The Fiery Furnance-

Daniel 3:14–30 ESV

Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?” Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. Because the king’s order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace. Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.” Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them. Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.” Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

The Threat VV. 14-15

We may as well get ready, there will always be a threat to our lives when we make up our mind too serve the Lord.

We are seeing a soft serve of it today where the world wants you oto deny Christ. They Joke about Jesus but not about Islam, buhda, hinduism. only because Jesus is the only threat to darkness.

The day is coming when you will have to deny Christ and take the mark of the beast in order to buy or sell The Bible says. if you cant run with the footmen what will you do when the horse comes.

Threats can be very idle non binding. Jezebel said this time tommmorow Elijah will be dead, He ran for His life!! but if you read your Bible He never did die.

The devil is always threatning us. and you must say Whatever God allows, He wont put more on me than I can bear or carry.

The devil like to intimidate, threaten, strike fear, because he knows the power of The Blood.

The Insidious Nature of False Teaching: False teaching has been around from the beginning of the human experience, ever since the Garden of Eden, when the devil perverted our Lord’s injunction against eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil: “You will surely not die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that on the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Genesis 3:4-5 “But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.””

The Trust vv. 16-18

39 years and He has never failed me.

Proverbs 3:5–6 ESV

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Zec 4:6 “Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.”

One of the greatest struggles and challenges you may find yourself facing in this life is the struggle to trust God. Trusting God is easy when you can see how everything is going to work out. When you have a secure job, money in the bank, all the bills paid, your marriage is going well, your children are all serving the Lord, you are in good health, and everything just seems like it is going wonderfully. You are living on the mountain top. If you want to be completely honest, during these times it doesn’t take a lot to trust God.

The challenge to trust comes when life happens and you go from the mountain top of joy into the valley of despair. How do you trust in the Lord when you don’t know what to do? How do you trust in the Lord when you are not sure how you will pay your next bill, or put food on the table, when your job is unsteady or non-existent, when your marriage is falling apart and when your kids have turned their back on the faith you instilled in them for all of their lives? How do you keep trusting in the Lord when all 'hell' seems to be breaking loose in your life.? These are not easy things to deal with and yet in the middle of life, there is this verse that leaps off the page in Proverbs.

Before we talk about the how let’s talk about the what. What does it mean to trust in the Lord with all your heart? Let’s define what the word trust means. To do this I am going to our good friend Merriam-Webster. This is how they define this word. Please pay careful attention to this definition.

A firm belief or an assured reliance in the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or somethingOne in which confidence is placed…A dependence on something future or contingent Hope

1. Remember That God Can Be Trusted

2. Remember That God Cares

3. Remember That God Is with You

4. Remember That God Is Going to Bring You Through

The Test vv. 19-23

Daniel 3:19-23 “Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. Because the king’s order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace.”

James 1:3-4 “for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

How will you know what you have with out a test? youu walking around thinking you have something till you go through

The Triumph vv.24-25 28-30

Daniel 3:24–25 ESV

Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”

Daniel 3:28-30 “Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.” Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.”

1 Corinthians 15:57 ESV

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Whenever we put our trust in Him and Him alone He gives us the victory.

Would you be willing to stand for the Lord even though it meant your life? These boys did just that. Pleasing God meant more to these boys than their very lives. This type of dedication pleases God.

The three Hebrews boys—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—stood for the Lord against a whole nation. Though it meant the fiery furnace, they were willing to stand. When they stood for God, He stood with them.