God Will Deliver

God Will Deliver 2021 07 04

Daniel 3:1 – 29

We live in an age of compromise.  If we even consider that there might be such a thing as absolutes, or absolute right and wrong, we are intolerant and even unloving.  Yet when we tell “little white lies,” or accept things the Bible declares to be wrong as okay or even good, because that’s where our society is at, or refuse to take an unpopular decision based on what people will think of us, or disobey the Word of God in order to protect ourselves… What kind of message does that send?  What kind of a witness do we have?  What does the way we conduct ourselves say about our faith and confidence in God?  Do we show that we believe He is almighty God?  Or do we show Him as a weak god who might simply be a fanciful figment of our imaginations?

Daniel 3:1 – 29

King Nebuchadnezzar was a pagan king.  As recorded later in the book of Daniel by the king, himself, God got hold of him, humbled him, and proved to him that it is God who sets up and removes political leaders.  Nebuchadnezzar was a changed man!

But at this point, he was a man filled with pride.  He had already experienced the power and prophecy of God through Daniel’s interpretation of his dream.  But instead of being humbled by the experience, he was puffed up with pride.  He was, after all, the golden head of the greatest kingdom that has ever existed.

He erected a statue of gold close to one hundred feet tall on the plain of Dura, a magnificent statue to match the magnificence of his kingdom.  Many scholars believe it would have been a statue of Bel, the chief of his gods.

By royal decree, everyone in the province of Babylon was to fall down before this statue and worship it whenever they heard “all kinds of music.”  The penalty for not obeying was execution by fire in a giant furnace.

  1. Some Would Not
    1. Most of the people, people of all nations and languages, would worship the statue as commanded when they heard the music.But not everyone.
    2. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would not worship the idol.
      1. They believed and trusted in God.
      2. They knew that God commanded that “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”(Exodus 20:2).

 

  1. They Were Reported
    1. There were people in Babylon who didn’t like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
      1. As true believers in God, they were careful of their witness.
        1. They were trustworthy, industrious, and very capable.
        2. They were disliked intensely by others who did not believe in God and who were jealous.
  • Doing your best and working as unto God is often not the way to gain friends in the world!Instead, some people will hate you.  They will accuse you of “kissing up to the boss,” and even of being dishonest.
  1. People just like that couldn’t wait to tell Nebuchadnezzar that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego weren’t following the king’s edict.

 

  • They Obeyed God
    1. There’s a lot of talk right now about churches being locked down, pastors being cowards, government control – even about not getting vaccinated because it’s the mark of the beast.
      1. But while those make for some interesting and spirited conversations, the Bible is the very Word of God, instructing us in things that are certain.“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”  2 Timothy 3:16, 17
    2. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego determined that they were going to obey God, rather than saving their own skin.
      1. When we know the Word of God and when we know the edict of the political leadership is contrary to the Word of God, we ought to obey God. “Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.” Acts 5:29
        1. It should be noted that the apostles’ reply was to a commandment not to preach the gospel.There is no ambiguity in the Word of God about that.  We are ALL commanded to preach the gospel.  (How many of us actually obey THAT commandment?)
      2. These three made it very clear where they stood.They didn’t beat around the bush, trying to find diplomatic language.  They told the king straight up, “We are not afraid to answer you in this matter.”  Then they went on to clearly and simply tell him they would not obey his edict, regardless of whether God decided to deliver their bodies from the furnace or not.
        1. They chose to obey God, no matter what the outcome.

 

  1. God Delivered Them
    1. The king flew into a rage.He had the furnace heated up seven times hotter than normal.  As one commentator said, “Tyrants would burn the people of God in hell if they could.”
      1. The furnace was so hot that it killed the battle-hardened soldiers who threw them bound into it.
      2. But it was then that Nebuchadnezzar noticed in astonishment that there were four men walking around free and unharmed in the furnace, and one looked like the Son of God.
      3. When the king called them to come out of the furnace, they walked out unharmed, with not a hair of their heads singed and not even the smell of fire on them.

 

  1. God Will Deliver You
    1. If you have truly put your faith in Jesus Christ as your Saviour, God will deliver you from any and all perils.
      1. But you ought to trust God even as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did.
        1. Remember, they told the king that God could deliver their bodies from the flames, but that even if He didn’t, they still would not obey the king’s law, because it was in direct conflict with the Word of God.
        2. They knew that if their bodies were destroyed in the fire, that God would resurrect them.They fully trusted in God to deliver them.
      2. If you have trusted in Jesus Christ to save you, He will.Even if your body is destroyed in this life, God will raise you from the dead.  We have the proof of this in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and the eyewitnesses of this event.  He who was able to rise from the dead Himself is able to raise you!

Conclusion

We live in some troubling times.  Perhaps we’ve been spoiled in the West.  Or perhaps we live in far more danger than anyone living in a violent, totalitarian country, who already know they have little control over their own lives.  But the fact remains that if we have truly put our faith in Jesus Christ, there is nothing that can take away our eternal life or separate us from the love of God.  There is nothing, NOTHING, any government, power, or demon can do to us. “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38, 39