Always a joy to see you in God's house and gather together for worship and song and praise and the worship of His Word as well. So I invite you to take the Word of God and open to the book of Daniel chapter 3. As we kind of rush through the end of the chapter to see what happens to these three men that we've been looking at for the past couple of weeks. Daniel chapter 3 We'll start reading actually in verse 19, and we will read through the end of the chapter, okay? So those willing and able to alas that you stand with me, please again Daniel chapter 3 beginning at verse 19 then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with wrath and and his facial expression was altered towards Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He answered by giving orders to heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. He commanded certain valiant warriors who were in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in order to cast them into the furnace of blazing fire. Then these men were tied up in their trousers, in their coats, their caps, and their other clothes, and they were cast into the mist of the furnace of blazing fire. For this reason, because the king's command was urgent, and the fire had been made extremely hot, the flame of the fire slew those men who carried up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. But these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell into the mist of the furnace of blazing fire, still tied up. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded, and stood up in haste. And he said to his high officials, Was it not three men that we cast bound into the mist of the fire? They replied to the king, Certainly, O king! He said, Look, I see four men loosed, walking in the midst of the fire without harm, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods. Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the furnace of blazing fire. He responded and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, come out. you servants of the Most High God, and come here.' Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the midst of the fire. The satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king's high officials gathered around, and saw in regard to these men that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men, nor was the hair of their heads singed, nor were their trousers damaged, nor had the smell of fire come upon them. Nebuchadnezzar responded and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, to put their trust in him. violating the king's command, and yielded up their bodies, so as not to serve nor worship any god except their own. Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation or tongue, that speaks anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses reduced to a rubbish heap, inasmuch as there is no other God who is able to deliver in this way. Then the king calls Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to prosper in the province of Babylon. Let's pray together. So, Father, we have read an incredible story that has been preserved for our reading this very hour. We have gathered together believing that You are going to speak to us from Your Word, that there is a lesson here for all of us. I pray, Heavenly Father, that we would be especially sensitive in our spirits to the work of Your Spirit as He delves deep into our souls and reveals to us things that we might need to deal with. realities and truths. I pray, Heavenly Father, that you would cause us to accept this story as a reality. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for what you're about to do in our lives and the thoughts you're about to bring to our minds and our hearts. May we glorify you in everything as a result of this service today. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. So thank you and be seated. So, what a story, right? You read through this story. I probably read this story hundreds of times in my life. And every single time I read it, I either think to myself or I say out loud if I'm in my office, That's awesome. I mean, how can you not read this story and have some kind of a profound experience of what you're reading? It's not just a story. This is real life. I mean, you know, the whole Bible should be in the non-fiction category of your library, right? I don't know where it is in a library. Anybody know where the Bible is in a library? I've never even thought about going and looking for the Bible in a library. I don't know where it would fit. I don't know. But anyhow, even if the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego was the only story, it should be in the non-fiction part of the library. Because this is a reality. This is a personal account. Nebuchadnezzar, at this particular time, has been writing for 18 years. 18 years. This is 15 years after his first dream. Remember how we covered the first dream? He had a dream. Nobody could tell him what the dream meant. All the spiritual advisors said, we don't know what you dreamt. You're not going to tell us what you dreamt. And we don't know how to interpret it because you won't tell us what it was. And so he decided what? Well, I'm going to kill all you worthless spiritual advisors. You can't help me at all. So I'll just wipe you out. I'll just kill you. And so they start the process and they get to Daniel's place. And Daniel, of course, makes a request to have the night to pray. And he does. And he goes back the next day and explains to the king what his dream really was about. So he reveals the dream. And in the dream, the first part of the dream was this, that Nebuchadnezzar was the head of gold. You remember the dream, of course, and the statue. And so Daniel says, O king, You're the head of the gold in this statue that you're looking at. And you're the greatest king that's ever lived on the face of the earth. So all of that happened 15 years ago, before the story that we're looking at. morning so 15 years ago 15 years ago in Daniel chapter 2 in verse 46 it says then the king fell on his face and did homage to Daniel and gave orders to present to him an offering in a fragrant incense so 15 years ago here's Nebuchadnezzar falls on his face before Daniel and and and you know makes this great declaration about Daniel's God Well, 15 years can make a lot of difference. And it did. Over the last 15 years, he kind of forgot about that dream. And he kind of becomes more infatuated with himself. He's self-inflated. He's, you know, focusing on his own glory. And he's become self-saturated. And you know what happens when you do that? You begin to think of yourself as God, right? That's where he was. The king began to see himself as some kind of a god. And reality is he couldn't be challenged. I mean, he was in control of the whole world. Nobody was going to challenge him. Nobody was going to take him on in some kind of a war. But he had all power and all authority and the whole world feared him. He could say whatever he wanted to say without repercussion. He could do whatever he wanted to do and nobody would ever stop him. He could have whatever He wanted to have. I mean, from all appearances, from all dimensions, He was as a God. There's nobody to get in his way. Nobody to stop him from doing anything he wanted to do. He thought of himself as God. So 15 years later, what do we find? We find him building this huge image, and I believe on the top of this pillar that he built was an image of himself. And so he builds this image that we talked about last week. It wasn't very wide. It was only nine feet wide, but it was 90 feet high. And if that wasn't enough it was 90 feet of gold Now, I don't you know, I don't know how much gold you've ever seen in your life I'm not you know, I I haven't been around a lot of gold I might look at a gold ring or something like that, you know, but I can't think of something as 90 feet of gold that's incredible when you think about it and And you think about that 90-foot gold statue, that image, and you think of the sun just, you know, how it glistens off the shiny gold. It has to reflect. You can see it for miles around. This was an extraordinary image, and it captured Nebuchadnezzar's pride. And it captured his magnificence and it captured his glory. It was an impressive monument. Everything about it deified Nebuchadnezzar. Everything about it said, I am God. No doubt about it. Deified him. Now, I want to remind you that Nebuchadnezzar was not necessarily opposed to you worshiping gods. He was opposed to you worshipping a god more than you worshipped Him. You could worship whatever god you wanted. He could be whatever you wanted. It didn't matter. Nebuchadnezzar. Worship your gods. It's fine. Just as long as you understand that they're all inferior to me and I am the ultimate god. Now that wasn't a problem for most people in the Empire of Babylon except for three eyes. Three guys. They had a problem with Nebuchadnezzar's declaration that he was the supreme God, right? And so these men, they were Nebuchadnezzar. He had these three guys, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And they were highly visible in Nebuchadnezzar's government. Everybody knew who Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego was. And for the last 18 years, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had been helping Nebuchadnezzar rule the kingdom. They exercised their authority. They helped them make decisions. They faithfully represented Nebuchadnezzar's interests all over Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar trusted these three men. They were constantly exchanging ideas and thoughts on how to run the kingdom and how to hold the empire together. And he went to them for advice and he went to them for counsel and he valued their opinions. That's who these guys were. But not everybody in the king's entourage really cared for these three guys. And as we read in our story here, the Chaldeans really didn't care for the idea that these three Jews had authority over them. And these three Jews held a coveted position and a coveted position of power in the kingdom of Babylon. And so these Chaldeans were obviously envious and jealous of these Jews. They had great sway with their king. And then all of a sudden, what happens? This huge opportunity is laid in their laps. Finally, finally, they had a way to get rid of these Jews. They didn't see this coming, but all of a sudden, all of a sudden, seemingly out of nowhere, they could attack these Jews on the basis of what? On the basis of their God. On the basis of their religion. And so they go to the king and they say, oh king, Your three guys, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they are not bowing down to your image. They are not worshiping your gods that you have set up. And so they attacked Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego on the basis of their religion. verse 15 says notice what it says notice how Nebuchadnezzar responded in verse 15 now if you are ready at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trojan, psaltery and bagpipe and all kinds of music to fall down and worship the image that I have made very well But if you do not worship, you will immediately be cast into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire. And what God is there who can deliver you out of my hands? Now, when Nebuchadnezzar did not realize that he was dealing with three men of great faith, Three men who stood for God. Three men who stood for what they believed. Because that's what real men do. Real men stand for what they believe. Their faith in God could not be bought. And their faith in God would not go along with the majority. Their faith in God would not be compromised. Their faith in God would not be hijacked by what was convenient and comfortable. And they would not even bow down to the threat that they would be cast into the fiery furnace. These men were obviously fortified by their faith in God. Now look at Daniel 3.17. So the response is, if it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire. And he will deliver us out of your hand, O King, but even if he does not, let it be known to you, O King, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up. Now, I don't know what you sense when you read that, but I can tell you what I sense when I read that. And it's this. I tremble when I read those words. And the reason I tremble is I don't know that I could have said that. I don't know if I would have stood up to the king, the greatest man on the face of the earth. I don't know if I would have faced him down. I don't know if I would have come face to face with him and told him this very thing that they told me. I don't know if I would have done that. I hope I would have. I hope I would have been the man, the man of God that these men were to stand up to the king and say those kind of things. I don't know if I would. I hope I would. I really hope I would. They did. Now let's look at verse 19. Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with wrath, and his facial expression was altered toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He answered by giving orders to heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. He commanded certain violent warriors who were in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in order to cast them into the furnace of blazing fire. Then these men were tied up in their trousers, in their coats, their caps, their other clothes. and were cast into the mist of the furnace of blazing fire. For this reason, because the king's command was urgent and the furnace had been made extremely hot, the flame of the fire slew those men who carried up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. But these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell into the mist of the furnace, a blazing fire still tied up." So what's going on here? I've given you the introduction, right? In the preceding verses, Nebuchadnezzar has tried to reason with these guys. Nebuchadnezzar came to them and he sought an opportunity to change their minds. He said, look guys, if you would, I really believe that Nebuchadnezzar is extending to them as much grace as he possibly can. He's telling them. He's giving them a chance. If you'll just bow down right now, if you'll just take care of this right now, you won't have to die. From Nebuchadnezzar's perspective, he is trying to help them. He's giving them the opportunity to repent, to change their minds, and to live. I don't know if you've ever tried to give somebody a magnimous, what is the word? Big gift. You know, in your mind you thought through, you know, I'm going to give this gift, you know, and I'm going to do this for this person, whatever the case may be. And you give it to them, or you do something for them, and it's like they don't even care. You know? They don't even care. They spurn your gift. They don't respond to what you're doing for them. and they kind of throw it back in your face, well that's what happened to the king. These three guys say to Nebuchadnezzar, Neb, we don't care. We don't care about your gift. We're not going to change our mind. This is where we stand. It can be humiliating, that's what it was to the king here, to make this great offer to them and to have it rejected. They spurned his second chance opportunity to bow down and you combine that with the fact that they told him, we're not going to bow down to your God and we're not going to bow down to your image, and when you have that kind of a situation, it's explosive, and that's exactly what happened here to Nebuchadnezzar. He flies off the handle. It all comes to a head. He loses all sense of reasonableness, and he is literally blinded by his rage, and he's almost out of control. You ever been that mad? I have. Not to my credit, but to my shame. To my shame. And so I know what's going on here with Neb. What's going on here with Neb is he can't think straight anymore. You know, when you really get mad and you kind of lose control, you don't think very straight. Your thinking becomes clouded, blinded by rage. And you know what you do? You exaggerate. You exaggerate everything. When you're mad, the smallest thing becomes a mountain. It just becomes huge. And that's exactly what's going on with Nebuchadnezzar. He's letting them know they stepped over the line. When you're mad, you want everybody to know you're mad. You want everybody to know that they have stepped over the line. You've gone too far, you see? And that's exactly what's going on with Nebuchadnezzar. He wanted to do two things. Number one, he wanted to punish them. And number two, he wanted to make an example out of them. He had them, you'll notice in the scriptures, He had them immediately, they were bound, right? And they were bound, did you notice the emphasis put on the fact that they were bound with all of their current clothing on. Why do you think that's so important of a point to make? Why would the scriptures say that? Why wouldn't they just skip that part? Because Nebuchadnezzar wanted to know that there was no time for them to repent. The time of repentance was over. The swiftness of their sentence was designed to put the fear of the king in everybody that was watching. That's what was going on. And secondly, you notice that the furnace was heated seven times more than normal. Seven times more than normal. Nebuchadnezzar didn't do that to increase their torments. Here's the deal. Think about it. Think about what's going on here. The slower you burn, the greater the torment. If you increase the furnace, if you turn up the furnace seven times, you're going to burn. And you're going to burn fast. So Nebuchadnezzar did not increase the furnace seven times to increase their pain. That's not what he did. That's not what he did. The reason he increased the furnace seven times was to vent his anger, and it was a display of his anger, but It put even greater fear into those who were thinking about the same thing. Nebuchadnezzar's point was this, don't even think about doing what they did. I am heating my furnace up seven times because if you think about doing it, this is what's going to happen to you. The heating of the furnace seven times hotter than normal was because Nebuchadnezzar was creating a perception. A perception that if you cross me, this is what is going to happen to you. That's why I heated the furnace up seven times. To put the fear in people. You know, the degree, here's the deal. The degree of our fear is often connected to the degree of our punishment, right? Right? The degree of our punishment, the greater the degree of our punishment, the greater our fear of disobeying. Right? The greater our punishment, the less chance we're going to violate the law. And the less chance we're going to take at crossing someone who has the power to do what they said they would do. The greater the fear that you can create in somebody, the better chances you have of controlling them and making them comply with what you want. Right? So, do you know what the problem with that principle is? Do you know what the problem with that principle is? It is this. The problem is that you have to threaten them with taking away something from them that they value. Right? The problem with that principle is the only way you can put fear in somebody is if you say, I'm going to take something from you that you value. So how are you going to deal with that? How are you going to deal with that? The solution, my friend, is to value things that cannot be taken from you. You see, if something they're going to take from you has no value, you are not afraid for them to take it, right? If it has no value, you're out there saying, Go out here and take it, I don't care. But if it has value, then they have control over your life. Value the things that nobody can take from you and you lose all fear. You see, boys become courageous godly men when they figure out that the things worth living for are really more valuable and precious than their own lives. Satan has deceived us into thinking that the temporal things of life, like the things that will fill our lust, or the things that will give us physical comfort, or the things that will give us earthly status, or the things that satisfy our hearts, are important and valuable. And there are millions of men who have reached the pinnacle of life and reached the pinnacle of their profession and said something like this, Is this all there is to my life? I mean, you read about it all the time, you know, especially in the sports arena, you know, they'll win the Super Bowl and some of the men will walk away from the Super Bowl and go, wow, you know, that really wasn't that big a deal. What am I going to do now? And there are millions of men who are walking around scratching their heads and saying, I wonder what their meaning of life really is. Is there any real meaning to life? Is there any real meaning to my existence? And they find their lives basically empty, and there's nothing in life that can truly satisfy or fulfill them. And so you come to men like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who are living life fearlessly, obviously, fearlessly living their lives, because they're living for something that cannot be taken away from them. Right? Verse 24. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded, and he stood up in haste. He said to his high officials, Was it not three men that we cast bound into the midst of the fire? They replied to the king, Certainly, O king. He said, Look, I see four men loosed and walking about in the midst of the fire without harm, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods. Then Nebuchadnezzar came near, and he stood at the door of the furnace of blazing fire. He responded and said, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, come out, you servants of the Most High God, and come here. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the midst of the fire. The satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king's high officials gathered around them. and saw in regard to these men that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men, nor was the hair of their head singed, nor were their trousers damaged, nor had the smell of fire come upon them." Now, it's all kind of interesting, right? But now we get down to the nitty-gritty. This is the part of the story that everybody remembers, right? This is the highlight of the whole story. They're thrown into the fire. And from all appearances, God failed. Right? God did not keep them from being thrown into the fire. God didn't keep them from... You would think that if God was going to save them, He would have done it before they were thrown into the fire. I mean, what would you be thinking if some guy came to you, you were all tied up, and they were picking you up, and they were actually casting you into the fire? I don't know about you, but I would be thinking this. This is it. It's over. I'm done. There's no saving me. God's not going to save me. I'm going to die right now. I am going to die. They are throwing me into the fire, right? But what happened? The most amazing thing, the most astounding thing is, and they didn't see it coming at all, I don't think they expected this at all, is they were not being burned up. They were in the fire, but they were not dead. They were in the fire, but they did not die. And the scene is actually so real, surreal, that the king and those who were around could see the flames flickering. They could feel the intense heat from the fire, and they could hear the fire roaring. But these men were untouched. It was so unnatural that the king jumps to his feet, he's astonished, and he asks his advisors if what he is seeing is true because he can't believe his own eyes. You know, when you see something that defies nature, When you see the laws of nature defied, it completely consumes your attention. We're awestruck by things that go against what is normal, right? It gets our attention. It's like the burning bush, you know. Moses could not avoid looking at the burning bush because it was so unnatural. And so the king is seeing this experience and it's totally unnatural. If you see water running uphill, and you look at that water and you say, that creek is going uphill. You are going to say to yourself, how is that happening? You are going to go over there and you are going to look at the creek and you are going to make sure that that water is running uphill. If you see a flying pig, you are going to say, wait a minute, wait a minute, is that really a flying pig? I am going to go out there and find out what is going on. And so this is what's going on. The king's looking at this. He's trying to process it in his normal ways of processing stuff. And it's not making any sense to him because it's defying the laws of nature. And to add to his astonishment, there's a fourth guy. There's a fourth man in the fire of all the strange things. He put three and now they're multiplying in the fire. And the king is looking at this and they're walking around and you'll notice they're unbound and they're unhurt. Everything that Nebuchadnezzar had tried to do to them was undone. Everything. Everything. They were defying everything that Nebuchadnezzar had done to them. But really what got his attention was the fourth guy. Where did this guy come from? Who is this guy? He's looking. He's counting. Now you've got to remember here. Nebuchadnezzar is a heathen. So he comes from a heathen background. And because he comes from a heathen background, he comes from a polytheistic background. That simply means he believes in more than one god. So he can accept all kinds and number of gods. It doesn't matter how many gods there are. He accepts them all because he's polytheistic. And so we look at this fourth guy. And he describes him as though he is like a God. He doesn't call him God exactly, but he's like a God. He appears like a God. He has the appearance of a God, but he's not really God. And so he talks about him in these terms. We believe in theophanies, right? Theophanies. What's a theophany? It's a pre-incarnate vision of Christ. It's a pre-incarnate vision coming of Christ. We see that often in the Old Testament. And so what is happening here is a theophany. Christ appears at the very moment that they are thrown into the fire. Christ is waiting for them. You say, well why was he there? He was there to tell them that they are not going to be destroyed by fire. They had no clue as to what was going to ultimately happen to them when they were thrown into the fire, but God has preserved a way to take care of them in the midst of the fire, through the fire. Jesus rewards their faith by being in the fire with them and by preserving them in the fire. You say, where do you get that kind of thought from. I get it from Hebrews chapter 11, the great faith chapter of Hebrews chapter 11. And in that faith chapter of Hebrews 11, it says in verse 34, and some of them quenched the power of fire. Hebrews 11.34. Hebrews 11.34. Some of them quenched what? The power of the fire. Now I want you to pay attention to what the Hebrew writer said there. He did not say that God poured water on the fire. He did not say that God decided to dump a load of dirt on the fire and smother it. No, no, no, no, no, no. What did He quench? The fire? No, no, no, no, no. He didn't quench the fire. He quenched the power. Very important distinction. He quenched the power of the fire. He didn't put it out supernaturally. No. The fire is still burning, but the power of the fire was quenched, even though the fire was still going. Okay? That's what the Hebrew writer said. In the prophet Isaiah, he said this, When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you. Isaiah 43 verse 2. You're in the fire, but you're not scorched. You're in the flame, but it's not burning you because the power of it has been quenched. Fire's still going, right? Doesn't go out. But it loses its power. So what's your point? Verse 28 is my point. Nebuchadnezzar responded and said, blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel, now remember this is a heathen, and delivered his servants who put their trust in him. violating the king's command and Yielded up their bodies So as not to serve or worship any God Except their own God Life is going to have its trials and its fires God's not going to put them out Their faith in God's power and God's presence was greater than their fear of the fire. And it was something that could Nebuchadnezzar nor anything in this world take away from them. Your faith in God is your most valuable asset. Their faith in God's providence, their faith in God's power, their faith in God's authority, their faith in God's provision was enough to satisfy them regardless of what their circumstances would ever be. That's what's going on. By faith, they had given themselves completely over to God. Nothing else They believe what God said. When God said, you shall have no other gods before me, you shall not make for yourself an idol or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and on the third and fourth generations of those who hate me. They believe that. Nebuchadnezzar was not their god. They were not going to bow down to his idol. You and I are the Shadrach, Beshach, and Abednego of today. You and I. This is us. Like Nebuchadnezzar, there are gods in this world who are demanding us that we worship them. But instead of us bowing down to a literal image of gold today, what we bow down before is the golden god of our cultures and what our culture deems accessible and acceptable. We allow our culture to tell us what's acceptable. We allow our culture to tell us that it's alright for your girls to dress a certain way, right? And we as dads, we have to stand up and we have to take positions and say, no, no, no, no, no. Our culture is not our God. Our culture says, oh, it's okay for your boys to talk about sexual things and unholy things and devaluing a woman. But don't let your sons go down the path of that which is depraved. That's what your culture is telling you. Our culture says, oh, there's many ways to God. Our culture says, there's many Gods. You don't have to worry about one God. Our culture demands that we worship at the altar of ease and comfort and pleasure and entertainment. That's what our culture gods are. We need Christian men. We need men who are going to renew their faith in God and fear God more than they fear any other man on the face of the earth. And to walk that walk, to talk the talk, and to take the stand. It is our faith in God that is going to make us stand firm in our convictions. We need Shadrach. We need Meshach. We need a Bendigo type faith today. That's the kind of faith that conquers our fears. We have nothing in this world to lose. If you think you have something to lose in this world, you do not have the faith of Shadrach, Meshach, and a Bendigo. You don't have that faith. Anything that we have that is of any value we have through Jesus Christ and Him alone. That's all we're going to take away from this world is our faith in Christ. We are inheriting the kingdom of God. Jesus died for our sins and brought us unto the Heavenly Father in a relationship with Him as our God. And we as His child, and through that relationship, that relationship we have with Him, we have an inheritance of the Kingdom of God. We are partakers of God's everyday love. We are partakers of God's everyday mercy. We are partakers of God's everyday grace. We are partakers of God's everyday forgiveness. Because of Christ. The world can't take those things from you. If you're lost, you stand to lose everything. When you die, you are going to have nothing. Nothing. Your whole life is going to wind up empty. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. Not just physical death, but eternal death. God's justice requires that you pay for your sins. They will have to be paid for. You can't say whatever you want to say and get away with it. You can't do whatever you want to do and get away with it. You can't do that. There's a judgment day coming. A judgment day. You can't just live your life however you want to live your life and get away with it. Because you've been created in the image of God, you're going to answer to Him for how you have lived. And without Jesus Christ as your Savior, you will have to pay for your sins. Jesus went to the cross and He died to pay for our sins and to save you from hell. And without His blood, you're going to have to pay for your own sins. But my friend, God wants you to live with Him forever. God has no desire for you to spend eternity in hell. He has no desire for that. He gave His best gift on the cross to save you from hell. Don't be turning God's gift away. Don't despise. God's not like Nebuchadnezzar. But if you spurn His gift of love, you are throwing away your only chance of eternal life. I'm gonna ask Brother Artie to come. He's gonna help us with an invitation hymn this morning. I'm gonna ask that you stand with me please as we prepare for the invitation and let's pray. So Father, we're standing, we're coming before your throne, we're praying to you because you are the only true and living God that there is. For us to think that we would come to another God would be absolute foolishness. We would be fools. The Bible says we are fools to say that there is no God. And there are many people who are walking down that very foolish path. There are some who are rejecting God and rejecting your call to them and the conviction of the Holy Spirit upon their souls. What a very damnable thing to do, Father. They are bringing judgment on their own lives, and you know that. Your judgment will come. You are a righteous God. Your judgment will be true. You will not make any mistakes. It's impossible for you to do something wrong in terms of your judgment upon us. But I pray for those of us who are Christian men, that we will walk boldly. We will walk with the faith of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in our hearts. I pray, Father, that you would help us to stand for what is right, and what is good, and what is just, and what is holy. Now, the moment we say that and the moment we make that kind of conviction, our hearts are filled with a little bit of intrepidation because it means that we're going to meet with resistance. And perhaps we will meet resistance from people that we respect and honor. But I pray, Father, that we will be humble and bold at the same time, fearless at the same time, courageous. Help us, Heavenly Father, to demonstrate to the world that we belong to you. And I pray that you would give us opportunities to stand boldly for you, that the world will see that we're different. Now, Lord, I know that you're working on us and you're shaping us and forming us into the image of Christ. Help us to love you more and help us to know how much more you love us. Save the lost. Encourage your saints. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.