Text Box: weekly sermon 7-1-07 This is the last of our series called "How Humorous it is". Not that I don't find humor in other parts of the Bible, or that I will not talk on one at a later time. This is another well known story to some of us. It is found in Daniel chapter 3, if you want to follow along with me. Here we find a man by the name of Nebuchadnezzar. He was the ruler of Babylon in the Chaldean Dynasty from 605 BC-562 BC. He was famous for his conquests of Judah and Jerusalem. So we know from this that he was not a friend to the Jewish community. He had crossed paths with God on several occasions, and this would be another one of those times. Now in chapter 3, we see Nebuchadnezzar has made an image of gold and sent forth a command for everyone to fall and worship this idol that he had made. And he put this announcement out to everyone that they fall and worship the idol he made or he would throw them into a fiery furnace. Well of course there were a rebellious few. A few of these were three men named Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. In verse 16, these three came to the king and said, you know this golden idol thing you made, well we are here to tell you that we don't think we can fall down and worship it as you have requested. Ok, yes, we understand that you have this furnace and that it has this fire in it that could burn anything to ashes, but we are going to have to take that chance. If we are right, our God will take care of us, and if we are wrong, then our God will take care of us too. See when we are tested, we will always know from God, what decision we are to make, and what the outcome with our God will be. Many times in life we go through something and we take the path of man because of what we KNOW man can do to us. What we should really be worried about is how it will affect our life after we pass on to our eternal life. Just as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did here. They knew that their God stated in Exodus 20:4-5 "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image...thou shalt not bow down to them nor serve them..." They knew the law that was handed down to Moses, and knew they must obey them to be right with God. Well naturally, the king, Nebuchadnezzar, didn't say, oh ok, sorry about that, sure go on and worship your God and forget I said anything. Actually, the king said, well into the fiery furnace you go then. Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, as stated in verse 19, and tells his men to heat the furnace to seven times hotter than usual. So we see here that he was extremely upset over the three men's refusal to bow down like he told them. Well, Nebuchadnezzar turning up the heat to seven times hotter was good for God, because NOW not only does God get to show everyone that He is going to save the three, but that He is going to do it seven times better. The king has Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego tied up and gets ready to throw them into the furnace, but the furnace was so hot that the men who took them up were slain, as they threw them in the fire. The king sees the men in the furnace and is astonished at what he sees. He asks, in verse 24, didn't we throw three men in the fire all tied up? Then he says, lo I see four men unhurt and untied walking around down there, and the form of the fourth man is like the Son of God. Ok, that right there is the funny part to me. Here we have a man who has destroyed Jerusalem, made this idol that he wants all to fall down to an worship, and is trying to kill three very obedient and faithful men of God. So I would say we can safely assume he was not a Godly man at all, yet when he looked into the furnace he KNEW who the fourth man was. In verse 25, he says there are not three tied up and burning down there but there are four men unhurt and unbound walking around and the form of the fourth man is like the Son of God. There are many who claim to be a Christian, or that know God, that have a hard time understanding that when something good happens to them, that it is God Himself there causing that to happen yet they can not see that it is Him. And here is a man who does not know God, yet he can recognize God has sent someone to protect the three. Nebuchadnezzar knows that the fourth man in the fire is of God, just as he states in verse 28"...blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent His angel, and delivered his servants..." Because of the faith of these three servants, they were obedient, and God was pleased and delivered them. Many times in life we are put into situations that we may not understand. God never promised that as a Christian, life would be a bed or roses. But He did promise He would give us the weapons to fight the fight and be victorious. As it is stated in Habakkuk 2:4 "....but the just shall live by his faith". Because of our faith, we strive to be Christ like, hence the word Christian, and in that walk, obedience, just as the servants here were obedient. This kind of obedience will keep a fourth man with us to protect us and to deliver us. I was talking to someone the other day that told me he and his wife were out to lunch and seen a woman that was in a wheelchair. He told me his wife said that God told her to go over and pray with this woman. His wife told him, well if they sit next to us then I will go pray with her. Well it turns out that they in fact sat on the other side of the restaurant. Well she told her husband that God had spoken to her again and told her to go pray with the woman. So she goes and asks the woman if she could pray with her, the woman agreed, and they prayed. The woman in the wheelchair said, thank you for the prayer, and thank you for being obedient. That is the true obedience God is talking about here. The faith to stand up and be obedient in the face of man no matter what man may think of you or do to you for standing up. If you do not know this faith then please do not stall. We never know when we have a second chance. Make this your time to be obedient and take the first step in a walk of a life time. Say, Jesus, please come into my life, take me from the fiery furnace so that I may come home where I belong. Be the Lord of my life and save my lost soul. Amen. If you said this prayer then we believe you have received salvation, and would love to share this and rejoice with you. Please let us know so we can send you a few things to help you with your first steps in your Christian life. With Love in Christ, Pastor Stone

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

               

                                             

The Christian Counter
The Christian Counter