Take your Bible. Let's go to Daniel chapter 3, if you will. And when you find it, let's stand. You've been sitting for a while, so let's stand for a minute as we read the scripture tonight. Daniel chapter number 3. We'll start with verse 1. Read several verses here tonight. Daniel chapter 3, starting in verse 1. Nebuchadnezzar The king made an image of gold whose height was three score cubits and the breadth thereof six cubits. He set it up in the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. Then the princes, the governors, the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar, the king, had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Then Herod cried aloud, to you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, that at what time you hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, you fall down and worship the golden image that 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. Therefore, at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, the flute, the harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of music, all the people, the nations, and the languages fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar, the king, had set up. Wherefore, at that time, certain Chaldeans came near and accused the Jews. They spake and said to the King Nebuchadnezzar, O King, live forever! Thou, O King, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbutt, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image. And whoso falleth not down and worshipeth, that he should be cast into the midst of a burning, fiery furnace. 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. They serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. Then Nebuchadnezzar, in his rage and fury, commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king. You may be seated. The devil is a master at intimidation. Peter said, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour. Now, the devil's not a lion. That's a metaphor that the Bible uses. It says the devil is as a roaring lion. Now, I don't know everything there is to know about lions, but I know this. When a lion is hungry, he doesn't roar. In fact, he's very quiet. He tries to be undetected. He tries to slink down in the grass and sneak up upon an unsuspecting prey. When the lion is hungry, he doesn't roar. A lion roars to intimidate. The devil is the master. of intimidation. And we live in a day where it's easy to be intimidated by our culture. In a culture that is increasingly becoming more and more atheistic, it is easy to feel like we are a very small minority of people who believe in God. In a nation that is becoming anti-marriage and anti-home, it is easy to become intimidated. In a nation that has become vulgar and wicked and deceptive and destructive, in a nation where the freedoms of religious liberty are being taken away, in a nation where we are silenced in the public forums, where we are feeling continual government control, it is easy to become intimidated. But we must not forget that greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Fear thou not, I am with thee. Be not dismayed, I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, I will help thee, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. You see, God is our refuge, a very present help in time of trouble. The Bible tells us, thou keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed upon thee, because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord forever, for the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. God created us to praise him. Our sole aim of life is to praise the Lord. Whether we eat, whether we drink, whatsoever we do, we're to do all to the glory of God, that we should be to the praise of His glory. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, honor, power, and blessing, for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created. Our number one aim in life is to bring glory to God, to praise Him. Satan would provoke us tonight to discouragement, to disillusionment, to defeat, but God desires the provoking that Satan uses to lead to praise. Tonight, I want you to see a series of steps that can and should lead to God being glorified in our life no matter what circumstances we face. In this story, we see, first of all, tonight, a provocation. You see, if we declare the gospel, if we decide I'm going to declare the good news of Jesus Christ, I'm going to live as a testimony to the gospel, I'm gonna let others know about Jesus Christ, Satan will provoke you in some way to see if you will demonstrate what you declare. He will put your declaration to a test. And here we see in our passage the provoking of truth. Look at 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? Notice here is a provoking of truth in the lives of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Do you not serve my gods? Shadrach and Meshach and Abednego, they knew clearly there were not gods. There was one God. And if Satan hates anything today, it's the fact that there is only one God. Deuteronomy chapter four and verse 39, know therefore this day and consider it in thine heart that the Lord, he is God in heaven above upon the earth beneath and there is none else. That makes the devil man. Because you see, way back in the beginning, Satan wanted to be God. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations? For thou hast said in thine heart, I will be like the Most High. I will ascend above the stars. I will be like him. The devil wanted that place of worship. He wanted to be God. But the Bible tells us, look unto me and be you saved all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is none else. God doesn't share his glory. I am the Lord, that is my name. My glory do I not give to another, nor my praise to graven images. See, the devil wants you and I to have a multiplicity of gods, including ourself. He wants to have all these gods, as Nebuchadnezzar is setting up here, and he wants us to worship them. Here is a provoking of truth. But notice even further, I don't doubt that most of us here tonight are clear in our thinking that there's only one God. The devil might provoke some to think, well, you know, maybe there's more, maybe there should be more, maybe I should be God. There might be that temptation, but I think most of us in the Sunday night crowd at Lancaster Baptist Church believe from the word of God that there is only one God. So the devil provokes us about truth, but notice a provoking of trust. You see, our problem is not that we don't believe that there's not only one God. But the devil says, can you trust him? Can you rely upon him? Is he going to be faithful to you? Is he going to be there when you go through that storm? In Genesis chapter three, hath God said? Immediately Satan begins to tempt Adam and Eve with their trust. Verse 15 here in our text, now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, 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? You see, first there was a provoking of truth. You won't bow down to my gods?" Now he says, okay, you're fixed in your conviction there. Is that God gonna deliver you when I throw you into that furnace? Who is this God that you trust? The devil's gonna come at you this week and you believe there's only one God. You believe, you've put your faith and your trust in Jesus Christ, but he's gonna come this week and say, yeah, but this thing in your marriage, is he gonna solve that for you? This problem at work, where's your God now? This health situation, this financial problem, where's your God now that's going to help you? The devil is gonna try to intimidate you with a provoking of your trust. He's gonna say, God is a spirit. How can you trust the spirit? You've never seen him. How do you know he can be reliable? How do you know that he's gonna be faithful? How do you know that he's not too busy for you? The devil is gonna provoke your trust. I like Isaiah 46 in verse four, and the older I get, the more I like it. It says, even to your old age, I am he. And even to whoreheads will I carry you. I have made, I will bear, even I will carry and deliver you. God can be trusted. It doesn't matter what we face. He said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart. Lean not to thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths. Here was a provocation, but notice a proclamation. There was no hesitation here on the part of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. When the king begins to threaten them, when this intimidation hits them and he's provoking them about their God, he's provoking them about truth, he's provoking them about trust. But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego didn't say, well, can you give us a couple hours? Can we, maybe we wanna get a little counsel on this. We wanna pray about this. There is no hesitation. And let me say this, you better decide right now how you will respond to the provocation. You better decide in Sunday night church that whatever's coming this week, how you're gonna respond to it. There's no hesitation here. And notice a proclamation of refusal. Look at verse 16. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we're not careful to answer thee in this matter. King, we don't need to get counsel. We don't need to talk to our pastor. We don't need to read our Bible for six hours. We don't need to pray about this. We already know what we're gonna tell you. See, it was already decided. That's what conviction is. That's what a commitment to that conviction is. It's already decided how you're going to respond to the provocation. Listen, we know provocation is coming. We know the devil's going to poke at truth. He's going to poke at our trust. And we've got to be ready to respond. And in verse number 17, they said, 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 thy hand, O King." Here was a proclamation of refusal. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego looked at that king, that powerful King Nebuchadnezzar, perhaps the most powerful world leader this earth has ever seen, and they said, King, we're not careful to answer you in this. We're not bowing down. Your intimidation's not gonna work on us. The peer pressure isn't gonna change our convictions. Solomon told his son while he was young, my son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. In other words, he's saying, son, the temptation's gonna come, the provoking's gonna come, decide right now, you're gonna say no. When Moses was come to years, he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer the affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ, greater riches than treasures in Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. Moses had not experienced all those pleasures in sin yet. He had not experienced all the treasures of Egypt. But Moses decided when he was young, I already know how I'm gonna answer the temptation. A proclamation of refusal. When Joseph was tempted by Potiphar's wife, he refused. How shall I do this great wickedness and sin against God? His answer was ready. He was ready to proclaim a refusal. Are you ready when adversity hits? If thou faint in the day of adversity, Thy strength is small. Friend, it's time to shore up our faith. It's time to shore up our convictions. It's time to be strong in the Lord because the devil's going to poke. He's going to try to provoke us. We've got to be ready to refuse. But not only was this a proclamation of refusal, It was a proclamation of reliance. Look again at verse 17, and let's couple it with verse 18. They said, 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, if he doesn't deliver us, be it known unto thee, O king, we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. King, we can't decide the will of God for our lives. We believe God can protect us, we believe he will protect us, but if he has another plan, we're fine with that, we're still not bound down. This was a proclamation of reliance. We're gonna trust God, whether it means our life, whether it means our death. See, the choice tonight to serve God is ours. The consequences of that choice are his. You gotta be okay with that. We have the choice to say yes to God and no to the world. We have that choice. God leaves that in our hands. But at the same time, we have to rely upon him for the consequences of that choice. These men were saying, we know God can deliver us and we know he'll deliver us out of your hand. But if he decides that our death is gonna bring more glory to him, we're okay with that too, because we're relying on him for life and death. Is our trust at that level tonight? Well, I'll serve God if this happens, or I'll serve God until this would happen. We heard in Brother Lonnie's testimony tonight how he tried to pull that on God. God, I'll do what you want me to do, but I want to live in Indiana. I want to have a nice house. I want to keep my boat. But I'm thankful that his reliance matured there at that point. I said, wait a minute, it's not about the boat. It's not about where I live. It's not about what I have or who knows me. It's about you. And I'm going to rely upon you. See, whether we live, we live under the Lord. And whether we die, we die under the Lord. So whether for we live or die, we are the Lord's. Here was a proclamation. I love what John Huss said as he burned at the stake. He said, what I have taught with my lips, I now seal with my blood. A proclamation. But notice, just because we declare just because we say, okay, this is where I'm at. This is my conviction. This is what I believe. That doesn't stop Satan. Notice the pressure. A provocation, a proclamation, a pressure. The devil doesn't stop intimidating because we say no. The devil doesn't stop the temptation just because we are able to resist it. Someone has said opportunity knocks but once. I've added to that little quote, opportunity knocks but once. Temptation leans on the doorbell all day long. We see an intimidating fear here. Look at verse 19. 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. This is not a bluff. We in American churches better understand that the threat against religious liberty in this country today is not a bluff. Satan is not a nice guy who backs down when he meets nice people. Jesus told the followers of Satan in his day. You are of your father the devil and the loss of your father You will do he the devil is a murderer from the beginning and a bold not in the truth for there's no truth in him He's a liar and the father of it The devil's not some guy that when we say no when we take our stand when we proclaim the gospel It was all better back off. Those are really nice people there. I Those are really great people. No, he brings a pressure. The thief cometh not but for to steal, to kill, and to destroy. We've seen intensifying fire now in verse 21. Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, their hats, 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. Intensifying fire. May I just say, as I said this morning, it's gonna get worse. Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse. Understand the devil knows that he is operating on limited time. The devil understands he has but a short time to accomplish his work. Thus, we must gird up the loins of our mind and be sober. Thus, we must redeem the time. Why? Because the days are evil. We see a provocation, we see a proclamation, we see a pressure, but hey, let's finish the story. Because right in the middle of it, there's a protection. A protection, just what we heard Brother Bob sing about. Here's the good part. This is what Satan doesn't want us to hear tonight. He wants us to go out tonight trembling. He wants us to go out fearing what's coming this week. He wants us to be uptight and worry and concern ourselves and become anxious about the times we live in. The devil doesn't want to read this part about the protection, but notice a surprised king here in verse 24. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished. and rose up in haste and spake and said unto his counselors, did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, true, O king. Nebuchadnezzar is astonished here. He's looking in this fire and he's seeing something he can't believe. God is always one step ahead of our enemy. You don't want to play chess against God. He's a lot of moves ahead of you. And while the devil is powerful and the devil is working, God's way ahead of him. You know, a week or so ago, I was having my time with the Lord and I was a bit discouraged. It's hard not to be. And I look out in this country and it's not what it was. by a long shot. And we are at a watershed moment in this country, I believe. Things are changing very, very rapidly. And it just seems like, where is the truth? In fact, just give me some common sense. It just seems like judgment and justice is a thing of the past. Things against wrong and sin and corruption are being overlooked, while good people are being harassed. And I was reading my Bible that day, and by the way, as I said this morning, that's a good place to go. And I don't know if I'd ever seen this verse before. I know we say that about verses, and I know I'd seen it before. Let me read you something out of the book of Ecclesiastes. You can study it later. Don't study it now. Stay on the message. But Ecclesiastes 5 and verse 9, this is what I read. If thou seest the oppression of the poor and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province. I've seen that. The violent perverting of judgment and justice. He says, marvel not at the matter. For he that is higher than the highest regardeth, and there be higher than they. We get all uptight about all the injustice, all the lack of judgment. What is going on? Our highest offices in the land are protecting sin. And God's people and the ability to worship and the ability to serve God are being harassed. What is going on? God says, regard not the matter. There's somebody higher than them. I got it. Don't marvel at this. Trust in the Lord. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand." God's got you. All things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to His purpose. We saw it manifested tonight in this testimony over and over again, these stories, how God's in control. Can we not learn from these things to know that God is in control in my life and your life and whatever we face this week? There was a surprised king because of a sovereign keeper. Look at verse 25. And 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. Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fire 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 out of the midst of the fire, and the princes, the governors, the captains, and the king's counselors, being gathered together, saw these men upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was a hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them. Do you understand that you have a sovereign keeper? You have a protector. And whatever it is that we are going to face, we're not gonna face it alone, as we heard a moment ago in that song. When thou passest through the waters, I'll be with thee. And through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the fire, thou shall not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me." A protection. I've had the wonderful privilege of preaching in some underground churches in China. And I'll not share all the details in this story for obvious reasons. But one of the missionaries told me As I was preaching for him there, he said, Brother Goetsch, some months back, my wife and children went back to the States. Her dad was not doing well physically, and she wanted to get back to minister to him for a bit. So my wife and my children flew back to the United States. I stayed here in China. He said one Sunday night, I was trying to train some of our men to do various tasks in the church. I had a young man that showed a lot of promise, and I taught him how to lead singing. And he said that afternoon, I contacted him and I said, hey, tonight I want you to lead the singing for the service. He agreed to do so, a little nervous. And the missionary said now, when they got to church, he said, now here's the hymns we're gonna sing, and you practice for a bit here, make sure you're waving your arms the right direction, whatever, as I taught you. He said, what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna introduce you to lead the hymns, And I'm gonna stand on the side, met in a small room on about the 18th floor of this building. So I'm gonna stand on the side so that I can watch you and I can also watch the crowd. I wanna see that you're connected with them, they're connected with you. And he said, I'll be able to kind of help you later with some things that you can prove on and so on if I can observe you. So that was the plan. Well, he started the service that night and introduced the man in the church to come and lead the singing. The missionary went and stood against the side wall. During that first hymn, 10 Chinese policemen entered the building with weapons drawn and stood across the back. Missionary said, Brother Goetsch, When they entered that building, my first thought was, how am I going to get word to my wife? She's in America. My kids are in America. They're going to arrest me tonight. I'm going to prison. They're going to confiscate my phone. They're going to close my church. They're going to scatter my people. How am I going to get word to my wife? I'm standing there, he said, against that side wall. Now this missionary is 6'4", he's blonde, pale-skinned, he does not look Chinese. He hovers over his people like a tower. He said, we finished the first hymn and the police just stood there with the arms drawn and one man was writing things in a notebook. The song leader looked at me and he said, like, what do we do now? And the missionary kind of gave him the cue to go to the next hymn. He led another hymn, and another, and another, and for 30 minutes they sang. And the police stood and observed every person in that room and wrote things down in a book. After 30 minutes, the police left. and they never heard from them again. And the missionary said, Bregech, I don't think they saw me. I don't think they saw me. By the way, I don't think they saw him. And if you don't believe you have a God with that kind of power, you better get in the Word of God and meet your God. We have a protector. We have protection against whatever Satan hurls our way this week. And it all leads to finally a praise. A provocation, a proclamation, a pressure, a protection, but notice the praise. You see, everything we encounter is for the ultimate purpose of bringing glory to God. We see a respected position. Look at verse 28. 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 have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god except their own God. Let me tell you something, when you take a stand for God, when you live like we're supposed to live according to the Bible, the world may not agree with you, they may laugh at you, they may make fun of you, they may arrest you, they may kill you, but they will respect you. They may never admit it. But when King Nebuchadnezzar saw that these men were willing to yield their own bodies for their God. Boy, he changed his tune about their God, didn't he? All of a sudden, God's getting the praise. A respected position. And it led to a rightful praise. In verse 29, listen to the king's words. A rightful praise. Do you want your life? Do you want your death to bring him that ultimate praise? You see everything that's happening is all funneling toward a wonderful event because God has given him a name that's above every name. And one day at that name of Jesus, every knee shall bow of things in heaven, things in earth and things under the earth. And every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. And our life ought to be lived in a way to make that happen. I received a text from one of our alumni about a month ago. She talked about her time here at West Coast and how God grew her life and fit her for life and ministry. She said, Billy, guess the reason I'm texting you is because my son, who's 14, is coming to camp in a couple of weeks where you're preaching. And I'm so excited for him. I've told him to listen, I've told him to open his heart. She said, I recalled stories from college and chapel where God spoke to me and where God changed my life. And she said, you're going to get to hear Dr. Goetsch. And she said, I want you, Judson, when you see him, to go up and introduce yourself. Tell him who you are. She kind of briefed me. I don't know if he knew it or not, but she briefed me. That first night at camp, I kind of was on the lookout for this 14-year-old boy. There were several hundred teenagers there, but I kind of had in my mind, there's going to be a boy that's probably going to come up to me, and I need to remember his name. As I walked down to the preaching place, there was a boy sitting on the split rail fence that was along the path there. When he saw me, he jumped off that fence, and I thought, this is him. He jumped off that fence and ran, and he said, Mr. Goetsch, he said, I'm Judson. And I said, Judson, I'm glad to meet you. He said, my mom has told me all about your preaching, I can't wait. First time he'd been at that camp, and first time I think he'd been to camp of any kind, he was so excited. We walked into the chapel together, chatted a bit about his mom and his family. I watched him that night in the service. There was a 14-year-old boy at camp. First night, excited. Drinking it all in. He was loving the rules. I mean, they gave the rules, he was loving it. Preaching came, he was drinking it in. Living a dream. Unbeknownst to him or me, During that service, his daddy died. Provoking. His mom called and said, I don't wanna tell him yet. I want him to enjoy camp. He's looked so forward to this week. I don't wanna ruin it. Oh, my heart was heavy for that boy. Whenever I'd see him at camp, he'd be so excited about an activity or his team won, or he'd say something about the preaching. I'd think, yeah, but you're dead. But I couldn't tell him. Thursday, his mom called and said, I'm gonna have to come and get him. It's starting to leak out through our church and such. We need to make some plans with him for the funeral and all. And it's just, I need to come up and we need to tell him and I need to take him home. Oh man, I prayed. I said, God, the devil's trying to intimidate this boy. He's provoking him. This is not gonna be good. God, please give your grace. I walked that boy to the meeting with his mom. All he talked about was camp, decisions he was making. We get in that room, his mom shares the news. You could feel, you could literally feel the grace of God. poured out on that boy. You know what he said to me? He said, Brother Gatch, I love God. I want to serve God. Do you have that kind of God? Something's coming in your life. The devil's an intimidator. I don't know what it might be, but we need to prepare tonight like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Say, my God is greater than anything in this world. No matter what comes my way, he's greater. He's in control. And I'm going to be provoked to praise. He can provoke me, but it's only going to turn to more praise of who God is. That's what Judson did. That's what I need to do. And that's what you need to do.