I'd like to ask you if you take your Bibles and join me in the book of Daniel, chapter three. Today, we are continuing our series on Daniel. But Daniel's not in this chapter. which is quite interesting. A lot of people think Daniel was in the fiery furnace. He was not. He was probably out on official business because he had just been crowned as a very, very important man in the kingdom. But I think that we see Daniel's fingerprints in the steadfast dedication of his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. It's important to remember what has transpired coming up to this point. Daniel is a captive, okay? He is a captive and particularly he is a royal captive because He had very fair skin. He was probably of a very wealthy family from Israel, which was a Babylonian captivity. We already see how he decided in Daniel chapter 1 and verse 8 that he had already purposed in his heart that he was going to obey what God says is right. And the first exercise of that obedience was when they were told to eat of a certain kind of food. And as a result of that, it would cause Daniel to break the commitment that he had made to the Lord. So he decided, I'm not going to eat the king's meat. And instead of having his head removed from him, he pleaded with the one who was in charge of him to give him 10 days for he and his friends to demonstrate that the way that God has set this up for his people would be not only comparable, but it would be better. than what the king had purposed. And if you remember here, we're not talking about scraps meat. This is probably the best kind of meat that was available in the world at that time because they were in the most powerful kingdom under the leadership of the most powerful man, King Nebuchadnezzar, that was on the face of the earth. So of course they said, we're going to do what God said, And of course they were given that opportunity and it proved to work. Then you have chapter 2, which we spent a lot of time in, all of our time in, last week. Which is rare, not all the time do we just kind of stick with one book. But I think the narrative quality of these types of stories is attractive for a reason. But of course Nebuchadnezzar had a dream. And it was so startling to him that he broke from his sleep He woke up and whether he knew the dream and wanted to test his best astrologers and magicians and sorcerers and Chaldeans, or whether he literally forgot the dream, he presented something that no king had ever asked in the history of these astrologers' knowledge. Nebuchadnezzar wanted them to tell him what his dream was. That requires some type of foreknowledge that very few people have. As a matter of fact, there's a very important quote from chapter 2 of Daniel where these sorcerers, magicians, Chaldeans, astrologers said, I told you to hang on to that statement because we're going to see the significance of God's power specifically in chapter 3 where we believe we see the Lord Christ with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego inside the fiery furnace which would totally destroy the authority of those sorcerers, magicians, Chaldeans, and astrologers. Why? They said that couldn't happen. And here it is happening in chapter 3. But don't forget, in chapter 2, Daniel pleads with God to know the interpretation of the dream. Because Nebuchadnezzar said, you know what, y'all are altogether useless. I have no need for you. I'm going to have you cut into pieces. There seems to be a theme with Nebuchadnezzar and cutting things into pieces. I don't know, maybe he choked on something as a child, and so he wanted to make sure that that never happened again. But he's going to make that same kind of decree later on. We're going to see that later. But as a result of this, Daniel gets that knowledge from God. He gets the thing that every expert in the world said was not possible. Daniel receives it. Daniel goes in and he tells King Nebuchadnezzar the interpretation of the dream. Well, excuse me, not before he does that. He tells him what the dream was. And of course, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream of a statue. And that statue was broken up into many pieces and each one was of lesser quality in minerals and metals going all the way down to the toes. And then there's this rock that seemingly comes out of nowhere. It's like the equivalent of a pebble. It strikes the base of this image, and the entire image is not only destroyed, but it's reduced to the finest quality, which would be dust. And then as the chaff in the threshing floor is picked up by the wind and escorted out, so was this entire structure wiped away. And that little rock grew and grew and grew into a giant mountain. So that was the dream that caused Nebuchadnezzar to wake up from his sleep. Not only did he get the interpretation of the dream, which everybody told him was impossible, or excuse me, what the dream was, he also got the interpretation of it. And Daniel goes on to say, that head of that statue, which is made of solid gold, is you, Nebuchadnezzar. And then I think in my head as I try to make some of these things comical, that the rest of what Daniel said became a big Charlie Brown and how the parents talk, you know? Has anyone heard how the parents talk in Charlie Brown? I think Nebuchadnezzar heard that he was the big golden head, and then the rest of the vision, he's a womp, womp, womp, womp, womp, womp, womp, womp, womp, womp. He's just like, oh. The golden head, wow. You know, Daniel, never mind what Daniel said, there's gonna be a couple kingdoms after you after you fall. He's just going, he's daydreaming, and of course, he gives credit. to Daniel and to Daniel's God for knowledge. Now, if Nebuchadnezzar was a wise man, not just a fool in his own wisdom, he would have already seen the knowledge of God on display. And how would we know that? Well, because Daniel rejected the food that was supposed to be given. And at that time, you got all the minds on this food, and now all of a sudden somebody from your captive land, from a nation that you are better than, comes in and says, oh, this diet is better. And as a result of that, it actually gets shown, you're wrong. He should have learned then. But he did see at that time that all the people that he called professionals and advisors were unable to give him what Daniel and Daniel's God gave him. I want you to see the importance of that as we go into this chapter. We're breaking this up into three parts this morning. We're gonna go through Daniel chapter three. The first seven verses are gonna show Nebuchadnezzar's pride on display. The next set is verses eight through 27, where we see Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego survive. the fiery furnace. And then, of course, verses 28 through 30, to round out the chapter, is how Babylon recognizes the power of God. Will you join me in prayer, please? Father, we thank you for this opportunity. May we see with discerning eyes the truth that you have for us today. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. There is no knowledge or power like God's. I want that to sit with you for a moment. There's no knowledge or power like God's. We're living in a time today where we can call up information literally by the click of a button. We have systems and technologies that are doing things that have never been seen on the planet before now. There are modern advances happening at this moment to try and protect the world from any kind of harm, whether it be environmental or by the hands of other men. But there still is no knowledge or power like God's. And we, those of us who have put our trust in Jesus Christ, whom the Bible would call us believers or Christians, we have to not only believe this truth, but we need to live this truth, amen? It needs to be a part of the fiber, what is stitched within us as we make decisions, as we petition God for prayer, and as we look at all of the choices that are available for us to do. As free individuals, we need to remember there is no knowledge and power like God's. And while there are many efforts to try and possess that kind of knowledge, while there's efforts to try and preserve human life beyond the structure of this body, there is no knowledge and power like God's. And we're reading a record here in 603 BC that demonstrates that statement that I have said to you now four times. Here's the fifth one, there is no knowledge and power like God's. We don't see the kind of punishment that is going to be exacted upon Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego happening today. There is no fiery furnace in every state for capital punishment. As a matter of fact, that would be called cruel and inhumane. If you know much about capital punishment, you see most of the methods are supposed to be quick and painless. Of course, the greatest price is not the pain, but the loss of life. both by the one that was the victim of that murder, and of course, the murderer himself loses his life. But there's no type of torture method out there today where the goal is to make somebody suffer at such great a price. That kind of punishment is the result of somebody who's trying to exercise power and authority over those who are not being punished. And that's exactly what King Nebuchadnezzar is gonna do. Now remember, we just had this vision, not only explained to King Nebuchadnezzar, but interpreted. And look at the next steps that happen, found in the word of God. Let's look at verse one. Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits, and he set it up in the plain of Dura in the providence of Babylon. What is interesting about that, if we use some context clues this morning, what do we notice about this statue? Well, it's the same word image that is used for the image to describe the dream that Nebuchadnezzar had. All right, there's a comparison. That's something similar. Where is the difference with Nebuchadnezzar's real life image and the image of the dream? Remember how I told you when Daniel was talking and the rest of what he was saying, Nebuchadnezzar was probably womp, womp, womp, womp? You can know why because the entire image is gold. What does this probably communicate to the reader about King Nebuchadnezzar? That he was going to defy what God said was going to come to pass. He already knew that God had set him up and he was the greatest king of that time. that everything was in subjection to him, even animals. But in light of that, he not only went out and built an image, which was not the point, that was not the point. God was not revealing to Nebuchadnezzar through Daniel, I want you to go build this thing. By the way, this is probably 99 feet tall. Can you imagine if a governor of one of our states just decided to build a 99 foot image of himself? That would be wild. Matter of fact, if that happens, that would be really interesting. I'd want to interview that guy and see what's going on in that little head of his or hers. But of course, that would be a great demonstration of vanity and, oh, look at me, I'm really somebody. But what's interesting about this is, while it was very tall, it was very thin. The base of it was probably extremely wide to support it, and it was most likely not solid gold. That would be insane. It was most likely made of wood and then overlaid with gold, which is still incredibly valuable. But what it seems to communicate is that Nebuchadnezzar was worshiping himself. He is looking at that image and saying, God said, or this God of Daniel said that I'm somebody. I've got value, baby. I'm a hot commodity. You wanna get in line with what I'm doing? Look at verse 36 in chapter two. Look in Daniel chapter two, verses 36 through 39. Folks, he's kind of not wrong, but he's missing the point. He's missing the point. Look at verse 36 in chapter 2. We're going to go to verse 39. This is the dream, and we will tell the interpretation therefore before the king. Verse 37. Thou, O King, Nebuchadnezzar, art a king of kings. That means he's a one of one. There is no other comparison on the earth to the power that has been given to him. For the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom. Now here's where Nebuchadnezzar, he's at the plate, here comes the pitch, and it's a fastball down the middle. It's pretty easy, but he swings and misses. Why? There's one word here that Nebuchadnezzar forgot. What's the word? Given. Given. You know what Nebuchadnezzar thinks in his mind? I'm a self-made man. I, by my own hand, by my own power, have created all of this. And you say, Jesse, you're stretching. That's not in the scripture. Well, that's why you need to be here when we do part four. Because you're going to see exactly what Nebuchadnezzar thought of himself. And you're going to see the judgment of God, how quick it is, because the scripture says, literally while these words were tumbling out of his mouth, calamity struck him. We'll see more on that later. You'll actually see a transitioning of power between Babylon and the Medes and the Persians within this book, within the study that we're doing. We're just doing the first six chapters. You're gonna see where these things come to pass. But in Nebuchadnezzar's mind, he didn't hear given. He heard you're a king of kings. Wow, me? Giving me a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. and wheresoever the children of men dwell. You know what that means? Anywhere. It's a very elaborate way of saying anywhere. Wherever people are, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath given, hath he given into thine hand. What do you think he missed here? Hath he given? Nebuchadnezzar's probably thinking, I'm a king of kings. I've got great power, strength, glory, Not only that, I have dominion over wherever people are, wherever animals are, and hath made thee a ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. I contend with you that that's about all that Nebuchadnezzar remembered when he decided to build this statue. But we said we're going to verse 39, and this is a significant transition because he's only the head. the belly and the chest area was a different material it was less than but nonetheless it would have authority and power that he did not that would be transferred from him and after thee shall rise another kingdom inferior to thee and another third kingdom of brass which shall bear rule over all the earth now what's interesting here is that while they are inferior to the total amount of control that Nebuchadnezzar was able to exercise they still were given rule this must have meant that at some point the kingdom in which Nebuchadnezzar possessed was going to end there was gonna be a time where that power he had would be taken from him now to a prideful man he'd probably say something like you'd have to pry it out of my cold dead hands and of course God would say certainly That can be done. Because the point here is not the fact that he's the head of gold. It's that God is showing to the Gentiles, this is the length of your time. Yeah, it's got a great start. It's gonna have a sudden and certain end, and then I will rule with the branch. That being the Lord Jesus Christ and his return. So go back to your, the passage we're studying this morning. Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold whose height was three square cubits and the breadth of six cubits and set it up in the plain of Dorah in the province of Babylon. The thing is created. The big, I wonder how big the, you know, whatever it was, towel on it that they pulled off. It probably took a whole day to get that thing revealed. But now it's not just sitting there like, hey, did you see the statue? Yeah, of course I saw the statue. I have like two eyes. No, no, we're actually gonna go down there and we're gonna worship it. This is where, again, you see Nebuchadnezzar's mindset is just not on what God is saying, he's just looking at the results. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of providences to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. I wonder if there was any RSVP for this event. Because you know how Nebuchadnezzar was. Can you imagine getting the card that says, you are formally invited to the dedication of the great golden statue made in my image. Please RSVP if you are coming. If not, I will cut you to pieces. Toodles. Love you. I hope I see you there. Yeah, you'll see me there. I'll be there. As a result, not only was this image set up, which it's 99 feet tall, anyone could pay homage to it anywhere probably and see it. No, he wanted them, you're going to be there and we're going to perform a dedication to me. Look at what it says. Then the princes, governors, captains, judges, treasurers, counselors, sheriffs, All the rulers of the providences were gathered together unto the dedication of the image of Nebuchadnezzar, the king, and set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, that at what time you hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, that's a really interesting instrument. I wish that that was still around. Be interested to see what that looked and sounded like. of course, it was comparable to a harp of sorts, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, you fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. Now, in the Bible, we need to pay attention to when things are repeated. And for lack of better observation here, we can see, we've seen now twice, a majority of that verse is taken up, telling us what was already said in verse two. What part was repeated? The amount of people that were there. I want you to, that is not something that we just go, okay, what's the meaning of that? The meaning of that is that everybody of importance and significance who was certainly going to bend the knee to Nebuchadnezzar was going to witness this miracle. This was not seen in dark rooms. This was not on shady radio stations or anything like that. Any of y'all had a hard time sleeping and just turn on the AM dial at like one or two in the morning? Some crazy stuff going on on some of those things. There have been times where I will listen to some of these AM shows, and I'm not saying they're all conspiracy theorists, but I will say a lot of them probably have headwear that looks like a tinfoil hat, probably. But there's all sorts of things just being said, and whether it's true or not, that's not my point. Most of those things, no one's listening and paying attention. We're not all waking up at 2 a.m. to listen to some obscure talk show that only airs in the middle of the night. People are paying attention when the radio comes on at 6 a.m. and 9 a.m., and then, of course, drive-time traffic and all of that. The point that I think the Scripture is making here is that anybody of any kind of authority was going to witness Nebuchadnezzar not only be dedicated as the king of kings, but also, if anyone was going to obey, they were going to be punished severely. We are clearly seeing a clear demonstration of God's power. I'm always amazed when the atheist mocks God and says, where is any proof of God? We have a little bit of time. Yes, somebody said look around, and that's correct. I am seeing this in just with my daughter. Let me give you a little story time here and we'll still get to 12, don't worry. Remy has this little thing that she does when she's mad or frustrated and we tell her to do something and she'll get in trouble when she does it. It's one of these classic things. I think all of you would know it and even as adults I think we could say it sometimes we want to do this. It's where she goes like that. And it's different, you know, the elephant, you know, when she's trying to do an elephant, it's different. She's like, whatever, and her lips are still moving. But this one, the tongue comes out and she's like, she knows. And she's gotten in trouble consistently for that. She's not even two years old. I mean, she practically is. But people want to see the existence of God. You see this little soul in this little body learning how to be deceptive. Because yesterday, she got frustrated. I was telling her to do something. She was not having the best day yesterday, you know, two-year-olds. And she, instead of going, brr, she went, brr, and immediately looked at me. It was like one of these. She went, brr. Oh, and that wasn't it. You know what she said? Lips. Ha ha. I thought, lips? Why is that important? Because it's not the tongue. It's a difference. She was trying to tell me, look. It's not. I can't get in trouble for it. Right, Dad? I was like, OK, here we go. We got to have a meeting. The subject is growing. I know that most atheists would look at that and say, that's not a proof. But I look at that and I think, how is this not designed? I mean, how did that evolve? And then you see the precious moments when she'll accidentally run into something. It's an inanimate object. And she's learned from running into other people to say, oh, sorry. She'll run into the door and apologize to the door. Oops, sorry. I see all that as a proof that God is designing, that he has designed even my daughter. He's designed me. He's designed us. But most people on an atheistic level and on a critique level, they want evidence that's clearly seen, made known to everybody. That's why I think the scripture is telling you how many people are here. We shouldn't just pass that along as, oh, this is the KJV, this is what it does. No, there's a significance to this. God is reminding you of how many people are here who are gonna see this, first of all, this rebellion, and then, of course, the consequences and then the result of that. Continue now in verse six. and whoso falleth not down and worshipeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning, fiery furnace. Now, if it's already burning and fiery, it's probably what? Hot, right? You guys, I knew you could do this. You say, why do we have to point that out? You'll see, you'll see. Therefore, at that time, when all the people heard all the sounds, the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, all kinds of music, all the people, the nations, the languages, fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. So obviously there was a musical cue, whatever that sounded like. It was a grand performance, and when people heard that, they were supposed to fall down and worship that image, that 99-foot solid gold, or gold-overlaid image. And you know, I asked myself when I was reading, I wondered, how many people knew the vision that Nebuchadnezzar saw? I think it's a legitimate question, and I conclude that not many. But regardless, if everybody knew what the image was that Nebuchadnezzar saw, Nebuchadnezzar had already decided, I'm going to interpret it my way by building this big, giant feature. Wherefore at that time, now I don't think there was a whole hour to do this. I think it was sudden. I think everybody was gathered together. Maybe there was an hour for the event. But when the music swelled and automatically the audio cue was there, you bend the knee. And then there was a problem. Wherefore at that time, certain Chaldeans came near and accused the Jews. I think it's interesting that there is still a delineation within the kingdom that they were Jews. You look all through history and the Jews are a persecuted people. God promises deliverance, but he also chastens them. And as a matter of fact, the whole reason why they're here in this situation is some of the things that Habakkuk prophesied. you guys have decided to give yourselves over to idols. We're actually gonna look at that in a moment here, because there's something interesting about this. Well, actually, no, we're gonna do that now. Hold your spot here and go to the book of Habakkuk. Habakkuk chapter two. And I'll forgive you if your pages are kind of glued together there, because we're not in Habakkuk every day. I understand. But what you're seeing here with Nebuchadnezzar is pride in its fullest form the creation of and the worship of idols which have the appearance of power but possess none i don't think it's a coincidence those of you who are bible students i don't think it's a coincidence that in the tribulation period there's gonna be an image that is set up of the antichrist and people are gonna pay homage to it and they're gonna worship it and they're gonna sacrifice to it I don't think that this is, some people would say, this is dull, you know, primal thinking, these idols and these structures and worshiping them. We do it today! We do it today! We worship offices. We worship people with power and the ability to influence and change the way governments go, the way rulings go, how the economy is. We worship countries. This country is being worshipped as an idol. I'm not saying it's bad to be patriotic. What I'm saying is there's a clear difference in pride where it's just demonstrated as if I am somebody and pride where you actually build something to be worshipped, where people have to humiliate themselves, humble themselves to your power and authority, which in the light of what Nebuchadnezzar heard, you don't even have any of that. God gave it to you. Habakkuk chapter two. This is one of those portions of scripture that I think is just so, it's so smart. Look at how this is written. Habakkuk two in verse 18. What profiteth the graven image and the maker thereof that hath graven it? The molten image. What's the difference between a graven image and a molten image? Well, let's think. Graven image is likely something that is carved. where, you know, you're taking the stencil or whatever and you're engraving it to the form of an image. Probably not as impressive as something that is molten. What's something that's molten? Okay, that's actually something that's poured, it's metal, it's probably got a lot better structure. God compares all of them as profitless. Whether it's you know, something that's graven or something that's molten. He says, what's the profit of it? And the person who makes it, the creation of that and the creator of that, what value are they? The molten image and a teacher of lies. Now there's a comparison that God uses here. The people who create these idols and say these idols have power, whether they be graven or molten, what's the difference between them and people who teach lies? there is no difference because the one who creates the idol thinks the idol has power and then they push the idol forward as something which has power and it's no different than someone who teaches lies they're all together liars that the maker of his work trusteth therein to make dumb idols now that's not God saying that's dumb what he means is they've got mouths either etched or molten that don't speak Because there's no power in him. Woe unto him that saith to the wood, the graven image, awake to the dumb stone, the stone that doesn't talk, arise, it shall teach. Can you imagine for a moment if we all got up and went out to a rock outside and I said, shh, sit down. Robert, get him a mic. And then I sit myself down in front of that rock and start waiting for it to speak. Now, it's comical. But humans believe this kind of stuff. There are people who will go on darkness retreats, nature retreats, and once they will infuse themselves with psychedelic drugs so that the world may speak to them. Go study monks. Go study the kind of food deprivation and sleep deprivation that they put themselves in in order to understand the deeper things of God. This is the significance of Jesus's baptism. The Father and the Spirit confirmed, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye Him. He's got flesh and blood, bone, tissue, sinew. He speaks, and the truth is in Him, amen? That's the significance of 1 John 5, 7. There are three that have borne record. That Jesus is the Son of God, and if you have Him, you have life, amen? We're excited about that. But the world says, no, no, the image, the wood, the nature, the creation, they have worshipped the creation more than the creator. You can fall into the same type of silliness. Go look up the composition of a cell phone. Now look, I'm not going conspiracy time here, but I'm just telling you, it's earth material. And there are people who are trusting it for knowledge. Apple in their little commercials, you know, they got a slobby guy, he's like writing a horrible email. And all of a sudden, thanks to Apple intelligence, we can write a friendly email and really impress people. I'm not saying artificial intelligence is not profitable for some things, but I'm telling you folks, people are going to start trusting it like they trust other humans. How easy is it for AI to be manipulated? Go study. Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake! He ain't gonna get up. To the dumb stone arise, it shall teach. He's not gonna open his mouth. Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver. It has the appearance of value, and there is no breath. Please mark that. There is no breath at all in the midst of it. Man, before God breathed life into his nostrils, was nothing more than the creation of earthly materials. If we were to open up a casket, we're not gonna go in there and go, ooh, wow, look, he got better. Death is exactly what he needed. Now we're going to see, you know, depending how long they've been in there. But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him. Why is the earth instructed to be silent before God? Because He is the only one when He speaks, He speaks truth. Idols, I believe, are the fullest and final form of pride. And Nebuchadnezzar was right there. Look in Psalms, or excuse me, Proverbs chapter 16. Proverbs 16 and verse 18. 683. Pride foreshadows destruction. Verse 18. Pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Now, Nebuchadnezzar had an opportunity. There was a little bit of time between his prideful display and his ultimate fall, but it was a guarantee that it happened. And if you want an application for this morning, if you haven't found anything to apply yet, apply this. You sense pride. you are close to a fall. When you start thinking you're somebody outside of what God has given to you, be warned. The fall can come swiftly. It can be carried out. Ecclesiastes 8.11 says God's judgment can be slow in the minds of men. But it's coming. Look in Psalms 135. Psalms 135, verses 15 through 18. The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not. Eyes have they, but they see not. They have ears, but they hear not. Neither is there any breath in their mouths. Again, I think that's a very important distinction. Life comes from God. these things, the creation of men, it is man trying to create like God, but man doesn't have the ability to remove his breath from him and put it into something else. I mean, we call that kind of art animation. The appearance of life, you know, it kind of blows your mind. When you're watching, next time you're watching a cartoon or something with your kids or something, you realize this is nothing but ones and zeros arrayed in certain ways. All these different colors are really just a composite of different shades of red, green, and blue. Kind of blows your mind when you're watching Dora Explorer and you realize none of this is real. This is all just digital communication. Yet, people live for this kind of stuff. You can't wait for the next animated something to come out. It's not real. There's no life in it. These characters, they're just man's creation. It would be crazy if we could get Dora the Explorer. You say, why are you thinking about her? Well, we just started watching Dora the Explorer recently, which I think is a funny show. It would be crazy if we could get her out of her animation state and then breathe life into her and she was a real and living thing. That's the difference between man's creation and God's creation. One has no life, the other one is life. Are you with me this morning? That is why I believe it mentions here, there is not any breath in their mouths. There's no life in them. Therefore they have no power or authority over anybody. They that make them are like unto them. So is everyone that trusteth in them. This would include King Nebuchadnezzar. He is like the very idol himself, powerless, except to be given from God. All right, let's go back to Daniel. Yep, here we go. Daniel chapter three, look in verse eight there. We got three Bible references in the New Testament we're gonna look at throughout this story. And I think they'll be impactful for you. Look at verse eight. Wherefore, at that time, certain Chaldeans came near and accused the Jews. They spake and said to the King Nebuchadnezzar, O King, live forever! Thou, O King, hast made a decree that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music shall fall down and worship the golden image. and whoso falleth not down and worshipeth, that he should be cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. There are certain Jews who thou hast set over the affairs of the providence of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, have not regarded thee, they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. We have a couple things that are revealed here. The first thing is Nebuchadnezzar is a polytheist. He looks at Daniel's God and just puts him next to his God, maybe a little bit higher, because he's got some knowledge. We also know that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had a reputation. These were not free slave kids. These guys are sitting in the highest courts, and they're standing up while everyone is prostrate. What's going to happen to them? Well, Nebuchadnezzar, look at verse 13, in his rage and fury. That sounded like he was calm. That sounded like he went like this, Shadrach, my guy, you know. No, he was very upset. And you're going to see this is stage one of his wrath. He commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar spake and said to them, Is it true? O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up. Now if ye be ready, that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbutt, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made, well, but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning, fiery furnace. So all of this is supposed to be answered with a Yes, we know. Here's the new question. And who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? I want you to pay attention to the word out. Very important. We're gonna come back to it in a moment. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we got rights. No, that's not what they said. I think it's a mistake. May I say something very plainly this morning? I think it's a mistake. When we do not obey, I think it's a mistake. The correct response should be, I'm ready to accept the persecution, because I stand for God. Now, some will disagree with me. I don't too much care about that. As much as I want you to see throughout history, there have been men, women, and children who have stood for Jesus Christ and been ready to take the persecution and received it. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did not try to get around the king's statement. He said what he said. Are you here with me this morning? They instead spoke truth. Look at this truth that they spoke. We are not careful to answer thee in this matter." What does that mean? We're going to answer you frivolously? No, it means we're not worried about what we're going to say to you. These are confident men. Remember how I told you I see Daniel's fingerprints? He said that same thing in Daniel chapter 1. We're going to do what God said over what the king said. We'll have it out and see what happens. If it be so, if it be so, mark that please, meaning they could die. They could be thrown into that furnace and burnt up rather quickly. If it be so, our God whom we serve, note, that's mono, one, is able to die. to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king." I've thought about that. How would that happen? Let's say Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they get in there, they burn up, how do they get delivered out of the hand of Nebuchadnezzar? They died and they're with the Lord, amen? And one day Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego will be witness to a unchanged Nebuchadnezzar standing in judgment before God, as will every person who denies Jesus Christ. That's deliverance, amen? There is more than the physical. There is more than the things that we see and touch and understand. There is a spiritual realm. And these men knew that God, amen? Be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. Their statement there led Nebuchadnezzar to do this little number. Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury. And you think, okay, no, it's no real difference from verse 13, where he says he had rage and fury. Now he's just full of it. No, no, no, no. The man's face contorted. I'm not even gonna try to do it because that's not pretty, you know? But I mean, he was like, you know, like his face. Think of a Jim Carrey performance, you know, it's like. Like, whoa, he's mad. His visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Therefore, he spake and commanded that they should heat the furnace seven times more than it was wont to be heated. What? You know, there is a very high possibility that you heat something that is able to destroy the thing that is containing it. This is how angry he was. He said, one time is not enough. Another one, another one, another one, till they got to seven. Look at the results of this. and he commanded 20, the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound with their coats, their hoes and their hats, their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace." I wonder, why put more clothes on them, right? What's the significance of that? I thought about it, and then I thought, oh, that's what they call kindling. Nebuchadnezzar thought it was not enough that they would be thrown into the furnace. He was so offended, remember what he thought about himself and what God had told him, he was so offended that not only was he going to heat the thing seven times more than it should have been, I'm going to put you in with all your clothes. You're going to be warm going in. and that's gonna be licked up and consumed. Can you imagine? Look how hot it was, look in verse 22. Therefore, because the king's commandment was urgent, so he's not even a controlled man, he's probably running around, get that thing hot, let's go, fire it up, put the clothes on him, throw him in. People died throwing them in. Look at what this says. The furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew the men that bound Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. How about that for a job? But notice the absolute lack of control by an ungodly man. We can see that today. If you're an ungodly person, you don't demonstrate control, folks. Control is beyond you. Control is what you say is right and what you say is wrong. This is how people go into workplaces and end up committing violence. This is how people put weapons in their hands and think that they're so strong and so powerful and their message and mission is so important that they'll take the lives of innocent children. This is how families are destroyed, based off of little differences, because people think they're really somebody. People died throwing them in. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, according to that testimony, should have died before they ever got in the furnace. But look at what happened. Verse 23, these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down, bound in the midst of the burning, fiery furnace. Nebuchadnezzar probably thought, How's that? Don't forget how many people were there. Everybody was there. The orchestra had just played. Everybody's probably watching this. The king absolutely lose it. And everybody up to this point is like, yeah, I ain't gonna cross that guy. I was gonna vote for the other guy. I was gonna vote for him, you know? Until, look at verse 24. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished and rose up in haste. So something changed. and spake and said unto his counselors, remember, counselors were there, did not we cast three bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said, the king, true, O king. He answered and said, lo, I see four men loose. Can I get an amen this morning? God's knowledge and power is beyond compare. These men should have been consumed going in, certainly going in, they should have been gone. But not only were they loosed, were the bands separated. Interesting how, you're gonna see in a moment, not even the smell of smoke was on these fellas, but the things that were keeping them together, oh, those burned up. I think there's some significance there. But there was a deliverer. I told you a moment ago, and I'm excited to make this point because when it dawned on me, it's a powerful point. The point is this. They were not delivered out of the furnace. They were delivered while they were in the persecution. That is so important for you and me. Persecution will come. We are foolish to think we will escape it. But we need to know, even if they take our lives, we are delivered already. This is so radical. This is a different way of thinking. This story that you probably heard the first time in a Sunday school classroom was some flannel graphs, now takes on significance here in your life today. The course of things change and the rights that we enjoy now are taken away. We will be delivered because we already are. We're found in Jesus Christ. And just like he walked around with those three boys in that fiery furnace, so the Holy Spirit resides in us today. And folks, we're not in a furnace, but it's a little hot out there. Things are getting difficult. And when the time comes that our freedoms are taken from us, we can stand for God, knowing that the deliverance is already accomplished. You say, well, that's silly. I'm gonna fight for my rights. Tell that to the church of Smyrna, who was crushed Tell that to those in Philadelphia, whose blood ran in the streets. We are not standing up to bring any praise, honor, and glory to ourselves or to our way of life. We represent the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the important takeaway here. It blew the king's mind. Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning furnace and spake and said, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, ye servants of the Most High God. Woo, that's a change. Come forth and come hither. Now, logically, everyone would go, who's he talking to? The guys who threw him in died. He's lost it. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came forth of the midst of the fire. Ooh, and we have repetition again. Why? Because everybody saw them come out. The princes, governors, captains, kings, counselors being gathered together saw these men upon whose bodies the fire had no power. That means not one of these boys had a little fingernail that was singed. Not a hair of their head was singed. nor the smell of fire had passed on them." Now, all y'all who are campers, you know, we go out and we light the fires and stuff, that's the worst thing, is the smell of the smoke. You don't even have to ask, where you been? You've been around a fire, right? These kids didn't even smell like it. How? How is that possible? They were protected. They were protected totally and completely. Then Nebuchadnezzar spake and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word. To Nebuchadnezzar, again, this reveals he still has a high element of pride, that they were able to even change what I said, and yielded their bodies that they might not worship any god except their own. We have an example of this similar type of persecution in the book of Acts. Hold your spot here in Daniel. Very quickly, we're gonna go to Acts chapter seven. We're gonna see Stephen. Y'all know Stephen, right? Kid just graduated from Bible college. Gave his first message, they killed him. Quickly, Acts chapter seven. Verse 54, when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he being full of the Holy Ghost, amen, looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. Then he drew out his weapon. No. No. Then he argued. No. No. And said, behold, I see the heavens open and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears, ran upon him with one accord, cast him out of the city, stoned him, and the witnesses laid down their clothes to a young man's feet, whose name was Saul." Now, if this was a Netflix show, you'd see the credits instantly, because that was a little foreshadowing, but that's not the focus here. And they stoned Stephen. and they stoned Stephen, calling upon God and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. That is very similar to the deliverance that we just saw of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, except this man's body was marred and his life was taken from him. But did he receive his deliverance? Yes, he did. He kneeled down, cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. Wonder where he heard that from. Hmm. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. There is nothing more powerful than the truth. I think it's more powerful than a bullet. Obviously, you think, well, a bullet can take your life. But if you shoot somebody as they teach the truth, the truth grows stronger. Does it not? Look at the church. Still around today. The teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. That should have been extinguished with a couple of heads rolling and upside-down crucifixions. No, it only grew stronger, because what God says is gonna come to pass will come to pass. Look in 1 Corinthians chapter 10. Oh man, I can't wait to go get some food, you know? I'm ready. 1 Corinthians chapter 10, look at verse 13 through 14. There hath no temptation taken you, but such is common to man, but God is faithful, amen? who will not allow or suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. And most Instagram and Facebook posts end there. But 14 is so important. What's the way of escape? Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee idolatry. Flee the worship of things that have mouths that don't speak, and eyes that can't see, and ears that can't hear, and have no breath of life in them. Run away from it. You know, play with it a little bit. Get away from all that. That's a lesson we can learn today. Apply it today. And then finally, look at Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11. Look at 11 in verse 1. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Look at verse 32. And what shall I more say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and Barak, and Samson, and Jephthah, and David, and also Samuel, and the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, there's our boys, Just read about them. Escaped the edge of the sword out of weakness, were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to the flight of armies of the aliens. Women received their dead, raised to life again, and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, sawn asunder, tempted, slain with the sword, wandered in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy." Mostly those are the prophets. They wandered in deserts and in mountains and in dens and caves of the earth, and these all having obtained a good report through the thing that you can't see. They could see the furnace, they could feel it. But they, you know what was greater that day? The faith of those kids. That's what was greater. Not the fire, not the statue, not the crowd, not the music. We will worship God. That's what rang true that day. Closing in Daniel chapter three. Verse 29. Therefore I make a decree, Nebuchadnezzar, that every people, nation, and language, which were all there, which speak anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces. I'm so glad that some of y'all remembered. And their houses shall be made a dunghill. Your house becomes a port-a-potty. because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort. Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the providence of Babylon. Let me conclude by saying this. You can close your Bibles here. Nebuchadnezzar learned of the knowledge of God when the dream was told to him and then interpreted, and he just saw the power of God. Although I wanted you to pay attention, I know we closed our Bibles, but there was one set that kind of showed you he still has more to learn. He said that could deliver them in this sort. I think that still shows that Nebuchadnezzar, a polytheist, But he's recognizing, oh, this capital G God, he's raising up in the power ranking, so to speak. The lesson that we're gonna see next, well, actually, not next week. Next week, we have a guest speaker, Dr. Phil Stringer, and he's gonna talk about some very good topics. But the week after, we'll continue this series. And you're gonna see the absolute sovereignty of God over Nebuchadnezzar. I hope that this has been a blessing for you today. And I hope that we can be reminded, even in these kind of times, we need to trust the Lord. The persecution's coming, folks. We know that already. Many of us are experiencing it. We need to obey God rather than man. But let's not try to think that we can get involved in our own deliverance. Let's put our trust in the Lord. That's a person that even though their mouth is closed, they'll do things like bring them up out of their graves and persecute them again. Go look at that in some church history. That happened to some theologians. They took their bodies out of the grave and put them on trial again and hung them again. If that's not a demonstration of the power of conviction and the truth, I don't know what else is. But maybe you're here today and you have no idea if you're going to heaven when you die. You're not sure. You'd say, well, I'm not bad as other people and I'm a pretty good person. So I think I'd be good enough to get to heaven. Well, let me show you the truth. This hand represents you, me, and everybody in the entire world. This represents sin. I put this on top of my hand because the Bible says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. God loves us very much, but he hates sin. It separates us from him. The wages of sin is death, not good works, not religious deeds, not turning from sin, asking anybody to dwell within you, or making promises. The wages of sin is death, separation from God in a literal fire burning hell. You have to be absolutely perfect to get to heaven, sinless. Not, from this day forward I make a commitment. No, what about yesterday and all the days before? You have to be without any sin. We all fall short. No amount of good works can save us. We need a Savior. This hand represents Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God. Please pay attention to what I'm about to say. For God so loved the world, that's you and me. that He gave His only begotten Son, that's Jesus Christ. That whosoever believeth in Him, that is how you receive eternal life. Whosoever, anybody, believeth on Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, which means ends up in hell, but have a certain kind of life. We looked at a lot of certain words today. This is a very important one, everlasting life. And if it lasts forever, and all of your sins are paid, Can you have assurance you're going to heaven? Yes, and it has nothing to do with your pride. Blessed is the man whose sin is not imputed unto him. For God so loved the world, that's you and me, that he gave his only begotten son, that's Jesus Christ, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. And once you're saved, you're brought into the family of God, fully delivered. Hebrews 2 says he's the captain of our salvation who has delivered us to the uttermost, amen? And whether we are spared from persecution here or we die at the hands of wicked men, we already have eternal life for those who have put their trust in Jesus Christ. But there are some of you today who have not done that. The risk you run is perishing without a payment for sin put to your account. Believe on the Lord today. Let's go to the Lord in prayer, please. Heads are bowed, eyes are closed, nobody's looking around. I wanna ask a question. If there's somebody here today that says, pastor, I just put my trust in Jesus Christ. I walked in here today thinking that I was good enough to get to heaven, that I had enough religious deeds, that I wasn't as bad as other people, but I now see my sin separates me from God. I can't earn salvation, so I have changed my mind. I have put my trust in Jesus Christ. I believe that He is the Son of God who shed His blood, died, and rose again to pay for my sins. and I now know that I'm going to heaven. I would like to pray for you. If there's anybody here today that just trusted in Jesus Christ, I'd like to pray for you. I'm not gonna have anybody come down and tap you on the shoulder. No one's looking around for privacy. But would you simply raise your hand and say, Pastor, pray for me. I just trusted in Jesus Christ. Anyone before we close. God bless you. I see you and I rejoice greatly. Anyone else? Raising your hand doesn't save you, it just communicates to me that you put your trust in Christ. We're gonna pray for this one who indicated salvation, but for the rest of us, before we have prayer, can you see the great value, the absolute gemstones in these Old Testament accounts? What a great demonstration of God's power and that God knows you. and has given you promises, has sealed you with the same Holy Spirit. Boy, every day's a great day. Every day's a great day. But the furnace is being heated up, people. The persecution is sure. It's just a matter of when. Trust in the Lord now while the times are good. Be ready to take that stand. Let's pray. Father, I pray for the one that indicated by an uplifted hand that they would put their trust in you. What a great day it is to rejoice. They are now sealed with the Holy Spirit according to your word. They are delivered from any kind of condemnation of sin. I pray that they would continue to worship here with us at Calvary and that we would be able to come alongside them and lift them up. I pray for the rest of the congregation that we would be strengthened in difficult times. Let us be like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. We will serve the Lord. Bless the food. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.