God's People Stand

For the main message today, the title is, God's people stand. God's people stand. And if you have your Bibles, I invite you to open them up. And let's turn to Daniel chapter 3. We will begin in verse 1 of Daniel chapter 3. This chapter will serve as the foundation for our message today. Well, where are we? How much time has passed since chapter 2? If you remember last time I was with you last Sabbath. We concluded in chapter 2, and now we are in chapter 3. Some commentators say that it's been some 20 years which has passed between chapter 2, the end of chapter 2 and chapter 3. Others say that they are sequential, like it just happened right after. Almost happened immediately where Nebuchadnezzar, being obsessed with power, determined to silence heaven's message and to build himself an empire that would last forever, no matter what the dream interpretation was. But whether it be 20 years or 20 minutes that separate these chapters, one thing's for certain, I don't believe Daniel and his three friends would have thought that danger was still upon them. Surely they must have thought that at this time the storm clouds had passed. Because after all, Nebuchadnezzar, at the end of chapter 2, bowed to the greatness of their God. And Daniel was exalted in his position in serving for Nebuchadnezzar, even Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They now held higher positions of honor. Surely the worst was behind them. Surely the fires of testing had burned themselves out. Yet, isn't it so that when, just when we think that the fiercest of trials have come and gone, just when we least expect it, well, the crisis come again. And just when it seems to be over, that's when the ground begins to shake once again. And if you think about this, these young men here, they were barely more than boys when they were forced to live at this pagan palace, pressured to defile themselves with the king's food. That was chapter one. Then before their education was over, nearly executed, because the wise men of Babylon could not deliver only what God could deliver, that of the proper interpretation of the king's dream. That was there in chapter two. So if there ever was a time in which God would say, well, surely that's enough for these young men. Surely they've suffered enough. Surely God could not ask them for anything more. But, brethren, if anything is displayed in these books of Daniel, it is that God's character is hard earned. And what we're participating in is the very preparing the way for the return of Jesus Christ. And in that preparation, it's going to take everything we have. And it was certainly going to take everything these young men have. As we turn to Daniel 3 here, and what do we see? Well, we're about to see a king, a towering golden image, a command to bow, and a furnace. And here, the stage is set once again for the kingdoms of man and the kingdoms of God to face one another. And this is a battle not of armies, but of allegiance. This is a test not only of strength, but faith. With the burning question that's before us today, when the world demands our compromise, will we stand? Will we stand for God?

Well, let's read of the circumstances that now face Daniel's three friends here. Daniel 3, verse 1. Let's read verses 1 through 6 to begin here. Daniel 3, verse 1, the chapter begins. Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was 60 cubics, its width six cubics, and he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. And King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to gather together the satraps, the administrators, the governors, the counselors, the treasures, the judges, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to this dedication of this image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

Verse 3. So the satraps, the administrators, the governors, the counselors, the treasures, the judges, the magistrates, and all the officials, all the officials of the provinces, gathered together for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar set up, and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. This was a big deal. This was a big deal.

Verse 4. Then the herald cried aloud, and he said, To you it is commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, that at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, sultry, in symphony of all kinds of musics, you shall fall down and worship the gold image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up, and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Let's stop there. What a passage, and what a moment that we come to today. And as we begin this study, I want to try something here, if you'll allow me.

I want to do my best attempt to, in a really real sense, bring ourselves to this moment. And I want to ask you to use your imagination for a moment. Imagine for a moment that this scenario has come to us in our 21st century, where at this moment in our 21st century we are all linked together.

Okay? Not by choice, but by mandate. Linked together across the nation, and the ruling authorities of our day today have determined that it is in the country's best interest to unite around a common ideal. Unite around a common belief, perhaps a higher belief. After all, in reading history, the authorities discover that the nation is at its best when we are united around one belief system. And recognizing in this time of our history that there is no uniformity, the ruling authorities institute a unification initiative around a common belief, or symbol.

And it's going to be required of all to embrace this common unification symbol. But it's going to be made clear to God's people that to give our allegiance to this initiative is going to mean that we would have to compromise God's law in his way.

So to participate in this program would go against God altogether. Okay? But the ruling authorities have made it clear. No matter the individual's convictions, no one's going to be left out. Everyone's going to be automatically signed up to this harmony initiative. And what's going to happen is that it's going to be a symbol or an image, and it's going to be necessary to affirm all to affirm your allegiance to it. Furthermore, participation in this is going to be monitored. All peoples are going to have to sign up to make sure that we are participating and giving ourselves to this. Failure to participate will mean some loss, loss in privileges.

Your education will be affected. Your employment will be affected. Your commerce ability will be effective. Continued failure to participate may even land you in jail. And if you continue to resist, then severe consequences to your health and even your life would be considered. So the question, will you sign on? Mom, dad, grandpa, grandma? Will you sign your family on? Will you give allegiance, facing the prospect of losing your job? Therefore, no way to purchase food, imprisonment, and even death. Do you think you could ever rationalize this image acceptance? Now, that might not be too helpful of a picture.

Some with a little bit more fertile imagination might be able to paint a better picture. But again, what I'm trying to do here this afternoon is to somehow bring this image and this scenario, which can seem like it's locked away in centuries past, trying to bring that all the way to us today, to where it doesn't seem like this is remote or implausible in today's society.

Now, as we think about this, let me give you some information about this image here in this scene. We noticed right off the bat there in verse 1, this is a valuable image. It was made of gold. I seem to think that it wouldn't just be gold plated. This would have been gold all the way through. So it had value, valuable piece of work. It was vast, as we also read, 60 cubics tall, 6 cubics wide. That, my friends, is a big image.

Some of you may know that they're in the Middle East then, and even today, there are certain trees which stand to this type of vastness. They're called date palms. I don't know if you've ever seen a date palm, but these date palms there are on the plains, and they stand some 80 to 90 feet. They tower over the plains. They're obvious from a distance. They're incredible if you stand underneath them and look up at the vastness of them. And so Nebuchadnezzar built this image that would have been right up there with them. Some 15 times the size of a normal height man. We would have been dwarfed by it. Couldn't miss it. Dominated everything. What do you think this image, what do you think the face of this image was? It doesn't tell us that it was Nebuchadnezzar's face, although it probably could have been. I don't know. Perhaps it could have been the face of a Babylonian god. There were plenty to choose from at that time. Perhaps it would have been difficult to even kind of make out what it what the image was.

Perhaps that could have been by design. I don't know.

Maybe it was likely that this statue was created in such a way as to really represent anything you wanted to represent. And so if you were there with others, you would have asked, what is this statue, by the way? What does it mean? And perhaps the response that come back was, well, it can really mean whatever you want it to mean. You know, in other words, it doesn't have to mean to you what it means to me. I suppose you could just take on whatever meaning you want on it and show honor to it, because the most important thing actually is that we're unified behind it. You know, the king is wanting to bring harmony to the peoples. And the people, many of the people, would have said, I'm behind it, you know. This big image, let's rally behind it. You know, offer your allegiance. We can offer our allegiance in various ways without having to just really give up all of our religious distinctiveness. Again, just take onto the image whatever meaning you want it to be. If that was the case, then it would have had this kind of new age dimension to it.

Just transfer your own ideas of divinity onto it. Don't worry about it too much. We're all coming together around it for harmony. So that's the image. The marketing strategy is pretty interesting.

To bring everyone together, they have this beautiful music. I don't even know what some of these instruments are, you know. They're in verse five again. I'm not sure what a liar is or a sultry. I don't even know if I'm pronouncing it right there. But what we know is a symphony of all different kinds of music. That was to draw them. Kind of an encouraging positive reinforcement technique. But if that didn't work, then it's important to have maybe another type of technique in place. A negative type of technique. And that certainly would have been the fiery furnace to urge them to their bowing. So if you didn't get the beat, well then they have this other encouragement behind you. So these two positive and negative incentives here to reinforce the worship. And again, this was a big deal. Look at all the people that Nebuchadnezzar gathered up. They're in verse 2. Everyone! Saitraps, administrators, governors, they're in verse 2. Counselors, treasurers, judges, magistrates. Officials of all the provinces were there at this dedication of this image. So Nebuchadnezzar calls all of Congress together here. He repeats the names for emphasis. There in chapter 3, perhaps the emphasis is to let us know this was a big deal. They would have been there. Did you get the word, the leaders? What are we supposed to do? I'm not sure. I heard the king has set up a big statue out on the plains of Dura. He wants us all to be there. I wonder what it will be like. And really, it's a kind of humorous scene here there in verse 3, where it says, verse 3, the final phrase. And they all just stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar stood set up. It's kind of a humorous, little bit of a pathetic scene. You know, you have this big thing. The music's playing. You can feel the heat as well. And he's called everyone together. And all the leaders, every person, man or woman, all the languages from all the different areas. And let me just say up front here, or just as a side note, this may help us. Just because thousands of people are prepared to bow before an image, that doesn't make it right. That might be a powerful message in our culture. Just because everyone's doing it does not make it right, particularly if it's against God's law and against God himself. It's not right. So they all stood. The herald in verse 4 tells them what's going to happen next there in verse 4. Verse 5 and 6, when you hear the sound of this symphony, "'You shall fall down, worship the gold image that the king has set up.' Verse 6, "'Whoever does not fall down in worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of a fiery furnace, so you'd have heard the screams, no doubt.'" So this is the instruction here. Verse 7. Verse 7, remarkably. So at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the horn flute, harp, lyre, symphony of all different kinds of music, all the people, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the gold image that the king Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Perhaps when it says all, it means all. There wasn't any who stood up at this time. They all showed up. They all fell down. Pretty pathetic here.

But, but, we know that in the midst of all this false God bowing down, it is there that God's people stand. This is the trial before the triumph. You know, Jesus Christ is coming again with, and He will achieve triumphant victory. But we also know there's a trial before the triumph. We know there is an attack before the arrival. That's what we're seeing here. It's going to come to God's people, and it's going to come to us today and in the future. Make no doubt. These things will increase and intensify and come upon God's people. Look at all the things in this world that are asking us to bow down to them. And I'm here to tell you that God's people must stand. We only bow to one God, Almighty God.

But just like in the future, back then there were those who turned on those who would stand. They're in verse 8. The Chaldeans came forth, verse 8, and accused the Jews of not participating in this image program. Verse 9 through 12. Verse 9 through 12, they spoke to King Nebuchadnezzar. They said, O King, live forever. That's important. If you want to make sure your head stays attached to your neck, look, always give proper reverence to the king. O King, live forever. You, O King. Oh, you've made a decree that everyone hears the sound of the horn, the flute, the harp, the lyre, the psaltery, and symphony with all kinds of music. You made this decree that they should all fall down and worship the gold image. And let me remind you, King, whoever does not fall down and worship the image, you had said that they would be cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. You said that, King. This was your decree. Live forever. Live forever. Just reminding you. Well, King, I hate to tell you, verse 12, there are certain Jews whom you set over the affairs of the province of Babylon. Boy, I hate to say their names, but let me tell you who they are. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O King, they have not paid you due regard, and they do not serve your gods nor worship the gold image which you set up. This needling, the King here, amazing human nature. You know, you did this. Boy, I hesitate to even bring this to you, King. You know, I hate to tell you that there's some not participating in this image program, and unfortunately it's the ones that you kind of put into higher positions, these three. I don't know, King, I'm not one to say, but I don't know. I think they should have been more appreciative of you, you know. After all, you gave them these higher positions, but they're not worshiping and honoring you, King. So, understandably, the way human nature goes, Nebuchadnezzar's furious. Verse 14, Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying to them, well, he brings the boys in. Is it true, verse 14, that you, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve the gods nor worship the image of gold that I have set up? Can this be true? He doesn't give them a chance to respond, it seems. He moves directly onto the statement here, and he wants to give them a second chance. Verse 15, Now, boys, if you are ready, at this time, you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, psaltery, and symphony of all kinds of music. If you will fall down and worship the image which I have made, well, then good. Good. But if you don't, boys, if you don't worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of the burning, fiery furnace. And really, who is the God who will deliver you from my hands? Stop there. That, oh, I don't know if anyone should ever utter that phrase before the Almighty God. Who is the God who will be able to deliver you from my hands? King Nebuchadnezzar says that. He actually says that. Can you imagine? But you see, that's how the culture thinks. We control you. Your lives, your kids, your work, your education, your future. What God's going to be able to rescue you from us, from our power?

And the answer from God's people is, we'll just wait and see. Just wait and see. That's the answer of the church. Just wait and see.

And you'll notice, the answer here, when we're faced with this, is not necessarily to try to dismantle the monuments. You know, these three, they could have went out in the cover of night, tried to somehow, if they could, bring this vast image down. They could have attempted to do that. I think it would have been a futile endeavor. But I think that's important to state, because often we can find ourselves, perhaps, distracted by trying to dismantle the monuments, refusing to go into the fire. Not realizing that it will be in the fire that Christ will manifest himself.

Sometimes, we constantly try to keep ourselves out of the furnace. Because we've assumed, if we ever get tossed into the fire, that's it for us. Right? When point in fact, it may well be that the way that God will bring forth his people and his church toward his son's return is through the fire. Through the fire.

Where these tests and these trials which seek to destroy us, they are the very thing that make us. Yes. It's a whole different way of thinking. It's a whole different way of thinking.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they really grabbed on to this perspective here. Verse 16, they answered the king there and said, Oh Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. You know, sometimes we think, boy, I wonder if I'm going to have, if I'm put in this position, will God give me the right words to say? He might, for sure. But he might give you the instruction to say nothing. Just to not go on, you know, there's no purpose here in defending our defense with some theological diatribe. You've made your decision, king. Make it, you know. But if we're thrown into this blazing furnace, verse 17, verse 17, if that's the case, our God whom we serve, He's able, we know that, to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But, verse 18, if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up. I bet you could hear a pen drop in that moment. Maybe a gasp by all those witnessing this here. I think, and I think it's scripturally backed, that the moment that we actually make this decision is not when we're standing before the challenge or the king, or that which is asking us to compromise. We actually make this decision today, today, by not bowing down to any other gods, small and big. That's when we're making this determination. That's when we make this decision. I think these three men, the young men, they had made the decision already that they weren't going to bow down. They weren't going to compromise. And they knew this great image represented compromise. And they weren't going to do it.

And today, realize that this future scenario will come to us. Because, in fact, Scripture speaks of a future day leading up to Christ's return, where we will be put in this same scenario. We will be placed in the same crossroads. Just for a moment, if you want to keep your marker here, let's turn to that future moment, future to us. And it's found in Revelation 13, verses 11-17. So keep your marker here. We'll come back. Revelation 13, verses 11-17.

Here, we, in fact, find this future crossroads, this future dilemma, this future choice, where we'll need to make a decision. And here we're going to read that God's people, prior to Christ's return, we're going to read about a future image. And it's going to be asked of us to bow down to it. And the command is going to come from the dragon himself, Satan the devil.

Look at this. Revelation 13, beginning in verse 11. John writes, Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns, like a lamb, and spoke like a dragon. So he's going to look harmless, but his speech will betray him. And he's going to look for unification and worship to him. And he exercises all authority of the first beast in the presence and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

He performs great signs so that he makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. There's some fire. He deceives those who dwell on the earth by the 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, and the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as 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 this mark on their right hand and on their foreheads, so 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. Well, allegiance is what he's going to be searching for. This is chilling. This is the future reality.

So we take these past recordings of Daniel and we bring them right up to today. And we know this is the future. What happened in the past, the reason these things are written for us, is to prepare us for the future. That's the whole purpose of prophecy. Preparation for what's going to happen. And Daniel's revealing to us these things so that we can prepare. Future fulfillment yet to come. No distinction between small, great, rich, poor, free and slave. We're seeing this happening today. There's going to be an initiative to bring everybody on equal standing, to have harmony, of course.

That's the best way to do it. And you will not, to give you some encouragement, you will not be able to sell or buy unless you've accepted these governmental beast precepts. There will be sought after ultimate authority by the government led by a beast. And those participating in this harmony initiative, if you will, will have a mark to indicate that they are giving their allegiance. We don't know if this is a literal mark. It could be. But symbolically, we can say the mark on the forehead may symbolize looking for allegiance in our thinking. The mark on the hand, looking for our harmony in our works, for our thinking and what we're doing, looking for full allegiance to this power there.

So the struggle will be to not allow fear and the pressure of the beast to influence our thinking and our actions, rather to have God, our fear, to only be placed in God Almighty. And this is what Daniel and his three friends were facing. So turning back to Daniel 3, are you prepared to face what these three friends were facing?

How do you think they would respond? Sometimes I like to read these stories and act like I don't know the ending. Read them with fresh eyes. This is exciting. What do you think they're going to do? Will they cave or will they stand? Verse 18, Let it be known to you, O King, we will not serve your gods, nor worship the gold image which you have set up. So filled with fury, verse 19 through 23, verse 19, Nebuchadnezzar, full of fury, and the expression on his face changed.

Surely, you know, Nebuchadnezzar never thought anyone would defile him. You know, go do this. Good. It will be good for you three, you know. And then they say, we're not doing it. His expression changes towards Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. The anger here burned in him. And he commanded certain mighty men of valor who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Verse 21, then these men were bound in their coats and trousers, their turbans, and their other garments.

You know, typically they would parcel out the garments, but Nebuchadnezzar was so angry. He just throws them in with the garments. Cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore, because the king's command was urgent and the furnace was exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down, bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. That's it. That's all she wrote for these three men. Or is it? Verse 24. Verse 24. Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished. He rose up in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, "'Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?' And they answered the king and said, "'True, O king!' And he says," verse 25, "'Well, look,' he answered, "'I see four men loose walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.'" What did we say earlier?

God often makes the impact for his purposes by allowing his people to go into the fire. Are you prepared if God asks you? It was in the fire, in the fire, that Christ manifests himself. Isn't that amazing?

So Nebuchadnezzar approaches the opening. Verse 26. "'Went near the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke, saying, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the most high God,'" see how he changed there his tone? "'Come out! Come here!' Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came from the midst of the fire." And you have this amazing picture here. Verse 27. All those guys earlier in the Congress, Say-traps, administrators, governors, and king's counselors gathered all together, and they saw these men whose bodies the fire had no power. The hair on their head even was not singed, nor their garments affected. And the smell of the fire wasn't even on them. Isn't that amazing? So they're poking at them, touching them, smelling them here, combing their hand through their hair. Astonished. And then Nebuchadnezzar makes this great, overarching summary statement. By the way, the same he had done at the end of chapter 2. This great summary statement, verse 28 and 29. Nebuchadnezzar stands up in the midst of all the people and all the leaders and says, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted him. And they have frustrated the king's word and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own god. Therefore I, Nebuchadnezzar, make a decree that any people, nation, or language, which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, will they shall be cut into pieces, and their house is made like an ash heap, because there is no other god who can deliver like this. Wow! Let's stop there. Amazing! From what God will save you to this is the only god. Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They trusted him. They were willing to give their own bodies for him, and they would not bow to any other authority. What a moment here. What a moment. Incredible. Well, brethren, how does this make you feel?

What's the purpose of these stories? It is to prepare us for the future, to encourage us, to fill us with the strength for all this to come. This wonderful story empowers us to stand up to whatever we might face. The past recordings of Daniel and his friends, and all this persecution from the kings and evil of that day, they are to strengthen us and prepare us for what we are to face in the future. Again, so many times in the past, we see God over and over again bringing his people through it all. It is through the fire that Jesus Christ will come. And just like our three heroes, may we stand tall. When that day comes to us, may we let it be known that we do not serve their gods, nor will we worship any man-made image that they have set up. And so today, may it be today and always, that when God's people are prepared to or asked to bow down to the pressures of evil, may it be then and always then that God's people stand.