I Made it Out Alright

Pray

Give Honor

Text: Daniel 3:26-27

Daniel 3:26–27 NKJV

26 Then Nebuchadnezzar went near the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke, saying, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here.” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego came from the midst of the fire. 27 And the satraps, administrators, governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together, and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them.

If we can be honest tonight, A lot of us feel that since we are Christians, we are exempt from the experience of trouble and trials.

That because we pay our tithes,

Because we live right,

Because we have a prayer life,

That we are exempt from the experience of trouble.

But the truth of the matter is, being a Christian does NOT EXEMPT YOU FROM THE EXPERIENCE OF TROUBLE.

BEING A CHRISTIAN JUST EXEMPTS YOU FROM THE EFFECTS OF TROUBLE.

IN OTHER WORDS, YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE TO GO THROUGH IT, but what you Go through wont kill you.

NOAH, was not exempt from the flood, but while everyone else was drowning noah was floating.

Job was not exempt from losing everything, but after a while he got back double what he lost

David was not exempt from running for his life, but God Kept him from what could have killed him.

Even Jesus was not exempt from calvary, he was still hung high, he was still stretched wide, he STILL DIED, BUT THE EFFECTS OF HIS DEATH WAS DIFFERENT.

HE DID NOT STAY DEAD. EARLY SUNDAY MORNING!!!!

So here in the text we find that King King Nebuchadrezar has built a golden image. One that he loved and adored.

History shows that on the tenth year of his reign, there was a revolt led against him.

Some believed that the reason why he built this image was for a loyalty test. To see if ones would do what he said, when he said.

He made a decree that one must Bow and worship the Golden image when they hear the sound of the music, They must bow and worship the Golden image.

There are now 3 young Hebrew boys who are faced with a difficult challenge.

There are 3 things that I see about these boys, that I want to talk about.

1. They were Bold in their Beliefs

When you look at the text, you would see that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were caught not bowing to the golden image.

And the bible says that when the king found out, he tried to give them another chance to bow,

They still did not bow,

And the bible says that the king asked the question, “if we throw you in the bible, will your God save you”

They responded “if that is the case, our God will deliver us, but if he doesn’t, WE STILL WON’T SERVE YOUR GOD”

So the king made a demand to turn the fire up 7 times hotter than normal. This fire was so hot that the ones who threw them in, were consumed by the fire.

2. God was Present in their Persecution

The bible says the king asked the question,

Did not I throw 3 in bound, yet I see 4 and the 4th looks like the son of God.

And its crazy because God could have easily shown his power by not letting the fire even start.

God waited until the fire was 7 times hotter, just to show how powerful he really is.

Sometimes God will wait until the place in your life where you need him the most to show how powerful he really is.

The bible says that the king said take them out of the fire. When he took them out he saw 2 things

They were

3. UNBound and unbothered

, the bible says tthat when they were taken out of the fire, and they did not look or smell like fire.

And there aught be some people who can say IM Glad I Don’t look like what I’ve been through