Stand Firm During Persecution
Notes
Transcript
Stand Firm During Persecution
Stand Firm During Persecution
If you had to eat a crayon, what color would you choose?
If aliens landed on Earth, who would you recommend they talk to?
If you were an athlete, what would you choose as your walkout song?
Yesterday Mike asked about what things you would tell someone who was coming to America for the first time.
Imagine with me you were to build a statue to represent America. We have one already which is what?
“"The Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World" was a gift of friendship from the people of France to the United States and is recognized as a universal symbol of freedom and democracy. The Statue of Liberty was dedicated on October 28, 1886.”
It stands 151 tall but when you add the pedestal it is over 300 feet from the ground meaning if you were to lay it down on the ground it stretches from one endzone to another on a football field.
It represents freedom and democracy. Whats interesting is how that statue which is paired with the US is the representation of freedom and democracy. There are over 160 countries in the world that are democracies. England, Belgium, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Greenland, etc all share the same freedoms we have. The very country that gave it to us France has the same freedom and democracy.
And yet why is the statue of liberty viewed as a beacon of hope and freedom?
Its location—it stands along the shores of New York City, the biggest city in the US and right outside of Ellis Island which from 1892 to 1954 processed 12 million immigrants to the US. There is a very good chance we have multiple people in this room whose relatives or someone they knows relatives went through Ellis Island.
So let me ask you, if you were going to design a statue to represent America and what we hold as most important, what would it be and where would you put it.
Take a couple minutes to discuss with your neighbors
What are some of your answers.
If it were me I would make a giant statue of our seal which is an eagle which is my favorite animal. In its claws are 13 arrows representing the fight for independence and the other olive branches representing peace. The head faces the olive branches because we favor peace. In its beak is a banner that reads E Pluribus Unum which means? Out of many, one.
I would put it somewhere in a rural town probably in Virginia which is the foundation of the US.
Imagine with me that President Biden built a statue of himself and asked everyone to pay homage to it. Would you? Why not?
Imagine with me that Ronald Regan did so. We like him, good conservative President with decent family values, helped the economy, etc. Would you?
What if they told you, you had to?
What if you would be killed if you didn’t?
Don’t answer out loud, but I would imagine you would love to say no, I would never do that. But yet there may be a part of you that is wrestling through that.
Let’s jump into our text.
1 King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits and its breadth six cubits. He set it up on the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.
it was 90 feet tall, not nearly as large as like the Washington monument and yet it was built of solid gold. This would have been pretty impressive and everyone would have saw it.
What did we talk about this morning that was made of gold?
Remember in the kings dream his kingdom was represented by a head of gold. And you can almost see the king being like thats right i’m worth gold, as a matter of fact my entire thing should be made of gold. I deserve that, and so he had it made.
Weird, sinful, but not that big of a deal as this point. We have heard of men in history doing far more wicked things than building a tower.
2 Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 3 Then the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 4 And the herald proclaimed aloud, “You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, 5 that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 6 And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace.” 7 Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
We could go through all these types of people and why they are included but I think the point is that all people, regardless of position or power were called to come to this image. And not only were they come, they were to do what?
When they heard the music, they were to drop, bow down.
And if they did not what would happen?
Fire is a particularly gruesome way to die. It is painful and you typically suffocate the death. All of the oxygen is sucked out of the air and you go to breathe and nothing comes in, on top of it, it hurts a lot.
The reason it was chosen often however was because it was slow and public. Martyrs were burned at the staked so that they would be examples to everyone else on the dangers of committing those crimes. The hope is people would remember those bodies on fire as a torch to the community and flee from those choices. That is why Latimer said, “'Play the man, Master Ridley; we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.” He was that candle that lit the fire of reformation in England that has not been put out.
Bow to the king of be put in the fire.
8 Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and maliciously accused the Jews. 9 They declared to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! 10 You, O king, have made a decree, that every man who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image. 11 And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace.
You can sense the build up here—admit it, you have all done this, you have gone a sweet talked a boss or a teacher or a parent. Mom—didn’t you say that we had to do this or that before we could play games? Didn’t you say we had to do our chores first thing this morning?
Your not asking those questions innocently, why are you asking those questions?
Your about to tattle on someone.
12 There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” 13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. 14 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? 15 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?”
The king must have a anger problem, multiple times in chapters 2 and 3 he is described as angry or furious.
But they tattle on them—O king, yeah those guys you put in charge, your peoples, yeah they are not listening to you.
The king comes to them, is this true?
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, you don’t serve my gods or worship the golden image?
Now he couldn’t have been all that surprised that these three would be different. They were the ones who demanded to eat differently in chapter 1. They were the ones that provided relief with Daniel in chapter 2. And here in 3 they are the ones not bowing down.
The king assumes this must be a mistake, ill let it slide, just when you hear the music, bow down and well be all good.
And by the way, remember if you don’t you will immediately be cast into the furnace.
What god will deliver you now?
Lets see their response
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 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. 18 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.”
I am reminded of the apostle Paul in their response.
21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
King you don’t deserve an answer. But we tell you this.
Our god, the god of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David—he will deliver us. There is no fire too powerful to consume us if he wants to save us.
What a bold an encouraging stand.
I pray that we can stand before the accusers with that regard.
May we be like Luther in the face of his accusers, “My conscience is captive to the word of God! To go against conscience is neither right nor safe. I therefore cannot, and I will not recant! Here I stand. I can do no other." This is what I believe to be true and cannot and will not comprise on it.
My God will deliver me.
13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Those verses are true and encouraging. May we have that bold faith that we will overcome and be delivered.
But will we have the bold faith of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego?
See they had confidence their God would deliver them.
18 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.”
If he doesn’t deliver us, we still will not do it. If we are thrown into the fire, we still will not bow.
Stephen certainly trusted God could deliver him but even if he didn’t he would preach the gospel. His dying words in front of Saul who would become Paul would be for the forgiveness of his killers.
Our God can save us, but even if we know that he won’t, even if we were to die for our faith, we will not waver.
19 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. 20 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. 21 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. 22 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. 23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace.
More anger from the king.
His army comes and binds Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and turns the furnace up 7 times more than normal.
Its interesting the bible always has these details you we skip over but if you stop and think about them it helps us understand.
It says they were bound in the cloaks, tunics, hats and other garments. Why would it tell us that?
They are going near this massive fire that is obviously out of control—they are covered in clothing, something should have caught fire.
The fire was so hot what happened to those who brought them up? The were killed.
Its a miracle they are still alive at this point and they fall into the fire. One last chance to bow to the king and they do not waver.
They, for all intensive purposes, were killed for their faith in King Jesus.
24 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.” 25 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.”
The king is amazed. Wait a minute—we threw three men in and now there is four?
Who was the fourth? The Lord Jesus—this is a Christophony, a preincarnate appearance of the 2nd person of the trinity.
The men were not only in there, they were walking around, unbound and not hurt.
The God that saved Egypt from famine through Joseph, that provided Isaac to Abraham, that delivered the people from Egypt, through the Red Sea, into the promised land. The God that used Rahab and Esther and Samuel and David to redeem a people for himself.
That God delivered Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
26 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. 27 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. 28 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. 29 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.” 30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.
Come out—servants of the most high God—come out! All those people gathered to worship the statue, see that fire did not even touch them. Their hair was not singed, their clothes untouched, they didn’t even smell like fire.
We see this major reversal—the God who delivered them, bow to Him, and anyone who speaks against Him will be torn limb from limb.
No other god is able to rescue like this.
We will more than likely never be told to bow to a statue in this country. But I was thinking through our culture and the direction it is going.
You know of my love for history, I appreciate the past and think I have a decent pulse on the direction our culture is going in the future.
And I will tell you its not all sunshine and roses.
I reread a book this week as I was thinking about this lesson from Al Mohler called The Gathering Storm.
It is an excellent booK I highly recommend if you especially if you want to learn about how we go to the point we are at today and the direction we are going.
Its called the Gathering Storm in a nod to one of Mohler’s heroes, Winston Churchill who served twice as the Prime Minister of England. In the 1930’s he was a political outcast, he kept speaking up about what was going on in Germany and warning everyone he could talk to about what was coming and no one listened to him.
How do you know a storm is coming?
You can see the markers of a storm—the pressure drops, the winds change, the birds flee, the clouds roll in. If you pay attention you can see all the markers of a storm before even a drop of rain.
Churchill saw all of that in Germany and tried to warn people of the Nazi movement and no one listened. Until Germany invaded Poland they said he was crazy.
This book is about the Gathering Storm in America. He highlights 5 areas that our culture has attacked and will continue to attack. And it will never be enough.
These are the areas you and I will be faced to make a stand one day and probably a bold stand. Because the culture is going to demand complete and total surrender to these movements.
The Church. We don’t need the church anymore. In the US we are at 40% of people claim to attend church regularly. In Europe, which is typically an indicator of what is coming, some countries are at less than 2%. I checked with Pew Research this week and in 2022 we are down to just 30% of Americans. Research indicates that in Canada, several entire denominations will no longer be in existence in less than 15 years. To make it worse, the attack on the church is not just that you don’t need to go but that the church cannot be correct. After all there is no such thing as absolute truth. You cannot know for sure right from wrong and so I cannot tell you what is true because your truth is your truth and my truth is my truth.
Human life. Abortion. “They want to protect a women’s right to abort at any time for any reason related to her health—health being defined not only as life and death, but emotional and mental.” I’m not trying to be a prophet but I will tell you the culture of death will not end here. Because already in the US the vast majority of babies in the womb that are found to have down syndrome are aborted. This will not be enough. Parents will decide what characteristics they want in a child and when those conditions are not met they will abort and try again. And it won’t stop at birth. After all if we can convince the culture that ending someones life for the health of the mother is allowable up to the point of birth what would be to stop someone from having a doctor assist in ending their life. What about the elderly who are deemed to no longer have quality of life and wish to end it, guys its not going to come its already here. In Oregon and California, physician assisted suicide is being battled over. Human life is being battled over.
Marriage. Its no longer needed, especially not in the restrictive condition of the bible. Marriage can be for anyone and everyone. You can marry whoever you would like. One of the purposes of marriage is procreation but sex is for anyone and everyone at anytime. Our culture says you can sleep with whoever you want regardless of if you know them or not. One of the main reasons people in America are marrying so much later is they have all the benefits. They live together, share what they want to share and are intimate with each other. In 1966 the average women was married at 21. In 2021 it was 29. Men are over 30 on average. On a side note this has serious long term affects on our churches and our country. We have pushed back to average age people have their first kid almost 10 years over the last couple decades meaning over a generation or two you end up missing out on an entire generation. If i wait until 30 instead of 20 to have kids and they do the same it means I will be 60 when my grandchild is born instead of 40. Do that a couple times and your population dwindles, just ask the scandevian countries. I was 26 when I got married so I am certainly not saying you have to be young—it was out of my control. But our culture is actively pushing against it. And the next coming, its already being fought for in places like Massachusetts—polyamory. You can marry (or have intimacy with) as many people as you want. Marriage is under attack.
Family. We have removed moms and dads as the heads of the house. They have no authority and cannot tell their children what to do. Children have their own rights and can make their own decisions. A child can choose their name, their gender, their sexuality and the parents can do nothing about it and actually can be charge with child abuse if they discipline them or stop them. Children in many places in the US can change their name in school and even their gender and not only do you not need the parents permission you are not even allowed to tell them.
Gender & Sexuality. We can’t spend much time here but we are far from man is man and woman is woman. There are two given to us by God. That’s it. And man is to marry a woman and a woman a man. That’s it. They add more letters to the LGBTQIA+ alphabet soup every year. It happening younger and younger and more and more. The train of revolution blew right through womens rights who spent the last 50 years fighting for equality, things like title IX passed guaranteeing equal opportunities and resources in college athletics and now if your not good enough for the men’s team just say your a girl and you can compete on the womens team. So much for fair.
Whats my point? Why does this matter?
These are the statues, the idols that our culture has built. And we the church will some day more than likely have to take a bold stand against these things.
Our pastors may face criminal charges for preaching the inerrancy and sufficiency of scripture.
Our people may face persecution for proclaiming that all human life is valuable and precious.
But I think their is two that will affect some of you very soon.
Some of you will have to take a bold stand on marriage. You will be invited to wedding ceremonies of two people of the same gender. Lexy and I already have. And they may end up being ones you love dearly. And your going to have to take bold stands.
Some of you will have to take a bold stand on the family especially on gender and sexuality. And teachers and coaches will lose their jobs for failing to fall in line with cultural revolution. I truly believe livelihoods will be lost for daring to stand firm against gender reassignment and sexuality choices particularly against the parents knowledge or consent. And not just in the schools. In your community sports teams, your church leagues.
We are going to have to take a bold stand for Christ. And I’m not saying their will be fire heated 7 times what it should be. But it may hurt. And it may have serious consequences.
And yet we serve the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The God is more powerful than and leader or king. He appointed those kings. We serve the God who knows yesterday today and tomorrow. He knows you by name and he has taken your sin and cast it as far as the east is from the west and now calls you child of God.
And no child of God will be forgotten or forsaken. And when the battles come I pray that we can stand firm. As Paul writes in Ephesians having done everything to stand firm.
Who holds our faith when fears arise
Who stands above the stormy trial
Who sends the waves that bring us nigh
Unto the shore, the rock of Christ
O sing hallelujah, our hope springs eternal
O sing hallelujah, now and ever we confess
Christ our hope in life and death
He is our hope if you know Christ. If you do not know Christ you have no hope in life or in death. You should beg not to be thrown into the furnace because you need to repent of your sins. Beg for the mercy and grace of our loving Father. Talk to one of us this weekend about your soul.