Faith in the Fire (5)

(S1) — FIRE FIGHTERS

Great respect for those willing to run into…

KIDS/SMOKE ALARM/RUN

It takes great courage to go into a hot, blazing, deadly fire. The conviction of someone who values the saving a life; over their own.

(S2) — Title

Last week; Jonah a crisis of faith...

Today…some life-changing lessons from the Sunday School Story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. .

“Three companions of Daniel...whose testimony withstood the hottest test of all times—King Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery furnace”

…not only their willingness to go into a fiery furnace; their unwillingness to compromise their relationship with God

From the beginning, the people of God...have been faced with choosing CONVICTION over COMPROMISE

“We are to obey God rather than men. Acts 5:29

In todays’ climate worshipping and serving the God of the Bible can get you in hot water…

How is your conviction of faith in the fire?

(3:4,7)—The Royal decree had been made. The fanfare had begun. The people were ordered to bow down and worship the kings man-made God, or face his fiery furnace.

How would the children of the one true God respond?

(S2)

Their choice…

Be BURNED by compromise or SAVED by their convictions?

Do you find it easy or hard to withstand the pressure to compromise your faith; when the heat is on?

PRAY

(S3) — {Daniel 1:1-2}

After years of unfaithfulness by the people of Judah; idolatry and sexual immorality, their refusal to heed the warnings of the Lord’s prophets and repent—God’s patience was finally exhausted

“As an instrument of correction and discipline, he raised up the pagan Babylonian king (586 B.C.); Nebuchadnezzar. When his great fighting machine rolled through town, Jerusalem was conquered and the temple of Solomon leveled...

…the treasures of the temple pillaged, and the brightest and best of the Jewish young men, were carted off to captivity; among them were Daniel and his 3 friends.

The Babylonian State a culture of Great Influence, would rule over Judah for 70 years.

— The goal? assimilate the people of God into the pagan culture

Native American Woman/Culture taken away

The madness of the kings empire was based on SELF-GLORIFICATION—the man-made God’s to himself...

(S4)—Nebuchadnezzar’s Golden Statue

90’ tall x 9’ wide—All were to bow down and worship…

Deuteronomy 8:19 ““I assure you of this: If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods, worshiping and bowing down to them, you will certainly be destroyed.”

Not lots of wiggle room for compromise! But if one refused…

Daniel 3:6 “Anyone who refuses to obey will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.””

Fear God’s wrath/Fear one man’s fiery furnace?

How does this pertain to me? I don’t see any golden statues or fiery furnaces..

— Idol Worship (N.T.); anything comes before or in place of our relationship with God...Godless way of life.

(S5) — {Titus 2:12}

Idols of Compromise (Titus; Real Faith in Everyday Life, Kathy Howard)

Inadequacy of Conviction - When we compromise to fit in, because we lack conviction of faith under pressure.”

The greater the cultures influence of ungodly nature...the greater risk to COMPROMISE ones faith.

The problem is not the idol out there...its the idol in our hearts

Do you find it hard to devote your whole self fully to God ; to give him your whole heart and life in a god-man world?

The three are brought to the king and their conviction ignites his furry—flew into a rage

{3:14}

Their refusal to bow to his God; to compromise their faith in their God, made him furious

Bob/Brothers—TP the neighbors

They are given one more chance…if they refuse; their fate the fiery hot furnace

(S6) — CONVICTION or COMPROMISE?

Their choice...One is hard but comes with great reward—The other is easy but comes at a great cost

“Conviction is the certainty of belief and the refusal to compromise it. Its being convinced of what we believe and why we believe it, coupled with the determination to live or die by that belief.”

Our choice between conviction or compromise is more subtle…

Javier—Courageous

Three contributing factors of their faith in the fire

I. They were a CHOSEN people of conviction!

(S7) — {3:16}

We are not given much information about them, but their names tell us of their chosen conviction—their faith in the God as a Hebrew people

Shadrach (Moon God) — Hananiah (The Lord Shows Grace)

Meshach (Who is like Aku) — Mishael (Who is like God)

Abednego (servant of Nebu; God of Wisdom) — Azariah (the Lord helps)

…the phrase, you can’t change a leopards spots’

Taming a wild animal gone wrong

— 200lb pet Chimpanzee

— Naming a 350 # bear Teddy doesn’t make it a teddy bear

— Pet Python inside a laundry bag

The king could change their names but not whose they were; God’s chosen servants..

Compromise was not in our original DNA—Restored in Christ

John 1:12 “But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.”

Do you know whose you are as a child of God?

Matthew 4:10 ““Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’””

In the midst of the heat of battle is the wrong time to determine your convictions. You must settle them beforehand.

Young person sitting in the backseat of a car with a date is the worst time to decide how far you can righteously go with physical contact.

To avoid the fire of compromise means choosing to be a person of conviction—Know who you are in Christ!

Second, contributing factor of their faith in the fire

II. They CULTIVATED their conviction!

(S8) — {3:17}

They were in a new land; a pagan world; but the faith they cultivated in their home land stayed with them

Their faith taught them that God would save and rescue them…

A conviction of faith is trusting in God to rescue us now and looking to our eternal salvation to come…having the assurance of salvation in a Babylonian world.

The Wolves Story—Feed fear you get more fear…feed your conviction, the stronger your faith under fire.

Do you know the assurance of salvation? Present and future?

Because they had cultivated their conviction they knew…

“When you know in your knower that you know” Jeff G.

Third, contributing factor of their faith in the fire

III. They were CLEAR in their conviction!

(S9) — {3:18}

Their was no wavering in their refusal to bow to the kings God. And they were not afraid to tell the king so!

Notice their conviction is not a zealous, extravagant, or compulsive; its simply stated…

My choosing not to drink

I believe we win more people to Christ by how we live; by following his ways and by sharing it with a calm conviction…but we have to tell people why…

They were chosen people of conviction—they cultivated their convictions and they were clear in their convictions…

Nebuchadnezzar’s furry grows…the furnace is made hotter…they are bound and ordered to be thrown in the fire

(S10) — {3:23)

(22) threw…(23) fell…

Be BURNED by compromise or SAVED by their convictions?

How strong are your convictions? Will your faith stand the test under fire? Will there be times when things heat up...opportunities to compromise

John 17:15–17 “I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do. Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth.”

(S11)

Set in our CONVICTIONS, we leave little room for COMPROMISE!

Challenge

I. CHOOSE to be a person of conviction

Isaiah 43:1“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

What are the areas of your life where Christ is not central your worship?

II. CULTIVATE that conviction

John 15:4–5 “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit.

III. Be CLEAR in your convictions

1 Thessalonians 5:8 “But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation.”

Their may not be a fiery furnace in your future…but things will heat up…you will be tempted to compromise...

Good News your not alone when the fire...even the pagan king recognizes it...

(S12)

25 ““Look!” Nebuchadnezzar shouted. “I see four men, unbound, walking around in the fire unharmed! And the fourth looks like a god!””

God in the fire with them? Or was this God’s revelation to the king...?

Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.””

We are not alone in the fires of compromise..

How do we choose to be a person of conviction when our faith is under fire? Cultivate that conviction? Be clear in our convictions?

Another fire...

(S13)

Acts 2:3–4 “Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit...

Being filled with the spirit...fuels our conviction...gives us a way out when...

How is your faith in the fire? How might we respond to the threats of others who seek us to only compromise our faith?

Set your CONVICTIONS on Jesus, and leave little room for COMPROMISE!