God's People Stand

All right, well, we have an opportunity to look into God's word once again. And I hope this will be an encouraging one for you. The title of our main message today, God's people stand. God's people stand. And if you have your Bible, I invite you to turn to Daniel chapter 3. Daniel chapter 3, we're going to read verses 1 through 6 in just a moment. Here is the story of Daniel's friends, three young friends, by the name of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Three, we can determine young friends, perhaps only in the age of the teenage age here, now standing before a raging fire, a raging fire which would purpose for itself to swallow these three young men whole. And yet, God had a different plan, and these three young men would receive a deliverance by the very hand of God. Why read a story like this? Why recount it? Why study it? What's the purpose of a story of this deliverance? I think I can simply stay and clearly state it's really for one primary reason, and one primary reason alone, and that is to establish the fact that even in the face of fiery trials, God still reigns. God still reigns. Do you believe that? With all that's happening in the world today, all in the world that's looking to remove any hope, any joy, any future-looking, do you believe that even when we find ourselves in a world which is effectively looking to instill doubt, fear, anxiety, that this is true, that God is still reigning. I was thinking about this. I consider myself a pretty optimistic person. In general, I think I was built just to look at a glass half-full, but I got to tell you, even myself in times, uncertain times like this, I find myself having some of those emotions come into my experience. Perhaps you feel the same. And so the fact that God still reigns, that fact is going to be crucial for us to persevere until the return of Jesus Christ. And in a remarkable way, in which I hope we'll see today, that the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, this great deliverance from the fiery furnace is absolutely relevant and essential for us to study today, because what we find is that this deliverance from the fiery furnace, it is a precursor to the future, end-time conflict, that God's people will face leading up to the return of Jesus Christ.

Very relevant story for us today. As you think about that a little bit, let me give you a little background before we read this. This is Daniel. This will be by means of reminder. God's people besieged, made captive by the evil authority led by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. He overtook God's people, ransacked Judah, captured Judas king, King Jehoakim, took all of the people into captivity, and history records that there was then these waves in which the exiles were brought back to the homeland. And it's recorded that there were three waves that occurred at this time with the first wave, including Daniel and his three friends, which we find in this story. They were brought back now, though, with no families, no temple, no worship, very little at all, if anything.

And so many of God's people at this time would have been tempted to think that somehow God and his purposes were losing out. But, of course, Daniel and his three friends here would have to push back on that idea. And, you know, Daniel records these instances here, again, just to reassure that even when it seems like the very existence, the very external fabric of our livelihood seems demolished, God's people must believe that God is still going to be there.

And we still have access to his strong hand, and nothing is going to prevent victory in the end if we hold fast to God. That's really remarkable when you read, Daniel. You have all these really fearful future events described, described in just the most powerful, evil beasts, you know, coming out of the sea. You have these kings coming onto the scene, seemingly invincible, overpowering God's people, no doubt. But then within these prophecies, pointing to a future, you have a deliverance. You have a deliverance after deliverance. You have a situation in which God's people, there's no physical way they can escape, except that God is there with them. So, Daniel, by writing to God's people, he would galvanize in their understanding that while the kingdoms of the world are in direct opposition to God and his purposes, still, nothing is out of control.

God is still in control. So we want to look at this. We want to look at this past oppression, this past captivity in the context of a future, evil government, a future suppression of God's people that we will face, God's people will face in the future. We want to look at these three young men's response then to help us today. How would you respond? How would you move through such a scenario as this?

Would you respond like these three men? Daniel chapter three, let's read this beginning in verse one. We'll read through verse six. Daniel three, verse one. Here it is. Here's the scene. Daniel writes, Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold whose height was 60 cubics, whose width was six cubics. He set it up in the plain of Dura, kind of a desert plain in the province of Babylon. And the king Nebuchadnezzar then sent word and gathered together all of his congress, if you will, satraps, administrators, governors, counselors, treasurers, judges, magistrates, all hands on deck, all the officials of the provinces to come to the place of God.

And he came to the place of God, to come to the dedication of the image which king Nebuchadnezzar had set up. So verse three, all the council and congress came together for the dedication. Middle of verse three, and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

Then the herald steps forward and cried aloud. Here's the cry and the command. To you it is commanded all peoples, all nations and languages. At the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, sultry, symphony of all different kinds of music, you shall fall down when you hear that and worship the gold image that king Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

And whoever doesn't fall down and worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. So let's stop there. What a moment. And what I want to do is as successfully as I can is to try to take this past occurrence and bring it to our modern day today. You know, so much of this story at first reading seems so remote to our experience, you know.

A huge statue out on the desert plain, even a king seems remote to our experience and then commanding all peoples to come together. What I'm going to do is I'm going to try to, to the best of my ability, use my imagination to take this moment and bring it to our modern day here today in the 21st century. Imagine for a moment then that we are all linked together, not by choice, but by mandate across the nation, in fact, across the rule, the world.

The ruling authorities at that time look out onto the canvas of the world and they see there's incredible chaos. You know, there's wars happening out on the streets and in their intellect, they decide to do something and they deem that it's in the country's best interest to unite around a common, higher belief or purpose. It's still a certain harmony because when you look at history's past, you will note that the nation has been at its best when it is, when it does get behind one ideal or one common belief.

And so recognizing at that juncture in history, no common uniformity, no higher belief to unite us, the ruling authorities have instituted then a unification initiative. And the purpose of this initiative is to bring peace and harmony to the world. But as God's people hear about this initiative, it's going to become quite clear that for God's people to plug in this harmony initiative will mean that they're going to have to go against God's will and against His law. It'll be a violation of God's law to participate in this program.

But the authorities have made it clear that no one, no matter the individual's convictions, will be left out from this taking place. Everyone is going to be signed up. Perhaps the most obvious way to organize this is through the social security system, social security numbers. I don't know. Maybe there's an easier way just to assign men and women certain specific numbers just for tracking purposes. And it's going to be necessary in some way to affirm an allegiance to this initiative. They will then, to bring about the harmony, they will then monitor individuals' participation each and every day. And failure to participate in this will immediately result in consequences. Perhaps first, the best way to move men and women into this program is through their employment, you know, apply some restrictions to paychecks, to their increase in income, their livelihood. Perhaps if you're in the education system and in school, perhaps you will not be able to participate fully until you sign on and you cannot finish your schooling in this way. And the hope is that we would move men and women to sign up for this initiative to bring peace around the world. Who could be against that, you know? So it only makes sense then, those that refuse and become these really outliers and threat to harmony, well, to further motivate, perhaps we should give them some time away from freedom and have some incarceration aspect to this. Perhaps that'll motivate them. And quite honestly, if they continue to be a threat to the system and the purposes of peace around the world, well, it could even result in death.

So, God's people, you, you men and women here today, will you sign up? Now, when I first asked myself in this preparation, I thought, no, I'm not signing up, you know, of course not. Okay, well, what about if you see your kids suffering? Well, that's, whew, okay. I can take a lot, personally. But my wife, my kids, just a little bit of a soft spot there. You see them receiving some of these consequences, granddad, grandma, you know? What if you see your family suffering at the hands of this and facing no job, no food, imprisonment, perhaps even the threat of death? Could you think about or rationalize any situation where you can look at your heart in an honest way and see, wow, that would be difficult. That would be a difficult decision to make.

Now, that might not be tremendously helpful. Perhaps those who have a little bit better imagination than I do could do a little bit better job. But what we're trying to do is to bring this whole notion of a huge statue, right, locked away in centuries past, try to bring it to our present day, and to acknowledge that this is not something that is locked away thousands of years ago. And it's not as remote as we might think. So as you kind of mull that over and think about it, I just want to give you a little bit of information here to help. I want to say a few things about this image here. You'll notice, verse 1, it does speak of it being a golden image. Now, many commentators seem to think that this was not just gold-plated, but this was fully gold here, this golden image. So you can imagine how on the plains of Dura, in that heat, in that sun, you probably couldn't even look at it straight, just the glare that would have been coming off this golden image that was before them. Very valuable, very valuable image. Some 60 cubic tall, 6 cubic wide. Now, out on the plains of Dura, there is this palm tree. It's called a day palm. And these are giant trees. Perhaps some of you have heard of them. These are trees that can grow to heights of 80 to 90 feet out on this desert plain. And they tower over everything. You can see them for miles away. And if you – I read – if you ever stand underneath them, it's just this awesome display before your eyes. And Nebuchadnezzar had built this image to be right up there with those palms towering over the landscape, some 15 times approximately the height of an average man. So all of humanity would have been dwarfed by this statue. Couldn't miss it. And when I – I've always read this story in the past, and I always just, in my mind's eye, assumed that it was Nebuchadnezzar's head up there, that it was the statue of Nebuchadnezzar. But actually, the text doesn't say that. It could have been. He could have had his head up there. Not a lot of details as far as that goes. It could have been an image of a Babylonian god, perhaps. But as you think about it, in all probability, with the sun and the height of this, you might not be able to make out what it is fully. There's kind of an ambiguity to this. That's interesting to think about, that there's kind of a nondescript aspect of this statue as to what it actually is supposed to represent.

And perhaps that's by purpose. You know, we know Satan is behind all of this, and perhaps he's so clever that this is by purpose, where individuals would have come out and said, I'm going to ask you, what is it? What is it even? And perhaps someone by standard nearby here, and you ask that question aloud, might have said, well, I think it can be whatever you want it to be. For me, it's kind of represents me unity and harmony, which is very appealing, because if you've looked at the last days and years, all the chaos and the king is trying to bring peace to our land. So to me, it represents that, but it might represent something else to you. So perhaps just take on the image, whatever you want it to be. Ultimately, it's just to be a focal point of harmony for the nation here. So you can worship in a variety of ways, and just take on to the image, whatever meaning you want it to be. It's a very 21st century notion, and this is a very call out to us when we think of the future, and this coming to our existence in the future, just so you know. Often the way Satan works, if you look at his work as displayed in Scripture, he often doesn't ask God's people to make wholesale decisions. He often does not ask God's people to make wholesale compromises. He often asks God's people, or presents situations as such, make just a small compromise, a small compromise, but not necessarily forsake all of our beliefs. Perhaps just make some adjustments here and there. And the minute he sees God's people wavering a little bit, even in the slightest way, he knows, I got him. I got her. That's just the beginning. If I can get him to sway and move just a little bit off-center of God's way, then I know I have a potential with this individual. So let the image be whatever you choose it to be there. Don't worry about it too much. The key is that we all come together in harmony around it. Think about the strategy there in that way so that we can be prepared in the future. Now, speaking of strategy, there is a pretty interesting governmental strategy here, a marketing strategy, if you will. Verse 5, so interesting to see that he has brought music into this experience.

In fact, it's a whole symphony there. You can read about all those different kinds of music there to draw them in. So there's a certain celebration around this. And if you look at any psychological books that speak of moving the attempt to move groups and to sway behavior, music is very powerful, very powerful.

I was speaking to some members after services this morning, and one of them brought up the fact—think of Christmas music.

And how powerful that is. Man, I will get one of those songs in my head, and it's not coming out until the beginning of the year, you know? But there are so many in this world who would deem themselves as non-religious, not even believing in Jesus Christ or God the Father. But they're all in for Christmas because of the emotional tie they feel to it. And I'll tell you, music has a big part of it. Music is a big part of it. This isn't some random situation here that he brings the whole symphony out. This would have been a power for—I mean, this would have been a power for all these instruments playing at one time. You would have just felt it in your bones out there in Dura, out on this plains, the desert plains, and this statue before you. The psychology does speak to that, to influence group behavior. But if that doesn't work, well, there's another psychological technique to influence group behavior, and that's consequences, right? So you provide encouragement. We want to move you in this way. But we're also going to provide some negative consequences. To all those who didn't fall down, well, there is an instant consequence provided here. And just think of this juxtaposition, the irony behind the beautiful music and the beautiful golden statue before them, in contrast to perhaps the screams and the heat of this furnace that would be awaiting all those who didn't participate and get in line here. There's a reward-punishment type of psychology, very sophisticated. Satan the Devil is very sophisticated in his means here. So this is the scene here. And to take note of the success of this program, verse 2, King Nebuchadnezzar had sent his entire council and all the congress out there to identify of all the thousands of people who was not participating there. You can see them all there. He convenes them all together. He mentions it twice. That would have been even a very intimidating circumstance to see all these men, Nebuchadnezzar's men, walking all around the crowd, looking to see who's not going to be in line.

And they're all there for the dedication of the image. So you can imagine all the build-up here to this moment.

And what a powerful moment. And this really speaks to the fact, and I really want to get this across, we need to start practicing now, not to make the slightest move. Not even the slightest move. We can't have the slightest of compromise.

You can imagine as this swell of instruments begins to play, and perhaps you told yourself that you're going to go out and just see what the situation is. Oh, I'm not going to bow down, but maybe we should go see what's happening, you know. And Satan takes note of that. It is perhaps a slight compromise to even go to the area there. While you're there, you hear the herald now. In verse 5, with the backing of all the music here, and perhaps the music stops. Now the moment's building. The herald comes onto the scene. In verse 4, To you it's commanded to all the peoples, nations, and languages. Get ready for the time you hear the sound of the whole symphony. You shall fall down and worship the gold image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. In verse 6, And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

We pause here. And at this time, verse 7, The people begin to hear the swell of the symphony pick up here. And they begin, all the people, verse 7, Nations and languages fell down and worshiped the gold image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. This gives me chills. And you know, think of the pressure here. If you had made your way out there, and perhaps in your heart of hearts, you thought, I'm not going to bow down to this. Imagine the pressure. There you are standing in front of this huge golden statue, Barely able to look at it from the sun's glare coming off of it. The sound of the symphony begins. And then you begin to look and see that beginning at the foot of the image, The whole thousands of people begin to bow, begin to bow. And the waves coming closer to you, they're all bowing as the music sounds. And picks up volume.

And all Nebuchadnezzar's men are looking. And finally, the wave gets to you.

What do you do? You do. Well, I'll tell you what we must do. You know, in the midst of all the false God bowing down, It is there in which God's people stand. They stand. This is no doubt the extreme trial that's going to come before the triumph. We know it's coming. We read about it. There's going to be an extreme trial to refine us, get us through to the end, To help us make it to the return of Jesus Christ here. And the preparation for this future event happens now, today. The preparation is today.

What today are you making, or at risk of making, even the slightest compromise to God's will in His way? Today is the day to stop and to begin to allow God to refine you through obedience in that way. I looked up, scoured the internet, which is always scary. What are some of the, what does the psychologist say? Some of the main reasons why Christians, God's people, compromise? Why just any man or woman in their humanity? What's some of the biggest pools? I'll give you four. Perhaps you can place some of your activity under some of these, or at least see, boy, I am vulnerable in that area.

First and foremost, perhaps, fear of rejection. This is the fear of being alone or being pointed out from a crowd. This is a big challenge for some people.

It is a guttural reaction to think that you would be pointed out in a crowd or stand out in a crowd. It's a powerful human emotion that can move us to compromise if we're not careful. A second one is a sympathy for tolerance or a desire for tolerance.

You have sympathy for other people and their beliefs.

You have a real gift of connecting with people and putting yourself in their shoes. It's a gift, but you know that gift, when it comes to compromise, can be a real problem. You know, sometimes our greatest strength can be our greatest weakness. Perhaps you have a strong, God's given you the gift of sympathy, which can then, if it's not used properly, lead to tolerance and lead to compromise. A third reason why someone might be at risk of compromise is a low tolerance for pain.

A low tolerance for pain. You know, you want to be strong, but, wow, you find yourself just not very strong when it comes to pain. And your willingness to stand up in the face of persecution. It's a real one. Let's let it land on us. Let's be honest. Perhaps the fourth and final, and you might come up with some more, that will lead to compromise. Laziness. Indifference. You keep telling yourself, oh, I'm going to, yeah, I'm going to put God first. Yeah, I'm going to start tomorrow. Or as soon as I get through this exam, as soon as I get through this difficult work season, you know, I really have these goals, and every, the years come and go. And you find yourself just, you're just in the same position, and you don't have growth. When preparation for the return of Jesus Christ should be number one in your life.

You are not an accountant. That's not who you are. You are a son or daughter of God waiting for the son's return. Oh, and you also do accountant activities while you're here on this physical earth. You know, that's not your identity, but so many times we put the things that we do here on earth as our identity. And we place it up. You're not a teacher. You're a son or a daughter of God waiting for the return, preparing for the return of Jesus Christ. That's who you are. You're not a mother. You're not a grandma. You're not a father. That's not, that's a wonderful role in this physical life. But ultimately, you're a son and daughter of God preparing for the return of Jesus Christ.

So take a look and maybe add, what are some of my vulnerabilities that could lead to compromise? Bring it to God. First of all, say, reveal in me what you need to shore up so that I can have strong knees that can steady my knees in the end time. So I don't bow down to anything other than you, God. This is part of the preparation, incredible pressure. Wow. And the Chaldeans in verse 8, they took it upon themselves to identify who was not participating. Beginning in verse 9, they spoke and they went and identified those individuals and then went to the king, King Nebuchadnezzar, verse 9. Oh, King, live forever. You know, King, you are, you are our God. You live forever. You're eternal. You know, so giving a little, little wind to the king there. You, oh, King, you know, you did a decree that everyone who hears the sound of the music shall fall down and worship the gold image.

And also, whoever doesn't fall down and worship shall be cast in the midst of the burning fiery furnace. You said that, King. Well, verse 12, there's certain Jews whom you set over the affairs of the province of Babylon. And it's Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, oh, King, I hate to tell you, but they haven't paid due regard to you.

They do not serve your gods nor worship the gold image which you have set up. You did that, King, there. You just feel the, feel the jealousy there, you know. That was some of the feedback I've gotten from this story, you know, here. You did all these things. You, out of the kindness of your heart, elevated these young men to these powerful positions. And how do they repay you? It's unbelievable, King. King, you live forever. And all that you did for these three young men, to verse 14, Nebuchadnezzar calls in the three young men, and he speaks to them. And I think he's speaking to them here in kind of a fatherly type of way here. No doubt he had a relationship with him. When you see how Nebuchadnezzar responds here in a moment where he's deeply hurt, I think it's because he had a relationship and maybe a certain fondness, maybe a certain love out of who knows. It's a misguided love of these three young men. So he spoke to them. Is it true? I don't think he's screaming at this point. Is it true? Chadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you wouldn't serve my gods or worship the image of gold that I set up.

Verse 15. Now, if you don't have the instructions, perhaps you didn't hear the herald.

I can only assume you didn't. Now, you know, when you hear the sound of the symphony, verse 15, you were to fall down and worship the image that I've made. And then that would be good. It would be good for you three young men. And it's good because if you don't worship, you shall be cast immediately. This is what I decree. This is what the herald told everybody. You'll be cast in the midst of the burning fiery furnace. And my boys, I'll add that part. Who's the God that will deliver you from my hands, he says. You know, who's going to rescue you? Surely you just – there's some miscommunication here.

You know, in this – so there's even an effort to appeal to these young men, even in kind of a sympathetic way. And dare I say, loving way from King Evil, King Nebuchadnezzar here.

Just do it. It's not a big deal. Just bow down. You know, that would be good. That would be good. You know, and again, we reference this, but it is so – there's kind of a side note that I don't want to fail to mention here in this song.

What's interesting to think about is these three young men no doubt knew they weren't going to bow down. And perhaps, you know, they would have been tempted to not even wait for that moment but to go out and dismantle this all. You know, depending on your personality, I want to tell you this. I'll speak to some today. It's not necessarily – the answer is not necessarily to try to dismantle the monuments. When we come to the end time and we're having these end time moments, I want you to acknowledge that we need not find ourselves with – with undue distraction of trying to dismantle the monuments, doing everything we can to refuse to go into the furnace.

Because what we might not realize is that it will be in the furnace that Christ will manifest Himself, okay? So human nature, and depending on your personality in particular, we may try to do everything to try to keep away from the end time furnace that's coming, however that manifests itself, end time conflict. Because we assume if we ever went into the, quote, furnace, it would be the end of us.

And it may well be. But the point I'm trying to make, and you see this in Scripture, is that so many times in the past as recorded in Scripture, is the way God is going to bring forth His people toward their end time purpose is through the furnace, through the furnace. So the very thing that we might be trying to do, everything to avoid and run from, that might be the very thing that's going to make us in the end. Kind of a whole different way of thinking it. You know, you don't see Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego taking a sledgehammer to the image. Now there's a very calm, collected, peaceful response that they're giving.

In verse 16 there, verse 16, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king and said to the king, this is very interesting, and you know Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. You know, we see that Christ actually took on that non-response just before His crucifixion too. So I always pray that God will give me the words, and I know you do too, but sometimes the words will be no words, you know. It's a willingness to take on and to make the commitment to God. So there's no theological diatribe here, and He says what we want you to know, that if we are thrown into this furnace, verse 17, if that's the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O King. But if not, let it be known to you, and I can just see that these teenagers, perhaps their voice lowers a little bit, maybe takes on a confidence that's beyond their ears. Let it be known, O King, that we do not serve your God, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up. That's awesome. That gives me chills there.

Wow.

Are you ready for this?

You know, this story is a direct, a direct pointing to the end time events that's going to come to many of God's people. Let me show you just very briefly. Keep your marker here. We'll come back. Turn over to Revelation 13, beginning in verse 11.

Just show you. So this is future to us. What we're about to read, John's recordings of a future end time beast government, an end time leader. There will be a religious leader. There will be a governmental leader that will come on the scene and seek to bring the whole world under their influence. And so there's this future image that will come, that will ask us to bow down in our hearts and minds to it. And this is all inspired by the dragon himself. Revelation 13 verse 11 through 17 here, verse 11, Revelation 13, 11. John records, then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth.

He had two horns like a lamb. There's a little bit of counterfeit to disguise. But he spoke like a dragon and he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast whose deadly wound was healed. So it's almost putting forth that invincibility. He performs great signs, very powerful here, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast, who was wounded by the sword and lived.

He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many who would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. Verse 16, he causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand and on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name. Let's stop there. So we're reading it right here.

No doubt, Daniel's past recordings and that occurrence is going to—it's the history to us is going to be future to us. And it is that what has been fulfilled in history still yet has a fulfillment to come. In this future society and future to us, God's people will find themselves, as it says, amongst a governmental entity with incredible influence. There will be a kind of immortal aspect to it. It doesn't die. It'll have a sway over all the peoples. It'll be able to perform miracles so it'll have kind of a divinity feel, this end-time government about it.

Very powerful. And they're going to look to have no distinctions. They're going to look to bring harmony amongst all peoples, great, small, rich, poor, free and slave, to accept it all. Oh, and there's going to be music, no doubt. There's going to be something to unify around, and it's going to be beautiful to our eyes. And the longing for harmony perhaps coming out of some world conflict, that's what's going to be proposed. Oh, and those who unbelievably to society at that time don't get on board, well, we need to apply some pressure to them.

We have to limit, we want to encourage their behavior to get on board. So we're going to limit their buying and selling. So we're going to affect their education, we're going to affect their employment, we're going to affect the stores that they would normally shop at. We're going to limit what they have access to. When they feel a little growl in their stomach, perhaps that'll encourage them. When a parent or grandparent sees their family with a little bit of cheekbones showing because they haven't eaten properly.

Perhaps that'll be an encouragement for them. And it's for their good, no doubt, no doubt, they will say. But we're going to seek to lovingly and for peace influence their thinking and their activity. So this mark, we don't know exactly what it is, but it's interesting it's placed on the forehead. That's our thing, that would speak to our thinking. They want to control our thinking and the hand, our behavior. They want to control it all with these incentives and these consequences if it's not obeyed here.

And the struggle will be to not allow the fear and pressure of this beast government to influence our thinking and our actions. And it's going to be so important, I want you to make this prayer here as we anticipate the return of Jesus Christ, and we're going to celebrate that on trumpets. I want you to pray that God would just make alive in you fear of Him.

We need the fear of God to completely surpass and to snuff out any other fear that we might have. We've got to put the fear of God first to move forward to the end and to make it to the end.

And so this was facing these three young men. Wow, they are heroes. They are heroes here. So let's read the end of the story here. Now we see that Nebuchadnezzar's countenance, the expression on his face, changes no doubt from a fatherly-like approach to severe anger. Verse 19, going back to Daniel 3 verse 19 here.

Daniel 3 verse 19. Then Nebuchadnezzar now, full of fury, that's why I think he has some fatherly aspect. Man, when you feel betrayed by someone that you had some love for, some connection for, and you feel that betrayal now, it's just pure anger. And it says verse 19, the expression on his face changes towards Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. And he spoke and commanded now that they heat the furnace seven times more than what it was usually heated. And he commanded certain mighty men, his men, he brought the best men out, the men of Valor in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and cast them into the fiery furnace. These men were bound in their coats, trousers, turbans and other garments.

It was an immediate situation. Get them in there and they were cast into the midst of the fiery furnace. Therefore, verse 22, because the king's command was so urgent, no doubt they didn't take the proper precautions. And because the furnace was exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire actually killed those mighty men of Valor of Nebuchadnezzar's who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to it.

And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego fell down, bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Verse 24, but then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and he rose in haste. He couldn't believe his eyes. And he spoke saying to his counselors, did we not cast three men bound in the midst of this fire? And they answered the king and said, true, O king. And he says, well, look, verse 25, I see four men loose walking around in the midst of the fire and they're not hurt.

And the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. Let's stop there. You know, how did he know the form of the Son of God? I'll be a little speculation there, but no doubt God gave him that vision, you know, that this is these three men's actual king.

King Nebuchadnezzar, you're not their king. It is the Son of God who's their king. And he's in there with them in the fiery furnace. What did we say earlier? The father often makes the biggest impact on society by allowing his people to go into the furnace because it is in the furnace in which his son will manifest himself. That is a powerful truth, powerful truth. He's with us and will be with us through it all.

So verse 26 verse 26, then Nebuchadnezzar went near the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Perhaps his heart is now back with these young men. Servants, listen to this, servants of the Most High God. So no longer my servants. He says, these are servants of the Most High God. Come out, my boys. I'll add that part. Come here. And Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out from the midst of the fire. And then you have this amazing picture in verse 27. Think of the impact.

There they all are. All those who had jealousy in their hearts, no doubt. Looking to see the demise of these three young men. Verse 27 tells them, they saw these young men on whose bodies the fire had no power. Oh man, that is a powerful. I want to put that on a coffee cup, you know, the fire that had no power.

Even the hair of their head was not singed. God knows the number there. The hairs on their head. Nor were their garments even affected. And the smell of the fire was not on them. I stopped there. So the whole Congress of men walking around poking at them, sniffing them, you know, just amazed there. And here's the great summary of it all. This is our purpose on being here on earth.

Verse 28 and 29. This is the impact we're to make for God here through God working through us to revolutionize the world. This is the impact. Verse 28 Nebuchadnezzar spoke this and he said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted him. And boy, have they frustrated the king's word and yielded their bodies that they should not serve nor worship any God except their own God.

Therefore, King Nebuchadnezzar says, I now make a decree that any people, nation, language, which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, well, they shall be cut into pieces and their homes shall be made in ash heap because there is no other God who can deliver like this. Amazing. So what God will save you and I in the end time? The answer, the only God, God the Father. If we will trust in him and be willing to put our whole lives in his hands and just know we're going to be putting our lives in a loving, caring father that knows we're doing his work. Does this challenge you this afternoon? Do you find yourself wondering some of these things?

I wonder if I'm there. I wonder if I'm there. Bring it to God. You know, I thought about this and I thought, you know, Father, man, I'm, I have a tendency, I'm making compromises and these are just fireworks. You know, this isn't even a blazing furnace. I'm so sorry. I'm making compromises. I'm so sorry for my attitude. So sorry for these things. I forgive me in this way and that way.

I want to serve you and you only. I want to love you. Would you help me with that? I want to be there in the end and I want to make the impact just like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego have made here. I hope you're ready to go forward here.

With all the persecution and wars with the kings and the rulers of their day, they were prepared and strengthened to serve the only king. It has been and it has been so many times we see through this story that the way God often works is that he will bring his people and his church towards their goal. And it may be through the fire and if it is, may we let it be known that we will not serve any other gods and may it be today that you and I will always be a people that will stand for God.

Thank you.