Things are Subject to Change part 8
Today I’m going to pick up where we left off last week. We’ve been teaching on God turning your situation around. All of us face adversity in our lives and there will be storm and situations that will arise in the future. But we don’t have to go down in failure. For those that have truly placed their faith and trust in God, God will turn your situation around.
I) We may not be perfect, and we think, “How can God work through me and turn my situation around?”
A) None of us are perfect, and God is not looking for those that have it all together.
1) He is just simply looking for those that will put their trust and confidence in Him.
2) If you look at Peter, he was a harsh man, always shooting his mouth off. 3 times he denied the Lord in public.
(a) Yet God transformed him into a tower of strength who preached powerful sermons and worked mighty miracles.
(b) If God can turn Peter’s life around, then He can turn our life around.
(c) If you’re serving the Lord, God’s hand is upon you.
B) Turn with me to DEUT 30:2-6 (V 3 from the NIV says, “I will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you.”)
1) Whatever your situation is, no matter how hopeless it may seem in the natural, if you will turn to the Lord and trust Him in the mist of that situation God will turn it around.
(a) God is a master of turning hopeless situation into victorious ones.
II) Turn with me to a very familiar passage in DAN 3:8-12
A) This passage is probably 1 of my favorite Bible stories.
1) It shows God’s mighty power to turn a crisis into a victory.
B) As the story begins, certain Chaldeans were jealous over the position that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were in.
1) The king set them over all the affairs of Babylon.
2) The Chaldeans informed King Nebuchadnezzar that these 3 men have failed to comply with the law of the land, which requires them to worship the golden image.
(a) This is a serious offence, punishable by death.
C) DAN 3:13-18
1) Notice the pride and arrogance of King Nebuchadnezzar. He became enraged to think that anyone, even his most trusted officials, would dare to defy his decree.
2) He demanded them to be brought to him and demands to know what kind of God they think they serve who can save them from his hands.
(a) You might be facing the same type of situation.
(b) Perhaps the prince of this world is screaming at you and saying, “WHERE IS YOUR GOD? What makes you think that He can change what the bank, mortgage company, or the medical profession has decreed?”
(i) The Devil loves to scream at people. He says things like, “Where is your God? Where is the Lord that you trust so much now that you need Him? Where is He when the doctors declare you incurable? Where is He now that your bank account is in the red and the rent is due? WHO IS THAT GOD THAT WILL DELIVER YOU OUT OF MY HANDS?”
3) Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were not impressed or intimidated by the king’s questions and accusations.
(a) They knew exactly where their God was and were convinced that He knew their situation.
(b) They were convinced that God would deliver them.
(i) That’s why they could exercise such boldness in answering the king, “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us form the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us.”
D) Anyone can say, “Our God is able.”
1) But it’s a whole new dimension to say and believe that “OUR GOD WILL DELIVER US.”
2) When the 3 Hebrew children told the king all these things, it made him furious.
(a) Satan becomes furious when we stand up against him. That’s why things sometimes get worst when we 1st come against him.
III) Let’s go on reading here in DAN 3:19-23
A) These 3 men were thrown into the fiery furnace and they were totally helpless.
1) In the natural, there was no hope for them.
(a) There was absolutely no way in the natural for these men to be freed from this fiery furnace.
(i) Maybe if they were NOT BOUND HAND and FOOT they might have been able to fight their way out of this situation.
(b) But there was not even the slightest chance for them to get out of this in the natural.
(i) No human effort was going to get them out of this. They were totally and completely helpless.
2) That might be your situation today. The medical profession may have told you that there is no way out of your situation, that you are bound and hopeless.
(a) A financial adviser may have told you that you are bound to your debt and that there is no way out. It’s hopeless.
3) WELL. LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING; AS LONG AS JESUS IS LORD, AS LONG AS HE IS STILL ON THE THRONE, THERE IS A WAY, THERE IS ALWAYS A WAY. JESUS IS THE WAY!
B) Look at DAN 3:24-25
1) Not only did the king see 4 men in the fiery furnace, but he also saw that these men were loose.
2) Notice that these 3 men, now 4, were loose and walking about, in no apparent hurry to get out of the furnace.
(a) King Nebuchadnezzar had to come near the mouth of the fire and call them out. DAN 3:26
(b) What were they doing in that furnace? I think that they were having a Holy Ghost came meeting.
(i) When ever Jesus shows up on the scene it’s time for church.
(ii) He’s always showing up on the scene.
(iii) He was the 4th man in this fiery furnace. He was there in Daniel’s lion’s den. He was there for Moses at the parting of the Red Sea. He was there for Joshua when the sun and the moon stood still. He was there for Elijah at the parting of the Jordan River. He was there for Paul and Silas when they were thrown into prison and there was a great earthquake and everyone was freed.
(iv) If He was there for them, He’ll be there for you.
C) I know 1 thing that these 3 Hebrew children kept there eyes on Jesus.
1) It doesn’t matter if you’re going through a storm or a fiery furnace if your eyes are on the Lord Jesus the natural things in this world will not affect you.
(a) You may go through the storm, but you will not drown. You may go through a fiery trial, but will not be burned.
(b) As the song goes, “Come on and walk in faith and victory, for the Lord thy God is with you.”
2) If these 3 men could be totally confident that God would deliver them out of this furnace. It furnace that was heated 7 times hotter than it has ever been heated.
(a) Then surly you and I can stand against the Devil and declare to him, “I will not bow to your threats and I will not be burned or overcome, for the Lord is with me and I will walk on in faith and victory.”
D) Look at DAN 3:27
1) Even though you might be going through a storm or a fiery trial, when you come out of it there will no sign of the battle that you went through.
(a) In this V it says when they saw these men, they saw that the fire had no power over their bodies, (no burn marks), the hair of their head was not singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.
(b) There was no sign that they ever went through a fiery furnace.
(i) The only sign that was evident, was 1 of victory.
IV) Turn with to DAN 11:32
A) These 3 Hebrew children were living and operating under the Old Covenant.
1) The book of Hebrews tells us in (HEB 8:6) that we have a better covenant based on better promises.
2) If these men could be bold and do EXPLOITS under the Old Covenant
3) Then surly you and I can do it under the New Covenant.
B) If you keep your eyes on Jesus and have faith in Him, you too are going to do exploits.
1) You’re going to see the power of God work in your life and turn your situation into victory for the Glory of God.
WOLCC Sunday 5/18/1997