Alright, Daniel chapter number 3, we're going through a series of messages on Daniel. Daniel is a prophetic book largely and it goes hand in hand with the book of Revelation and the end time events hinge, Prophecy, eschatology hinges on the book of Daniel, and then it's fleshed out in the book of Revelation. So we're going to be talking about faith under fire tonight. These Hebrew children, captives, are going to be cast into the fiery furnace, and we may face some trials. Whether it's a fiery furnace, we don't know, but we all face trials. Let's begin reading in verse number eight. We covered the first seven verses last week. Remember, Nebuchadnezzar had set up a 90-foot high golden image that points to politically unifying his kingdom. He's the ruler of Babylonia, and he is the world leader at that time. He's a furious king. He's a despot. He's a charlatan. He's a ruler, but boy, he's a treacherous one, and he's mean as a one-eyed water moccasin. And so now he set up this 90-foot tall statue, like a totem pole, gold-plated, and commands everybody in his whole kingdom, in the whole world, the known world at that time, to fall down and worship that statue. He's trying to bring his whole world empire politically together and under a one world religion. We will see that again in Revelation in the times of the tribulation. The Antichrist will also be a world leader who is the antithesis of Jesus Christ himself. He is everything evil that can be imagined. The devil will incarnate and he will try to bring together a one world religion and a one world government all in the end times of the tribulation. Thank goodness God's children will be gone during that time. Those who are saved now will be raptured out. So in this section we examine a very powerful story of faith and deliverance found in these three Hebrew boys that get cast into the furnace. Let's begin reading in chapter three of Daniel and verse number eight. Wherefore at that time certain of the 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, sackbut, psaltery, 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. Let's pray together. Father, I pray that you'd bless us. May the Spirit of God lead us as we study this passage of scripture. Lord, may we come to the place in our own life, in our own Christian experience where we have a steady, firm faith that will not bow just because it's under pressure. Bless us to that end tonight as we study in Jesus' name. Amen. We call this series of messages out of the book of Daniel, Visions and Valor, as we explore the book of Daniel, and we're calling the sermon tonight, Faith Under Fire. I guess we could call it commitment. That's something that's unique in this day and time, is to see commitment that won't waver, commitment that won't bow, commitment that won't bend, courageous, commitment that says, I'm going to live for God, and when the chips are down, when the fire threatens, when the king turns against me, I'm going to stick with God. I don't have to think about it. I know what I'm going to do. I'm going with God. This passage recounts that type of faith in Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and they faced a fiery furnace. This sounds pretty frightful. It's a true story. And their story teaches us the significance of standing firm in our faith regardless of the consequences. had been promoted to leadership. Now remember, they've been carried captive out of Babylon. They're Jews, not particularly liked by the Chaldeans, the Babylonian government. And yet Nebuchadnezzar has seen something in these boys that he liked. He saw some wisdom. He saw some attention, alertness that he was attracted to. And so he set them in leadership over the affairs of a lot of his province. I don't know how old they were at this time. This must have happened sometime after. They were probably teenagers when they were taken into captivity. I don't know if they were 18 now or 25 or 35. But evidently they'd been there long enough that the king had seen something valuable in them and so he promoted them to leadership. Now guess who didn't like that? The Chaldeans that got outsmarted when they were called upon to interpret the king's dream and they couldn't. They got mad at that time and they ain't got over it yet. And so if you'll notice when it says, when they spoke to the king in verse number, let's see, 12, it says, and there are certain Jews whom thou Can you put a little emphasis on that, Val? I think the Chaldeans were saying, this is your baby, King. These are the guys you put over us. We should have been the ones in leadership, but you've chosen these guys, and now they won't even bow to your image. They don't even worship our pagan gods. And so these guys you put in leadership, King, they're the very ones that we warned you about. Now they're turning against you. They're rebelling, King. So here's a challenge to the faith of those three boys, or three young men. First, there's accusation in verses 8 through 12. We read that. They accused them. They said, these boys are guilty of not bowing down. King, what are you going to do about it? You said you were going to throw them in a fiery furnace if they didn't. Now what are you going to do? The word accused that's used there comes from a background, a phrase that was used a lot in that part of the Middle East of those days. And the accused has the thought with it of eating them to pieces. In other words, when the Chaldeans accused these young men of not bowing down to the king's image, They were kind of eating them up, eating them to pieces, gnawing on them, being sarcastic, mocking, and accusatory, trying to make them look as bad as they could. And they highlighted the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to worship that golden idol. This accusation comes to us today. we are as Christians. The world outnumbers us, don't they? Broad is the way that leads to destruction. Narrow is the way to eternal life. So I take by that that we're outnumbered numerically, not strength-wise. But can you just think about this for a minute? Out on the plain of Dura, the 90-foot tall statue, everybody's supposed to fall down, bow their knee, and worship the image because of the king's command. All those government officials are called out there, the sheriffs and the counselors and the magistrates and all those guys, they're all called out there. There must have been hundreds and hundreds and hundreds, thousands and thousands gathered around in that plain to worship the statue. Three men refused to bow. I mean, look. Look, King, you've got all of these guys out here bowing at your command. Why bother with three of these little Hebrew guys? They're just three. But you know, the world cannot stand it. Even though they may have outnumbered the believers, As long as you've got faith, they're not gonna like you. The world is not gonna be satisfied that you're against abortion. They're gonna make sure every last one agrees with them. They're not gonna be satisfied that there's just a few of you who are against liberalism in America. They're gonna go after every last one. They're not satisfied that that we have broken borders and broken laws, and even if there's a small number that's against it, they're going to go after every last one. You see, the ideology of the world is that they want you to think like them. And if you don't go along with transgenderism and homosexuality, though we may be smaller in number, They want to change you not only to allow the laws to be written that favors those people, they want to change the way you think about it. Even if there's three left that doesn't agree with them, they're not satisfied as long as those three are thinking differently than they are. That was the case at the plain of Dura. Now these Chaldeans were motivated by jealousy and intolerance. They couldn't tolerate those Jews. And you know today the people that accuse conservatives, Christians, of being intolerant? Those who accuse you, accuse you of doing exactly what they're doing. They are intolerant of your Christian beliefs. And you better not say anything publicly or they'll eat you up. Of course, we're going to keep speaking publicly, aren't we? But they're not satisfied as long as there's just even a small number that doesn't agree with them and they'll be intolerant of you. They believe in tolerating everything under the sun except conservative Christians. They don't like you. They're going to gaslight the American public and tell through mass media which broadens that way that leads to destruction too. They're going to keep gaslighting the American people and there's unsuspecting people that believe them because after all it was on the news. It was on the news, it must be true. No, the world has its way and God's people are not part of it. So the king got mad in verse 13 through 15. Let's read that. Verse 13, it says, Then King 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, Now look, he's gonna say, I can't believe this, boys. I'm gonna give you a second chance, because I think I must have been misinformed. Watch what he says, 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 at the time what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbutt, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made well. But if you worship not, you shall be cast in the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? He's saying, boys, look, they must have told me wrong. I can't believe you boys didn't fall down and worship just like everybody else. Why didn't you fall in line? You must have worshiped. And maybe somebody's just telling me a story. You will worship, won't you boys? Giving you a second chance just to make sure that I heard right. Nebuchadnezzar's fury led to this immediate summons. You know, when we do things in fury and anger, it's usually to our own harm as well as the harm of others. If you have an anger problem and you do things out of fury and anger, you're going to reap the whirlwind. He questioned their defiance and reiterated the fact that there's a fiery furnace, boys. You don't want to get in that, now I'm going to give you another chance to bow down and worship. So, bow down or face death? I don't like that choice, do you? Bow down? I can't do that. Face death? Well, that's not real attractive. That was the choice they had. Either worship the golden image or die. How did they respond? Well, in Daniel 3, 16, we'll see the response of their faith. Verse number 16, we're going to see their confidence in God's power. Can I just tell you that we have to have confidence in God's power? That's what they had. They believed that God was stronger than Nebuchadnezzar and has his Chaldean henchmen. Verse 16 says, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. And when I say careful, we're not careful to answer thee. It means we're not needing time to think this over. We don't need a lot of care about this. We don't need a lot of anxiety. We don't need a lot of debate and discussion and reasoning and logic. We already know we're committed to God. So King, we're not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us. Able to deliver us. That's their confidence in the power of God. They're saying, we know God's able. He can deliver us if He wants to. Have you ever been in a situation like that where you just said, well, I don't know how to get out of this, but I know God's able. I can't figure it out and I can't do it. I don't have the strength in my own reasoning, I believe God's got the power. Well, that's what they said. Verse 17, if so, whom our God we serve is able to deliver us from burning fiery furnace, he will deliver us out of thy hand, O king. He's stronger than you are, king. So they stood firm without hesitation. They expressed unwavering faith. And this faith was rooted in God's power. Believing that God We can get them out of that if He chooses. God's powerful. Don't we believe in an omnipotent God, meaning all-powerful? Sorry, Nebuchadnezzar, you're not all-powerful, but God is. Have you ever been in a situation where you just had to trust God? Nothing else to do. You just believed God was going to... You wasn't sure how He was going to work it out. but you trusted him. I read the story about Sarah. She'd always been diligent about attending church services and even helping serve in the church, but she struggled with the concept of tithing, giving 10% of her income to the Lord. And she was a mother of two young children, and her finances was always tight, and so it was a bother to her, and her heart was usually kind of strung out over it. And she worried about it, but she hadn't done it. And so one Sunday, the pastor preached on Malachi 310 and talked about how God can open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing that there's not room enough to receive. He said, wait, that's Old Testament. But God is still God, and He changes not. If He's powerful enough to open the windows of heaven and pour out His blessings in the Old Testament, can He not open the windows of heaven and pour out His blessing in the New Testament? Same God, yesterday, today, and forever. Well, she heard that message and she felt a tug at her heart, but she was still filled with doubt and fear. How could she do it? How could she do this? How could she give 10% of her income when she wasn't sure that she'd have enough money to get through on? She made a decision. She just decided to trust God. Just trust God. That's what she did. And nothing at first, you know, she's wondering is God going to open the windows of heaven and bless me? Well, her answer didn't come in the form of a windfall of income, but she noticed little changes in her heart. She realized that she now had a peace that wasn't there before. She had a tranquility and her faith in God was growing. And as she began tithing on One week, and the next week, and the next week, after a few months, she realized that those changes were taking place, and her worry and anxieties began to diminish. And so she kept tithing and never turned back. One day a friend from church offered her a part-time job working at home so she could be with her kids. And it wasn't big income, but boy, it helped a lot. God had provided. And in addition to that, she found out that her brothers and sisters at church were always ready, willing, able to lend a hand when she needed it. Her decision wasn't about gaining. I've heard preachers say, if you'll just tithe, man, God will rain money down out of heaven. I started tithing because I just thought it was the right thing to do 45 years ago. And I've never looked back. But God's never just opened up the windows of heaven and poured out dollar bills and hundred dollar bills in my yard. But you know what God has done? He's always given me a job. He's always taken care of my family. He's always made sure that the money was there to pay the bills at the end of the month. And sure, Sarah had to learn like the rest of us. It might not be that I can buy that brand new car right now and get a great big payment. if I'm living for God but she trusted God and lived sacrificially and God blessed her for it. Her story became a testimony to others not just about tithing but trusting God. Well these boys got the King's first-hand threat. You're going to the fiery furnace boys and you better bow down if you don't want to go there. Well, they had commitment despite, listen, they had commitment despite the outcome. Are you listening? They had commitment despite the outcome. Some people say, well, I'll serve God, but it gets a little tough over here, then I'll turn back. And I've seen a lot of people do that. People serve God for a while and then things get going. The things get tough and the going gets tough. And they say, well, it's too tough just to do all that stuff I was doing at church. It's just too tough to tithe. It's just too tough to pray. It's just too tough to read my Bible. It's just too tough to go to church every service. It's just too tough to do all that stuff that I used to do. So I'm going to turn back. These boys said, we don't care about the outcome. We believe God's powerful enough to deliver us. But we don't care, because they said in verse 318, chapter 318, they said, we believe God's powerful enough to deliver us, but if not, I love those three words, but if not, is God powerful enough to keep them out of the fiery furnace? You better believe it. And they knew that. They just said, we believe God can deliver us, but if not, We're giving God latitude because He's the sovereign God. He can get us out of it or He can throw us in it, whatever He wants to do. God can get you out of situations if He wants to or He can lead you through them. They said, 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. I can just see Nebuchadnezzar already in a rage. He's already furious and he's given a second chance and they just tell him face to face, we're not going to bow down to your image, king. We believe God can deliver us, but if not, we're still not bowing down. We made a commitment and we are sticking to it. We believe God. Even if deliverance didn't come, they were going to stick to their commitment. You know, sometimes I think, well, you overthink things. Now, I'm all for pre-planning, thinking about stuff. doing things to set up the future. But when it comes to being committed to God, I think we just overthink some of that stuff. We sit around and say, well, I could do this for God. God wants me to do this, I think. But if I do that, you know, it might not turn out like I really want it. And so I've got to think this through if I really want to do it or not. Wait, if God said do it, go ahead and do it. Just do it. Don't back up. Don't think about it. The more we think, guess who's going to get involved in your thought processes? Yeah, old smutty face, Satan, the devil. He's going to come along because he's the accuser of the brethren. He's going to come along and accuse you just like these Chaldeans accused these three Hebrew boys. The devil is going to come along and say, well, you know better than that. What are you, a dummy? He's going to accuse you. So when we try to overthink things, instead of just making that commitment, making that decision, we're giving devil space to come in and invade our thoughts. These boys said, no, if deliverance don't come, we're still not bowing. We believe he can deliver us, but if not, we're not bowing anyway. Boy, thank God for believers like that that just say, I have some standards, I have some convictions, I have some faith, I have some belief, and I'm not turning back. I don't care what happens. God's in charge. He sees. God doesn't always deliver us from the furnace. Did God deliver these fellas from the furnace? He did not. They got thrown in the furnace. And you may be in a financial difficulty, a health difficulty, a family difficulty, and you may be praying and when God doesn't answer your prayers in the way you wanted Him to or expected Him to, our temptation is to say, well, I don't think God cares about me. I don't know if God really sees what's going on in my life or not. After all, I asked Him and He didn't answer. It might be like this. He might have decided to let you go through the furnace to see if you'll stay true even when they get you by the shirt collar and the seat of the pants and toss you in there. These guys stayed faithful. They said, well, if God doesn't deliver us, He's in charge. Whatever He does is going to be okay. Don't you think whatever God does in the life of a faithful believer, if you're faithful, Don't you believe that God's going to do what's best for you? Of course He will. But what if He doesn't deliver? What would have happened to these young men? What would have been the outcome if they had burned up in there? I'm glad you asked. Here's what would have happened if they had burned to death in that furnace. They would have went straight to heaven and God delivered them out of the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. He put them in a place where the hand of Nebuchadnezzar could not reach them. And friend, we're all going to die someday and so when we face the chilling breath of death, we can go peacefully into His presence knowing that once we get there, He can't bother us ever again with the devil can't ever bother us again. 1 Corinthians 15, 54 through 58, listen to this. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. He's saying, Paul's saying in this passage of scripture in Corinthians, he's saying, look, cannot hold you because it didn't hold Jesus in the grave. When they crucified Jesus, they thought they were rid of him. The devil thought when he put that Roman guard in front of the tomb of Jesus, it's all over, I've won the battle. But the devil did not win the battle. Jesus came out the next day and he sooner or later ascended back to heaven and he overcame death. And he said, because I've overcome death, you can too. You see, when we have to go through the furnace, even if it didn't work out the way we wanted it to, the rest of life doesn't matter too much because we're going to end up in heaven. I know that sounds like cheap talk, but it's Bible talk. When it's all said and done, when we've done everything we can do on the face of this earth and He takes us to heaven, we've won. We've won! And that's what these fellows had to look at. Then there's the trial of their faith in Daniel 3.19. Look at that with me again. In chapter 3 of our text, verse 19, we're going to see the persecution intensified. Verse 19 says, Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, And the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Well, he liked these boys earlier, but boy, he ain't liking them now. He's mad as an old wet hen. And it says his visage changed. I mean, he got this furious look on his face, blood in his eyes, the whites of his eyeballs turned red, and the veins popped out on his head. And he's growling, and his mouth is not smiling. He is mad, and his teeth are showing. Therefore he spake and commanded they should heat the furnace 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. He ordered that furnace. I've read where, I don't know this to be An absolute fact, it's not stated in the Bible, but they cremated their people. It was in a pagan nation and they didn't have Christian burial because of that. And this furnace was kept going around the clock, hot, to cremate dead people. And so to just show his fury, he said, heat that thing seven times hotter. We're going to scorch those boys fast. Throw them in there. And so the strong soldiers bound them up, tied them up, and cast them in. Verse 21 says, Then these men were bound in their coats, and 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 flames 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. They've got their hat on, they've got their coat on, and they're tied up, and these soldiers walk them up to the edge, probably like a big old pit there, and walk them up to the edge and shove them in, and the flames are roaring out of that thing because it's so hot, and it kills the soldiers. And the three Hebrew children fall straight down into the pit of fire. They're in there. But look at what it says next. Excuse me. In verse 23, did we read that one? 24. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied. That's an old English spelling for astonished. The king was astonied. and rose up in haste, and spake unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? And they answered and said unto the king, True, O king. And he answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire." Walking in the midst of the fire. Remember those soldiers on top that threw them in burned up immediately. But they're down in the flames and the king's standing way back there, probably up on an elevated place where he can look down in there and he sees these guys walking around and there's not just three of them anymore, there's a fourth one. And he says, and they have no hurt. And the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. I wonder how Nebuchadnezzar felt right then. I wonder what's going through his mind. He's going to burn these guys up. He even burns up some of his own men to get them in the furnace. And now he sees those three guys walking around and another one. And he knew these guys were faithful. They were faithful to the God of heaven. And so I think Nebuchadnezzar figured out in a hurry just who that fourth one is in the fire. Uh-oh. Nebuchadnezzar's probably thinking, uh-oh. Uh-oh. I messed up now. God's presence during a persecution. Those three Hebrews got thrown in the fire. They're expected to be just snuffed out and go up in smoke, vaporized, but instead the king looks down in there and here they are just marching around in the furnace, marching around and the Son of God's leading them. And they're just marching around in the fire, maybe singing some hymns. It doesn't say that, but it wouldn't surprise me that they're just singing and having a good time, walking in the fire, and nothing's bothering them. And they're with the Lord. They didn't die. He came down from heaven and got in the fire with them. When you go through the fire, It's a lot easier to expect that things are going to be okay when you look around and see Him walking through the fire with you. He's in the fire with you. He's there. He's real. And He shows up. There's been times probably in your heart and in your life that you've been all alone until He showed up. David was a young Christian living in a country where practicing your faith was dangerous. And despite the risks, he decided he's going to keep witnessing for the Lord anyway. Starts a little house church in this foreign country, meeting with other believers in secret and telling people about Jesus. And then there's a knock on his door. The authorities came. and they arrested David for having a church. They put him in prison. He faced intense interrogation, persecution, torture. Boy, sometimes it was as though he couldn't quite take it. But he held on to his faith, and one particular time, They were being especially brutal to him and he was almost at the point of dying. And he started praying, asking God just to strengthen him, give him courage to keep on with his faith. Some hymns came to his mind that he'd learned years ago. And he began to sing hymns of the Christian faith while they beat him unmercifully. And as he sang the hymns about Jesus, a strange peace came over him. And he sensed a powerful presence of God in that prison cell with him. The divine presence gave David the strength to endure. Now he didn't get out of that prison right away. In fact, he was in there a long time and the beatings continued. but after he had come to this point where he was willing to risk it all on his faith in the Lord Jesus, that peace of mind and that commitment of his faith and the presence of the Lord in that prison cell with him brought him through. Finally, the international laws began to put enough pressure on this little country He was finally released. Finally. Didn't happen right away. But he was finally released. He came out feeling stronger than ever before. With a greater faith, a growing faith, a stronger faith, and a sweeter peace than he'd ever had before. His testimony was given in public several times and he began to affect those around him in even a greater way. While he was still in that prison, some of the prisoners began to ask him questions. They didn't like him at first, but then they saw this peace that he had after he realized the presence of God was with him in that cell. Other prisoners began to ask him questions and he witnessed to them. Many of them came to faith in Christ. Even one of the guards making his night rounds had been particularly touched by the peace that David seemed to have and he would stop by and talk to David. This guard trusted Christ as his savior. Why did all this happen? It didn't happen because God gave him a dramatic escape from the prison and God left him there a long time, but it happened because he sensed the presence of God. When we're going through something, Boy, do we ever need the presence of God. These Hebrew children, they're in a fiery furnace. But Jesus is there with them. That made everything okay. And they did come out. Now notice this deliverance in Daniel 3.24. 3.24 says that Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished. He rose up in haste. He's thinking, I've got to do something. I don't know what I'm going to do, but I've got to do something. He's astonished to see that they're still alive and there's a fourth one in there with them. This was a miracle, as though you need to be told. This is a miracle. Nobody gets thrown into a furnace like this without being burned up. But the Lord performed a miracle and got them out. God still performs miracles. Even though He doesn't always get people out of the fiery furnace, He can still perform miracles. but He's also sovereign and we just got to trust Him in His sovereignty. He has a plan for each of us and we don't always know the details and entirety of His plan. That's why we have to just trust His sovereignty that He is able to be over all the circumstances of the earth. He has the power to take us out of them or leave us in them, but eventually we win. Then there's a testimony of faith. I like this by the king and his declaration in verse number 28. Watch what happens here. Then Nebuchadnezzar spake. and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel, that's Jesus, and delivered his servants that trusted him, and how changed the king's word. He's getting a little bit of humility now. He's seen what God can do. He's seen the sovereignty of God. He's seen the omnipotent power of God. And he said, They have 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. He's beginning to see some things he's never seen before. And there's people, look, there's people today that don't know Jesus as Savior, and maybe they've mocked, as I did before I got saved, and they say things against Christianity, and they speak against the Bible, and they say things against the Lord of Heaven, and they have it in their heart that they're going to resist falling victim to Christianity, but finally they see something, maybe in your life, or your life, and they see something where God has done something miraculous for you, And they say, I need to pay attention to this. I better back up and look at this again. Maybe their God is a bigger God than I thought. Verse number 30, the king really gets on the ball here. He says in verse number 30, then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the province of Babylon. They were promoted. You know, sometimes you come out of things better off than you went in. They went through the fire. When they got out, the king saw God a little bit clearer and he even promoted these guys. Sometimes we come out better after going through hot trials as we reflect on the story. And again, I say a true story because sometimes people don't really think about it closely that this is a biblical narrative of a true story. It's something really happened. And we're reminded as we look at it the importance of you and me standing firm on our faith. Do you ever have times of wavering? Or do you stand firm? You see, the world wants to do you in. The world wants you to quit thinking like you think and start thinking like they think. The world wants to capture you. The world, through its philosophies in education, in government, in laws, the government, I mean, the world has invaded all these places. As we spoke about, the media, the movies, entertainment, The world has invaded that and little by little they're chipping away at your faith. When will you say enough is enough? I'm standing firm with God. I'm not going to let the Chaldeans change my mind. I'm going to trust God. You have decisions to make. You have some life-changing decisions to make. Some of them may come tomorrow. Will you have your mind settled that I'm going to stick with God? I'm not going to let the world suck me into their drain. I'm going to stick with God. I won't be changed. I'm living for God. Maybe those who, we've got people watching on camera right now on the internet YouTube, our website, different places. There's people who are watching right now who have never trusted Jesus as Savior. And nothing's going to help them eternally but one thing. You see, you can get out of all the fires and see all the miracles that you want to see on this earth, but if you're not saved, there's still a fire waiting. There is an eternal fire. The Bible calls it hell. And if those who do not trust Jesus Christ refuse God's way, then they'll go the broad way of the world and they'll end up in hell. That's a frightful thought. I don't know personally any preachers who enjoy preaching on hell. I don't know any that would rejoice to see anybody go to hell. We do rejoice when somebody turns from their way to God's way. And that's trusting Jesus Christ as Savior. Being born again, coming to the place where you say I am a sinner just like the Bible says, I admit it. And I believe Jesus died for my sins on the cross at Calvary. To pay for those sins I couldn't pay for. I believe He did that. I'm placing my faith in Him that He can give me eternal life. Some need to make that decision this very night. Let's pray together. Father, I pray that you'd bless in this invitation time. Lord, we're just contemplating what we've heard tonight. We're thinking. Lord, you might be tugging at a heart in some way or fashion. Lord, there's decisions that need to be made this day and pretty much every day that may affect us for eternity. at least a whole lifetime and I pray that right now those Christians who have been toying with the world playing around with just conforming to the world because after all we are outnumbered Lord I pray that you'd help us and those who are toying with that idea of just giving in to the world and going the way of the world putting the church behind them putting the Lord behind them and going the way of the prodigal son I pray that they decide tonight, Lord, I'm not turning back. No matter what happens, I don't care about the consequences, I just want to be faithful to you, Lord. I'm turning to you. Lord, for those who are not saved, I pray that this very night they decide, Lord, please save me right now. I believe you are the Son of God, and I believe you died for my sins, and I believe that you would save me right now. If I put my trust in you, and I'm doing that Lord, I'm trusting you right now for my salvation.