Faith of Three
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Trusting by Faith
Trusting by Faith
Lets begin by asking a question:
What is your favorite Bible story.
We all have one, or really if truth be told we have more than one that is our favorite just depending on the the situation at hand.
Bible stories remind us that no matter the particular experience we face, we can find a instance where the Bible speaks to that and it reminds us that we can live for the Lord and trust him day to day.
Today I want to take you back to one story that reminds us for the topic of faith.
What is faith? Hebrews 11:1 is the best definition of faith.
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
So at the very core, faith is what we believe is true without seeing it, touching or anything of the nature.
In the Bible there were three Hebrew children who were faithful, they trusted God even unto death and they would not violate his commands.
These men were friends of Daniel, all who were taken in the first wave of captivity where he came in and took the best of eh nobles children, teaching then and training them to rule and reign there in the land.
They would provide oversight of the Jewish people, taking care of their needs and so forth.
It really is a remarkable plan that Nebuchadnezzar and other after him used. hey allowed fellow citizen to stand over others in the hopes the control of them would be easier.
But one day, the King got the idea, well he was as good as God and wanted people to worship him...
Look at Daniel 3:1-6
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.”
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So understand that the King, Nebuchadnezzar, he thought a lot of himself, like a lot of dictators across time. I am king and then as such, people should look to me for all their answers.
In fact: He wanted people to worship him.
But there were some who would not… They would remain faithful to God...
1. Faithful to God....
Faithfulness is a necessary quality for God’s people. There is no other way around it....
Faithfulness is the quality of a person of being true to one’s commitment, the keeping of one’s word concerning what they believe.
In relation to God is that we put not only our trust in Him and nothing else, but we also make the commitment to love, worship and follow Him and Him alone, regardless of the circumstances we face.
Now some might say, they is all well and good Preacher, but when the situation arises, you won’t mean that…
There in is the challenge of the Christian life my friends. If we receive Christ as our Savior - We will trust Him, we will remain loyal to Him believing that He is able to keep us even in death. That is the conviction of our life in following Jesus
In our text, there came the challenge to faith by King Nebuchadnezzar, When the music plays, everyone must bow down and worship me.
Now when the decree came out, I am sure it was disturbing to the Hebrews but we know that some probably did bow down, considering their life more important that following God.
So there si a question… Which is more important.... Our Life or Follow Him for His Glory.
You have to make that decision..... Will you be faithful to God or not...
But these three Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, already knew their position they were His people committed to Him and Him alone.
The day the music played, they remained standing and others noticed and reported their actions to the King
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.”
They remained faithful....
Would you on the treat of death?
And consider this second thought....
2. Three Proclamations....
Well without a doubt, the King was not happy. I mean he was the King. Everyone was supposed to listen to him, right?
So the King called for them to be brought to Him, I really think he was shocked, cause he liked these guys and since they were in a position of leadership, He thought they would back him...
What he forgot was His faith… The world thinks that everyone will play along with its agenda, but what they forget is the faith of born again believers…
So lets look at our text....
13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. 14 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? 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?”
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. 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.”
Now the King was furious, He was shocked and upset and he called for those three men to be brought to His presence…
And so they were...
Now we know that He likes these three, Why?
He doesn’t kill them immediately, He gave them a second chance. That is what is happening in verse 15, I am gonna give you a second chance, but right here in front of me, when the music plays, bow down and worship me. But if you don’t, you will be thrown into the fiery furnace...
And listen to their response..... Three proclamations… Look at verses 16-18
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. 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.”
Do you see the three proclamations?
A. Our God is able to deliver us....
B. He will deliver us...
C. But if not.... we will not serve your gods or worship them...
What are they saying… We are faithful to our God and him alone no matter what may happen to us.
You see as Hebrews, Jewish citizens even while living in a foreign land…They would obey God’s commands,
The first of which is this....
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
You shall have no other gods before me, meaning you shall not worship any other gods....
They knew that the Lord their God was the one true God and there were no one else, they would remain faithful to Him.
And the most wonderful thing is this, their conviction is so strong, even if it brought death, they would not change...
The third proclamation gives three powerful phrases of strong and prevailing faith that should inspire us.
We should ask. do we have the kind of faith these three young Hebrew boys had? When facing trials, tests, and tribulation, do we respond as they did? Their simple and straightforward response was:
1) My God can… 2) my God will… 3) but if not …I will worship my God and not bow to another.
King David spoke similarly when he said, I will bless the LORD at all times… (Psalm 34:1). To “bless the Lord at all times” means that in all things we trust Him and have confidence in His love and protection.
David’s faith was the same kind of trusting confidence that enabled the three Hebrews boys to boldly stand before the king of Babylon and proclaim their faith.
Do you have that type of faith?
Now lets wrap this up.....
3. His Deliverance....
As the King heard this he was furious.... He was mad, he was furious and his face changed toward them, no longer did he care for them and verse 19 tells us that he ordered the furnace heated up 7 times hotter than it had ever been heated before.
Now only did the King plan on killing them, He wanted to make sure there was not ever a trace of them left when it was over....
So the furnace was heated and they were bound, tied up and prepared to be thrown into the fire..
21 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. 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.
Wow, you know the story, the people who brought them to the fire, bound them and threw them into the fire were fire were killed, overcome by the fire and heat as they pushed the three Hebrews into the fire...
But God was with those three Hebrew men....
in fact so much so that as they were in the fire, the flames did not hurt them, the smoke didn’t choke them and when Nebuchadnezzar when to looking hoping to see their demise, He saw something else.
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.”
He saw them alive and well, and ropes had been burned off and they were having a meeting, they were having church because their faith had set them free and God was in their midst, Jesus was there the preexistent Christ was there that day ...
I really wonder what all those men experienced that day… but when the King called out to them in the fire, asking them to come out. Nebuchadnezzar knew they were faithful and they served but one God and He had answered....
28 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. 29 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.” 30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.
Wow,,,
The King saw their faith was rewarded, their faithfulness was respected and He made a proclamation that no one should speak even of the God of these three men, and if they did they in turn would be killed and their homes brought tot he ground
You see these three men were faithful....
Their convictions were important to them, God had been faithful to them; how could they be unfaithful?
Has God been faithful to you?
IN a ever changing world, what is your response to Him