Trials that Produce: Dan 3
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Trials that produce
Trials that produce
Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and maliciously accused the Jews. They declared to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! 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. And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace. 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.”
Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. 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.
Trials Reveal what we truly believe
Trials Reveal what we truly believe
Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego- Had to decided what they truly believed in that moment
it was life or death
Would they bow to what everyone else was bowing to?
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
Count is Joy when we go through trails?
Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains 27.46 πειράζω; πειρασμός, οῦ; ἐκπειράζω
to try to learn the nature or character of someone or something by submitting such to thorough and extensive testing—‘to test, to examine, to put to the test, examination, testing.
Trials test what we truly believe?
Trials make us ask the questions
Is God truly who He says he is?
is God with me?
Is God’s word really the way I should live?
Testing Produces Faith- Pistis
Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains 31.85 πιστεύω; πίστις, εως
to believe to the extent of complete trust and reliance—‘to believe in, to have confidence in, to have faith in, to trust, faith, trust.’
Faith is more than just wishful thinking
it is more than I just hope this all works out in the end
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Faith is when you see the fire in front of you you say
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.”
Faith is evident through the way we live
it is in how we love
how we teach each other
how we reflect Christ to those who hurt us
who harass us
Think of Jesus on the cross who cried out “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”
Faith isn’t just a matter of connivence
Faith is your life
Either the bible is the word of God and is the Authority I live my life by or it isn’t
there is no in between
there is no God I will believe you, trust you, and follow you to this point, but once we cross this line then I stop
who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.
What we believe is shown through the trials we go through
Trials Reveal who God is
Trials Reveal who God is
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.
God reveals Himself in our trials
For I, the Lord your God,
hold your right hand;
it is I who say to you, “Fear not,
I am the one who helps you.”
There is a temptation that when we go through hardship to believe the lie that “When life is bad, God is bad.”
or “when life is bad, God has turned His back on us.”
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
God is called the Father of Mercies- The father of Compassion
Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains 88.80 οἰκτίρω; οἰκτιρμός, οῦ
to show mercy and concern, with the implication of sensitivity and compassion—‘to have mercy, to show compassion, mercy, tender compassion
God laments of pain; God aches when we ache; he weeps when we weep.
He is the Father of Compassion
Is this our image of God when life is bad?
when we face trials?
Comfort-
Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains 25.150 παρακαλέω; παράκλησις, εως
to cause someone to be encouraged or consoled, either by verbal or non-verbal means—‘to encourage, to console, encouragement.’
God fortifies us-
He gives us His strength to draw a line in the sand so we don’t retreat
Even when I am tempted to turn my back on God, He stands back-to-back with me, fortifying me, in my suffering
He is the God of all comfort
In the midst of suffering is that our image of God?
When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears
and delivers them out of all their troubles.
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.
The world says “God helps those who help themselves.”
The Psalmist and Paul say- (The Word of God)
God helps those who admit they can’t help themselves.
He Comforts those who humbly cry out, “I can’t handle my suffering on my own. I need you help, Father.”
God invites us to verbalize our suffering, and our neediness
When life is bad and we face suffering God is good all the time
Trials reveal our need for community
Trials reveal our need for community
The fiery furnace wasn’t the first time that these three stood together
Daniel Chapter 1 they would follow the crowd once again and they stood for what they believed and would only eat vegetables
They stood together
Community of Believers is not just an idea that sounds interesting
it is what we are called to
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
We are encourage when we are together
we share each others burdens
we stand together
we love one another
We need each other
we are called to be one body
a Family of Families
We don’t have to face trials alone
which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
the body of Christ is a place of Grace, Discipleship, encouragement and love
we show Christ to each other
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.
We show others the same comfort that we have recieved from God
we are comforted to comfort others
I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another.
We the church counsel each other
Paul is saying that believers who posses Christlike goodness (Character) plus Christlike insight (Conviction) are competent to disciple one another toward communion with Christ and conformity to Christ through the personal ministry of the Word- Biblical counseling
We need each other
Trials reveal who we are
Trials reveal who we are
Walking toward the furnace takes knowing who you are
The three names given to them were labels given to them by the Babylonians to worship their god’s
What labels have you been given, that sy who you are?
Shadrach [shădˊrăk] (Heb. šaḏraḵ; cf. Akk. šu-dur-Aku “command of Aku [a Mesopotamian lunar deity]”). The name given by King Nebuchadnezzar’s chief of the eunuchs to Hananiah (Heb. ḥananyâ “Yahweh is gracious”), one of Daniel’s companions (Dan. 1:7; 2:49; ch. 3). See Abednego.
MESHACH (Heb. mēšaḵ). The name given to Mishael (‘who is what God is’?), one of Daniel’s companions in captivity at Babylon, by Nebuchadrezzar’s chief eunuch (Dn. 1:7; 2:49, etc.). The most plausible meaning of the name suggested is the Bab. mēsǎku (‘I have become weak’) perhaps given as similar to the Heb. name.
Abednego [ə bĕdˊnĭ gō] (Heb. and Aram. ˓aḇēḏneg̱ô).† The Babylonian name given to one of Daniel’s friends by King Nebuchadnezzar’s chief eunuch (Dan. 1:7; 2:49; 3:12–30). If, as many assume, his name is a corruption of the Babylonian deity Nebo (cf. JB note c at 1:7), his new name “Servant of Nebo” would have been the opposite of his original name Azariah, “Yahweh has helped.”
We have to choose who are we going to live for?
are we going to live according to what the world tells us we must?
are we going to believe the lies of the enemy?
your not Good enough
no one loves you
your a mess
you will never get better
depression in your life
anxiety will always control you
or will we answer this question “Whose am I?”
God has spoken over our lives and continues to speak through His word
We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;
we can overcome
we can overcome
we aren’t done and we aren’t destroyed
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
The thing that was supposed to kill them, ultimately killed their enemies
The Cross of Christ-
the savior of the World defeated
dead on the cross
it is over
But ultimately the cross became the place of our greatest victory
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.