Idolatry in Babylonian times relating it to modern culture and culture within the Church of God.
Sermon Notes
Notes:
Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego found themselves in an alien nation. They ended up working in the palace of Babylon.
Nebuchadnezzar commanded everyone to bow down to him, Daniel would not bow down to the golden statue.
This is a story of idolatry.
They could have made any excuses to follow the idolatry. Ancient Babylon is at the center of a lot of strife today. Three men of faith back then were being threatened to be burned.
What are our idols today? We don't bow down to idols today. We are asked to tolerate behaviors today that were not tolerated before. Unmarried people who live together and kids who are born to Unmarried parents. People are being pressured to bow down and accept this behavior.
What are idols in our church of God culture? Is legalism part of our culture? If we do anything that we think merits our Salvation, that might be legalism. If we think that our works give us Salvation, that might be our idol. We also have pride in our church that we know the truth. If that pride dictates how we treat others in the world, that can be our idol. Sometimes we put men on pedestals and worship them more than God.
Deut. 6:4 --> You shall love the Lord with all your heart, soul, and strength.
How real is God's promise to us?
Heb. 11:1 --> Faith is the evidence of things not seen.
Faith has consequences. When we choose to put God first, that has consequences that would should be able to live with those. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego knew of those consequences.
Not enough can be said for our study of the Bible.
We live each day with decisions we made in following God.
Rom. 5:
Hope is what we have and should anchor our lives. Hope does not disappoint.
Dan. 3:
Our walk with God can take many different forms. To walk with God, sometimes you have to walk through fire.
When they were thrown in, they were bound. Sometimes it takes a severe trial to release us from what binds us in our lives. Does fear, cynicism bind us today? Sometimes it takes a fiery trial in our life to remove that shackle of fear.
