Thank you, Brother Chris. Alright, if you would take your Bibles out and turn with me to Daniel, Chapter 3. Daniel, Chapter 3. If you've been to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, any amount of time, then you've heard the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. If you've read this story, heard this story, raise your hand if you're familiar with it. Very good. Alright, now lower your hands. How many of you like ice cream? Raise your hand. Okay, now lower your hands. Just because you've had ice cream before, does that mean you don't like to eat it again? If you'd like to eat ice cream again, raise your hand. Alright, this is an ice cream story in your Bible. It doesn't matter how many times you hear it, it's always good. As long as it's not melted all over the place, right? So, I will try to go fast, that way it stays nice and cool, okay? And it doesn't melt. But, don't ever get tired of truth. Don't ever look at a story in the Bible and say, well, I've heard this before. It's always good. Anytime you get to open up the Bible, it's always a good thing, all right? And apparently, sometimes we need to repeat things. Because I don't know how many times I've heard at youth camp, and if there's one phrase that we tell young people over and over and over again, it's this. The devil's not going to show up with horns and a long tail. And what does Gabe do? Cranium, was that cranium? What do they decide to do? We'll make the devil show up with horns. Come on, guys. And by the way, was that a vote of who should play the devil? I would have protested that. Well, that's not right, no. Anyway, that was good, that was a fun, you guys did a good job of creativity on that, alright? So, this morning, quickly, I know that we're on a schedule and we've got to go fast, we're going to do the last chapel message. And here's how I want you to treat the chapel message this morning. You know what grammar is, you know what punctuation marks are, and if I ended a sentence with a period, that means I've made a statement, right? If I end it with a question mark, that means we're still waiting for something else. Every time you ask a question, you're looking for a what? But if I end it with an exclamation point, that means that I have said something emphatically. It's being exclaimed. I don't want you to end camp with a question mark. I want you to end camp and use this message as the exclamation point for everything that has been said this week. You've heard really good truths, not just from the chapel messages and from the morning sessions with Pastor Roland and Pastor Perks, but also your devotions. I went through that God and I time. Those questions were great questions in your devotions. And so allow tonight to be the exclamation point, or this morning to be the exclamation point for your camp week. Daniel chapter 3, verse 1. Here's what the Bible says. And I want to thank Brother Chris for praying for the message. And I agree with him in that. And we look forward to the Lord doing just that. Image of gold. Now, I want you to understand this, young people, that the society that you live in is image-centered. Okay? God revealed Himself to man. He sent the logos. He sent the Word. And who is the Word? That's right. What is a word? What does that mean? What? Okay, something you say? I'm just going to tell you, okay? Here's what it means. You have a thought in your mind right now. Hopefully they're good thoughts after this week, right? Yeah, you're thinking, but I don't know what you're thinking. It's invisible. I can't see it. I need you to do one of three things. I need you to either say it to me so I can see it, I need you to say it to me so I can hear it, or I need you to write it down for me. You don't have to talk, you can write it down. But there has to be something you can do to communicate your thought, because I don't know what your thoughts are. Do you know who Jesus Christ is? He's God communicated to you. Jesus says, if you've seen Me, you've seen the Father. If you watch Jesus, if you study Jesus, you're studying God. And so God communicates to us through our Lord. And that's a blessing. And how am I going to communicate to man? He calls Moses up to Mount Sinai. And what did He do? What did He give Moses? How did he give it to him? Did he draw pictures? What did he do? He wrote it out. When God gave His word, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every what? When God gave us His revelation, He wrote it down. Perfect revelation right here. Word. Now, I realize you may think I'm being stupid right now, but I really don't think I am. God wants us to think. as serious as your soul and your spirit, it should be something worth investing time in. The World Without Borders is a theologically sound book, but it's a great book. It's called The Forgotten Word. And it's the impact that image has on our society. were back in 1950s and they're full of words. People used to read. Now it's all pictures. Now we are a TV-centered, movie-centered, magazine-centered, books with pictures. Matter of fact, you can actually send a text message now and not even use words. You use a little sunglass cool face or crying laughing face and we won't go that you could go, right? That's what they're called. They're called emojis. It's here's a picture of how I'm feeling. Now, I'm not saying emojis are sinful. What I am saying is don't be lazy. We are living in a culture that is all about knowledge. Here's why. Because the devil does not want you to think. He just wants you to know how it looks and how it feels. And if he can get you to make decisions just based on how it looks and how it feels, then you'll have won. But you have to be mature enough to decide, I'm not going to make a decision just based on how it looks or just based on how I think it might make me feel. I want to make my decision based on what is right. and what is wrong. That's a far better standard to go off of. And so here this king makes a great big image. And this isn't a small image, by the way. It's intimidating. It's large. Look what it says. Three-score cubits at 60 cubits high. The breadth was six cubits. He set up the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. Now, we don't have time to go through all of it. You know what happens. They make a decree, and the king says, here's what's going to happen when the music starts playing. I've created an image of me, which is kind of a proud thing to do, right? I mean, can you imagine being that kind of a guy? What should I do to restore unity to my kingdom? You know what? I'll make an image of myself, all right? So he makes this image and he calls and here's what happens. We know the story, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they do not bow. Notice what it says in verse eight. Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near and accused the Jews. They spake and said to King Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live forever. That means they have their king, they have the one they serve. Look at verse eight. Thou, O king, hast made a, what's that word? What's a decree? What's a decree? A proclamation. It's a what? A law. It's a command. Now you have this tension with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Because the king has made a command, but so has God. And now they have a choice. Do I listen to man? And he's a pretty powerful man. I mean, he's the king. I mean, he's got a lot of sway. And by the way, it wasn't just the king. Guess what happened? When the music played, everybody else bowed down. You talk about peer pressure. Can you imagine being in here and everyone stands up and we're all singing and all of a sudden, Bethany, everyone around you just sits down at one time and you're the only one standing. face yourself. This is awkward. I just might sit down for just a few minutes too, right? Everybody else around you is doing something and these young men have the conviction to say we're going to keep standing. We're not going to bow. Now, The king made a decree, sound of the music, everyone's gonna fall down and worship the golden image. There are certain Jews, here's why I like that. Because Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego stood out. Not just because they didn't bow, but they hadn't forgotten who they were either. There are certain Jews who now have the authority over the affairs of the province of Babylon. That means they're trustworthy. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been put in that position. Meshach and Abednego. These men, O king, have not regarded thee. They serve not thy gods, nor worship the gold image which thou hast set up. But I want you to notice again, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men have not regarded thee. That means they're not giving you any care. Now here's why I love this verse. Go back to Daniel 1. Go back to Daniel 1. Another king had made a decree. And there were some other guys that had made a decision. Verse 6, now among these were the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. And who are these four? Someone tell me who these four are. Yes. How many are there? And what happens? Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with a portion of the king's meat. And here's what happened. Daniel had a pretty big influence on Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, didn't he? You know why I love Daniel chapter 3? When it says these men, Daniel's not mentioned. Now that doesn't mean Daniel's bowing somewhere. I think Daniel was actually out of the country. But I can tell you why I think that later. But you know what it tells me? It tells me this. These young men used to be in a position where they had good influence, and they followed it, obeyed it. They saw God bless it. They saw God honor them after the ten days. They didn't eat the king's meat. But it also shows me in chapter 3, they didn't need Daniel around to make the right decision this time. because they had the character within themselves. It was good that Daniel led the way last time, but now they didn't need Daniel. Young people, you have got to make a decision in your heart and your mind. It's good to have good influences. It's good to have people in your life that help you do the right thing. But you have to get to a place where you do the right thing because you want to do the right thing and because you believe it's the right thing. And you have some own personal convictions for yourself. These three men, stood up. They did not bow. They didn't regard what the king said. Verse 13, then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury. Can you imagine that? This is how the world operates. Has anyone ever seen the Wizard of Oz? Okay, remember the great Oz? He's, smoke is going, I am the great Oz. And they were all intimidated. And who was he? He was just some guy behind a curtain. This is the Nebuchadnezzar. He's going to show his rage and fury. This will intimidate them. And then they were there and they were thinking, this is awkward. Because it doesn't matter what he does, we're not changing our mind. Notice what they say later in the chapter. That Nebuchadnezzar, full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against, this is important, against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He was very specific at who he was mad at. He was very specific at who he was angry at. And now the king is upset at them. And he says, go. He commanded they should heat the furnace once seven times when it was wont to be heated. And he commanded the most mighty men, I'm going to make the furnace as hot as I can make it. I'm going to get the men that are the strongest ones that I have, and they're going to take care of this. Here's what I love about words like EST, the strongest. Here's what it tells me. The king gave it his best shot. There's no excuse here. No one can point and say, well, I mean, it would have been better if the king had done more. The king did everything he could have done. He heated up the furnace as hot as it could be heated. It was so hot that it burned up the Chaldean guards that were going to throw shatter at Meshach. So he got his most mighty men. And here's what it tells me. That God's young people are stronger than anything the world can throw at them. It doesn't matter how hot the world says it's going to get for you. We're not going to talk to you anymore. We're not going to be your friend anymore. We're going to fire you. If you don't do this, then you're going to lose your job. Young people, listen. It does not matter what the world does. You do not have to bow. You do not have to give in. Some of you have made decisions this week. Some of you have said, I know I'm here at camp, and I know that I want to do right, and I want to live right, and some of you aren't saved yet, but you've said, when I get back home, that I want to seriously consider, I want to really pray about these things. Here's what I'm going to ask you to do. I'm beseeching you, actually. When you get home and you find yourself in a different environment than the camp where it's easy to be spiritual and you have the Bible every day and you have counselors every day. When you get back home and now you're under different pressure, the commitments that you have made at camp keep Don't bow. Keep standing. It doesn't matter what the world says. We've all been there. You could talk testimonies. You could see the men in the Bible. The world can say you're going to lose your job. You're going to lose your friendships. People are going to be mean to you. Your family may not understand. You're turning your back on the family. Whatever it is, keep standing. Do not bow. You know why Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego could look at the king in his eyeballs and say, it really doesn't matter what you say, O king? We're not careful to answer you in this matter. We're not going to beat around the bush. We're not going to hem and haw. We have a conviction. Here's why we're not bowing to you. We've already bowed to our king. We have already submitted to our king. We have a Lord. We don't need another one. We have a Master. We don't need another one. And whether it be you today who kills us, or some other way, either way, we're free from you. And so the king is just so angry. I mean, they should be reacting to me. I am somebody. I'm powerful. And they're like, no, we're just not going to bow. And so what happens? Suddenly Daniel, off to the side, He crests the hill on a white steed. Hair blowing in the wind. This was before haircuts were around. He runs down the hill. Eyes look over. And they see this man coming down. Who could he be? They see him strong and mighty. Dead raccoon hanging off his horse. Riding coming in and he comes down he grabs three horses He brings them behind him runs right in front of the king and says jump on Shadrach Meshach and Abednego And they hop on the horse and they escape over and is that what happened? You know what happened that if I wrote the story, that's how it would have happened, right? You know what happens? They get thrown in the fire Talk about a disappointing ending. I mean, you do all these things, and it's right, and you make the right decision, and you stand for truth, and you don't bow, and then here we go. In the fire. But here's the lesson. Young people, standing strong doesn't mean God's always going to keep you out of difficult situations. What God wanted for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego wasn't to be saved from the fire. He wanted to show them that His strength was strong enough for them to endure the fire. Daniel would find out about this. Did God save him from the lions then? No. But did God save him in the lions then? Yes. He got tossed in. He looked at lions, hungry ones. But yet God saved him. Do not think that when you stand strong and you don't bow, I'm not gonna, the Lord's gonna save me, and all of a sudden you find yourself in this situation, don't you lose faith. Don't you lose heart. Your friend does turn their back on you. Your family does turn their back on you. You do lose your job. And you think, but it wasn't supposed to be like this. Maybe, yes, it is supposed to be like that. Because God's going to show you something that you might even be in the middle of the worst the world can give you, but you can still stand. Notice what the king said. And I love this story. Nebuchadnezzar 24 He was astonished, astonished, and rose up in haste and spake unto the counselors, Did not we cast three men down into the midst of the fire? And they said, 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 form of the fourth is like the Son of God." Now, does the Bible ever exaggerate? Details are important, right? Here's what happened. The Bible says that they bound them and threw them in the fire. But not only did Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, not only did they not bow, not only did they keep standing, but they didn't even fall in the furnace. They were walking around in the furnace. How would that be for an experience? And it wasn't that the fire wasn't hot, because guess what burned off? All the bondage the world said that they were going to keep them on. They were loose walking around in the fire. They weren't walking around like this. They were loose. And there was a fourth. But this time it wasn't Daniel. This time it's what we call a Christophany. It was the Lord Jesus Christ. And He was with them in the fire. You want to know the biggest blessing, young people, that you could ever have said about you is not just that I did not bow to the world, and I didn't bow to temptation. I stood. But that because of my stand, because of my conviction, because I did not bow, other people saw Christ. Nebuchadnezzar looked down there and he saw Jesus with them. You have the potential to live a life in such a way that others will see Christ. You know what would have happened if they gave in to peer pressure? A missed opportunity. You know what would have happened if they bowed down? Would they have still been Jews? Would they have still been part of God's chosen? Yes, but we would have missed a tremendous opportunity for a testimony, wouldn't we have? And there would perhaps be another way that God would work out what He wanted to work out, but they obeyed God. And what was the result? Not only did they thrive, And they succeeded. It wasn't easy, but they did. But others saw Jesus. There is no greater thing that we can go through than to please God and to reflect Jesus Christ. What a privilege. And it all was because they made one decision. We're not bowing. It doesn't matter how many people around me, I'm not bowing. I know I'm not home. I know I'm not in the right environment. I know I'm in the Chaldean area. By the way, you counselors and you young people getting ready to go to college, trust me, it's going to be a difficult environment, even in Bible colleges nowadays. Where's Taylor? He probably stopped coming. I told him, I said, I said, you know, I feel so bad. I said, I'm just going to stop addressing you publicly because I always mess up somehow that. But anyway, but he'll tell you just because it says it's a Bible college doesn't mean it's all right doctrine. There's going to be temptation is going to be peer pressure. But listen, please, please listen. Don't bow. Don't bow. You're going to leave camp tonight. Today, you're going to go home. You made great decisions. You talked to counselors. You talked to some adults. You said, I'm really going to do this. Then follow through. Follow through. Don't allow yourself to be so easily distracted that you forget about the commitments that you made at camp. Don't bow. Stand. Stand. And you watch and see how God will use your testimony. What a privilege. that the Lord allows us to be able to be ambassadors for Christ and live lives that reflect the Lord. I hope that was a blessing to you. And for those that are shocked, I'm already done. I didn't want it to be a long message. I just wanted it to be a potent message. Don't bow. Are you with me? Don't bow. Stand. Father in heaven, thank you for the day. I pray that you'd bless these young people. They're gonna leave here. We're gonna get ready to leave. We're gonna pack up. But I pray that this 2017 camp, that these young people, I pray, Lord, that The ones that are not saved would humble themselves and obey you and be saved. Father, for those that are saved, I pray that you would give them the grace that you gave Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Help them to not need to depend on others, but have the conviction within themselves through Your Word, through Your Spirit to stand. Help them not be intimidated by the images the world throws at them. Help them not be tempted by the images the world gives them. Help them not be influenced by the peer pressure of those around them. Help them to be led and influenced and guided by Your Spirit and Your Word. I pray that in 20 years, we can point at every one of these young people as examples of those who not only had good testimonies, but they kept the faith. Father, I pray that you'd bless these churches that brought their young people. I pray that these young people would be a blessing to them as they go back and serve in whatever capacity they have. I pray, Lord, that you would allow these young people to know in their hearts, not just their minds, but Father, allow them to please know in their hearts how much we desire, like the Apostle John desired, for them to prosper and succeed in life. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.