The Fourth Man

In 1922 Texas A&M was Plating Center College Praying Colonels in the Dixie Classic in Dallas Texas. And A&M was getting beat up. They were losing player after player to injury and after Coach Dana Bible lost his starting running back he began to scan the stands. He remembered that He had a practice squad guy up in the press box helping the commentators to identity team members.

Coach Bible waved this young man down who name was E. King Gill, and the coach told him to suite up, and taking the injured running backs uniform he went and changed underneath the bleachers. Gill played the entirety of the game and was the only player standing. That dat the Home of the 12th man began. Gills willingness to serve his tam became legendary that day and the tradition continues today at any of A&Ms football or basketball games, when the students stand in solidarity to serve their team.

We all need someone to stnd with us when times get tough. Today I don’t want to talk to you about the twelth man, Today I want to talk to you about the fourth man. And that will make more sense in a second after we get into the Word of God. We need the fourth man more than ever today.

We are kicking off a series today about the End of Days. Where we will be looking deep into the Word of God because fortunately God told about the last days to prepare his people for the wickedness that is going to strike the earth.

----Turn with me to the book of Daniel. Daniel is a remarkable book because the prophet Daniel prophesied about specific things in history now but when he prophecies they were hundreds of years away.

And you may not know this but the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation go hand in hand

Daniel Prophecieis about things in the last day leaves some details out, and Revelation will fill in the blank of those details. Likewise Revelation describes things in the last days and you have to go back to the Book of Daniel to get the specifics. These two wonderful books should be studied by every Christian because it gives us pertinent information about the last days that God wants his people to know because He doesn’t want his people to be caught off guard.

Our passage today is in Daniel chapter 3. There will probably be a time when your faith is met with fire and you will have to make a choice on whom you choose to serve

The year is is 605 BC, and the Babylonian Empire is the first one world empire that the world has ever seen before.

Babylon has a special place in the word of God

.Where Jerusalem is the Holy City, Babylon is the Unholy city.

Where Jerusalem is described as a beautifully adorned bride, Babylon is the Dirty Harlot

Jerusalem is God’s city… Babylon is the demonic city

Where Jerusalem is the birthplace of true religion, Babylon is the birthplace of all false religions. That began at the tower of Babel in

In the Last days Babylon will reemerge not only has a dominant place of commerce, but it will be a religious system as well

Apostasy Will Increase as We Near the End Times. First Timothy 4:1 states, “The Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons” (see also 2 Timothy 3:1-8; 4:3). Apostasy will rise to a fever pitch during the tribulation period (Matthew 24:9-12).

Just know that if you are going to stand for Christ in these last days you need to be preapred to do it alone

let me tell you about an ancient Christian. This man’s name was Athanasius. And Athanasius was a bold, strong Christian, and he would take stands, and other people would say, “He is arrogant,” or, “He is stubborn,” or, “He is narrow-minded.” The emperor’s name was Theodosius. And Theodosius said to Athanasius, “Athanasius, the whole world is against you.” Athanasius said to Theodosius, “Then Athanasius is against the whole world.”

And in Daniel we are introduced to 4 Hebrews that that have been transplanted from Jerusalem where King Nebuchadnezzar forces have destroyed the city, destroyed nearly all the Jews and they have taken those that have been captured alive back to Babylon.

And there is where we pick up the story. What Nebudcannezar and other ancient Kings woud do in those days when they transplanted captives back to their own city, they would then take those with the the most to offer and begin to reprogram them. They would wine and dine them, brainwash them to believe that the perpetrators in this case the Babylonians weren’t the bad guys after all, that their mission was noble and they had the greater good in mind. And after they had manipulated their thought processes, they would then take the things they learned and influence the rest of their people who have been captured.

Daniel 1:3–4 ESV

3 Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, 4 youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.

Well part of these transplants that are selected for this reprogramming is Daniel, Shadrach, Me-shack, and Abednego. Today we are going to be look at the 4th man and when the time comes when your faith meets the fire, how will you respond.

Too give you a little background to chapter 3, in Chapter 2 King Nebuchadnezzar has a God dream that shakes him to the Core. And in the dream He see a giant statue, that is made up of four different materials. He see a giant statue that was exceedingly terrifying and bright. the head was made out of pure gold, the arms and chest out of silver, the thighs and abdomen was made our of bronze and the feet out of iron and clay.... But a stone sent from heaven struck the image and it fell, and the stone turned into a mountain and spread over the earth. Well Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar the interpretation of the dream and the four different parts are the 4 one world empires that the world would experience. But the stone was the Kingdom of Christ and his Kingdom will have no end.... I want to ask you a question do you know Him?

When your faith meets the fire

Now we get to Chapter 3 and

Daniel 3:1–7 ESV

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. 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.

Now you need to understand something and that is in this story, Nebuchadnezzar is a shadow of the Anti-Christ. That final man of sin that will turn the world into a concentration camp in the last days.

One of the things that will take place is

Here Nebuchadnezzar the one world ruler is so arrogant that He makes a statue, but its a statue made entirely of gold.

This statue was 90 feet high

Forced Social Practices/ Mob mentality

Deception of the Last Days

Jesus told us that will make the end of days so alarming and disarming all at the same time will be deception.

If you don’t have the Spirit of God living inside of you you are going to be duped by the devils deception. I mean the devil will make you think right is wrong wrong is right, down is up and up is down.

2 Thessalonians 2:9–11 ESV

9 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false,

There is coming a time when social pressure to do the wrong thing will be so great thtat what is good will be construed as wrong. Think how social platforms like FB, Twitter and Instagram has become a platform for those with no voice to have one.

Think back just over the last couple of weeks, here in America we have seen pastors arrested, church members fined,,,, for their crime of going to church. And to see public ostracize pastors for shepherding their flocks is outrageous.... What are we seeing? We are seeing the spirit of lawlessness at work. How dare the church meet together, they are uncaring, they are selfish, they are narrow minded. How dare them? Why can’t they just do what they are told? Well because our eyes are opened and we understand things are approaching that others do not

Friend the times of persecution are coming. The time when Satanic deception will make people believe that the problem with the whole world are the Christians

Notice too that Nebuchadnezzar gathers the influential people… He grabs the statesmen and politicians and makes them come to the dedication of this image,,

Daniel 3:2–3 ESV

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.

What are you going to do when public opinion changes about who your God is? What are you going to do if it ever becomes a law that you cannot worship Jesus?

The Anti christ will have people of influence, what about when your little girls favorite actress gets up there and says that she has devoted her life to this person… Deceptive days

THE IMAGE

Daniel 3:3–6 ESV

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.”

In the Book of Revelation the Antichrist and the False Prophet have also has some kind of image set up in a rebuilt temple.

There are going to be two main players in the last day. The Anti-Christ that will be possesed by the devil himself, but there is another beast called the False Prophet. And the False Prophet will be a devoutly religious man, who is given Satanic power that enables him to do magical things. Will most likely be some famous TV preacher

Revelation 13:13–15 ESV

13 It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, 14 and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain.

It looks like a Lamb but soeaks like a dragon. This individual will give credence to the antichrist. He will be like Jesus John the Baptist. And until recently this image that is able to talk and make decisions had always confused me. But I have been doing a lot of research to invest in different business sectors in the stock market and one of the sectors that I like is technology. I have done lots of research on Artficilal Intelligence- AI and AV Auntonomous Vehicles. Andf let me tell you robotics have come a long way. Now preachers and pastors have all a hook their head at this image, because what in the world is this that it can speak. Well i believe that this image will probably be AN AI of some sort. And with the wearable tech that is our there I am sure that this image will be connected to the Anti Christ in some way.

Have you seen the Humanoid named Sophia… it became a n official citizen of Saudiarabia in 2017. I watched a video with Tony Robbins interviewing this machine and let me tell you it was disturbing. I think even he was disturbed

ONE WORLD RELIGION

There has been a lot of talk about a New World Order, a one world economy. a one world government.

Christianity is the dominant force keeping that from happening.

And that is why Christians will be targeted. Because the One world relgion will be a melting pot an amalgamation of all the worlds relgions that will ultimately lead to the deification of Man

Revelation 13:18 ESV

18 This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.

You will be ridiculed, you will be ostracized, you will be called narrow minded, religious biggest, uncaring, unloving, selfish. Are you ready to endure the onslaught, with boldness yess, but compassion forgivenss and love>

Daniel 3:7 ESV

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.

Now in this story we get a little preview of things to come. Nebuchadnezzar has an image set up and

BETRAYAL O FTHE LAST DAYS

Daniel 3:8–12 ESV

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. 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.”

NOW what will happen in the last days is this thing of snitching. The scritpure said there were certain Chaldean men that were ready to capitalize on this new rule of worshipping this image. They saw it as an oppurtunity to get a promotion. And they snitched out Shadrach. MESHACK AND Abednego.

THE CHINESE SOCIAL CREDIT SYSTEM

NBC reported a story a few weeks ago about the Chinese goverment. You see the Chinese are already doing the things that Revelation speaks of. They are about to launch a massive campaign of control over their citizens. Already they have all of the citizens tied on a leash with their cell phones

What they buy, how they behave is already being monitored by their goverment

They are scored by how responcible they are and if they score high enough they get perks from the government.

Because of advancments in Artificial intelligence and facial recognition. Its big brother meets advanced tech. Ci

Citizens are docked for littering

Messy yards

Gossip

and jaywalking

VIDEOS OF OFFENDERS ARE SHOWN ON THE LOACAL NEWS

iNFORMATION COLLECTORS ARE PAID BY THE GOVERMENT TO RAT ON THEIR NEIGHBORS, THEY EVEN HAVE A MONTHLY QUOTA

BEING DISCREDITED makes it hard to get jobs or send your children to good schools and are shamed on the local media. The informants get perks from teh goverment and rewarded

The ESV Study Bible Chapter 3

3:6 The forcing of false worship anticipates the situation with the beast (Rev. 13:12–15) and the persecution against the church (Acts 8:1–3).

How will you respond when your Faith is tested by the fire?

Those Babylonians worshipped the fire god. That’s what it’s all about. His name was Ishum. Ishum wasn’t like Jehovah

Rogers, A. (2017). When Faith Is in the Fire. In Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive (Da 3:1–29). Signal Hill, CA: Rogers Family Trust.

Daniel 3:15 ESV

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?”

Notice the Spirit of Antichrist speaking through him. Who ias thew God that will deliver you from my hand

Daniel 3:16–17 ESV

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.

Daniel 3:18 ESV

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.”

Listen this boldness isn’t something that had to muster in that moment, the Holy SDpirit gave them the courage then. These three did not have to think about their responce because they had already made a big decision before this moment.. They had already decided to remain faithful to God.

If you make those big decisions early on it will keep you from compromising a bunch of little decisions. As for me and my house we are going to serve the Lord

But notice that following Jesus will get you into trouble, espielly when serving the Lord and obey Him confllicts when man makes laws contrary to His laws.

We are commanded to be good citizzens, to seek the peace of the city that we live in. To pray for our leaders on bended knees, but listen when man makes lawless laws, we have to choose to obey God rather than man. And you will be ridiculed, ostracized, made to feel like you are doing a low down dirty shameful thing

But listen you have a Fourth man on your team......

Daniel 3:22–25 ESV

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. 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.”

Then is when faith is met with fire… you have a fourth man on your team. Nebuchadnezzar rose up and he seen the Son of God dancing in the flame with those boys. The Lord jesus Christ/ This was Jesus in the fire with him.

Learn this is serving Jesus gets you in a bind, so be int because He is right there with you

Daniel 3:27 ESV

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.

Listen when Jesus is there with you that a hair on your hair will be cinched