Go ahead and take your Bibles and turn to Daniel chapter three, Daniel chapter three. We've been working through first Peter for the last couple weeks and a passage that bears some great similarities for us is found in the Old Testament in Daniel's narrative. And Daniel is a kind of combines two genres of scripture, both narrative and prophecy. And so this is a really an incredible book in the Old Testament. for us to look at. But Daniel and his friends are an unbelievable example, a physical example, of exiles living in a foreign land who stood for God, who maintained their testimony despite the opposition of a pagan nation. And so our series in 1 Peter is titled, Living in Babylon. And that's because Peter writes to the elect exiles who have been ripped out of their homes, who have been dispersed over the face of the earth because of their faith. They're facing immense persecution because of their faith. And so as Peter writes to these, he even references where he's writing from, and he refers to it as Babylon. And again, a lot of interpreters believe this to be an allegorical message from Peter to the recipients of his letter, as he's writing to them saying, I too am, in a sense, I too am in exile. I'm living in a foreign land. And when the believers reading Peter's epistle would have heard him reference them as elect exiles would have heard his reference to living in Babylon, they very likely would have thought of Daniel. They would have thought of Daniel and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, these four Jewish men whose testimonies were outstanding as they were exiles living in a foreign land. And so we see these four young men stand for God in Daniel chapter three. And the question for us is the same question that we look at in first Peter. How will you respond when you're faced with opposition, when you're faced with opposition? And so we're going to look at all of Daniel chapter three this evening, and hopefully get all the way through the chapter. I'll just begin reading in the beginning of this text, I'll read down through verse seven. Now God's word says, King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold whose height was 60 cubits and its breadth six cubits. And he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather the satraps and the prefects and the governors and the counselors and the treasurers and the justices and the magistrates and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And then the satraps, the prefects, the governors, counselors, treasurers, justices, and magistrates, they gathered together for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up, and they stood before the image that he had set up, and the herald proclaimed aloud, you are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, 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. Whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning, fiery furnace. Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Let's begin with prayer and then we'll get into this text this evening. Dear Lord, we are so thankful for, again, the opportunity to gather, to look at your word, to learn from Your Word. Lord, I pray that it would make an impact on our lives. Lord, I pray that You would give us all clarity in our minds as we look to this text. I pray that we would be able to set aside distractions, that we would be able to see clearly applications for our lives in the real world of how we can stand for God in an environment that is increasingly anti-God, anti-Christian, encouraging us to sin against you many times. Lord, I pray that we would stand firm. I pray that these teens would be a good testimony in the world as they engage with the lost in your name, amen. So as you consider this book and this story in particular, I know for a lot of you guys, having grown up in church, this story is nothing new. You've heard this story many times, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace. And so it's very familiar to you. Again, it's very easy for you to walk through a story like this and gloss over some important details. But I want to set the scene in a sense for you as you come to this story. You have to understand, as you look at this story, Daniel and his three friends, they are exiles living in Babylon. And if you rewind a little bit at this point, they've risen up through the ranks of Nebuchadnezzar's government. They've become valued members, essentially, of his team of administrators, of his team of advisors. And so at this point, they've really, they've excelled in the nation. But how did they get here is because the Babylonian Empire is one of the most powerful in the history of the world. Nebuchadnezzar is one of the most powerful men in the history of the world. And in the beginning of the book of Daniel, we see that Nebuchadnezzar has set his sights on Jerusalem. And so he besieges Jerusalem. And this was the downfall for many, many cities in this day and age. As Nebuchadnezzar besieges this city and he attacks it, he would have come in. Daniel and his friends' lives would immediately have been thrown into upheaval. Daniel's father and mother are most likely slaughtered before him as he is dragged away into captivity. Again, your imagery of this can probably not be graphic enough. This would have been a violent, grotesque scene as the Babylonian Empire overran Jerusalem, destroyed everything in their path, took physical human beings as slaves, as prizes, hostages, back to the nation of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar was known at this point in time in history for coming into a nation, for taking it over, ransacking it, And actually what he would do is he would take the best and brightest, the youngest and sharpest minds from this nation, and he would take them back to his land, and he would almost use them as hostages in a sense. He would kind of prop them up within his own government, and then the local leader that he had left installed in Jerusalem in this case, he would have used someone like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to say, listen, you stay in line, because I have your future here. If you step out of line, I kill everybody. And so in a sense, he uses men like these even as hostages to manipulate national leaders that he would leave installed in these locations. And so this is where Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are at this time. This is where Daniel is. When Nebuchadnezzar overruns Jerusalem, his family is slaughtered. His dad is certainly killed. His mother may have been taken away as a slave back to Babylon. He will never see Jerusalem again. He never sees Jerusalem again. He lives out the rest of his days as an exile in Babylon. That's why this imagery for the Jews, that's why this imagery in First Peter is so powerful. They know the story. They know the story intimately. And so as Peter talks of this language, they understand what he's referring to. They understand the call for them to similarly stand firm as they are exiles living in a foreign land. And so as Nebuchadnezzar does this, and he takes over taking these young men back to Babylon, turn over to Daniel chapter one for just a moment, turn over to Daniel chapter one. Verse 1, God's Word says, Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, the chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and the nobility, youths without blemish, of good appearance, skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding, learning, and competent to stand in the king's palace, and to teach them the literature and the language of the Chaldeans. The king assigned to them a daily portion of food, and the king ate and drank of the wine, And they were there to be educated for three years. And at the end of that time, they were to stand before the king. Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah. The chief of the eunuchs gave them names. Daniel, he called Belteshazzar. Hananiah, he called Shadrach. Mishael, he called Meshach. And Azariah, he called Abednego. Notice verse 8, this is critical because you see in those opening verses, verse 1 through 7 of chapter 1, what do you see happening? As King Nebuchadnezzar takes over the land of Jerusalem, what does he do? He takes these young men, He takes articles that were in the house of God and puts them into his own God. He sets pagan food before these young men. He is trying to indoctrinate them. He rips them away from their home. He rips them away from their families. He slaughters their families. He destroys everything in his path. And what does he do instead? As he brings these young men out of their homeland and into Babylon, what he's doing is saying, Forget about your God, forget about your family, forget about Jerusalem, forget about the temple, forget about Yahweh. You're in Babylon now. You're in my town now. I am your God. This is what Nebuchadnezzar is communicating very, very clearly. Forget about everything. You're essentially, you're a Babylonian now. He's totally trying to indoctrinate these young men. And you see in the middle of those verses there, the reference to the best and brightest of this young Jewish population being taken away. You also see at the end in verse seven, the changing of the names. And we've talked about this before, but these young men's names, they all have uniquely biblical meanings. A name for a Jew was everything. A name for a Jew was everything. And what does Nebuchadnezzar do? He says, that's not your name anymore. This is your name. You're gonna be Belteshazzar. You're not Daniel. He's changing everything. He has turned their worldview upside down. Their parents are gone. The temple is gone. The priests are gone. There is no one to hold them accountable. There is no one to hold their faith firm. They have been thrust into a pagan environment with a pagan man who has exalted himself to the position of God, even taking articles that have been in the temple of Yahweh and putting them into the temple of his own God. This was a direct assault on Yahweh as he does this. His messaging, again, is very clear. Forget everything you know, you're in Babylon now. And the messaging of our world could not be more similar. Our world continually attacks us with this same indoctrination. Forget about your God, forget about your church, forget about your family, forget about your values, forget about your character. Why don't you live the way we want you to live? He even changes their names. Listen, this indoctrination went very, very deep, but notice verse eight. But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food or with the wine that he drank. Therefore, he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs. And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, I fear the Lord, the king who assigned your food and your drink, for why should he see that you are in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king. And so here in the beginning of verse eight, Daniel resolves in his heart. Daniel determines in his heart how he will live. He is determined, he and his three friends to live an uncompromising lifestyle for Yahweh. They will stand for God no matter what. And he determines this from the beginning of his exile in Babylon. This isn't a decision that he makes down the road. Daniel doesn't say, well, I'll just kind of do what I need to do to rise through the ranks and gain a prominent influential position, and then I'll try and influence these people for Yahweh. Daniel determines from day one, I will stand for God. And I will not compromise my beliefs so that I can blend in with this pagan nation. even under the guise of having a greater influence, of kind of earning some emotional capital with these people, so that then after I've achieved this level of influence, then I'll start to stand out for God. Daniel understands it doesn't work that way. If you want to live with conviction, it starts right now. It starts right now. Daniel, He determines in his heart, he resolves how he will live such that he even speaks to the chief of the eunuchs and says, I'm not going to eat this pagan food again. Your rituals, your custom, your God, throw it all out. This is what they're trying to do to these young men. And so what does Daniel say? Daniel says in verse 12, test your servants for 10 days and let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king's food be observed by you and deal with your servants according to what you see. And so he listened to them in this matter and tested them for 10 days. And at the end of 10 days, it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king's food. So the steward took away their food and wine that they were to drink and gave them vegetables. As for these four youths, God gave them skill and learning in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in visions and dreams. At the end of the time when the king had commanded that they be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them before Nebuchadnezzar, and the king spoke with them, and among all there was none found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. And so in this way, you see from the very first pages of the book of Daniel, once again, Daniel determines how he will live. I believe I've told you before the illustration of Jonathan Edwards and his list of convictions as a teenager that he wrote. And that list started out with two convictions. Number one conviction was, I will stand for God. And number two conviction was, even when no one else does, I still will. This is what Daniel does. From the very first pages, he determines, in an environment that was not his own, under a king who was not his own, worshiping a God that he didn't know, surrounded by young men who are encouraging him. For 10 days, these guys are totally different, eating vegetables and not the elaborate feast meal that had been set before them. They're totally different. They're sticking out, they're standing out. They're noticeably different. And everyone else is going, what is your deal? Why can't you just fall in line? Because they had resolved in their hearts, they would stand for God, regardless of the consequences. And so with this, turn back to Daniel chapter three, King Nebuchadnezzar made this image of gold whose height was 60 cubits and its breadth, six cubits. And he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. Now, not much is known about this image of gold. Most scholars believe it's one of two things. Either one, it's an image of Nebuchadnezzar himself, or two, it is an image of the Babylonian God, Nebo, and so either one is possible. It doesn't really matter. This image that is totally covered, plated in gold, it is nonetheless a testament to the pride of King Nebuchadnezzar. He genuinely thought that he was a god, as most of these pagan kings did at the time, and so he takes this image of He layers it in gold. He sets it up in a plane of Dura in the province of Babylon. Once again, the setting up of this image in a plane, it was for one specific purpose, so that there would be absolutely no distractions. No distractions whatsoever. This is an open, flat landscape, so that no matter where you were in this area, in this area of Dura, you saw Nebuchadnezzar's image, and it's covered in gold. In the Middle Eastern sun, this would have been nearly impossible to miss. Daniel tells us that this image was 60 cubits tall and its breadth, its thickness is six cubits. And so a cubit is roughly 18 inches. Back in this day and age, they would have typically used it as a measurement from the tip of an adult man's fingertips to his elbow. And so this is roughly 18 inches. This is almost a 90 foot tall idol plated in gold from head to toe. Nebuchadnezzar sets it up in this plain of Dura and notice verse two, he sent to gather all of the satraps and the prefects and the governors, the counselors, treasurers, justices, magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar has set up. Once again, Nebuchadnezzar is calling his entire government, every official from every province in Babylon was to come to the plain of Dura for the dedication of this image. Once again, with the sheer size of the empire at this point in time, this would have been hundreds of thousands of governors potentially. So this is a massive, massive gathering. Notice verse three, then the satraps and the prefects and governors and counselors and the treasurers and justices and magistrates and all the officials of the provinces gathered for the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Once again, this is a massive, massive group of people. There's a lot of influence at this dedication of this idol. This is every single governor, treasurers, everyone who had any political influence in Babylon is at this dedication of this image. They're standing before this image, ready to worship the image. A herald is about to proclaim what these people are supposed to be doing when the instruments play. But just again, as you set the scene in your mind, as you think about this, Consider the immense pressure that these young men are facing as all of these governors are here. All of these fellow rulers are here, advisors from Nebuchadnezzar's palace, everyone who had any influence in the government, they're all here watching this dedication. There would have been immense pressure, just fall in line. You have potential to rise through the government's ranks. If you just go along to get along just for now, then you can wield better influence later on. Notice, though, their response to the command. The Herald proclaimed aloud, you are commanded, O peoples, nations, languages. Once again, the Herald's message just demonstrates how utterly massive this crowd would have been. There are peoples from all over the world at this point. There are peoples that are speaking totally different languages. This isn't like a gathering of the Senate in the US, right? This is much, much bigger. And he says 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. Whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning, fiery furnace. So this is the ultimatum. When you hear the music played, you worship the idol. If you don't, you're immediately cast into a burning, fiery furnace. Now, the fiery furnace in this passage. It likely would have been used for making bricks, would have been heated incredibly hot so that mud bricks could be placed into this oven and turned into usable bricks for buildings in this massive growing It also would have been used as a repository for trash and garbage and apparently occasionally executions. And so what this would have looked like is a massive concrete building and it kind of would have been built in a spherical shape and its opening would have been somewhere in the top. And so there would have kind of been a chute that ran down to the bottom where the fire was kept hot. And so here Nebuchadnezzar says anyone who does not worship this image will be thrown into the fiery furnace. Notice verse 7. that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And so the people fall in line. Everybody understands Nebuchadnezzar. His pride was not only out of control, but his sanity was frequently in question for these people, as you will later see in the narrative of Daniel. No one had any doubt that he would make good on this promise to throw anyone who disobeyed him directly into the fiery furnace. And so notice what the people do in verse seven. As soon as the peoples heard the instruments, what do they do? Everybody falls down. And you've seen the wave at a football game. You can only imagine what this would have looked like as hundreds of thousands of people go from standing to face down, worshiping this idol as soon as they hear the music. Nebuchadnezzar is likely positioned himself somewhere strategic to hear and to see the worship of this idol going on. And so you notice the immediate reaction of all the people. And once again, as these young men have determined to do what is right before Yahweh, no matter the cost." At this point in time, watching what has happened to Jerusalem, they very well could have concluded, yeah, I think Yahweh is dead. Maybe Yahweh is not real. Maybe we've been taught false things. Maybe this really is God. Maybe we should fall in line. This man had taken over most of the known world, and yet these men remain faithful. These men remain steadfast. So as everyone falls down and worships, they would have, once again, they would have stood out. It would have been very noticeable, their rebellion against the king, their loyalty to Yahweh as they stood firm in the crowd, unwilling to submit to this idol worship. And notice verse eight. Therefore, at that time, certain Chaldeans came forward and maliciously accused the Jews. And the language in verse eight tells us very clearly these guys did not have anyone's best interest at heart except their own. They come before the king, they maliciously accused the Jews. Certain Chaldeans could also mean these were guys that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had had run-ins before in the past. Notice verse 9. They declared to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live forever. You, O king, have made a decree that every man who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music shall fall down and worship the golden image. And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And 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. And so you notice these guys, once again, they have only their best interests at heart, very selfishly motivated as they come to the king, seeking to malign Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They're totally, totally kiss-ups to, as you look at verse 10, you, O king, live forever. You've made a decree that every man who hears the sound of the instruments, he's going to fall down and worship this golden image. And whoever does not fall down is going to be thrown in the burning, fiery furnace. And in verse 12, there are certain Jews, you know, we don't want to say their names, but it's Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, right? who you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon. And these men, they pay no attention to you. They do not serve your gods and they do not worship your golden image. And these men had clearly made their testimony known already in the land of Babylon. They were known by even these Chaldeans that they would not worship the Babylonian gods and they would not worship this image. So they come to the king and they inform him of their disobedience. And King Nebuchadnezzar, notice verse 13, he flies into a furious rage. And he commands that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. Once again, you see a little bit of a glimpse into just how proud Nebuchadnezzar was. He flies into a furious rage. These are some of his best counselors, as Daniel chapter 1 told us. These men had risen through the ranks incredibly quickly. It doesn't take very much for Nebuchadnezzar to be totally set off. And so he demands in a rage that these men be brought in. And once again, as you consider the pressure they're facing, they're not going to the temple on a weekly basis to be encouraged by fellow brothers. They're not hearing regular messages from the priest. We don't even know if they have access to the limited scriptures that they would have had available. They have nothing. They have been totally ripped out of everything that made them comfortable, everything they knew about Yahweh, their parents are slaughtered, and as far as they know, they will die exiles in Babylon. Why do they remain faithful? Because they were resolved. they made a decision, we will stand for Yahweh, no matter the cost. At some point, the rubber has to meet the road, and you have to make a decision, no matter what the influence is, no matter what I come up against in life, I will stand for God, and I will remain faithful, no matter the cost. It doesn't matter if it costs me my job, it doesn't matter if it costs me my life. I will remain faithful to God." This is what these young men had done. This drove, this drove their loyalty. It drove their obedience. It drove their testimony, as we'll see later in this passage. And so they come before the king. This is, again, the most powerful man on the face of the earth. And notice what Nebuchadnezzar says to them. He answered and said to them, Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? 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 I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning, fiery furnace. Now, Nebuchadnezzar was feeling generous because he'd already said in verse seven that whoever doesn't obey will immediately be cast into a burning, fiery furnace. And now he's saying in verse 14, when you hear the sound of the music again, if you're ready, if you worship the golden image, Well and good. Nebuchadnezzar's literally saying, we'll let bygones be bygones. We'll be best friends again. No harm, no foul. As soon as you guys are ready, you let me know, I'll play the music again, we'll strike up the band, and you can worship this image, and we'll be good to go. These are his best counselors. Again, they'd already influenced Nebuchadnezzar to some extent that he's even willing to give them a second chance, but he does. He gives them this second chance and notice their response in verse 16. Or excuse me, notice the end of Nebuchadnezzar's offer. You know, once again, he's kind of in this good mood. 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? Once again, Nebuchadnezzar knows the God that these men serve. Nebuchadnezzar knows they serve Yahweh. He's making a very clear statement. This is a challenge to Yahweh. Your God can't save you from me. You worship the image or you're going to die. This is pressure the likes of which we will very, very likely never know. You can't even begin to understand being threatened, your life being threatened with immediate death in a fiery furnace that was used to burn up garbage. City garbage is thrown here into this burning repository, and here's the most powerful man in the world saying, you've got one more shot. And it's a miracle I'm even giving you one more shot, but I'll strike up the band one more time, and if you worship at this time, well and good. We forget about this whole thing like it never happened. But if you don't, you will go in the furnace. And I just want you to know, there's not a God in the world, in the universe, that can save you from me. This is the pride of Nebuchadnezzar. Your God is totally powerless to save you from me. And yet notice Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego's response. They say, oh Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. Their statement is jaw-dropping from hello. We don't even need to give you an answer. You're wasting your time bringing us back here. Send the band home. We're not gonna worship the image. We're not even gonna give you an answer in this. This was the utter, utter disrespect for someone like Nebuchadnezzar. Actually, King, we don't even need to answer you. You already know who our God is. You already know that we won't serve anyone but Him. Go ahead and send the van home. We won't bow down to this image. This is the confidence that they have. In fact, their confidence grows. Notice verse 17. If this be so, if what be so? Nebuchadnezzar just said, who is the God who can save you from me? Once again, very clearly, Yahweh won't be able to rescue you. Choose very wisely how you're gonna respond when the music plays. And notice the response, if this be so, if this is true, and our God can't save us from you, notice this, 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. 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. Number one, Nebuchadnezzar, if this is true, our God can't save us from you. He can save us from you, and he can deliver us from this fiery furnace. But if he chooses not to, for whatever reason, we're still not gonna bow down. We still won't worship your image, and we still won't worship you. Once again, can you think of at this point how many ways these young men could have justified just bowing down to this idol? When we bow down to it, we'll just worship Yahweh in our hearts. And it'll be like we're worshiping Yahweh, but we'll just look like we're bowing down to this idol. Well, if we bow down to it right now, we'll kind of build this influence up with Nebuchadnezzar We're kind of building inroads with him, really. And it gives us greater influence later on. Have you ever done that? Have you ever found yourself doing that? You know there's something you shouldn't do, but you start to make excuses for why if you do it, maybe it leads to a better outcome down the road somewhere. Maybe if you sin with some secular coworkers, and you do something that you know you shouldn't do, Kinda gets you in a closer relationship with him. Maybe you'll have an opportunity to witness to him. These men understood that kind of compromise would destroy their testimony. Do you understand today, Christian? Compromise destroys your testimony. Compromising your faith destroys your testimony before the unsaved world. Don't. Don't be sucked into this trap. If we just kind of go along to get along, it works out better for us in the end. We can wield greater influence for Yahweh down the road. It's a lie. These men knew it was a lie. It doesn't work that way. Conviction doesn't work that way, and they understood that. Are you resolved to follow God today like these young men were? Notice verse 19. Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He's so angry at this point that Daniel takes the time to record for us. He's in a cordial mood before offering this second chance, offering a pardon in a sense, and he's so incensed at their response. The expression of his face was changed as he orders the furnace to be heated seven times hotter. Now this furnace is like a big oven. Your oven at home may be able to heat up to something like 500 degrees. If you heat your oven seven times hotter than that, which it probably won't do, you'll burn your house down. So this guy, again, He's a few cents short of a dollar, right? He's struggling with his mental capacities to some extent. He is so proud. He's so selfish. He's so self-centered. He believes, again, he believes he's a God. He's just been disrespected by these three young Jewish boys. They're in their mid-teens. They're defying the ruler of the known world at this point. This is the impact that living with conviction can have on your life and the unsaved world around you. As a teenager, these men had incensed the ruler of the known world because they refused to worship his God. And so notice what he says, he orders this furnace to be heated seven times hotter. he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to cast them into the burning fiery furnace." Again, this is just a sign of Nebuchadnezzar's total outrage, his total outburst in the moment. He commands his best fighting men to come and tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These were young men. They were Jewish boys in their teens. Based on the earlier passage, these may have been pretty boys, right? They spent all their time in school learning books. And so Nebuchadnezzar in his rage, he says, I want my best fighting men from an empire that had conquered the known world. These guys had seen more combat than you can possibly imagine. And they'd made it through it all. These were seasoned veteran warriors. And so as they come and they, bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They waste no time. In verse 21, a very important detail, they're bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and other garments. They were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. And because the king's order was urgent and the furnace overheated, in this word, urgent, he's not thinking things through. He is making decisions in a flurry of rage. The flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the fiery furnace. And so he's losing some of his best fighting men at this point too because his rage has just gone totally out of control. He's not making logical decisions. Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and he rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, did we not cast three men bound into the fire? And they answered him, yes, king. And he said to them, 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. And so King Nebuchadnezzar, again, he's just, he's verifying with the counselors, did we not throw three men into the fiery furnace? Well, yes, King, that's true, but I see a fourth man. And this fourth one is like the son of the gods. This is his appearance. We don't know exactly what this means. We don't know exactly what this fourth individual looked like, but we do know one thing for sure. Nebuchadnezzar is not making a statement about Jesus, okay, this isn't a statement about a Christophany, you know, this is, he's recognizing that this is Jesus walking around. No, this is a pagan reference that he's making. This is a son of the gods. Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the fiery furnace and he declared, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and notice his next phrase, servants of the Most High God, come out and come here. And Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire and stopped there for a second. Because think back to where this passage began. With Nebuchadnezzar calling thousands upon thousands upon thousands of government officials from all across the empire of Babylon, peoples, tongues, nations are here to witness the dedication of a pagan idol. And they all get distracted. to watch three Jewish exiles thrown into the fiery furnace. And what happens? Notice verse 27. The satraps and the prefects and 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. No smell of fire had come upon them. It's pretty universal understanding that if you go out to a campfire for really any length of time, five minutes, you're going to come back inside and smell like smoke. These guys, not only is their clothing totally intact, which they're thrown into the furnace with, but they don't smell like smoke. Their hair is not singed. If you've ever seen hair catch on fire in a Funniest Home video, it goes up pretty quick. It doesn't take much for hair to catch on fire. Not one hair on their heads has been harmed. And so you notice what happens. Because of the conviction of these young men, because of their determination to be righteous in the face of unrighteousness, to stand for God and worship the one true God in the face of rampant idolatry and paganism? What happens is you have hundreds of thousands of influential people from the nation of Babylon who have come to worship this golden image, and instead what happens? They're really all worshiping God. They watch these young men walk out of the fire totally unharmed and everybody is astonished. Nobody walked away that day talking about how unbelievable Nebuchadnezzar is. Nobody. Everybody walked away talking about whatever God those people serve, I want to know him. Why? Because their testimony was steadfast. They resolved to follow Jesus no matter what it cost them. And very likely, very likely that there could have been doubts as they're being tied up. They're waiting for something to happen. They're being carried up to the entrance of this fiery furnace. They're waiting for something to happen. They're falling down into the fiery furnace and waiting for something to happen. And at some point they've got to be thinking, okay, I mean, maybe this is it. Maybe we just, maybe we die for Yahweh here. And yet Yahweh rescues them against all odds. Once again, because they were resolved to remain faithful. Their testimony, once again, it turns this idol worship, it turns all of the focus to God. And notice Nebuchadnezzar's response in verse 28. 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. And notice, this is spoken by a pagan king. And he recognizes the dedication and commitment that these young men had to their God over and above anything else. Over and above the worship of another God, over and above the obedience to their king, over and above even the sacrifice of their own bodies. They don't care. They will not worship another God. They will not bow. And therefore, Nebuchadnezzar makes 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." And probably Nebuchadnezzar is not regenerate at this point because of that statement. You know, he's not really speaking out of love here, but he definitely, he makes a powerful decree. Anybody who speaks any word against this God, their house is gonna be laid in ruins, they're gonna be torn limb from limb for no other God. No other God is able to rescue in this way. And notice in verse 15, who is the God who will deliver you out of my hands? Notice the drastic change of Nebuchadnezzar's attitude. In just a few moments, because of the determination of these men, against all odds, doesn't matter, if our God doesn't rescue us, we still won't worship your idol. Why? Because it would be wrong. because we are committed to uphold the law of Yahweh, no matter what it costs us. There was no priest there to convict them or condemn them, to say, you guys shouldn't have done that. You shouldn't have acted that way. You bowed down to that false idol, shame on you. They wouldn't have had to offer sacrifices for this sin. No one, truly, no one would have ever known. Their actions likely would have been applauded. and yet they remain steadfast. They have no idea in the moment how in the world God will be able to turn this for his advantage, but God is able to. And he takes a man who just a few verses earlier had said, there is not a God in the universe who will save you from me. And a few verses later, he's saying, anyone who speaks a word against this God, their house will be laid in ruins. They'll be torn limb from limb, why? because no other God is able to rescue this way. And then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon. Notice how God is able to use his people when they are committed to obey him. Something as simple and as little as obedience, as faithfulness to your mission as a Christian, to reflect the love of Jesus to the unsaved world around you. To buy your testimony, I love Jesus Christ and so I obey His commandments that I read in His word. This testimony is able to have a profound impact on the lost and dying world that you interact with. And you may not always see the outcome of it. You may not always understand how God will be able to use your determination to follow him, to obey him, for his honor and glory, but he is, and this story demonstrates that, literally, against all odds. God takes a situation where these young men, this entire nation is worshiping this pagan idol, and by the time the story's over, everyone's attention has been focused on God. all because these young men had resolved in their hearts, we will obey no matter what it costs us. Have you resolved to follow Jesus this way? You can, by his grace, you can. Let's go ahead and bow and close with a word of prayer. Dear Lord, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the message that we see in your word of Daniel and Shadrach and Meshach and Abednego. Lord, we pray for a resolve to follow Jesus in a way that honors and glorifies you, in a way that points others to Christ. Lord, we want no attention for ourselves, but only that others would be driven to the cross by our testimony. We can't do this on our own. And so we ask for your grace this evening, in Jesus' name, amen.