Daniel Chapter 3 (Part 3)
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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?”
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.
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.
“we have no need to answer you in this”
True confidence in God, changes our responses
The way I respond is a reflection of my belief system
Our words should match our faith!
There are some situations that we don’t have to address…
“If this be so”
If this is how you feel…
We understand.
“Our God whom we serve is able”
#1 Our God
The creator of heavens and earth
The God of the universe
All powerful
The God of Abraham / Issac / Jacob
The God of Moses
The God who demonstrates steadfast love
When you know who God is…
When you have experienced Him…
When you have a relationship with Him…
Your perspective is different!
Your expectations are different!
You can’t make me doubt Him - I know to much about Him
#2 Whom we Serve
Not only do we know Him but we serve Him
Knowing God will lead to serving Him
Theses three men followed the commandments of God
to serve (devote) v. — to devote (part of) one’s life or efforts to;
They were devoted
They were dedicated
They were faithful
They were steadfast in their belief
A passion to please God will produce a passion to serve Him!
#Is Able
When you know Him - Your Perspective of Him will Change
He is Able:
To deliver
To set free
To heal
To transform
To protect
To mend brokenness
To restore
“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?
Therefore, thus says the Lord: Behold, I am giving this city into the hands of the Chaldeans and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall capture it.
If God can give it / Trust me He can keep you while your in it!
They believed that he would deliver them out of the burning fiery furnace and He will deliver us out of your hand!
Remember Nebuchadnezzar said…
English Standard Version Chapter 3
And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”
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.”
“But if not”
If God choses not to deliver
If God choses to allow us to die in the burning fire furnace
“We will not serve your gods or worship the golden Image that you have set up.”
Notice they didn’t call for a prayer meeting!
Prayer Changes my will to line up with God’s will
They didn’t have fake faith…
The outcome was not going to effect their believe system. “We will not bow”
Your Faith Will Change People’s Perspective
Your Faith Will Change People’s Perspective
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.” 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.”
The King was astonished!
to be astonished v. — to be or become filled with the emotional impact of overwhelming surprise or shock.
“But I see four men unbound”
The text only acknowledges that Nebuchadnezzar seen four men
Not the three Hebrew boys…
Not the counselors...
God will use our situations to change the perspective of people around us!
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.
“They all gathered together and saw”
The fire had not had any power!
Their heads were not singed!
Their Clothes were not harmed!
No smell of fire had come upon them!
The three Hebrews boys already knew who God was…
But It was the King / Satraps / Prefects / The Governors / The Counselors
Who needed to know about who God was!
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.
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.”
They knew God was able!
But God used the situation to show Nebuchadnezzar that “No other god can rescue in this way.”
God is going to get the Glory!
Keep the Faith!