Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

There are some things in life that are absolutes:

After winter comes?

Spring!

What goes up must come…?

Down

2 +2 = ?

4

Effects have Causes

The Cardinals are better than the Cubs

Babies are cute

Fires consume things

In our world you simply know that somethings always happen.

That’s not a bad thing, it’s just how the laws of our world operate.

In fact, it would be weird for us to live in a world where there were no such rules to govern the universe.

It would be bad for us to live in such a world where you could jump and continue floating until you reached outer space - that would be a bad thing!

Rules are helpful.

Absolutes keep us grounded.

Yet, there are instances in life where the natural laws that seem to govern our world are broken: instances where the miraculous transpires.

Consider some of the miracles in Scripture that we see.

Talking donkey’s, massive armies suffering defeat to a few hundred soldiers, seas parting, walls falling down, dead men being raised to life.

We see normal rules being broken in miraculous ways with a purpose in mind.

Several years ago there was a couple, Tom and Marsha, who wanted so badly to have a child but just like Abraham and Sarah in the book of Genesis, nothing was happening.

Mandy had reached the menopause and her doctor told her that she wouldn’t be able to have a biological child.

After a few months of swallowing this news, her husband stopped praying for a biological child and had resigned to look in a different direction, but Marsha wanted to go back to the doctor and have 1 final pregnancy test.

7 months after this prognosis and after years and years of trying, Mandy was pregnant to the shock of her doctor and his staff.

Over the next 2 weeks she underwent 3 sonograms and 4 additional pregnancy tests because the hospital simply couldn’t believe what had happened… A miracle had taken place and 9 months later, Tom and Mandy welcomed their daughter, Amanda, into the world!

This shouldn’t have happened.

Whenever you reach a certain point, the facts tell you that something like this is impossible.

It’s impossible for Tom and Marsha to have a child.

It’s impossible for someone dead to be raised back to life.

It’s impossible for something to come out of nothing.

It’s impossible for you to be thrown into a fire and come out the other side completely unharmed!

But God… That’s the only explanation!

Friends, we are reminded over and over in God’s Word that our God has all power and that He is in control right now.

He isn’t just kind of in control, He’s completely in control.

He makes the rules and there is no such thing as impossible to Him.

He is able to deliver His saints from any situation, even from a fiery furnace.

He is able to deliver you today from whatever obstacle you are facing.

But even if He doesn’t, He deserves our praise because of who He is and all that He has done.

Let’s continue reading in Daniel 3 to see what becomes of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego as they stand up to a pagan tyrant and refuse to worship the gold statue that he has made

Trusting in God Will Lead to Persecution (16-23)

Last week we left off with a cliffhanger of sorts in Daniel 3:18 as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego refused to worship the golden statue that Nebuchadnezzar had made.

They were given yet another opportunity to bow down, but they firmly held their ground.

The Disney ending to this story would be that the king would realize that his command wasn’t very nice and he’d back down.

He’d apologize and let these 3 go back to doing what they were doing and give them a pass of sorts… That might be Hollywood but it’s certainly not reality.

Whenever you stand up to the king, you do so knowing that he will strike you down.

This is exactly what the king does in the verses that follow.

We read that these men have great faith in the Lord and we might expect them to be taken out of the situation immediately, but that’s not what happens.

Instead of the king taking it easy on them, the king gets furious and increases his punishment!

We read that he wants the furnace pumped 7x hotter than it normally would be!

Remember from last week, how hot can this furnace get? 1800 degrees.

Does this mean that the furnace was usually 1/7 of that temperature?

No, that would only be 257 degrees!

Why would the king make this declaration?

Because this is a proverbial statement

What’s up with 7 showing up in these verses?

What if a righteous person falls down 8 times instead of 7? Does that make him a fool all of a sudden?

No.

The number 7 often represents completion or perfection.

Why would Nebuchadnezzar make this statement in verse 19?

So that the furnace would be at it’s maximum intensity.

It would be as hot as possible!

Further, the king didn’t just have some random servants toss them into the furnace, we read that the king commanded some of his best soldiers to tie them up and then throw them in the furnace.

He didn’t leave anything to chance - He made the hottest fire and used his strongest soldiers.

He was the most powerful man in the world and he wanted these men to be punished for their rebellion - he called upon his marines to get the job done just like our leaders would do today!

Do you see how this man simply didn’t get who he was dealing with?

Look back to verse 15

It was all about Nebuchadnezzar’s power… His furnace, heated to its maximum temperature, using his strongest soldiers.

This was a display of force meant to intimidate any other folks thinking about defying his command.

He doesn’t want a mistake to be made.

He wants to exercise his dominance!

We read in verses 16-18 that these men are prepared for whatever God decides to do.

They have made up their mind and they are ready for the cost… Put yourself in their shoes, though!

Maybe you make the statement they made earlier on because you have faith, maybe you’re still feeling confident when you’re standing across from the furnace, but what about whenever these guys grab you and tie you up?

What are you feeling then?

Many of us would feel absolutely helpless and powerless.

It’s one thing to be confident when you’re comfortable or when you’re in control… It’s another to be confident and faithful whenever there is an obvious consequence awaiting you.

It’s another thing to be faithful to God whenever the heat of the furnace begins to make you sweat.

Whenever you trust in God you say, “Whatever happens to me, I will be faithful to God.”

We shouldn’t be surprised whenever trusting in God leads to some problems with other people!

We shouldn’t be surprised whenever trusting in God leads to being thrown into the blazing fire - often in the fire it is where we see our Savior most clearly!

We see this throughout the Bible

The world hated Jesus, and if we act like Jesus, we should expect some people to not necessarily like us… We shouldn’t act like this is unusual, this is the norm for Christians throughout human history!

Lots of people nowadays say something along these lines, “If Christians just acted more like Jesus then there wouldn’t be any problems.”

Get out of here with that!

Jesus was God in the flesh, He was perfect, He was loving and gracious, but He also called people out for their sinfulness and people killed him for it.

They hated Him for what He did and for who He was - so Christian, don’t be surprised whenever people don’t like you because of your faith in Jesus.

For years, Christians have been persecuted.

They’ve laid down their lives.

They’ve died by the sword, at the stake, and with spears through their heart!

If you’re a Christian this morning, you can reasonably expect your trust in the Lord to be put to the test and persecution to come your way.

You might even be thrown into a furnace because of who you follow… But remember that even in the furnace, you’re not alone!

Trusting in God Will Lead to Salvation (24-27)

Just as trusting in God will lead to persecution and opposition, trusting in God will always lead to salvation.

What do we mean by that statement?

Whenever you repent of your sins and trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior, through His death on the cross in your place, you are saved of the punishment of your sin and you are saved as a son or daughter of God!

That means that you are saved from the punishment of your sins, separation from God in hell, and you are saved to be a servant of God during this life and you have the hope of eternity spent with Him in glory!

Trusting in God, though it guarantees you of eternal celebration, doesn’t always mean that things make sense here and now.

Yet, even though we don’t always see the end, we know that Jesus demands our trust and our allegiance.

That is what these 3 men have and we see the story play itself out in these verses.

Logically, what should have happened?