Well, we'll turn in our Bibles to Daniel chapter 3. Thank Mr. Martin for his welcome and his remarks. It has been my privilege to be here again for another week with you. I want to thank you for putting up with me, this head cold I've been struggling with all week. I don't think in my whole lifetime I've ever had a cold that lasted a week. It's usually over in a day or two, I suppose that's because I'm getting old. These things are harder to shake off as the years come. But I appreciate your prayer support and the presence of the Lord in our times around the throne of grace and around the Word. And it's our prayer that the Lord will already have used His Word and will have applied it to many hearts. We pray that in times beyond this, as the recordings go out, the Lord will continue to use His Word and bless His truth to many, many souls. So, thank you very much, and may I thank the minister in session for the invitation to come again and preach the Word of the Lord. And I thank you, dear people, for all your support during this week. So we come to the final message of the week. So we're in Daniel chapter 3, Daniel chapter 3, and we will pray before we just read the Word. Let's bow together, let's unite our hearts in prayer at the throne, and let's again just cry to the Lord for help as we turn to His Word tonight. O God, our Father in heaven, we continue before Thee in Jesus' name. We are thankful for Thy presence already, We thank Thee for the words in praise that have been sung, and the reminder even of that last hymn of the union that there is between Christ and His people. We thank Thee for one who came, was born of the woman who took our humanity, appeared as the God-man, entered into this world, and has redeemed His people from all evil. We thank the Lord for the opportunity just to meet around the things of Christ, even this week. And Lord, may thy hand be upon us now. Breathe on us from heaven. Give power, give help from the throne. Cover us with the blood, we pray. Defeat the enemy. Give help in preaching and help in hearing. May the Lord Jesus be glorified, we pray in his dear name and for his sake. Amen. Daniel 3, we will read from verse 13, right down to the end of the chapter. It is a portion that is well known by many, a marvelous portion of God's Word, and I trust that tonight the Lord will speak to us, even as we read, and then as we get into the message itself. So Daniel 3, verse 13, coming in there in the chapter at that point. Then Nebuchadnezzar, in his rage and fury, commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, then they brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto 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, saikbot, psaltery, and 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. And who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?" Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. 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. 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.' 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 one seven times more than it was wont to be heated. And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore, because the king's commandment was urgent and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished. and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt, and the former of the fourth is like the Son of God. Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the Most High God, come forth and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came forth of the midst of the fire. And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counselors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them. 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 hath changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any God except their own God. Therefore I make a decree that every people, nation, and language which speak anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill, because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort." Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon. And God will bless the reading of this, his word. What a marvelous story this is, what a marvelous account we have here of what the Lord did at that time. Verse 25 is really a key verse where we read of the observation of Nebuchadnezzar, what he saw when he looked into that furnace. And it says here, "'Lo, I see four men loose walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. Now this verse is central to the entire chapter and is therefore central to the experience of the three men, the three heroes who figured so prominently in this story that we've just read. These three individuals are Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, brothers in faith, associates with Daniel, his colleagues in the captivity in Babylon. Along with Daniel, they were brought to Babylon, and as he was, they were from the tribe of Judah, and therefore they belonged to the royal line that resided in that particular tribe. And so being brought to Babylon, they were observed to be very highly gifted and intelligent young men, already possessing great qualities and great abilities of various kinds. And so they were choice candidates for service in the realm of Babylon, and they were soon being groomed for that end. Moreover, in order to assimilate them into Babylonian culture, we are told that they were given Babylonian names, their names were changed. Their Jewish names, they're, I would say, not so well known. If I were to test you tonight, tell me their Jewish names, you might have a struggle trying to remember them, but their Jewish names are not so well known. They were Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, but they were changed respectively to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The reference to these three men, these friends of Daniel, is found only in the first three chapters of this book. And thereafter, they are never mentioned again in this book of Daniel. The focus on them in these early chapters is largely because of their association with Daniel. In chapter one, they are associated with him in his determination not to defile himself, not to ruin his testimony. by eating the king's meat or drinking the king's wine. In chapter 2, they are associated with Daniel in reference to the place of prayer, as together they seek God to find the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream. But here in chapter 3, they are actually seen without Daniel. In this chapter, Daniel is not mentioned. And so we watch these three men as they witness for and serve their God with great courage and faithfulness, even though their leader, we might say, is not actually in view. But to see them act and to see them remain steadfast is evidently part of the divine plan for these men. As it were, they have now come of age. They have come into their own. As far as remaining true to God is concerned, Daniel has led them well, and no doubt under his tuition, and I know Daniel also was a young man at this time, but he was the leader undoubtedly, and under his leadership and influence, these three men have, as I say, come into their own in terms of standing faithfully for their God. Up to this point, as it were, they have moved in the shadow of Daniel, but here in chapter 3, They take the center stage, and by the grace of God they prove themselves to be heroes of the faith. And then they are never seen again beyond this point in time. But surely they leave the stage, as it were, with an illustrious testimony of fidelity to the Lord and to His Word and to His name and to His cause in the wake of their departure. from the stage of time. It is because of the events recorded in this chapter that these three servants of God are known and remembered as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Actually, in chapters one and two, they are referred to more often under their Jewish, as opposed to their Babylonian names. But when you go into chapter three, It is exclusively under their Babylonian names that they appear. I would say to you, I suggest to you that in this fashion, the Holy Spirit of God reveals that though the Babylonians had changed their names, they couldn't change their nature. Oh yes, they were attempting to do that. And they gave them these names, and all these three names, by the way, are names that are titled after Babylonian gods, They couldn't change their nature. And I believe that is why in chapter 3, the names that are given to them here are those three Babylonian names. To emphasize that point, as it were, they're crying out from this chapter, you changed our names, but you can't change our hearts. You changed our titles and gave us Babylonian titles, but you can't change what we believe and what we hold to be true. And that's a wonderful thing to see, a wonderful matter just to observe. And so we could sum up this chapter by saying that it records the story of three men of God facing the fiercest pressure to forsake their God, abandon truth, and yet refusing to yield one iota to what was being brought to bear upon them. And from that perspective, this chapter therefore holds an enduring message for the church of Jesus Christ in all ages. It has always been and always will be the lot of God's people to come under pressure, to turn away from truth, to forsake the Lord, to change. That pressure's always there. But you see, it's God's will that His people and His church should remain true and faithful to Him, to His name, to His revealed will, to those things that are exceedingly precious, the things of the Lord, those things that have to do with the well-being of our souls and the well-being of people around us, we cannot alter, we cannot deviate, we must not be moved or shifted away from those matters. Because they are matters that have an eternal and an everlasting value, and therefore we must remain true to the Lord. And that's the message of Daniel 3. It has, as I say, this enduring message for the Lord's people in every age and in every generation. And furthermore, the entire range of this chapter is to show that the child of God, or the church of God, is not only not to move away from truth, but furthermore is able to triumph over the most vehement assaults of hell. And that message is encapsulated in this text and, of course, in the surrounding context. And I want just to sum up its message of triumph and victory for you this evening under the following lines of thought. First of all, we need to look at the fury. We read here in the chapter of the fury of Nebuchadnezzar. It is, of course, associated with the fire. You'll find the words here in verse 25, walking in the midst of the fire. In the midst of the fire. The references to the raging fire of the furnace. In this chapter, ten times, references made to the furnace. And then there are five additional references to the fire that burned in that furnace. It is therefore a fiery furnace, literally, holding in its bosom this terrible inferno, this raging flame. That is a dominant feature in the whole story. And we need to remember that this actually happened. This is an historical account. This is true. There was a furnace. It had a raging fire. as is described for us in this passage. But we must notice that the furnace and its fire, while literal and real, were symbolic of the fury of Nebuchadnezzar. There was a fire in that man's wicked soul that was then revealed in terms of the fiery furnace. Look with me at verse 13 of the chapter where we began to read. Verse 13, then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury. If you go down to verse 19, then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against the three men. And so we read here of his fury and his rage. And that fury and that rage were soon translated into the fire of this furnace. The fire, of course, of the furnace was always there, but in this way we can see how the man's fury, Nebuchadnezzar's rage against the servants of God is translated into the fire of the furnace. And therefore, in that way, the fire was symbolic of the fury that was in his heart. The precursor to that fury or the background to the venting of this fury was, of course, Nebuchadnezzar's desire for the universal worship of the image that he had set up. And that's in the opening part of the chapter, which we didn't read, but I would venture to say that most of you know the story back in verses 1 and then 4 to 5. You have something said there about this image that was set up. You look, for example, at the value of the image. It was an image of gold, it says in verse number 1. If we compare that with chapter 2, 31 into 32, Daniel interpreting the dream says, This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee, and the form thereof was terrible. The image's head was of fine gold." And you find that in the whole dream and in the interpretation of it in chapter 2, Nebuchadnezzar is identified as the head of gold. And so it seemed that he decided to make an image. What had been seen in his dream, that is an image of gold. With a head of gold, he wants to make this image now. He does in chapter 3 a representation of himself and he calls for the peoples of his empire to fall down and worship that image. And therefore, what was really going on was that Nebuchadnezzar was wanting worship for himself in the form of the image or through means of that image. He was one thing worshipped for himself. If you look at verse 12, it said, There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, these men, O king, have not regarded thee. That is, they don't worship you. They serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. Or even verse 14, when he asks the question, Do not ye serve my God, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? And the same down in verse 18 and so on. But the point becomes very clear that As you take the value of that image in the sense that it was made of gold, Nebuchadnezzar has it made as a way of representing himself, and when he calls on the people to worship the image, he's really wanting worship for himself. And then there's the vastness of the image. It was a huge image. Verse 1 tells us it was 90 feet high and 9 feet broad if we take the References there to cubits and take a cubit to be 18 inches. This is the size of this image. It was therefore in its vastness representing the enormity of his kingdom as he saw things and the enormity of his power. It was therefore a symbol of his pride and his arrogance and his pompous mind and his desire for the universal adulation and the worship of men. And if you look with me at this chapter, you'll notice the methods that he employed to try to get the compliance of the people. Look at verse number 4. It says, "...and herald cried aloud to you, it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, that at what time ye hear the sound," and it mentions all these instruments, "...ye fall down and worship the golden image." Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up, and whoso falleth not down and worshipeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning, fiery furnace." There is the method of allurement, and there's the method of threat. In other words, think about the sound of the music, all these different instruments. And they were told, if you hear any of these instruments playing or any other kind of music, Then you fall down and worship, as it were alluring the people with the beautiful sound of various instruments to fall down and worship. But if that didn't work, then there came in the threat, and if you don't worship into the fiery furnace, you're going to go. And you know the world, in so many realms of the world, is using the very same methods today. to have the Lord's people surrender and submit and leave off their faithfulness to God. There are the allurements that they use, and if those don't work, then they will issue their threats. And we live in that kind of a world. And that desire for the worship of man, which is really what's in this chapter, is of course the mark of anti-Christianity. That's what it is. And the New Testament makes it very clear. tells us of the man of sin and the son of perdition who will exalt himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped so that he as God sitting in the temple of God will be worshipped. And so there's that kind of spirit and it's in the world today, but we need to remember something about this as we think about the precursor to this fury. Nebuchadnezzar's desire for worship and adulation, that's what What was the precursor, the background to all this? As we think about that, we need to keep in mind that behind that there is the devil. You study your Bible, you'll find that all idolatry is inspired by Satan. The devil wants to take away from the Lord the worship that is rightfully his. And remember something, folks. All of the human race should worship God. because He is their Creator. And they should worship God because He is the Judge of all the earth. Those basic laws that were laid down at the very beginning in terms of creation still stand. Every man on the face of the earth should worship the true God. That has never changed. But the devil wants the worship of man. And he will seek to engineer and manufacture a way and a system to get that worship through someone like Nebuchadnezzar or other men in the history of this world. And as you study your Bible, as I say, you'll find that lying behind all idolatry, there is the mind of the devil. 1 Corinthians 10. Think about Paul's words there in verse number 20. 1 Corinthians 10, verse 20. He says this, in fact we'll just read verse 19, "'What say I then, that the idol is anything, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is anything?' And what he's saying there is, in a certain sense, an idol is nothing. An idol's just a figment of a man's imagination. A man fashions an idol, but it's the extension of his own mind. That's what an idol is. is the extension of his own mind. As we see there, Paul is saying an idol's not really anything, and that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is not really anything either in terms of having any real value or whatever. But then look at verse 20, but I say that the things which the Gentiles, and you can read there the nation, sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils and not to God. And so when you look at idolaters, or when you hear of idolaters and you read about them, and you see them bowing down to their God, if that's their kind of religion, or whatever their form of religion might be, where there's idolatry behind it, there is the mind of Satan. Because Satan wants that worship. And therefore, he has engineered idolatry and image worship of every kind and fashion to get the worship of men. And I believe as the world goes on, that will be the direction in which the world will go more and more and more as time runs down to a close. So there's a precursor to this fury. And let's just remember tonight, folks, that is the kind of world in which we live. And that is why there's a fury. It may be cloaked at times, or it may not be as visible or noticeable in one nation compared with another nation, but it's there. There's a fury. The precursor to it is the desire for worship to be taken away from God and placed on man or a system or whatever. And then there's a provocation of his fury. Look at verse 12, and it says there, He's told about these Jews, these three men, they haven't worshipped. Verse 13, as we just read a moment or two ago, Nebuchadnezzar addresses the three men, or commands the three men to be brought before him, and they're brought before him. So, his fury is provoked by the refusal of a remnant to comply with the demand for worship. And it was a remnant, if you go back to verse 7, it actually infers there that everybody else was going along with this. Therefore, at that time when all the people heard the sound of these instruments, they fell down and they worshipped the golden image. But here are three men who will not do so. And the strength of their refusal, and this is what really provoked the fury of the king, the strength of their refusal is seen in verses 16 to 18. And these three men displayed the most amazing character, and spirituality, and love for the Lord, and determination not to give way in the face of the king's fury. You notice their calmness. Verse 16, they said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter, which simply means, They weren't anxious. They weren't upset. They weren't bewildered. They were not confused. Their minds were settled. That's what it means in verse 16. We're not careful. We're not all wrought up about this. We're not in a fuss. We're not men who don't know what we're doing or what we're going to do. There's a calmness there about these men. They know what they believe, they know where they stand, and therefore when the command has come, and they already have refused to bow down, they are not agitated, they are not worried, they are not fearful, they are very, very calm. Doesn't the Bible say, Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind has stayed in Thee? And wouldn't these men not have thought about another verse from Isaiah? Because they're faced with going through a fire. When thou walkest through the fire, I will be with thee. And the flame will not kindle in thee to hurt thee. Isaiah 43. And they no doubt have known those scriptures. Remember that Isaiah lived long before this day. So they had the word of God and filled their hearts with calmness and peace. There's also their confidence. And you see, the point is, as they just stood there before Nebuchadnezzar and they were so calm, The man was completely and utterly overtaken with a fury that we could hardly even describe or imagine what it was like in terms of the extent of it. They're just standing there and they say, listen Nebuchadnezzar, we're not worried here. And then there's their confidence. Look at verse 17. 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." That is, if it be so, he'll deliver us from the furnace, and he'll deliver us from your hand. And then, go on to verse 18, we'll get to that in a moment or two. But their confidence here rings out in verse 17. They were confident that if it were the Lord's will, he would deliver them. Now at that moment, they had no idea how he would do so. But they were confident that if the Lord meant to deliver them, He would stop them from going into the furnace, or if they went into the furnace, He's still going to deliver them, if it be His will. In spite of the king, and in spite of his threats, and in spite of his fury, and in spite of his rage, these men had this confidence, this marvelous confidence in the sovereign will of their God and in the power of their God." They had a confidence in that. You see, what they're saying here is this, the very being of God, the very attributes of God are such that we have no fear of you. Do you think about that, dear folks? If they stood before Nebuchadnezzar, they were thinking about the God they served. A God who is all-powerful, a God who has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass, a God who exercises his will, and remember how Nebuchadnezzar himself said this later on. among the inhabitants of the earth and in the armies of heaven, and none can stay his hand or say unto him, What doest thou? That's the God they serve, and that's what instilled this confidence into their soul. They had a God of absolute authority and power. And, brethren and sisters, He is our God tonight. And therefore, it is still true that whatever comes, whatever threatens us. Whatever rage the enemy may raise against the church of God and the people of God, we've got to get our eyes and our minds upon the Lord, because the Lord is sovereign and the Lord rules over the kings of the earth. There's a verse in Revelation 17 that I love. It's a marvelous statement. Revelation 17, verse 17. And just look at that verse for a moment. And if you read Revelation 17, you've got all the detail about the woman riding the beast, and the seven kings, and the ten horns, and so on. But I'm not getting into the chapter this evening, except just to show you this verse, where it talks about these ten horns, these ten kings. And listen to what it says, God hath put in their hearts to fulfill His will and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled." That is a marvelous statement. Now, whoever you think the ten kings are doesn't come into it tonight. The point is, here is God's sovereign control over men. We certainly know they are men. But it talks about their hearts, etc. But the Lord, he puts into the hearts of these ten kings to do his will and to act in certain ways until his own word is eventually fulfilled. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they knew this. They knew that Nebuchadnezzar's heart is in the hand of the king. And He can turn it whatsoever way He wills. And folks, we need to get a view of our God in these days. Let us not be so taken up with earthly things or even the calamities and the catastrophes of the world and the direction of the world that we lose sight of the Lord. We need to have this confidence in God. That's really what we've been shown here. A confidence in God that arises out of a knowledge of who He is, His attributes, His majesty, His authority, His everlasting and glorious will that shall be done. For He's in charge. He's working out all things, as I said, after the counsel of His own will. And then their courage. Verse 18. All of this, you see, provoked Nebuchadnezzar. So verse 18, 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. They're saying now, if it were not the Lord's will to deliver them, they were not prepared to comply. They would die before they would worship the image and the king's pagan deities, because they knew to do otherwise would have been to deny the Lord and deny His own Word, which is what? Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, etc. And that Word is binding. And you see, it's at that stage, what I'm saying here is this, as you look at their courage, it's at that stage where the Lord's people always have to draw the line. That is, when the worship of God is under threat, or where the preaching of the gospel is under threat. You see this in Acts. I haven't time tonight to take you to the verses in Acts to which we could go, like in Acts 4 and Acts 5, where the apostles are told, you're not to worship, you're not to preach in the name of Christ anymore. Now, that was a real thing. They are being told by the Jewish religious Sanhedrin, no more preaching of the gospel in Jerusalem. And their answer was, well, whether it be right in your eyes or not, we're not going to stop preaching. We're going to continue preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. And my dear friend, that courageous stand will provoke the fury of hell. Why were men burned at the stake, our forefathers? Why did they lay down their lives as they did? Because of their calmness and their confidence and their courage, and it provoked those rascals to do what they did. It lit the fire. It moved iniquitous men to do what they did to the likes of Latimer and Ridley. And my friend, it's still going on today. We have moved away hundreds of years from the days of a Latimer or a Cranmer and a Ridley, but the fury of the enemy hasn't stopped and will not stop. And in our world today, there are dear believers who are being persecuted, who are feeling the fire, the fury of it. and are going into the flame, and many of them still to this day laying down their lives for the sake of Christ. And then there's the pinnacle of his fury. Look at verse 6. It says, "...whoso falleth not down and worshipeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace." That's the basic threat. Then verse 19, "...then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury." See what I'm saying? The precursor to his fury and the provocation of his fury, and now it reaches a pinnacle or a peak full of fury. The form of his visage changed. You can imagine the scene. The fury, he can't hide it. It's on his face. It must have been a terrible sight. Undoubtedly, those three men, they're just men, remember. They're ordinary men like us. They're not super human beings, and undoubtedly they would have felt the impact of that fury, because it came to a pinnacle and a peak, and the furnace is heated seven more times than it was normally to burn at on previous occasions. You see, that furnace was there because it says it was heated won seven more times than it was wont to be heeded. So the furnace was there in Babylon. It must have been used on other occasions for dealing with criminals. And you see the point I'm getting to as you look at the pinnacle of this man's fury? In Nebuchadnezzar's eyes, thinking, the greatest crime imaginable was faithfulness to God. Because that furnace that had been used on previous occasions, as I say, obviously, is now going to be heated seven times over, because in Nebuchadnezzar's mind, there's nothing more repulsive to him than these three men telling him, we're not going to obey you. We're not worshiping your image. We're not bowing down. We're not going to worship your gods. What is really, what lies behind what I call the pinnacle of his fury? It is this man and woman, that what these men were saying and the stand they were taking was to tell Nebuchadnezzar, there's only one true God. There's only one way of salvation. In other words, in their day, at that very moment, they were proclaiming what we call the exclusiveness of the gospel. That's what they're doing. Because they can't bow to that image, and to Nebuchadnezzar's gods, or even him himself, because to have done so would have been to say, well, your way's okay, I could be saved through your religion, To put it in plain terms, what you see, that's not true, folks. That's never true. There only is one gospel. There's only one God and one mediator between God and man. There's only ever one way of salvation. That's what we call the exclusiveness of the gospel. And I tell you tonight, false religion hates the exclusiveness of the gospel. And I am convinced that as time goes by, That will become a very, very prominent point in world religion. Already it's there. Ecumenism, which is really a syncretic religion, bringing everybody together now, just not the apostate churches and Rome But heathen religions and pagan faiths, they're all coming together and they're forming, remember this, they're still forming the one world church. Ecumenism is going forward, going ahead, and it's got a common denominator. And that is, we're all going to heaven by our own way, whatever they think heaven is or what salvation is, we're all going our own way and we'll get there eventually. But the believer has to say, no, there's only one way. and your way is wrong." That's what the Lord Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. And so, this is why His fury reaches a pinnacle, because these men are essentially telling Him, Your religion is wrong. and we will not forsake our God and His Christ. We love the Savior who's promised from Genesis onwards to fallen men, and His is the only sacrifice that saves, and His is the only work that redeems, and therefore we will remain faithful to Him. So there is a fury and then there is the faith. Because our text here, verse 25, is essentially a picture of faith triumphing in the midst of the fire. The faith of these men is clearly in view. Look in verse 28 and you'll see how Nebuchadnezzar himself actually testified to this afterwards. He says there, his servants that trusted in him. He's forced to admit this, that these men have been trusting in their God and their faith had caused them to triumph. The heathen king had to admit it and see it. What does it say in Hebrews 11 about these men? They're not mentioned by name, but it does say in Hebrews 11, 33 into 34, who through faith quenched the violence of fire. And I believe that's a reference to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Though not by name, they quenched the valiance of fire, and they did so by faith. And the fire did not harm them, as verse 27 shows. We'll get back to that verse in a moment or two. So, these three men went into that furnace with its raging inferno. They're cast into the midst of it. But listen, folks. There's a mighty faith burning in their hearts. That's the way to say it. There's a flame in their souls. It's the flame of faith, it's a fire of trust in God, and it triumphed over the literal flame and over the rage of the king. And so you have their faith. The reasoning of their faith, the reasoning of their faith was that they would honor their God. with all that they were. They were not going to bow their souls in conscious worship to the image of the gods or to the image or the gods of the king, and furthermore, they were not going to use their bodies to that end. Do you notice that? You see, someone might have come along that day and given them a bit of advice, something like this. Why don't you go along with it mentally? or your bodies, I mean. Just go through the actions and bow down, but inwardly you can still retain your faith and worship the Lord inwardly. My dear friend, you can't do that, because the Christian is a complete person, and what you believe in your soul governs how you use your body. If you look with me at this passage, you will see this. It's a remarkable thing. Look at verse 28. It says, Nebuchadnezzar is actually saying this here, that God sent his angel, verse 28, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, the lesson, and yielded their bodies that they might not serve nor worship any god except their own god. But they would not yield their bodies to a course, a practice that was contrary to the will of God, and for that reason they yielded their bodies to the flame. Now what's going on here is just what I said a moment ago. A Christian is a complete person. Your body belongs to the Lord just as much as your soul. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 6. 1 Corinthians chapter 6. And let's learn from this chapter that fact, that point, something that we should never forget, something that should govern our physical life in every way. 1 Corinthians 6. Verse 19, verse 20, What know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For you are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God on your body and on your spirit, which are God's. Here's the complete man, the body and the spirit, and both have been bought by the blood, and they belong to the Lord. And so Paul says, glorify God in both. And it says here as well that the Holy Ghost dwells in your body. Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. And those three young Hebrew men, though they lived way back in Old Testament times, They were saved exactly as we are saved. They had their faith and trust in the promised Messiah, who was going to, in history, die for them, and they knew that, and they were resting in the value of the atonement that He was going to make. And furthermore, they had the Holy Spirit dwelling in them, just as much as you and I have the Holy Ghost dwelling in us today if we're saved. And therefore, here's the reasoning of their faith. Our bodies, as well as our souls, belong to the Lord. So we're not going to go along with that suggestion that we could bow down and genuflect and so on and pass ourselves, but inwardly still worship the Lord. No, folks, they couldn't do that. Young people, may I say to you especially, The devil wants to take you into, the devil threatens to take you into the fiery furnace if you don't yield your body, if you don't compromise some way or other. You remember, as a child of God, your body, your soul belong to the Lord. Your body is not your own, it's the Lord's. Preserve its purity. Keep it for godly purpose. Don't let the enemy intimidate you or pressurize you into yielding up that body for the service of the devil. But keep it for the Lord. So there's the reasoning of their faith here. There's also the recognition of their faith. And that is what I see when I read here in our text, verse 25, of Nebuchadnezzar actually saying, I see four men, and one of them was, of course, the Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore their faith is recognized. The Lord recognizes their faith, and He comes to them. Their faith is recognized in heaven, and the Lord comes down to accompany them in one of his appearances in Old Testament times, to accompany them into that furnace and walk with them through those flames. And as we've already said, of course, their faith is also recognized in the Scripture, in Hebrews 11, because by faith they quenched the violence of the fire. But here it is, this wonderful aspect of the whole scene, the recognition of their faith, the Lord coming into the fire to them, recognizing their faith in this particular way, showing that their faith has triumphed because faith has brought Christ into the furnace. Faith has brought the Lord into the fire. And what I quoted a while ago, or paraphrased maybe from Isaiah 43, and I believe now this is being fulfilled, for these men, when they walk us through the fire, I will be with thee. And here they are in the fire, and the Lord comes to them. They were prepared to trust the Lord whatever the outcome would be, as we saw earlier. whether He saved them from the fire or allowed them to go into the fire and so forth, they were prepared to trust Him, and now that faith is recognized by the Lord coming into the fire to these men. And I want you to think about it this way. They're cast into that fire. I know the fire actually did not burn them or even singe them as we've read, but when they were cast into that fire, Because of their union with Christ, Christ came into the crucible of suffering. He came into the furnace to identify with them. Do you see the point I'm making? The believer is one with Christ. And whatever you suffer, the Bible actually tells you Christ suffers with you. Hebrews 4 is what I'm talking about. Verse 15, where it says, we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, which means, positively put, we have a high priest who can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. And the word touched literally means to suffer with. Christ suffers with his people. I remember reading a long time ago now, The story of the two Margarets who were drowned in the Solway, and one was tied farther out than the other. I can't remember right now which was which, but it doesn't matter. One was tied farther out, and the tide, of course, came to her first and rose and rose until she was drowning. And then the soldiers of the king asked, I think it probably was the younger girl who was closer to the shore, what do you see out there? And she said, I see Christ struggling and wrestling in His child. Christ was there. Christ suffered with the martyr in that He came alongside Dear believer, think about that today, tonight. Whatever you're going through, maybe going through a fiery furnace tonight. Some difficulty, some problem, some whatever. Because of your union with Jesus Christ, what you are suffering, Christ feels it. He fails it. Didn't he say to Saul of Tarsus, why persecutest thou me? Christ felt what the early church was going through when Saul was slaughtering the saints. Because he is touched, he suffers with us in our infirmities. He comes to recognize their faith. There is the reasoning of their faith and the recognition of it. And then the result of their faith, as we look at the faith, verse 28, the king reversed the situation. On into verse 29, Therefore I make a decree that every people, nation, and language which speak anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill, because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort. He decreed that the young men were to be honored, and that their God was to be honored, Anybody saying about the God of these young men, he was going to be cut in pieces now. He was still quite a fierce character, wasn't he? But he is reversing his decree, reversing the situation. What would that have meant? That would have meant that in Babylon, whether in the city or throughout the empire, the Lord's people would have been given, at that time at least, some respite. from the pressure under which they were found. Because no doubt there were other believers. There was Daniel, remember. He's not mentioned here. I don't know where Daniel was at this point, but he's not mentioned. But Daniel most certainly wasn't going to bow to that image. He's proved himself in chapter 1. And there are others as well, I would imagine, God's people, because a host of believers have been brought to Babylon, and if they know the Lord, they're not going to bow to that image. But because of the stand of these men, here is the result of their faith. Things were easier for the rest. And therefore you have no idea, dear believer, as you take your stand. how the Lord can use that to alleviate the situation for somebody else. Isn't that the history of Protestant Christianity? We look at our forefathers, we remember how they burned and they stood for the Lord and the result of their faith is we have all these liberties, all these values, we've got this book, we've got our freedoms, we can meet here still openly to worship God. That's the result of the faith of men who went into the furnace. And so if God calls on you or me to go into the furnace, let us be prepared to do what we can, because the Lord will honor the faith of His saints, and He will use that even to make things, as I say, a lot easier for others who serve the Lord Jesus Christ. And then finally the freedom. I see four men loose. walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt. I see four men loose. There is the freedom. They were thrown into the fire, bound in various ways, but now they are free. The only thing they lost in that fire were the bonds that held them. They didn't even lose a hair of their heads. Not one was singed. But they went into the fire, and what freedom they enjoyed. They walked through the fire. That's what Nebuchadnezzar says, I see four men loose, and they're walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt. You see, there's a vital spiritual lesson there as we think about their freedom, and that is that in the furnace of affliction, many a Christian is set free from something. The Lord sometimes takes us or allows us to go into the fire to set us free from some bond or other, some encumbrance. He allows you to go through the The fiery trial, and what's the outcome? You're freed from maybe some carnality or worldliness. The dross is purged away. Or the fire of satanic temptation, that kind of trial. What happens in that fire? You're freed from relying on yourself too much. Because whenever you get into the fire and the devil's raging, there you learn to trust the Lord. There you're driven closer to the Savior. Or maybe the fire and the furnace of affliction and trouble. And as you go into the fire, bonds are loosed in the sense that you're freed from coldness and lack of prayer. and you're caused to seek the Lord even more fervently than you've ever done. That's what the psalmist says in Psalm 119. He says, before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I have kept thy word. And so, that's the kind of freedom that you see pictured here, symbolized here. These men enter a furnace and yet they're free. Their bonds are gone. Dear believer, whatever the way in which the Lord will be taking you, whatever the path may be, the fiery furnace in your life, the raging inferno, the trial, the difficulty, whatever it might be, may you realize tonight that the Lord has a purpose in it all. It's to bring you into liberty and into freedom that you'll never experience otherwise. If the Lord deals with you in that furnace, He'll burn away the bonds. He'll remove the fetters. He'll give you liberty, give you freedom to walk with Christ, because that's the whole point. They were set free to walk with the Lord Jesus in the midst of the fire. And that's why the Lord sets us free from these things I've mentioned, that we might walk with the Lord and prove Him and know His blessing. May God bless His Word for His own glory and His own praise. Amen.