Focus on the Lord (Daniel 3)
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CPT: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego obey God’s command against idolatry and are rescued from the king’s power.
Purpose: Growing in the Lord means resisting idolatry and focusing on our Savior.
CPS: Focus on the Lord who stands with you.
Introduction
We need to be Christians who remain focused on the Lord. There are a lot of things in life that want to take our focus and attention away. We need to be focused on the Lord.
As I’ve gotten older, my eyesight has gotten worse. When you go to the eye doctor, they put you on this machine, and they have you look through these eye holes. Now, they are flicking lenses in front of you, and asking, “Is this better? How about this?” And they flick one glass lens, to another glass lens, until you find something that makes things look clear.
It always feels like such a life-altering decision. For me, I’m always flicking back and forth. “Can I see the first one? The second one? The first one? The second one? I don’t know, maybe the second one? They both look bad. Okay, now there is a third one. Lets go back to the first.”
Now, I’m supposed to wear glasses for reading, but I forget about them. Now, I just put the words on the screen really big. But I pick up a can to read or something, and I think letters got smaller. I might pick up my glasses, and then its like, “Oh, there are words there!”
Keeping focused is an issue. For us as Christians, we need to remember to keep our minds and hearts focused on the Lord. But how can we do that? How can we remain focused on the Lord?
We will look at remaining focused on the Lord in Daniel 3.
Scripture Reading: Daniel 3
1 King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue, ninety feet high and nine feet wide. He set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.
2 King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to assemble the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the rulers of the provinces to attend the dedication of the statue King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
3 So the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the rulers of the provinces assembled for the dedication of the statue the king had set up. Then they stood before the statue Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
4 A herald loudly proclaimed, “People of every nation and language, you are commanded:
5 When you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, drum, and every kind of music, you are to fall facedown and worship the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.
6 But whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire.”
7 Therefore, when all the people heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, and every kind of music, people of every nation and language fell down and worshiped the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
8 Some Chaldeans took this occasion to come forward and maliciously accuse the Jews.
9 They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “May the king live forever.
10 You as king have issued a decree that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, drum, and every kind of music must fall down and worship the gold statue.
11 Whoever does not fall down and worship will be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire.
12 There are some Jews you have appointed to manage the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men have ignored you, the king; they do not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.”
13 Then in a furious rage Nebuchadnezzar gave orders to bring in Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king.
14 Nebuchadnezzar asked them, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, is it true that you don’t serve my gods or worship the gold statue I have set up?
15 Now if you’re ready, when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, drum, and every kind of music, fall down and worship the statue I made. But if you don’t worship it, you will immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire—and who is the god who can rescue you from my power?”
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, “Nebuchadnezzar, we don’t need to give you an answer to this question.
17 If the God we serve exists, then he can rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and he can rescue us from the power of you, the king.
18 But even if he does not rescue us, we want you as king to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.”
19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He gave orders to heat the furnace seven times more than was customary,
20 and he commanded some of the best soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and throw them into the furnace of blazing fire.
21 So these men, in their trousers, robes, head coverings, and other clothes, were tied up and thrown into the furnace of blazing fire.
22 Since the king’s command was so urgent and the furnace extremely hot, the raging flames killed those men who carried up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego fell, bound, into the furnace of blazing fire.
24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in alarm. He said to his advisers, “Didn’t we throw three men, bound, into the fire?” “Yes, of course, Your Majesty,” they replied to the king.
25 He exclaimed, “Look! I see four men, not tied, walking around in the fire unharmed; and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”
26 Nebuchadnezzar then approached the door of the furnace of blazing fire and called, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, you servants of the Most High God—come out!” So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the fire.
27 When the satraps, prefects, governors, and the king’s advisers gathered around, they saw that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men: not a hair of their heads was singed, their robes were unaffected, and there was no smell of fire on them.
28 Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, “Praise to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! He sent his angel and rescued his servants who trusted in him. They violated the king’s command and risked their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.
29 Therefore I issue a decree that anyone of any people, nation, or language who says anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego will be torn limb from limb and his house made a garbage dump. For there is no other god who is able to deliver like this.”
30 Then the king rewarded Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.
Pray
This passage shows us three things about focusing on the Lord.
First,
Focusing on the Lord will help you resist idolatry.
Focusing on the Lord will help you resist idolatry.
State the point; Anchor the point; Validate the point; Explain the point
Text: Daniel 3:14-15; Ex. 20:4-6; Col. 3:5; Eph. 5:5; Phil. 4:8
King Nebuchadnezzar commanded Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to worship the idol, but they refused. Their focus on obedience to God helped them resist the lure of idolatry. The world continues to tempt Christians towards idolatry. We resist idolatry by focusing our minds and hearts on following Christ.
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Refusing the king’s command to worship the idol
King Nebuchadnezzar was king of the land. What he said went. People would die who disobeyed him. He hears that three men who he has put in charge are not following his command. This gets him into a rage. Take a look at verse 14.
14 Nebuchadnezzar asked them, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, is it true that you don’t serve my gods or worship the gold statue I have set up?
15 Now if you’re ready, when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, drum, and every kind of music, fall down and worship the statue I made. But if you don’t worship it, you will immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire—and who is the god who can rescue you from my power?”
His mind is blown away. He says, “Is it true that you are not doing what I told you and everyone to do? Now, when the worship band starts playing, worship that statue I made!”
Then he lays out the consequences. “If you don’t do what I say, if you don’t worship the idol I made, you will die. You will be thrown into the fire.” Look at this, “Who is the god that can rescue you from me?”
They had never known a God who was more powerful than a human being. To them, the king, a human, was the ultimate power. This was an admission from Nebuchadnezzar that the Babylonian gods were powerless. They never knew a God who was powerful, who was life-transforming.
God’s command against idolatry
But these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they knew a God stronger than a man. The God of Israel was capable of great things. And the God of Israel commanded his people not to worship anything or anyone else but him. Take a look at Exodus 20, verse 4.
4 Do not make an idol for yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth.
5 Do not bow in worship to them, and do not serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me,
6 but showing faithful love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commands.
These men loved God and followed his command. They would bow to no one else but God alone. The nations all around Israel had gods that they made up and worshipped. There were craftsmen who had ideas about God, had a picture of what they thought a god could look like, and they would carve that picture out, one stroke at a time, until they created a piece of art that would claim represented their god.
The gods of the world didn’t split the sea or give them commandments. Instead, they were lifeless pieces of carved artwork from human minds, whom these three men knew were powerless and meaningless.
Modern-day idolatry
Do we have these kind of idols today? While we think we’ve gotten past crafting images of gods and bowing to them, we are constantly crafting idols of gods in our minds. We are just like those craftsmen.
Crafting an idol of God in your mind: Every time you hear someone say, “I don’t think God would act...” in a way that is clearly against what the Bible says about God, they are like the idol maker crafting an image of God that he is comfortable with. They sit down with a chisel in their mind, and start crafting the image. “I don’t like hell, so we’ll take that out, I don’t think God sends anyone to hell. I don’t like a God that holds people responsible for what they do with their bodies, so we’ll take that out. I don’t like a God that holds people accountable to what they say or think. In fact, I like a God that I can pretty much ignore, but bring out whenever I’m feeling needy. Yep, that’s good.” They’ve got the image, and then they place that god somewhere in their mind. It’s a god they feel comfortable with.
Well, that’s nice and all, but that is not how reality works. You don’t look at grass or a mountain and say, “I don’t really like that color, or I don’t like where that’s at.” You might believe with all of your heart that the grass is a different color, or the mountain is in a different place, but that doesn't change reality. We need to deal with reality the way it is, and we need to deal with God according to his terms, not our own. We need to get the idols of gods that we make up out of our minds, accept God according to his revelation, and follow him according to his terms, not ours.
Greed as idolatry
For most of the Bible, an idol refers to a piece of carved artwork or some statue or item that people bowed down to and worshipped. But the New Testament also expands on this view of an idol to the concept of greed. Take a look at Colossians 3, verse 5.
5 Therefore, put to death what belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry.
You also see this in Ephesians 5, verse 5.
5 For know and recognize this: Every sexually immoral or impure or greedy person, who is an idolater, does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Greed is this concept, this thing within the human that wants more and more. It wants to fill some inner desire that’s never filled. What does greed have to do with idolatry? When you are greedy, you are putting your trust, hope, and desire into something or someone other than God. You might say in your heart, “I need God plus something else.” I need God plus money, or plus lust, or plus whatever else.
You put your hope and trust into some thing that you think is going to make everything okay. You craft this thing as a god in your own heart. Except, that thing never can fulfill. You get money, and want more money, because it’s always, “If I just have more, than everything will be okay.”
You can quickly fall into a cycle of greed and idolatry.
Resisting idolatry by focusing on the Lord
How can we resist idolatry? In Philippians 4, Paul talks about guarding your heart and your mind, and then discusses what to dwell on. Take a look at verse 8.
8 Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—dwell on these things.
The word dwell there has the technical meaning of calculate. You add up, think about, consider all of the goodness of God in your life. All that God is, all the power of God in your life, all of the goodness of God in Christ, you dwell, consider, think about what is honorable, just, pure, true, commendable, praiseworthy. You think of the power of Jesus, who he is, and all he is in your life.
Focusing on the Lord to resist idolatry: When you spend time in the sun, your body starts to adapt. My wife loves the beaches here in San Diego. I don’t mind them, as long as I don’t get sunburned or get a bunch of sand in my car. But she loves to go to the beach and get a tan. Do you know why your body tans? The body is responding to all of the time you are spending dwelling in the sun. Your body has an ability to produce melanin, which rises to the surface of your skin and produces the darker color. It’s kind of a natural sunscreen. You come to work or church with a tan after the beach, and people know that you’ve been in the sun.
That is time spent dwelling in the s-u-n, sun. We need to spend time dwelling in the S-o-n, Son of God. As you spend time in God’s Son, you will be able to resist the idolatries of this world. People will know that you’ve spent time dwelling in the S-o-n, because dwelling in the Son will come out in your words and actions.
Focusing on the Lord will help you resist idolatry.
Second,
Focusing on the Lord will give you clarity amidst trials.
Focusing on the Lord will give you clarity amidst trials.
State the point; Anchor the point; Validate the point; Explain the point
Text: Daniel 3:14-18; Matt. 10:18-20; Prov. 28:1; Rom. 8:31
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had good clarity of thought in their response to the king. They knew their God and responded accordingly. Clarity comes from learning to rely on God and knowing that he has the ultimate power.
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Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had great clarity amidst the trial
These three men in Daniel 3 had great clarity of mind and thought as they responded to the king. Now the king had just asked, “Who is the god who can rescue you from my power?,” implying that there was no man or god who could rescue them from him. Look at how they responded.
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, “Nebuchadnezzar, we don’t need to give you an answer to this question.
17 If the God we serve exists, then he can rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and he can rescue us from the power of you, the king.
18 But even if he does not rescue us, we want you as king to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.”
Take a look at the things they say.
“We don’t need to give you an answer...”
First, they told the king, “We don’t need to give you an answer.” Now, I’m not sure if this translates, but in the hood that I grew up in, we would call that pretty gangsta. It’s like, “Man, that was bold.” The king had just asked who was the god who could rescue them. They knew where the true power was.
“Our God can rescue us from your power”
Verse 17, they way its worded says, “If the God we serve exists.” That’s a direct translation from the Hebrew. But in light of verse 18, I believe what they are getting at is, “If our God so chooses, he will rescue us. Our God can rescue us from your power.” They knew they couldn’t demand anything of God. They serve God, not the other way around. But if God so chooses, there is no power on earth, no king, that could ever stop him.
“Even if he does not rescue us, we will not serve your gods”
These men then said, “Even if our God doesn’t rescue us, we want you to know that we will not serve your gods.” Wow. That is clarity. That is knowing where you stand, and knowing who you serve.
Where does clarity come from? Two things.
Clarity comes from learning to rely on God
Jesus taught that, as we learn to rely and trust on God, our reliance on God will come out in our words. Take a look at Matthew 10, verse 18.
18 You will even be brought before governors and kings because of me, to bear witness to them and to the Gentiles.
19 But when they hand you over, don’t worry about how or what you are to speak. For you will be given what to say at that hour,
20 because it isn’t you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father is speaking through you.
As the disciples grew in following God, as they progressed as disciples of Jesus, God would give them the words for the trials they would face. There was going to be hardships along the way. Jesus never promises that things will be easy. But he encourages us to rely on God. Let the Spirit of God work in your life, and in the hour when you need to come up with the answer, the Spirit of God will bring up his word to your mind, he will fill your hearts and minds as you dwell on him, and he will give you clarity to speak.
A second thing on clarity:
Clarity comes from knowing who has the ultimate power
Notice also for these three men that their clarity showed their boldness. When you are clear in your mind who has the ultimate power, when you know the power of God and who he is, there is a boldness that comes out. Look at Proverbs 28:1:
1 The wicked flee when no one is pursuing them, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.
Also, take a look at Romans 8, verse 31.
31 What, then, are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us?
You need clarity on who God is, and what he thinks of you. That is why we need to dwell on the goodness of God, the power of God, the love of God. We need clarity on knowing who God is, and clarity on knowing who he says that we are. He sees people as valuable.
Clarity amidst trials: The $100 bill that is stepped on and trampled
A $100 bill can be crumpled, mashed, or spit on and it is still worth $100. Its value is not determined by what happens to it, but instead by the one who consigned it. The government says that this is worth $100. So it is worth $100 even if it is mistreated, stepped on, and spit on. It can even be ripped and taped back together and still be worth $100.
Many Christians feel that in their lives they have been stomped on, crushed, and bruised. However, their worth is not affected because their value has been consigned by another.
[Tony Evans, Tony Evans’ Book of Illustrations: Stories, Quotes, and Anecdotes from More than 30 Years of Preaching and Public Speaking (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2009), 36.]
Wherever you are in life, if you are a Christian this morning, there is power in your life, not because of anything you’ve done, but because of who you serve.
Focusing on the Lord will help you resist idolatry.
Focusing on the Lord will give you clarity amidst trials.
Last,
Focusing on the Lord will be a testimony to others.
Focusing on the Lord will be a testimony to others.
State the point; Anchor the point; Validate the point; Explain the point
Text: Daniel 3:24-27; John 9:24-27; Heb. 12:1-2
The king threw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the flames, and their trial became their testimony. God was there in the heat with them. Their rescue became their testimony. God will use his saving power in your life as a testimony to the world.
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They are thrown into the fire only to be rescued from the flames
Now we get to a miracle in Daniel 3 of these three men and the fire. Take a look at how this plays out in Daniel 3, starting in verse 24.
24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in alarm. He said to his advisers, “Didn’t we throw three men, bound, into the fire?” “Yes, of course, Your Majesty,” they replied to the king.
25 He exclaimed, “Look! I see four men, not tied, walking around in the fire unharmed; and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”
26 Nebuchadnezzar then approached the door of the furnace of blazing fire and called, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, you servants of the Most High God—come out!” So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the fire.
27 When the satraps, prefects, governors, and the king’s advisers gathered around, they saw that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men: not a hair of their heads was singed, their robes were unaffected, and there was no smell of fire on them.
Now the king threw these three men, that he put in positions of authority, into the fire. He had said, “What god can rescue you from my power,” and then showed it by throwing them into the fire. Or that’s what he thought.
But his eyes kind of popped open as he sprang up from where he was.
“Didn’t we throw three men? I see four men, and one looks divine!”
Nebuchadnezzar says, “I thought we only threw three men in there! There is a fourth, and he looks like a God!” Now, some see this as possibly a preincarnate Christ, and maybe. But certainly this is the power of God with them in the fire.
What’s interesting, God didn’t rescue them before they went into the flames. No, God was with them in the flames. Sometimes, as Christians, we go into the heat. We go into the flames, but God is with us in the flames.
For these three men, they saw that, in the middle of the worst fire the world can throw at you, God is not powerless. God is powerful, and he is with you in the heat and in the flames.
Their examination showed God’s power to rescue
The miracle was for them to go into the heat, and to see the power of God in their life at the moment of the worst flames. They were called out of the flames, and it says that all of these powerful people were looking at them, and there wasn’t one hair singed on their head. Their clothes didn’t smell like smoke.
When people see you go into the heat and see the power of God in your life, they will try to make sense of it. There is a testimony in your life, a supernatural testimony, that they will be confronted with.
God’s power in a life points the world to Jesus
The Bible says that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses of people who have been in the flames and seen the power of God work in their life.
Hebrews 11 is what some call the hall of faith, and it leads to chapter 12. Time and time again we see the power of God to rescue and change lives. The Bible shows us lives transformed by Jesus. History shows us transformed lives. In our church, there are testimonies of transformed lives, lives that have been rescued from the flames. This is why it says in Hebrews 12:
1 Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us,
2 keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Let us run, keeping our eyes on Jesus. When you focus on the Lord, it is a testimony to the world of the power of God to rescue us, sometimes from the flames, and sometimes in the middle of the flames.
There is a popular song called, “Another in the Fire.” It says,
Heading: “Another in the Fire”
There was another in the fire
Standing next to me
There was another in the waters
Holding back the seas
And should I ever need reminding
Of how I've been set free
There is a cross that bears the burden
Where another died for me
Whenever we look at the flames, we always end up at the cross. There is a cross that bears the burden. There is a cross that took on the flames for me. There is the power of God at the cross that sets me free.
Keeping our eyes on Jesus, who for the joy set before him, endured the cross. Let us focus on the Lord, who is there with us in the flames, and has endured the cross for you and me.
Conclusion
Focusing on the Lord will help you resist idolatry.
Focusing on the Lord will give you clarity amidst trials.
Focusing on the Lord will be a testimony to others.
Conclude
Have you heard the message today and realized that you need Jesus? Are you ready to put your faith in Jesus? We want to pray with you, and celebrate your new life. Please see one of our pastors after the service.
Blanks: resist idolatry; clarity amidst trials; a testimony to others.
Prayer
Last Song
Doxology
24 “May the Lord bless you and protect you;
25 may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
26 may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.” ’
24 Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, without blemish and with great joy,
25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen.
You are dismissed. Have a great week in the Lord!
