Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. This is the Lamp and Light broadcast coming to you from Central Baptist Church in beautiful Ocala, Florida. Lamp and Light is a ministry that takes a book of the Bible, verse by verse, teaching it as it is, to men as they are, without compromise or apologies, while at the same time speaking the truth in love. giving the lamp and light to all. Yesterday in our study of Daniel chapter 3, we were talking about the response of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to Nebuchadnezzar and their faith in God to deliver them. Let's continue with that thought today. And now, here is our teacher and radio pastor, Dr. Andy Bloom. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. I like the way they say that. He says, we don't have to give it a second thought. We know what we are doing, and we also know where we're going. So we're not going to try to figure out a way to say this to kind of get around you. were standing for the Lord. They chose to obey the Word of God than to break the first two of the Ten Commandments. And so verse seventeen says, if it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. This is an answer to his statement, verse 15, of, Who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? They said, Our God can do it. Luke 137 says, For with God nothing shall be impossible. And that verse is referring to a virgin birth. Certainly He can deliver these. The only thing that would cause the fire that's burning there not to consume them was the will of God, and He is that God who can deliver from them. Now, these men, they already have the victory. They've already decided, Thy will be done, regardless of the fiscal consequences that may come to them. The Creator of the fire could easily solve its destructive power. Nebuchadnezzar, ah, he's just a king. But the Lord Jesus Christ, Almighty God in the flesh, is our Lord of lords, our King of kings, very God of very God. And verse 18 shows you don't have to know if you're going to be delivered. You just trust God regardless. Look at verse 18 here of Daniel 3. It says, But if not, Be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." These three are saying, God may not deliver us. We may die in that fire that you've prepared. We're going to go to heaven. We're going to live forever with Jesus Christ. So you can kill the body, but after that there's no more that you can do. What you need to fear, according to Matthew 1028, is he that can destroy both soul and body in hell. You see, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, their service is based on commitment and love. Therefore, it does not leave their principles and commitments When the bad things of life come, when the trials and tribulations of life come, they don't abandon those things. And every child of God at some point is either about to go into the fire, or they're in the fire, or they've come out of the fire. The one thing to know for sure is that there will be fiery trials. 1 Peter chapter 4 verse 12 says, Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you. Oh, they're going to come. Now, the word if in verse 18, but if not, is not questioning God's ability. It's rather making a statement about God's will. If it's God's will to deliver us, then fine. But if not, that's fine too. Oh, for me to live is Christ, but to die is gain. It's far better to be with Him. These three have chosen the attitude of Job, who had lived before them. In Job chapter 13, verse 15, Job makes this statement, Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him. Well, that's the attitude every Christian ought to have. Under no circumstances were they willing to compromise their convictions or be shaken in their loyalty to God. Now, most of the people back then compromised. Only these three had a conviction in their heart, and they didn't back down because they knew that it would be sin to bow to the image. And rather it's food and music or any other area that Satan tries to appeal to you. You decide you're going to stick with the Word of God and nothing is going to take you in these days of cowardice and compromise. The moral and spiritual courage of these three serve as a pattern for all of us who are God's people today. These three, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were not worried about, well, what will others think of us? Nor were they worried that they would not get the crowd that Nebuchadnezzar's religion was getting. I mean, look at Nebuchadnezzar's religion. Everybody's there. They're not worried that the world will think, well, we're just a bunch of goofballs and psychos. You see, they viewed this circumstance as an opportunity to prove their character and faith, their love and their heart for God. Let those be your heroes, especially in this day when athletes, actors, musicians, and money mongrels are the heroes. Pattern your thinking after the thinking of these three. Pattern your conduct after their conduct. And say to the world, it doesn't matter what comes. We're not going after this world's goods, after this world's temptations and sleaze. We're going to go for that which lasts forever. We're not going to bow down at the altar of religious rock music, CCMs they call it, immodesty, alcohol, sexual immorality, drugs, materialism, and other things of that nature. Instead have the attitude, we're going to serve God. Queen Esther, a woman. had this attitude when she said, if I perish, I perish. It'll just be a shortcut to glory. In other words, hallelujah, to live is Christ, but to die is gain. Now friend, please, don't you and don't allow your children to make heroes out of steroid athletes, immoral actresses and actors, and half-witted musicians. Do not cry more when an Elvis or his equal dies than you do when a service ends and no one got saved during the invitation, although the unsaved were present in the auditorium. You see, that other crowd is not fit to walk on our let alone have the right to poison the minds of young people with their influence. It's time that we declare spiritual war. As a Thanos of old, if all the world is against you, fine, then I'm against all the world. Besides, God is the majority. I believe that it's time for us, in the day in which we live, to realize that we are in a war. The Bible says we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. My friend, it's time to decide to be a heavenly soldier, a heavenly hero, and declare war on sin and Satan. Declare war against the gates of hell. You may fear to have holy standards of dress, of music, of entertainment. You might fear that holiness will make you an outcast and the dredge of society. Well, if it does, you won't be the first. Let me read about someone who that's exactly what it caused him. John 7, 7, Jesus says, The world cannot hate you, but me it hateth, because I testify of it. that the works thereof are evil. Jesus testified of the sin, the works, the evil that the world was doing in his day. And what crowd was most angry with Jesus Christ? What crowd gave him the hardest time, especially with his preaching against sin? It was the religious crowd. They didn't want to hear doctrines. They didn't want to hear Jesus attacked their manner of worship, but Jesus did. And he let them know that what they were doing was wrong. In John 15, verses 18 through 21, Jesus says, If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you are of the world, the world loves all. But because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Now, hateth is a strong word, isn't it? The world hates you when you follow the way of holiness and righteousness. Remember the word that I said unto you, Jesus said, The servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me. See, it's time to decide. whose side you're on and then simply get in the fight and my friend if you won't decide God will decide for you because he takes the lukewarm and spews them out of his mouth now that takes us on to verses 19 through 23 and it shows us the world flexing its power." Now notice in verse 19 here of Daniel 3, he says, "...then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of 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 warm to be heated." This is your radio pastor, Pastor Andy Bloom, saying, may the Word of God be a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your pathway today. We want to thank you for listening to the Lamp and Light Broadcast. If you would like a CD or cassette tape of today's message by Dr. Bloom, send us your name, mailing address, the radio station by which you are listening, the date of the broadcast, and a gift of $5 to Lamp and Light Broadcast, 1714 Southeast 36th Avenue, Ocala Florida 34471 We also welcome your comments on the broadcast and Bible questions. Again you may write us at the same address which is 1714 Southeast 36th Avenue Ocala Florida 34471 You may also visit us on the web at www.CentralBaptistOcala.org. No breaks. Click to the lamp and light. Again, that web address is www.CentralBaptistOcala.org with no breaks. This is your announcer, Jerry Banks, saying, may God's peace be with all that are in Christ Jesus.