Faith and the Fiery Furnace, Part 3

Let's bow in a word of prayer for this evening. Father, we thank you Lord for tonight. What a joy we have in studying the scriptures. Our prayer Lord is that you'd open our hearts and minds to understand you. That we might come to grips with the reality of our great creator, the master of this universe, the Lord of heaven and earth, the maker of our souls. We are grateful that we can gather together on this on this evening. We think of the holiday season and all that it brings and the anticipation that we have to be a family and friends, to share the gospel, the good news about Jesus Christ our Lord, to be a testimony to the saving faith of Christ in our lives.

It's a great opportunity for us Lord, and we thank you that you have carried this long that you've allowed us these opportunities. We do want you to come back. We want you to return but we know Lord that as long as you leave us here and you tarry, we want to be used by you in a mighty way. So we ask that you would do so. Tonight open our hearts and minds to the beauty of your law that we might see only Jesus Christ our Lord. We pray in your name. Amen. Turn with me in your Bible to Daniel chapter 3.

Daniel chapter 3 and as we conclude tonight, this chapter, I want you to see exactly what it is that it tells us about our God. Remember the book of Daniel is about the magnificence of the Most High God, the excellence of El Elyon mentioned 12 times in 12 chapters. Everything about the book of Daniel is about the Most High God. In our story in Daniel chapter 3, there are certain characters. There is Nebuchadnezzar, there's Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. There is also the accusers, but the main character is El Elyon, the Most High God.

He's always the main character. It's his book. It's his word. He's written it. He's given it to us that we might understand it. And so from that we understand that he is the supreme and main character. And so as we study this we come to realize that we have three young men, three men in their 30s now, who take a stand and stand very strong because they understand what it means to know the Most High God. Daniel 11.32 is the key verse of the book of Daniel. Those who know their God will display strength and they will take action.

That is the key verse of the entire book because everything about the book of Daniel is about displaying strength and taking action based on the character nature of who God is. And these three men are able to stand strong. When the other 70 or 75 or however many young men came with them in that that first deportation when Nebuchadnezzar in 605 BC went in and besieged Jerusalem and took back with him some of the young men to be members of his court that he would train them and and turn them around that they might be followers of King Nebuchadnezzar.

And that was almost 20 years ago as we come into Daniel chapter 3. But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego they did not bow when the music began to play like everybody else did. The edict was that if you don't bow you're going to be thrown into the fiery furnace. Well, that would put fear into everybody, right? Nobody wants to die, let alone be burned to death. So they're all going to bow. So evidently these other individuals who came with Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they bowed. They compromised.

They were more afraid of dying than they were of the living God. But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they weren't that way. They were not afraid. They stood strong. And it was obvious to everybody because when everybody bowed they did not. So everybody knew that they had disobeyed the order of the king. So when the accusers came and brought Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the king's presence the king would beckon them, beg them to to bow before him. He says, if you don't the only option for you is to die.

But these three men would not bow. So the question comes, those who know their God display strength and take action. What did they know and how do we know they knew it? Like it was with Daniel. What about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? They did not believe in idolatry. They knew what God said in the book of Exodus. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not bow down to any other gods. I am the one true God. They knew that. Yet they bought into that. Their whole lives were about honoring God.

But the other men who came with them they weren't that way. So what is it they learned? What is it they knew? What is it they understood? Why is Israel in captivity? Simply because they defied and disobeyed the Word of God and they despised and departed from the worship of God. That's why they're in captivity. We've talked about this over the last nine weeks. That's why they're there. And they were all warned about that. So turn back with me in your Bible, if you would, to the book of Deuteronomy.

The book of Deuteronomy. The words for a final generation. A book that reiterates the law of God. Moses is going to die. So Moses begins to speak. He begins to give them the law of God again. Reiterating it over and over again in their minds that they might understand who God is and what he has done. The book of Deuteronomy is quoted over 80 times in the New Testament. Jesus quoted this book quite often. So if he does, what is it about the book of Deuteronomy that was so important for the Jewish nation?

They were to read this book every seven years on the Feast of Tabernacles. It was laid beside the ark. It wasn't placed in the ark, but laid beside the ark. And every seven years at the Feast of Booths or Feast of Tabernacles, the nation of Israel was to read the book of Deuteronomy. And there's a reason for that. So if you're in Deuteronomy chapter 31, Moses tells them that he's a hundred and twenty years of age. He's going to die. He understands that. He knows he's not going to take them into the promised land.

That God has designed Joshua for that. So he says in verse 3 of chapter 31, It is the Lord your God who will cross ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you and you shall dispose them or dispossess them, excuse me. Joshua is the one who will cross ahead of you just as the Lord has spoken. The Lord will do to them just as he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Emirates, and to their land when he destroyed them. The Lord will deliver them up before you and you shall do to them according to all the commandments which I have commanded you.

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or tremble at them for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you. Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, be strong and courageous for you shall go with this people into the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them and you shall give it to them as an inheritance. The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you. He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.

Do not fear or be dismayed. Over and over again, there is this reiteration of be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid. It is the Lord who goes before you. He is always going to be with you. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid. Do not tremble before them. The Lord God goes before you. He will always be with you. That was reiterated all throughout the book of Deuteronomy because Israel needed to know that there was nothing to fear. And so it says in verse number 9, Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord into all the elders of Israel.

Then Moses commanded them saying at the end of every seven years at the time of the year of remission of debts at the Feast of Booths when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place which he will choose you shall read this law in front of all Israel in their hearing. Assemble the people, the men, the women, and children, and the alien who is in your town so they may hear and learn and fear the Lord your God and be careful to observe all the words of his law. Their children who have not known will hear and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live on the land which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess.

In other words, he says look everybody needs to hear because if they hear the word of the Lord they will learn to fear the Lord and they must learn to fear him. So gather the men, gather the women, gather the children, gather those aliens, those Gentiles that are in your town, put them all around every seven years, read this book. Help them to understand what the law of the Lord says so they will always learn to fear me. So come to verse 14. Then the Lord said to Moses Behold the time for you to die is near.

Call Joshua and present yourselves at the tent of meeting that I may commission him. So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the tent of meeting. The Lord appeared in the tent in the pillar of a cloud and the pillar of a cloud stood at the doorway of the tent. The Lord said to Moses behold you are about to lie down with your fathers and this people will arise and play the harlot with the strange gods of the land into the midst of which they are going and will forsake me and break my covenant which I've made with them.

Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day and I will forsake them and hide my face from them and they will be consumed and many evils and troubles will come upon them. So they will say in that day is it not because our God is not among us that these evils have come upon us? But I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil which they will do for they will turn to other gods. Now think about that. God says to Moses get Joshua.

I got a commission Joshua. So bring him to the tent of meeting. God comes down on the pillar of cloud. There he is. He begins to speak and says now Moses is gonna die. So Moses is okay with this. I mean they're gonna be your people Joshua, not mine. But Joshua has to hear that his people Israel are gonna play the harlot. They're gonna forsake God. They're gonna turn away from him. And Moses has just said gather all the people together because we're gonna read the law of God. As we read the law of God they're gonna learn to fear that God.

They need to be strong and courageous. But they're gonna forsake me. They're gonna turn their back on me. Verse 19 Now therefore write this song for yourselves and teach it to the sons of Israel. Put it on their lips. That this song may be a witness for me against the sons of Israel. For when I bring them into the land flowing with milk and honey which I swore to their fathers and they have eaten it are satisfied and become prosperous. Then they will turn to other gods and serve them and spurn me and break my covenant.

Then it shall come about when many evils and troubles have come upon them that this song will testify before them as a witness. For it shall not be forgotten from the lips of their descendants. For I know their intent which they are developing today before I have brought them into the land which I swore. So Moses wrote this song in the same day and taught it to the sons of Israel. Then he commissioned Joshua the son of Nun and said be strong and courageous. For you shall bring the sons of Israel into the land which I swore to them and I will be with you.

It came about when Moses finished writing the words of this law in a book until they were complete. That Moses commended the Levites who carried the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord saying take this book of the law and place it beside the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God. That it may remain there as a witness against you. For I know your rebellion and your stubbornness. Behold while I am still alive with you today, you have been rebellious against the Lord. How much more then after my death?

Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers that I may speak these words in their hearing and call the heavens and the earth to witness against them. For I know that after my death you will act corruptly and turn from the way which I have commanded you and evil will befall you in the latter days. For you will do that which is evil in the sight of the Lord provoking him to anger with the works of your hands. Then Moses spoke in the hearing of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song until they were complete.

Moses knows because God said it. They're gonna return their backs on the Lord and they are going to play the harlot. But still they must read this law. So Moses has this song. This is the song that's recorded in chapter 32. It's called the song of Moses. It's a lot like the song of Moses in Exodus chapter 15. Remember when they crossed over the Red Sea and Pharaoh and his army were drowned in the Red Sea and there was a song that was sung by Israel. It's called the song of Moses. It's the song of redemption and it begins as this song begins with the attributes of God.

Now, why is that important? Well, if it's true that every seven years this book was read and all the children were gathered with their mothers and their fathers and all the men and women were gathered together to hear the words of this law that over the years Shadrach Meshach and Abednego would have gathered together with all the people of Israel along with Daniel and they would have heard what God said because it would have been read to them. They would have known what God said about their idolatry.

All the the way they would play the harlot and move out and rebel against God and they would hear all these things and they would know about the pitfalls of idolatry. They would know what God said about it and they would understand it and digest it and believe it. And listen to how Moses begins his song. Give ear, O heavens, and let me speak and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.

Let my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distill as a dew, as the droplets on the fresh grass, as the showers on the herb. For I proclaim the name of the Lord, ascribe greatness to our God. Shadrach Meshach and Abednego grasped the greatness of God. Listen, if you grasp God's greatness you are less likely to transgress and trespass the law of God. The reason we compromise, the reason we fall into sin, the reason that we decide to turn our backs on the Lord is because we don't understand how great he really is.

But Moses begins by talking about the greatness of the Lord. The rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are just. A God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteousness, and upright is he. So he begins by talking about how just, how holy, how upright this great God is. He is a rock. He is stable. He is strong. He is solid. He does not waver. Shadrach Meshach and Abednego would know that their God was a rock. And you can't move that rock. And all throughout this song Moses begins to speak to them about the greatness of God, the faithfulness of God, the vengeance of God.

He says in verse number 15, But Jeshurun, or Israel, grew fat and kicked. You are grown fat, thick and sleek. Then he forsook God who made him and scorned the rock. Shadrach Meshach and Abednego would hear these words about how Israel, their forefathers, scorned the rock of God. Verse 18, You neglected the rock who begot you and forgot the God who gave you birth. Not only did you forsake him, you forgot all about him. Going down to verse number 28, For they are a nation lacking in counsel and there is no understanding in them.

Why did Israel fall to their enemies? Not because their enemies are stronger than them. Because they did not have the wisdom and understanding of the Lord to defeat their enemies. That's why. It's as simple as that. They didn't understand the greatness of God, the justice of God, the mercy of God. They didn't understand the perfection of their God, that he was their rock. Because if he was, they would have never forsaken him. But they didn't get that, see. And God says, this is why you are in the dilemma you're in.

You did not listen to counsel and you did not have the wisdom to act in accordance with my word. Would that they were wise, verse 29, that they understood this, that they would discern what? Their future. Israel didn't understand their future. What have we told you? The clearer you see the future, the cleaner you stand in the present. The clearer you see the future, the more courageous you are in the present, the more confident you are in the present. But if you don't see the future as God has laid it out for you, you're weak in the present.

It's exactly what Moses tells them. You did not understand or discern their future. How could one chase a thousand and two put ten thousand to flight unless their rock had sold them and the Lord had given them up. Indeed, their rock is not like our rock. Oh, so easily you could have defeated your enemies if you just trusted in the rock. Verse 39, see now that I, I am he and there is no God beside me. It is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded and it is I who heal and there is no one who can deliver from my hand.

Don't think for one moment Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego did not know that verse. They knew that no one could deliver them from their father's hand. That's why when Nebuchadnezzar said in Daniel chapter 3, what God is there who can deliver you out of my hands? They knew that they weren't in Nebuchadnezzar's hands. They were in their God's hands. So they could say to the king, do whatever you want. We are not going to listen to you because our God will deliver us. We're in his hands, not yours. You see every pagan king, every pagan governor thinks the people are in their hands.

We're not. We're in God's hands and God protects his own. God watches over his own. Don't think for one moment Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego didn't know that. They understood that there is no other God beside him. He is the one who puts to death and gives life. So they can stand before a fiery furnace and know that listen, it's their God. He's in his hand, they're in his hands and it's that God that they serve that what? Puts to death and gives life. They're not dying unless their God says they're dying.

That's why there was no fear when they stood against Nebuchadnezzar. They were not afraid because they were in their God's hands. So you read on in verse number 44. Then Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people. He with Joshua the son of Nun. When Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, he said to them take to your heart all the words with which I am warning you today which you shall command your sons to observe carefully even all the words of this law.

For it is not an idle word for you. Indeed it is your life and by this word you will prolong your days in the land which you are about to cross at Jordan to possess. These words are your life. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they understood that the book of Deuteronomy the words of God were their life. They got that. The other men who compromised and bowed to the golden image, they didn't understand that these words were their life. They didn't understand that they were in God's hands. Why? Because they didn't know their God.

They couldn't display strength and take action. Men, you see, let me say it to you this way. Every family in the room will either succeed or fail based on how well you know the Word of God. Your family is going to succeed and stand strong if it knows the Word of God. If it doesn't, it's gonna fail. That's why way back in Deuteronomy chapter 6, Moses made it very clear to all Israel, Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might.

These words which I am commanding you today shall be on your heart, and you shall teach them diligently to your sons, and shall talk of them as you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up, you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house, and on your gates. This is it. You've got to make sure that you teach these words to your sons and daughters. They need to know me.

If you know me, make sure your children know me. Somewhere down the line, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and Daniel had parents who knew God and taught them about God. So they would learn about Him. So they could display strength and take action. And every family in the room, every family in any church, any family in America, any family who's ever lived, rises or falls based on one thing, and one thing only. Only one. Do you know God? Because if you do, you display strength and take action. I'm not talking about head knowledge.

I'm not talking about accumulating lots of facts, having a verse for every argument, making sure all your theologies are right. I'm not talking about anything like that. That's all good to have. But that doesn't mean you know God. Knowing God means He rubs off on you. He rubs off on you in such a way, He alters the way you think, the way you live, the way you act, the way you speak. He alters everything about your life. That's what He does. And as fathers, we have that great responsibility to make sure that God rubs off on us, so that everything is changed about our lives, so that when we stand before our wives and stand before our kids, we can stand there as men of integrity, honesty, genuineness, authenticity, because we love the Lord our God.

And our wives can look at us in our eyes, and our kids can look at us and know that we speak truth, live truth, because we are committed to the truth.

Because we know the God of truth. We want them to know the God of truth. And we as fathers don't want to be any hindrance to that. We don't want to stand in their way by living a life contrary to the truth. Well, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, how is it they could stand when the other men did not stand? They bowed, but not these three Hebrew boys, or men by this time. How is it they could stand? It's because they knew their God. They could read the book of Deuteronomy. It was read every seven years, but they could read it on their own.

And their parents would pass the truth down to them, so they would be strong and courageous. So they would learn to fear their God, and not fear anything else. So why is it Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego could stand there and say, you know what, King, it's okay. We're not bowing down. This is not us. Why? Because they know the reason they are where they're at today is because their fathers and their mothers bowed down to other images. They knew they were in captivity because they defied the Word of God and despised the worship of God.

And they're not about to do that. You see, they knew why they were there, and God forbid that we should engage in the behavior right now that got us here in the first place.

We are here in captivity in Babylon because what our parents did, what our fathers did, that's why we're here. We're not going to partake of that. We're going to be the antithesis to that. We're not going to forsake our God. We're not going to forget our God. We're going to live in the fear of the Lord. We know what Deuteronomy says. We know what the song, Moses' song, said. We know those things. We're not bowing down. And so they understood that. They understood what the Lord God said in the book of Exodus about bowing down to other images.

Paul would use Israel as an example in 1 Corinthians 10. When he said, flee, flee idolatry. 1 Corinthians 6, he said, flee immorality. In 2nd Timothy 2, he said, flee youthful lusts. In 1 Timothy 6, verse 11, he said, flee the love of money. But in 1 Corinthians 10, he says, flee idolatry. You've got to be a running man. It's the word fuego where we get the word fugitive. A fugitive is always on the run. You've got to run away from idolatry. And we would think today that, well, we're not like Israel.

We're not idol worshipers. Oh, but listen. Idolatry is more than just bowing down to some image. Listen, idolatry is defined by anything that takes priority over God in your life. That is your idol. That's what you worship. That's what means more to you than anything else. We had to run away from anything that takes a precedence over God in our life. Anything that steals my affection and adoration for my God, and admiration for my God, and all of my attention toward my God. Anything that steals all that and moves it away becomes the supreme idol of my life.

Thy worship. We don't want to admit that, but it is. What did Christ say to Peter in John 21? Peter, do you love me more than these? That was the question. And no one can really define what the these are. I mean it could be fishing. It could be the other disciples. It could be his family. But the question is hanging out there. Do you love me more than these? Peter, do you love me enough to die for me? That was the question. Because you're gonna die for me. Are you ready to die? You've already denied me.

I don't want you to do that again, but will you die for me? Do you love me enough to die for me? Do you love me more than these? The question would come to you and me. Do you love me more than these? Do you love me more than your possessions? Right? Do you love me more than your money? The rich young ruler. He loved his money. He thought he kept all the commands of God. Until the Lord said, go and sell all that you have and come and follow me. Couldn't do that. He went away sad. Because he knew he forfeited eternal life.

But he wasn't willing to get rid of the idol of his heart. Which was all of his money, his possessions. That he loved. So desperately. He lived for those things. How about you? How about me? What is it that takes a priority in my life? That is so important to me that it becomes the idol of my heart. The thing that I worship and adore more so than my God. Do you love me more than these? Do you love your children more than you love God? Do you love your wife or husband more than you love God? They can become the idol of your heart.

That's why Christ said, If any man came after me and hate not his father, mother, brother, sister, yea even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Luke 14. He says it because he wants you to understand that you can't love somebody more than me and be a follower of me. You got to love all of me. Because they will steal your attention away from me. They will steal your affection away. They will keep you from the word. They will keep you from church. They will keep you from witnessing. They will keep you from doing all that I want you to do because you love them more than you love me.

That doesn't mean you don't love your wife. We're to love our wives as Christ loved the church, right? We're to give ourselves up for our wives. All the women, I teach young women to love their husbands and to love their children. So you don't love them, but you can't love them more than you love God, right? You can't love anything more than you love God. So we're to flee idolatry. We're to run away from anything that steals our priority about God and for God away. Why? It will cause you to forsake God and cause you to forget God.

Those other 70 men who came with Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and Daniel, they forgot their God. They were willing to bow down to a golden image. Did they not know Exodus 20? Did they not know the history of Israel? Did they not know why they were in captivity to begin with? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they knew. They learned. They grew. They understood. They got it. And they could read Deuteronomy 31, Deuteronomy 32. They understood. Their parents, they invested the Word of God into their children.

So when it came time to stand, they stood. They stood well. They stood strong because nobody else did. Oh, how easily it would have been for them to capitulate and to compromise along with everybody else. But they didn't. Remember Hannah? She said, Lord, if you give me a son, I'll give him back to you. The Lord opened her womb, gave her a son. She gave him right back to the Lord. Boy, she wanted that son so bad. And God gave her a son. Gave her Samuel. And she gave him right back to the Lord. Abraham had the prized son, the son of his love.

He had Ishmael, right? But he had Isaac. And God said, take the son, the son that you love and sacrifice him for me. Abraham was willing to do that because he loved God more than he loved the promised seed. He didn't know what God was going to do. He just had to trust God. He didn't want to have another priority in his life. He didn't want to think of stealing his affection away from God. And so he served his Lord. How about you? Do you have another idol in your life? Is there something that's a bigger priority than the Lord God of Israel?

You know, not just worshiping other gods, but worshiping the right God in the wrong way is idolatry. Did you know that? Worshiping the right God in the wrong way. All you could do is look at Cain, right?

He worshiped the right God. He did it the wrong way. Look at Israel in the wilderness with the serpent in the wilderness.

When Moses said to them, if you just look upon the serpent, you will live. Well, later on in Israel's life, that whole pole, that whole serpent became something that they worshiped, that they idolized. Look at the golden calf.

They weren't worshiping another god. They were worshiping their God, the God of Israel. But they were in Egypt for so long and Egypt had all these statues and all these gods. They wanted a God they could see. So Aaron, give us a God we can see. So Aaron did. They melted down their jewelry. They made a golden calf. Aaron says, this is your God. They thought they were worshiping the God of Israel, but they were worshiping the right God in the wrong way. Moses came down from that mountain. He was furious.

So was the Lord God of Israel. So you can worship the right God in the wrong way. That too is idolatry. That's why it's so important that we understand what it means to worship God because Israel got themselves in the predicament they were in simply because they would defy the Word of God and they would despise and depart from the worship of God. We can't afford to do that. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they knew they couldn't afford to do that and they didn't. That's why they were so strong. So let's look at the text together.

I've got 15 minutes left. Let's finish Daniel chapter 3. Verse number 19. Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with wrath and his facial expression was altered toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He answered by giving orders to heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. What good is that going to do? Let me think about this.

If you want someone to suffer, you don't want it that hot, right? You want to burn them, but you want to burn them slow. You want them to feel the pain. You want them to feel the excruciating pain of their flesh being burned. But man, he was so angry. He wanted the furnace heated seven times hotter. He commanded certain valiant warriors who were in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in order to cast them into the furnace of blazing fire. Then these men were tied up in their trousers, their coats, their caps, and their other clothes and were cast into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire.

For this reason, because the king commanded, the command was urgent, and the furnace had been made extremely hot, the flame of the fire slew those men who carried them up. So the guys, these valiant men, the best of what he had, tied them up, threw them into the fire, but as they threw them into the fire, the fire consumed them. They died. They were burnt up. Who wants that job? It says, these words, but these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire, still tied up.

Now, I don't know how big this furnace is. It's got to be fairly big. Why? Because they're going to be able to walk around inside the furnace. So read on. It says, so then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded, and stood up in haste and said to his high officials, was it not three men we cast bound into the midst of the fire? They replied to the king, certainly, O king. He said, well, look, I see four men loosed and walking about in the midst of the fire without harm, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.

Listen, he looks in, he sees them unharmed, untouched, unhindered, unbound, and unalone. That's how he sees them. Did we not throw three guys in there? Well, why is there four? How did they? Was there somebody in there hiding? How did the fourth guy get in there? How are they loosed? How are they walking around? It says, the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods. Now, some believe that this is the pre-incarnate Christ. I don't take that view, but a lot of people do. And if you do, that's okay.

It's not wrong, I don't think, but he calls him a son of the gods, right? Didn't call him the angel of the Lord, because the angel of the Lord is a Christophany. It's a term used to describe the pre-incarnate Christ in the Old Testament, like in Genesis chapter 18 with Abraham. He's called the angel of the Lord. And so when you go back to the Old Testament, that's the phrase to describe the pre-incarnate Christ. That's not the phrase that a pagan king would use to describe someone who's a fourth character that's in the fire, that looks like a son of the gods, because later on in verse number 28, he calls him an angel.

Okay, so my take is the fact that there is a fourth person in there. That's probably an angel that has unloosed them and protected them, sent by God. Others would say, well, no, this is a pre-incarnate Christ. This is the son of God walking with them. Whatever view you want to take, it's okay with me, because the bottom line is they were protected. They were watched out for, and God was the one who sent his angel anyway to protect his own. So it says, then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the furnace of blazing fire.

He responded and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, come out, you servants of, who? El Elyon, the Most High God. The Most High God. And come here. Listen, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego weren't going anywhere until the king called them out. They were going to stay in the furnace, because in the furnace, no matter how hot it is, in the presence of the living God, it's far better than being outside the furnace in the presence of a pagan king. They're not going anywhere. So Nebuchadnezzar beckons them to come, having recognized that it was El Elyon, the Most High God, who spared them.

So it says, then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the midst of the fire. The satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the kings, high officials, gathered around and saw in regard to those men that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men, nor was the hair of their head singed, nor were their trousers damaged, nor had the smell of fire even come upon them. God was going to give them so many infallible proofs that not only were they not burned, their hair was unsinged, and they didn't even smell of smoke.

Think about those poor guys who threw them in the fire. They're all burned up. You can still smell their flesh. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, you would never know they were in the midst of a fire, because God's protection is thorough. It's complete. Nebuchadnezzar responded, it said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who put their trust in him, violating the king's command, and yielded up their bodies so as not to serve or worship any God except their own God.

Wow. Nebuchadnezzar's still polytheistic. Okay? He's not willing to submit his life to this God just yet. But he does recognize that the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego delivered them from the fire. This was a miracle. This was beyond comprehension. He'd never seen anything like it. But listen, as great as the miracle was, the miracle did not save Nebuchadnezzar. As fantastic as the miracle was, as unbelievable as it was, as he sat there and watched the whole thing happen, it didn't change his heart.

He was overwhelmed. He was taken back. He admired the God of Abraham, or the most high God, the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, but he wasn't converted. We did say this in verse 29, Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or tongue that speaks anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses are reduced to a rubbish heap. And as much as there is no other God who is able to deliver in this way, then the king caused Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to prosper in the province of Babylon.

Again, he honors me, I will honor. They're promoted again. They are lifted to a higher level of leadership in the land simply because they honored their God. They would not bow. And they wouldn't do this because they knew their God. They knew they were in His hand. Do you know that? Do you know you're in the hand of Almighty God? Do you know that He is your deliverer, your protector? To Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, this was their rock. Who do you lean on? Who do you trust in? He was their shield, their protector.

They knew this so they could stand when no one else would stand. They were strong when no one else was strong. Everyone else was weak, but they weren't. Simply because they truly knew their God. And the question for you and me is, how much do we know of our God? Do we know enough to trust Him in the midst of the most fiery ordeal that we might come up against? Remember what Peter says way back in 1 Peter chapter 4? In verse number 12, when he says, Do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you which comes upon you for your testing as though some strange thing were happening to you.

But to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that you also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exaltation. Peter makes it very clear. Listen, if you live for the Lord, there should always be an expectation of a fiery ordeal. It will come. Will you be able to stand with it? And at the very end, he says this, verse 19. Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful creator in doing what is right.

That was Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They entrusted their soul to their creator. They did what was right. They did not compromise. They did not back down. They did not bow down, but they stood strong because they knew their God. Let me reiterate it to you once again.

If there's anything that we do or we should do, we should make sure that everyone in our family knows God. They must know Him. They must not know about Him, although you need to know about Him. It's got to go way beyond that, so that He rubs off on you in every kind of way possible. Because we're going to go through fiery difficulties. We're going to go through hardships and trials. And here are men who stood firm on the truth of the living God unwilling to bow because they knew their God. That's how they could stand.

There's no magic formula to this. There's no, you know, a secret to how to stand strong. It's just very, very simple. Know your God. Because those who know their God display strength and take action. That's what Daniel did. That's what Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did. That's what everybody in the scripture did. Joshua. Joshua would lead Israel into the promised land. He knew what God told Moses. You read the book of Joshua. He tells them at the end, chapter 23, chapter 24, as he addresses the leaders, as he addresses the nation, you're not going to follow the Lord.

You're just not. They said, yes, we are. He said, no, you're not. It's not going to happen. But see, Joshua was strong and courageous. Caleb, strong and courageous. Daniel, David. Simply because they knew their God. Spend your life knowing God. Paul said, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his sufferings. That's what I want to know. That should be all of us. Because if it is, when the fiery ordeal comes, no matter what the shape, the size, no matter how hot the furnace, our God will deliver us.

Our God will protect us. How he does it, different ways for different people, but he always does. Because he's true to his word. Let's pray. Father, we thank you, Lord, for tonight and the opportunity you give us once again to look into the word. You are the most high God, the ruler of heaven and earth, the God who rules over all things. Our prayer, Father, is that everybody in the room would know you. Not just know about you, but know you intimately, personally. And their longing is to get to know you all the more.

Because, Father, there is so much about you that we do not know, that your word speaks so often about. May we be men and women of the book. May we lead our families, our children, that they may be lovers of your word, followers of your word, knowing their God.