn't eliminate problems and pain because He wants you to experience all that He is and all that He wants to do. So because God wants you to experience His presence and His power, He does not eliminate your problems and your pain because He wants to effectuate His plans and His purposes.

In other words, He has a plan that's going to work out according to His will. And part of that plan is the pain and problems that you experience so you learn to trust Him all the more because we know that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. And Peter would say these words in 1 Peter 5, after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace who called you to His eternal glory in Christ will perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen, Peter says. God's doing something. After you've suffered for a little while, having experienced His power, His presence, our God's going to effectuate His purposes, His plans for your life. So He will strengthen you. He will establish you. He will confirm you. He will make you as solid as granite. He will make you firm and strong. God wants to do that. And God stops at nothing to make sure those things are accomplished in your life and in mine. Same is true for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

Daniel 3 is a showdown, not between Nebuchadnezzar and three Hebrew men. The showdown is between an earthly king and the eternal king. That's the showdown. And God always wins. God never loses in these circumstances. God is the ultimate warrior. He's the Lord of hosts. He's the ultimate victorious one. He always wins. He never loses. And so this is a battle between an earthly king, Nebuchadnezzar, and the eternal king of glory, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And this earthly king, Nebuchadnezzar, and we say this simply because Nebuchadnezzar is called a nine times in Daniel.

Seven of those times in Daniel 3. The other two times in Daniel 4. But seven times he's called Nebuchadnezzar the king. Why? Because there is a battle between him and the eternal king of the universe. He just doesn't see it yet. He doesn't understand it yet. He will, and we'll see this in Daniel chapter 4, when finally God saves King Nebuchadnezzar.

But it's a long time in coming. We know that we're probably 16 years from Daniel chapter 2. That's what historians tell us. That would make Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego somewhere in the early 30s, right? And the king has seen no other part of the image of his dream come to be, right? He is still the golden head, but he's never seen the silver power come to be. He's never seen the bronze power or the iron power or this miraculous stone that flies through the air. He's seen none of that, and it's been 16 years.

All the deportation from Jerusalem has taken place. Jerusalem's been plundered. Israel's now in full captivity in Babylon. He is the world emperor, the world ruler. He sees himself mightier than what he really is. He thinks of himself more highly than he ought to think. But after all, who's going to defeat the great and glorious king, King Nebuchadnezzar? He's already defeated the Jewish people. He's brought them into captivity. He doesn't know that God is using him as a pawn. He thinks he's the victorious warrior.

And so if he defeats the Jews, he's defeated the Jewish God, which makes him stronger than the Jewish God in his own eyes. So he thinks. So he sets up this golden image, and we talked about this last week. But he was a man of great arrogance, much pride, a lot like Herod in the book of Acts in the 12th chapter. Those of you who have been to Israel with me, our very first stop on the very first day is Caesarea Maritima.

So you can see this judgment seat. So you can understand how the gospel comes to the Gentile nations. So we stop at Caesarea Maritima, and there, as we sit in the theater and overlook the Mediterranean Sea, we preach through portions of the book of Acts and bring you to Acts chapter 12, which says these words. It says, Now he was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and with one accord they came to him, and having went over Blastus, the king's chamberlain, they were asking for peace, because their country was fed by the king's country.

And on an appointed day, Herod, having put on his royal apparel, took his seat on the rostrum, or the judgment seat, and began delivering an address to them. The people kept crying out, The voice of a God and not a man! The voice of a God and not a man! And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms, and he died. Would it be that every king, every president, every prime minister, every ruler who doesn't give God the glory would be eaten by worms and die?

That would be my prayer, that I'm not trying to be vindictive or vengeful. I'm just saying, look, you know, you need to give God the glory. And if you don't give him the glory, he will not give his glory to another, right? That's what he says in the book of Isaiah. I will not give my glory to anyone else. That goes for you and me as well, right? And so, Herod believed his own press, the voice of a God and not a man, as he spoke. But he refused to give glory to God. Remember the Edomites, book of Obadiah?

The Edomites are descendants of Esau, okay? And the descendants of Esau, the Edomites, represent every person who believes with all their heart that they can offer to God anything they want and live as they please. And the Lord God says, the book of Obadiah, to the descendants of Esau, these words, thus says the Lord God concerning Edom, we have heard a report from the Lord and an envoy has been sent among the nation saying, arise and let us go against her for battle.

Behold, I will make you small among the nations. You are greatly despised. The arrogance of your heart has deceived you. You who live in the clefts of the rock, in the loftiness of your dwelling place, who say in your heart, who will bring me down to earth? And God says, I will bring you down.

See, the Edomites lived in a place called Petra, the rose red city of the rocks. You who have been to Israel with me have been to this place called Petra. And it's quite a fortress. There's only one way in and one way out. And the city is literally built into the side of the rocks. And so here were the Edomites who believed that they were so protected that no one could defeat them. But God made sure they were defeated. And the Nabataeans came and sure enough, brought them down and destroyed them.

A few years later, the Romans came and destroyed the Nabataeans. But God wanted them to make sure that their pride would be destroyed. God does that. God's going to do that with Nebuchadnezzar. He's bringing him to that point slowly but surely. He did it to Herod. He does it to all those who want to live against him. Remember 3 John 9, deatrophies. He was a person in the church who sought the place of preeminence, deatrophies. He wanted to be top dog. He wanted to be the alpha dog in the church. He wanted to be the best one in the church.

See, he didn't want to give glory to God and to honor him. That's why I'm so taken back by young Timothy because Paul tells those in Philippians, I wanted to send different people to you, but I couldn't send them because there was no one, he says, that didn't look out for their own interest except for Timothy. There's only one person that I know, Paul says, that's not consumed with himself. Everybody else is consumed with them. But young Timothy, he's not that way. So I'm going to send Timothy to you because he is a selfless person.

He's not an arrogant person. He's not consumed with his own life. He really wants to minister to you. He certainly wasn't a deatrophies. He certainly wasn't a Herod. He certainly wasn't a descendant of the Edomites. He was a Jewish boy who wanted to follow and honor the Lord. So there are many illustrations of Scripture that remind us that our arrogance and our pride will always bring us down. And sure enough, God will do that in Nebuchadnezzar's life. He was an arrogant man. And so the earthly king goes to war with the eternal king, except he doesn't know that.

So let me take you through this. We began last week by looking at the construction of the image. And then we looked at the dedication of the image, which really was a deception because he brought them there not just to dedicate the image, but to fall down and worship the image. That was in verses two and three. Then he gave the regulation concerning the image that they would all bow down when they heard the music and bow down to this image of Nebuchadnezzar. Then in verse seven, we saw the confirmation of all the people who did this, but we also saw that there was an exception, and that was three Hebrew men.

They did not bow. So with that in mind, we pick up the narrative in verse number eight, and I want to show you the accusations. It says, for this reason, at the time, at a certain time, Chaldeans came forward and brought charges against the Jews. They responded and said to Nebuchadnezzar, O king, O king, live forever. You, O king, have made a decree that every man who hears the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, and bagpipe, and all kinds of music is to fall down and worship the golden image.

Whoever does not fall down in worship shall be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire. There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon, namely Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, have disregarded you. They do not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up. There is this repudiation, this accusation that comes from the Chaldeans. Now they have forgotten over the last almost two decades that it wasn't for these three young men and Daniel, they would have died because the king was going to kill them all because they couldn't tell him what his dream was and interpret the dream.

But Daniel went to prayer with his friends. They did and saved all the sorcerers, all the Chaldeans, all the magicians, saved them all. But over time, they were a little irritated with him. Because they became leaders at the age of 18. And now they're in their 30s. And they've been under the leadership for all this time. And finally, now there's a way to get rid of them.

And so they play on the pride of the king. O king, live forever. O king, you are the man. Oh, wow, you are the man. But we will let you know something. There are three guys, not gonna tell you their names, but they are Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. And they are not falling down to your orders. They're not obeying what you have said. Now remember, at that first deportation, there was somewhere between 60 and 70 young people that came with these four Hebrew boys, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

But where are they? Did they bow down to the golden image? Were they willing to compromise their stand on truth? Well, they're not standing in any place. There's only three standing. But the rest must have bowed. They must have looked for the easy way out. They were in fear of being burned. So they'll bow to not be burned. But these three will not bow and are willing to be burned because they were deeply committed to the God of truth. And so they come and play on the king's pride and say they had no regard for you.

We do. We do. That's why we come to you. But they have, they disrespected you because they're not willing to bow down to this golden image that you have set up. They have no interest in our gods or your God. They have no interest in our religion. They want to do it their way, not our way. They have got to go. You've made the decree. You don't bow. You will burn. They need to burn. So you come to the next paragraph and you look at Nebuchadnezzar's infuriation.

He is absolutely infuriated. His frustration, his infuriation, his coercion. He is upset. Why? Because someone's not following his orders. So it says, then Nebuchadnezzar in rage and anger gave orders to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then these men were brought before the king. Nebuchadnezzar responded and said to them, is it true 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, at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, and bagpipe, and all kinds of music to fall down and worship the image that I have made very well.

But if you do not worship, you will immediately be cast in the midst of a furnace of blazing fire. And what God is there who can deliver you out of my hands? What a statement. Is this true? You guys aren't bowing down? After all I've done for you, I've changed your names so you'd understand our gods. I've educated you in our system, our Babylonian culture. You've been educated. You've been trained. I put you in a position of leadership. I've done all this for you. Can't you at least now bow down for me?

Can't you at least pay respect to me as your king? Must you be this way? So, I'll let you go if at the very next time you hear the music, you bow down. We'll let bygones be bygones. We'll let it all go to rest, and we'll just keep right on going. If the next time the music plays, you bow. Because if you don't, you're going to fry. You're going to fry. Because what God is there that can deliver you out of my hands? What arrogance? What pride? What insolence? There is no God who can deliver you out of my hands.

He saw himself as the ultimate ruler of the world. In his own mind, he sees himself in that golden image where he is the gold head that oversaw all empires. And no one has come against him. No one can come against him. He's already defeated the Jewish people and their God. You don't have a God who can come against me. This is an earthly king versus the eternal king. Nobody can deliver you out of my hand. Wow. He wants them to feel helpless. He wants them to feel hopeless. He doesn't want them to understand anything but him.

But these men have said nothing. They didn't go out with signs and march around saying, we will not bow. We will not bow. They just didn't bow. They didn't have to make signs. They didn't have to march around the Babylonian campus. They just didn't bow. They haven't said anything yet. Why? Because their lifestyle was the testimony. Their lifestyle was their message. It was strong. They will not succumb to the powers that be because they knew. Exodus chapter 20, you should have no other gods beside me.

You should not bow down to them. You should not serve them. You should not worship them. They understood that. And because they understood that, they weren't going to violate that. These were men of true faith. They knew the scriptures. They believed absolutely and behaved accordingly. The other men who came with them evidently did not believe absolutely in the commandments of God because they behaved differently. They behaved like the world behaved, but not these three Hebrew men. And then you come to the next paragraph, which is their devotion.

And now they're finally going to speak. And what they say is absolutely monumental. It tells us about their commitment, their dedication, their devotion to their God. Listen to what it says. Daniel chapter 3, verse number 16. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. In other words, we don't have to say anything. You know what we believe. You know who we believe in. We have nothing to say. Our lives speak for themselves.

If it be so, our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire. And he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. He just said, what God is there that can deliver you out of my hand? And they respond by saying, oh, yes, there is a God. He's our God and he will deliver us out of your hand. What a statement. Now, they did not know God's will. They didn't know if God wanted them in the furnace or not. Evidently he did. But they believed in the delivering power of almighty God.

God wants them to experience his power and his presence. Therefore, he's not going to eliminate their problem and their pain because he's going to effectuate all of his plans and all of his purposes. And O king, we have no need to answer you on this matter. Because our God is able to deliver us. And he will, in one way or another, deliver us from your hand. And then it says this. But even if he does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.

Wow. What a testimony. What devotion, what commitment. They were part of the group that says, for me to live is Christ, to die is gain. We're living for our God. We're here to serve our God. We're here because of our God. That's why we're in Babylon. We are here to represent our God to a pagan culture, to a pagan king. We are here to fulfill that purpose. And to die, is only going to be our gain, only going to be better for us. You see, they didn't fear death. You know, the fear of death is a very powerful tool.

The world has used that for the last 20 months to get people afraid of dying, right? And they used to have on TV, the little sidetrack that talks about all the deaths that were happening around the world in America. So you'd never forget that people are dying all around you. And you might die too. And nobody wants to die, right? Because we're entrapped by the fear of death, Hebrews 2.14. And so the best way to control people and to keep people suppressed is to make them think they're going to die, because people don't want to die.

But us as believers, it's okay. We're going to experience the presence of Almighty God. We're going to be ushered into His glory. So we tell all these people that are afraid to die, listen, let me help you not be afraid to die.

Let me show you what the Bible says about life and how the Lord can take away all your fear of death.

But if Christians live as if we're afraid to die, how effective is that message to them that we're going to speak? We have to live as if we're living for Christ and to die is gain. Knowing that death only is a door that leads us to glory. That's all it is. It's a door that swings us open into glory that we might see our glorious Savior. And these three men were not afraid to die. Now, nobody wants to burn to death. That's a very slow, painful death, right? But they were willing to experience that if that's what God wanted for them.

They just wanted to do what God wanted them to do. Interesting. They didn't have to pray about it. There was no hesitation on their part. There was no procrastination on their part. There was no speculation on their part, and there was no question on their part. There was only submission on their part, submission to God. They didn't think about what to do. They knew what to do because they knew what the Bible said. They knew what God's Word said in Exodus 20. They knew what God's Word said in Isaiah 43, Psalm 34, Psalm 52, excuse me, Psalm 56.

They knew what the psalmist said. They knew what Isaiah said. They knew what God was going to do. And so they didn't have to pray about it, ask questions, talk with one another and debate the situation. What do we do here? What do we do? And that was, we will not bow. We will stand firm on the truth of God's Holy Word. Again, Daniel 11.32, those who know their God will display strength and take action. This is why they weren't afraid. They knew their God. And when you know God, you're not afraid.

You fear not what man can do to you. You fear the one who can kill body and soul in hell. You fear the one who has the keys to death in Hades, and that's the Lord God of Israel. There was no compromise on their part, just a steep, strong conviction. Their life was irrelevant, and God's life was relevant. How about you? Now, let me show you something.

Daniel 3, verse number 17, "'If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us.'" Listen, I might be willing to deliver you, but I might not be able to deliver you. There's a lot of things I want to do, but I can't do. There's nothing God can't do because He's truly able to do whatever He chooses. I can't do that. You can't do that. Our God is able. Have you ever thought about that? Our God, Hebrews 7, is able to save us to the uttermost. Hebrews 7, verse number 25. Our God is able to save us to the uttermost.

Do you have a friend? Do you have a family member who's not saved? Do you believe that God is able to save them? You can't save them. You can't convince them. You can live a life before them and preach the gospel to them, but God is the one who does the saving, and He is able to save them to the uttermost. Do you believe that? Because Paul says in Ephesians 3, verse number 20, our God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we can ever ask or think. What a statement. Our God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above anything that we can ever ask or think.

And so Nebuchadnezzar hears the words, our God is able. We don't know whether or not He's willing to or not, but we do know He's able. And therefore, we're going to trust Him based on His ableness. How about you? He wants you to experience His power and His presence. He wants you to see that He is able, so He will not eliminate your pain or your problem, because there's a purpose and a plan that He will bring about in your life. He was doing that with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He was doing that with Nebuchadnezzar, there was a purpose, there was a plan, and it was running right on schedule.

God didn't make mistake. God didn't forget about them. God didn't say the wrong thing, do the wrong thing. It was all a perfect plan at the perfect time. They knew their God was able. And Paul says, my God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we can ever ask or think, because He works according to the power that is in you. He is able to save, Hebrews 7.25. How about this? He is able not just to save you, but He's able to secure you. 2 Timothy 1, verse number 12, He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.

He's able to do it. I can't secure myself, but God can secure me. God can protect me. God can watch over me. That's what God does. So my God is able to save me, and my God is able to secure me so that I have no fear of what will happen next. On top of that, my God is able to shield me. He does it with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. But in Daniel 6, when Daniel's in the lion's den, and King Cyrus comes and says, Daniel, the very next morning, was your God able to deliver you from the mouth of the lions?

Of course He was, because our God is able to shield us from any kind of harm that might come our way, because that's what He does. He's able to save us. He's able to secure us. He's able to shield us. Listen, He is able to supply every need that you have. Listen to what Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter 9, verse number 6, now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver, and God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.

Wow! Our God is able to do all that. Why would you ever not want to give to the Lord? In the context of 2 Corinthians 9, it's all about giving, and if you sow sparingly, you reap sparingly, but if you sow bountifully, you reap bountifully, because why? You are trusting in God, and listen, there was no greater time than now, because inflation is higher than it's ever been in 30 years, and it's going to get worse. Gas is going to go up. Your groceries are going to go up. Everything is going to go through the roof, and you're asking yourself, where am I going to pay, or how am I going to pay for this, or pay for that, and Paul says, our God is able to supply all your needs.

He's able to do that. You say, well, you know, I won't give to the Lord, because I got to keep it back, because not sure if I can put gas in my car next week or the week after that. Don't worry about those things. God will take care of that. Be true to Him so bountifully, you will reap bountifully, because our God is able to make all grace abound in every situation with all sufficiency. That's what He does. Only He can do that. I might be willing to help you with your gas bill, but that doesn't mean I'm able to help you with your gas bill, right?

So when gas prices go up, and your heating goes up in your own home, and it's 500 times higher than it was last year, and you're saying, who is able to help me? Not your pastor. I might be willing, but God is able to supply all your needs. If He can save you from the kingdom of darkness, if He can secure you until the end, and shield you through every situation, why won't He supply your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus every step of the way? Not only that, our God is able to sustain us.

The book of Jude 24th chapter, 24th verse, excuse me. Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of His glory, blameless with great joy. Our God is able to do this. Our God is able to sustain you all the way. Not only does He secure you, but He's going to sustain you. He's going to keep you from stumbling. So He can present you blameless all the way to the end with great joy, great excitement. That's what God does. God is able, because nobody else is. Who can deliver you from my hands, says Nebuchadnezzar.

The response is our God is able to deliver us. Not only that, not only is God able to save us, able to secure us, able to shield us, able to supply the needs that we have, able to sustain us. He's able to satisfy you and me. Listen to the words in the book of Matthew, the ninth chapter. When Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, have mercy on us, Son of David. It's always interesting to me where the blind men could see better than the people who weren't blind. They knew He was the Messiah.

They knew He was the King. They knew He was Son of David. Have mercy on us, Son of David. When He entered the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus said to them, do you believe that I am able to do this? You know what they said? Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord. Not only did they know He was the Messiah, they knew He was the Lord God of Israel. If you confess with your mouth, Jesus says, Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.

They confessed Him as their Lord. They confessed Him as their Messiah, the Son of David. They knew who He was. And if you know who He is, there is no question about what He can do. But if you don't know who He is, there's all kinds of questions as to what He can do. That's why those who know their God display strength and take action because they know who they serve. The God whom we serve, the one that we worship. See, this is the worship test. Remember chapter one was the walk test. Chapter two was the witness test.

Chapter three is the worship test. Who will you worship? Who will you adore? What do you adore? Do you adore the King of Israel more than anything else? Do you bow before Him before you bow before anything or anyone else? Do you submit to all that He says because of who He is? The Lord says to the blind man, do you believe that I am able? This is a story that's unique only to Matthew. Mark doesn't record it. Luke doesn't. And John doesn't. Just Matthew. Then He touched their eyes saying, it shall be done to you according to your faith.

You trust and obey. You believe. You believe absolutely that I am the Messiah and you behave according to that fact. You believe that I am able. It shall be done to you according to your faith. And their eyes were opened and Jesus sternly warned them, see that no one knows about this. Why would Jesus say that? Don't tell anybody you can now see. Everybody's going to know they can see. They throw their sticks away, right? They run down the street. Everybody's going to know. Listen, see that no one knows about this.

But they went out and spread the news about Him throughout all the land. They disobeyed the Lord. First thing they did was disobey the Lord.

Why? Because they could not contain the fact. Why would God say don't tell anybody? Because He doesn't want you to believe in the miracles. He wants you to believe in the message. He wants you to believe in the man, the Son of God, Son of David, King of Israel. He wants you to believe in who He is more than what He does. Because what He came to do was to die on Calvary's cross. But these men left completely satisfied because our God is able to satisfy whatever need that you have. That's the God we serve.

That's why the Bible says in 2 Chronicles 16 verse 9, the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the earth in order that He might strengthen the hearts of those who are completely and totally devoted to Him.

Could it be that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had their hearts strengthened by the living God because they were so devoted to Him? These young men now in the 30s had no doubt what their God was able to do. They would not compromise their faith. They would stand strong on what they believed the Word of God said because they knew the God they served. So they could display strength and they could take the appropriate action. My friends, this is what God wants for you and for me as well. He doesn't want us to compromise our faith.

He doesn't want us to bow down like the other young Jewish boys did. He wants us to stand strong. And what God does as a result of this is absolutely amazing because our God, I said earlier, wants you to experience His power and His presence. The question is, do you want to experience that power and presence? Because if you do, He will not eliminate your problems and your pain because He's going to effectuate His plans and purposes for your life. He did that with Daniel. He did that with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and He will do it with those of us whose hearts are completely and totally His.

Let's pray. Father, we thank You for tonight and the opportunity we have to study the Word of the living God. What a blessing. Lord, You are great. You are able, so able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we can ever ask or think. You did it in these three Hebrew boys' life. And the God of the Bible is not the God who was. He's the God who is. So we're going to trust You, Lord. We're going to believe in You. And we're going to look only to You. And we're going to serve only the true God.

Have no other idols, but serve the true and living God. And pray that You give us the strength to stand only for You. In Jesus' name, Amen.