Good evening, and we thank God again for allowing us to meditate on His precious Word. As my father-in-law mentioned, I decided actually last night to preach to you on a different text. Last night in our family devotion, my father-in-law read from Daniel chapter 3, and I have been wanting to preach from this passage. And so I hope you don't mind. I'll be delivering a different message. Allow me to read again a few verses from our passage or from chapter 3, Daniel chapter 3. Let me read verses 15, 16, and 17, and 18. or verse 14, 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, sack bath, 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, Oh, I love that. 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. Thus far, the reading of God's holy and infallible word. May the Lord himself add his divine blessing to it. Here in our passage, we find the Jews living in Babylon as exiles. And that's because of their stubbornness. They disobeyed God. And as a result, God punished them. God brought them into a pagan land under a wicked king by the name of Nebuchadnezzar. And this king, made a golden statue. And then he commanded everyone to bow down and worship this golden image. And he said, everyone who would refuse to worship this idol would be thrown immediately into a flaming furnace. In other words, anyone who would refuse to worship this golden image or bow down before this image would immediately die. Well, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did not obey the order of the king. They did not worship this golden statue. Needless to say, the king became so angry with the three. And he commanded them to appear to him, or before him, and he said to them in verse 14, look at verse 14. Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? Is it true that you did not worship the golden image? Now, interestingly, here, King Nebuchadnezzar gave Daniel's three friends another opportunity to change their mind, to worship his golden image. And so we read in verses 15 and 16, Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sacbat, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye shall fall down, or ye fall down and worship the image which I have made well. In other words, that's wonderful, that's great, that's great. If you bow down before my golden image here, that's wonderful, that's well, you're doing well. But if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And then the king makes this remark, and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? And then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said, in verse 16, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. In other words, there is no need for us to give you an answer. You know the answer. We will not obey you. We will not worship this golden image because that is a violation of the second commandment. Our loyalty is not to you, but to our God, to the King of kings, to the Lord of lords. And then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego gave three reasons why they would not want to bow down before this golden image and worship it. First reason, they said, our God is able to deliver us. We see that in verse 17. If it be so, if you cast us into that burning, fiery furnace, fine. But I want you to know that our God is able to deliver us from the burning, fiery furnace. Second reason. Yes, our God is able to deliver us, but he's also willing. Look at verse 17 again, the last part. He will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. And then the third reason that they gave, which I really like, verse 18. They said, but if not, in other words, king, listen, our God is able to deliver us from this. burning, fiery furnace. And our God is also willing to do it. He is very much willing to help us, to deliver us from your hand. But if not, even if the Lord does not deliver us, still we are going to worship our God, not your God. We will not bow down before your handmade God or golden image. In other words, the third reason they gave is their unconditional commitment to God, but if not. So let's elaborate these three reasons one by one. So first of all, God's ability to deliver us. Now, in verse 15, the king of Babylon says, Look at verse 15, the last part. Who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? By implication, King Nebuchadnezzar is saying, I am more powerful than your God. Don't you realize that I am the most powerful being in the world? Who is that God that you are telling me that is going to deliver you from my hand? Now, of course, only God has the right to say that. You know, when you read John chapter 10, verses 28 and 29, that's precisely what Jesus says. And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand." Only God can say that. Only God can say that no one can deliver you out of my hand or can snatch you out of my hand. And so here really, the king of Babylon is acting like a god. He thinks that he is God. And so Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego say in verse 17, look at verse 16. Or 17, if it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us. Now the emphasis here is on God's power or ability. And I want you to realize this, that in this narrative, in this context, Daniel's three friends are talking about physical deliverance. They are talking about deliverance from this burning, fiery furnace. They are not really talking about spiritual deliverance, although we can apply that to our spiritual life. But here they are talking about deliverance from physical fire. You know, oftentimes when we think of deliverance, we only think of spiritual deliverance. But our God is also concerned with our physical deliverance. I remember this story, which I read from last year. The headline of the story is this, God's intervention saves 72 captive Nigerian Christians from Boko Haram firing squad. Now, this is a long story, but I really want you to pay attention to this. I'm going to read it. And here you will see how our God delivers his people physically from the persecutors. It was reported that the Boko Haram terrorists had captured 76 Muslims that had recently accepted Jesus. 72 of those new believers were standing in front of a Boko Haram firing squad, facing death. Four of the newly Christian leaders were told to deny Jesus and convert back to their Islamic groups. These Christian leaders refused, and were instantly killed as their families watched in horror. The terrorists then asked the wives of the slain leaders to do the same, or they would kill their children as well. But thankfully, God intervened on behalf of the children. The children in the group said that the Lord Jesus appeared to them that night and told them all would be well. They were told not to fear that He would protect them and that they should not renounce Him, but stay strong, knowing that He is the way, the truth, and the life. The next morning, the mothers were asked again to renounce their faith, to save their children's lives, and they still refused to do so. The terrorists prepared to fire. and they could not. They dropped their rifles and started to grab at their heads, screaming and shouting, snakes, snakes! Some of the soldiers ran off and others dropped dead where they stood. When one of the captive Christians picked up a soldier's abandoned rifle, a small boy stopped him from shooting. The boy said, You don't need to do that. Can you not see the men in white fighting for us? He was referring to the angels he saw all around them. And by the grace of God, all 72 of the surviving captives had their lives spared. Now, let's confess with our upbringing, when we hear a story like this, we right away become suspicious. No way, that cannot be true. No way, no way. But may I tell you this, a lot of stories like this are happening around the globe. Now, you have to remember, this happened in Nigeria. Nigeria has become a killing field of defenseless Christians. In fact, since 2015, about 12,000 Christians were murdered in Nigeria. Unfortunately, the mainstream media They don't publicize this. They don't tell the world about this. But my point is this. Our God is very much willing to deliver us, to deliver His people physically from dangers. And this, we can apply to our situation with this COVID-19, with this virus. Yes, as deadly as it can be, this virus, We don't doubt it, it has claimed many lives already, but we know that our God is able to deliver us. Of course, we do what we can do to stay healthy and to be safe, but at the end of the day, it is our God who will deliver us from physical dangers. And how many times do you think God has spared you When you were driving, I had many of those experiences where I was just in awe. I could not believe it, how God spared me. You may have heard of my own accident. I could not preach for three months. And I remember one of the rescuers, he said to me later, I have witnessed a lot of accidents similar to yours. Usually, drivers don't make it. It is really a miracle that you made it. Who delivered me from that danger? Our God. Why is it that you are still alive? How come that you are still here worshiping the Lord? Who has kept you safe for many years while you are out there in the field planting and surrounded by dangerous equipments, who kept you safe? Our God. And so let us not forget that our God is also concerned with our physical deliverance. And yet, like what I said, we can apply this too to our spiritual deliverance. And we know that our God is able to deliver us not only from that fiery burning furnace, that physical danger, but more so from the fiery furnace of hell, from that lake of fire. We know that our God is All-powerful, powerful enough that He can change you, that He can save you. Martin Luther once said that just one drop of the blood of Jesus is enough to cleanse you from all your sins. That's why even the Apostle Paul, he says in the book of Romans, Romans chapter 1 verse 16, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Why? For it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes. My point is that our God is able to deliver us. When I was in the Philippines, I used to sing this song, He is able to deliver thee. You may have heard of this song. Let me read that to you. He is able to deliver thee. He is able to deliver thee. Though by sin oppressed, go to him for rest. Our God is able to deliver thee. It is the grandest theme. Let the tidings roll to the guilty heart, to the sinful soul. Look to God in faith. He will make thee whole. Our God is able to deliver thee. You don't have an excuse. You cannot say to God, but Lord, you have no idea how much sin I've committed against you. My sin is so big. You present to the Lord your biggest sin, the sin that you think is the biggest sin that you've ever committed against God, and God will simply say to you, I am bigger than your sin, your biggest sin. My grace is bigger than your biggest iniquity. Now let's move to my second point, the second reason that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego gave to King Nebuchadnezzar. So first, they said to him, no, we're not going to obey you. We're not going to worship this golden statue. And even if you cast us into this burning fire, so be it, because we know that our God is able to deliver us. Now, second reason, we find in the same verse, verse 17, and he is willing to deliver us out of thine hand. Now, in the first part, the emphasis is on God's power, God's ability, he's able Now, here, the emphasis is on God's willingness, and I like the combination of the two. If I may explain this to you in this way, let's say there is a child. Let's say your child is coming to you asking for some help. Daddy, daddy, please help me. You are able to help your child, but the problem is you are not available and you are not willing to help your child. And so you say to your child, I'm sorry, I cannot help you. In reality, when you say I cannot, it's not that you cannot, but the truth is you are not willing. You are not available at that moment. Now, our God is not just able to help you, to deliver you, but he's also willing to do it. He's very much willing to do it. You cannot question his willingness to help you, physically, yes, but also spiritually. You know, I can say to you, I am willing to buy you a new building for your place of worship. And by the way, you cannot question the sincerity of my heart. I am really, really willing to buy you a new property. Unfortunately, I am not able because I have no money. But I am willing, I am willing, I have the willingness but I don't have the ability to do it. Now our God, he has both. He has both. He is not only willing to save you from your sin, to forgive you of all your sins, but he can do it. Because He is our God, and that's what we see here too. When they replied, when Daniel's three friends replied to King Nebuchadnezzar, we will not worship this golden image, we will not obey you, because we know that our God is not only able to deliver us, but He's also willing to do it. One of my favorite hymn writers is Joseph Hart. He's not well known. He was a contemporary of Charles Wesley, John Newton, 18th century. And he wrote a hymn that I think you for sure are familiar with. The title of that hymn is, Come Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy, or Come Ye Sinners, Poor and Wretched. Listen to what he says in that hymn. Come, ye sinners, poor and wretched, weak and wounded, sick and sore. Jesus, ready, stands to save you, full of pity, joined with power. He is able. He is able. He is able. He is willing. Doubt no more. I love that. that our Savior is not only able to save you, but He's also willing. Have you ever thought of the willingness of our Savior to forgive us and to save us? What hinders you from coming to Jesus? Do you think that He's not willing to save you? You are wrong, because our God is not only able to save you, but He's also very, very much willing to do it. In fact, in the book of Micah, we read that God delights in bestowing His mercy upon sinners. Do you know that our God finds joy in saving sinners, it is his delight. You know, my father-in-law is not only a gifted preacher, but he is also a gifted carpenter. And whenever he comes to visit us in Michigan, I try to give him a project to fix because I confess that I'm not skilled when it comes to carpentry. I can fix basic problems in carpentry, but not as good as my father-in-law. He would come and I would say, Dad, especially we have four small kids and kids sometimes they ruin things. Not intentionally, but they can ruin the doorknob and the cabinet. And so I would ask my father, you know, dad, can you please fix it? And he would say, you know, of course, of course. And he would say to me, oh, I enjoy it. I enjoy doing it. And so I, I'll say to him, well, when you come again, I have another project because I want you to be more happy. So I will give you more work to do. Now I'm thinking of our God. Our God enjoys the work of saving sinners. He finds delight. in pouring out His grace upon those who believe in His Son, Jesus Christ. He is very much willing to deliver us. And He is also available. He's always there. You know, nowadays, it's really hard to, you know, ask help from someone because that person may be able to help you, but how often you will hear this response, you know, I really, I would love to help you and be there, but I'm simply busy. I have no time. I'm not available. You cannot hear that from our God. Never, ever. Whenever you come to God for help, He's always ready to help you. You will never hear Him say, I'm sorry, I'm too busy in helping others. No. You will get His attention 100%. He will listen to you. Now, third reason. So our God is able to deliver us. He is willing to deliver us. But notice what Shadrach and Meshach and Abednego say in verse 18. But if not, But if not, in other words, yes, King Nebuchadnezzar, our God is able to deliver us, he is willing to deliver us, but we want you to know, even if the Lord does not deliver us, still we will not bow down before that golden image. And there you see their unconditional commitment to the Lord. But if not, these three words are among the sweetest words in the Bible that every believer must learn to utter. You know, some Christians, their service of God is conditional. Think of Jacob himself in Genesis chapter 28. Remember when he says to God, if God will be with me, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, then the Lord shall be my God, and all of that God gives me, I will give a full tenth to him. Lord, I'm going to give my offering to you if you bless me. I'm going to serve you if you do this to me. We don't see it here in Daniel's three friends. What we see here is their absolute, by the grace of God, absolute commitment to the Lord. That no matter what happens, even if the Lord does not save us from your hand or deliver us from this burning fiery furnace, still we will not serve your false God. And listen to this. When they say that they are not doubting God's ability, nor God's willingness to help them, they are simply expressing their absolute loyalty to our God. And I do believe that every believer should be willing to say this, because the truth is, yes, we know that God is able to keep you from COVID-19. Yes, we know that he's willing to keep you safe from dangers, but we need to be able to say, but if not, Lord, even if you don't heal me from my sickness, maybe right now, you have physical pain in your body, and you have been praying to the Lord, pleading with Him, asking Him to heal you. You know that God is all-powerful. And yet, we need to be able to say, too, by the grace of God, Lord, even if you don't heal me, still, I will serve you. You know, let's be honest. It is easy to thank and praise God when everything goes well with us. When you have a nice job, when you are physically healthy, when everyone in your family is in good shape, when your relationship with your spouse or children or relatives or friends is going well, when God's face is shining upon you, when God grants you your prayer request, it's easy to serve God, to worship Him. It feels good to be in the house of the Lord. Now, what if, what if the Lord does not grant your prayer request? Now, what is your most urgent request right now? What is it? What is it that you are most passionate about? What is it that you really want to receive from the Lord? What is it? Maybe the conversion of your parents or children or grandchildren or maybe the healing of your physical body, I don't know. Now what if the Lord does not grant you your most urgent request? Will you still be willing to worship him? Are we still going to find you inside this church worshiping the Lord? Or maybe you will simply stop following the Lord and say, I don't want this kind of God because He doesn't give what I want. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are not like that. You know, when they say, but if not, that reminds me of what Job said also. When God took all his properties, all his children, What did he say? And God even afflicted him. And yet by the grace of God, he said, though he slay me, yet will I trust in him. Even if the Lord kills me, I will still trust in the Lord. Basically, that's what Mishak, Shadrach, and Abednego are saying to Nebuchadnezzar. Even if the Lord does not deliver us, even if the Lord allows us to be killed in that fiery furnace, still, we will not bow down before this false god. In 1871, Horatius Pafford, the famous writer of the hymn, It Is Well With My Soul, in 1871, He lost his only son. Then, two years later, he lost all of his four daughters. His four daughters drowned in a shipwreck, and only his wife survived. And yet, listen to what he says in his hymn, It Is Well With My Soul. When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul. Lord, thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well. with my soul? Will we be able, by the grace of God, to utter those same words, even if we don't understand it? Lord, I don't get it. Why did you allow me to have this kind of suffering? Why did you afflict me with this trial? Why did you take my loved one from me? Why, Lord, why, why, why? It's not wrong to ask why. You see that in the book of Psalms. It's not wrong to be honest with God about your feelings, but the question is, will you be able to submit to his sovereign will and say, Lord, even if I don't understand it, but if not, I will still serve you and worship you. Let me end with this illustration. There is a song entitled, I Have Decided to Follow Jesus. When I was in the Philippines, we used to sing this hymn. There is a story, a beautiful story behind this hymn. The words of this song are based on the last words of a man from northeast India who was converted to Christianity. More than 150 years ago in a pagan village known for headhunting in northeast India, a family became a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ under the ministry of a Welsh missionary. When the village chief had heard about this family's conversion to Christianity, he asked the father of the home to recant his faith in Christ. With boldness, however, the Christian father responded, I have decided to follow Jesus. To force him to forsake Jesus, a decree was made to kill his wife and his two children. But by the grace of God, the man proclaimed, though no one joins me, still I will follow. The persecutors murdered his wife, but he remained faithful to his Lord and Savior. Finally, they killed him, but even his death did not shake his faith. In fact, during his execution, the persecutors found him saying, the cross before me, the world behind me. Deeply touched by this Christian man's life, the chief of the village announced, I, too, belong to Jesus Christ. Eventually, the whole pagan village turned to be Christian by God's grace. And so listen to the words of this song. I have decided to follow Jesus, not turning back, not turning back. Though no one joins me, still I will follow, not turning back, not turning back. Now, of course, sadly, because this precious hymn was often sung in Billy Graham's evangelistic meetings, the hymn is now associated with Arminianism or decision theology. But someone rightly noted, the song definitely has a different meaning when we sing it than it did for the person who wrote it. I have decided to follow Jesus. But if not, but if not, still we will serve the Lord. And so we know the rest of the story. When King Nebuchadnezzar heard that from Daniel's three friends, he immediately cast them into this burning, fiery furnace. But guess what? Look at verses 24 and 25, and we will really end with this beautiful ending. 24 and 25. Then Nebuchadnezzar, the king, was astonished and rose up in haste and spake and said unto his counselors, 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, look, 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. We know that the fourth person there in that furnace was no other than the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ was with them, and that's the only reason why they were not hurt by the fire. You see, if you have Jesus, and by the way, in this story, God is teaching us that he may not deliver us from our trial. He may not deliver us out of our suffering, out of our pain. He may not do that. But He will give us a promise. This promise, that He will not leave us nor forsake us. Therefore, God may not heal you from your illness. God may not grant your request. You may still have the thorn in your flesh. But there is a promise to you that His grace will be with you, that His presence will be with you, that He will not leave you nor forsake you. And really, that's all what we want, right? What is it that gives us ultimate comfort in life and death? Lord's Day 1. What is our only comfort in life and death? That I am not my own, but belong body Body and soul. To whom? To my faithful and Savior, Jesus Christ. That we belong to Jesus and that he belongs to us. That's our comfort. And therefore, brothers and sisters in the Lord, listen to this. No matter what happens, when we, the moment we move out of this place, we will face again the reality of the world. You watch news again, you see the violence, turmoil in this world. Anarchy, a lot of problems, COVID-19, it can be scary. That fear, what if I get it? Listen to this. We have this unshakable comfort that no matter what happens, we have this blessed assurance that God will always be with us and that God will not let us go, that God will be with us as we go through this fire of trial. And God will escort us, will be with us all the way until we reach this Beulah land, this celestial city. There is a guarantee from our God that we will finish the race. There is a guarantee that no matter what happens, even Satan cannot pluck us out of God's hand. Even sin cannot take away that eternal life that God has given to us, because the truth is, all our sins, past, present, and future, have been buried in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are forgiven. And our standing before God as children of God because of Jesus Christ cannot change. No one can change it. And so I encourage you, let's face the world. with this promise from our God that he will always be with us. Let us pray.