Please Test Your Servants (Ben Roy, 05/21/22)

You like tests?

How many of you like tests? Raise your hand.

One? Interesting.

There's always one or two.

You know some people don't like tests. Some people don't perform

well on tests. It doesn't mean they're

they don't have any knowledge. It just means that

they don't do well on tests. There's anxiety built up

which is interesting. I had

a neighbor who was

actually wasn't from this country but now he's

he was a citizen and he was going to take a test

to become a lawyer.

Okay and every time he took

this test he

he failed. He failed twice. The third time you know you're out

and so I got to talking to him

and I happen to remember some things that

I read or listened to and that

you know the test anxiety thing. I've had students that have

have had tests anxiety and so what the key

is for some people is to be quite comfortable

when you get into a test situation. What does that mean?

Well that means

wear something that you like. Wear some clothes that you feel comfortable

in. You might not think about that. Interesting.

And if you're supposed to bring a pencil or a pen

bring that pencil or pen that you enjoy

using. And I was thinking about

what does that make a difference in taking a test?

And get yourself prepared, ready of course.

So you've got the knowledge and get that

get that haircut that you you know you you feel comfortable

in. Not that people are going to judge you by what you look like when you take a

test. They're going to judge you by what you wrote

and how you completed the test. Well

you know it worked for him. It worked for him. Well I'm thinking about some people

that

had a test and the scripture kind of

points out that fact.

If we study a little bit about the children of Israel and if we study about

how they had failed

and how they didn't do what God had asked them to do.

We come up with a number of different kings. The one king that I want to

start with was Jehoiakim. Now was Jehoiakim

a good king or a bad king? I heard bad. Did I hear bad?

Okay he was an evil king. He was an evil king.

And at one time he had

he was they were under the the

domination of Egypt.

Okay they allied with with the Egyptians. Then

then they changed to the Babylonians. Interesting.

But Jehoiakim decided that they would not

pay tax to the Babylonians.

For three years they with withheld the tax.

Now think about that. What would happen to you or me

if we withheld our tax

to our country or your city or whoever's taxing you

for three years. What might happen?

Wouldn't be good would it? It wouldn't be good. And it wasn't good

for Jehoiakim.

Now God gave Jehoiakim king of Judah

into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. That's interesting

for us to know. God gave

them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar because God had judged them

the people of Judah for disobedience and idolatry.

So he had another country come in and take over.

Now that's very interesting. God does use other people uses other nations as well.

Now the Babylon, where's Babylon by the way?

Iraq. There you go. We have somebody that knows very well. It's Iraq.

Now so they besieged the city

okay and a lot of the

a lot of the people were captured. Tens of thousands of Jewish

people were exiled from Judah

to Babylon. And they stayed there for how many years?

This is your test. 70 years about 70 years. It's a long time

isn't it? Now while they were there you know God gave them some information.

He gave them some orders. He says look he says I want you to live

okay you're going to be in exile. I want you to live. I want you to marry.

I want you to build houses. I want you to do the best that you can

but don't let your population decrease.

That could have happened couldn't it? It surely could have.

Well Babylon and Iraq it was about 900 miles

from from Judah. That's a long long trek. I'm sure that probably some of those

people never

you know never did arrive you know

alive. That's interesting. Jerusalem fell after 18 months

okay under this under this besiegement.

And that was in the first temple was destroyed.

So their temple was destroyed and

the Babylonians pillaged the city

and they also took some of the articles of the house of God

and then they put them into their house of their gods

which is interesting. Now Nebuchadnezzar he decided that he instructed

Ashpenaz who is the master of the eunuchs

to bring the children of Israel and some of the king's descendants and some of

the nobles young men whom there was no blemish good looking

okay and smart in wisdom possessing knowledge

and quick to understanding and the ability to serve the king's palace.

That's interesting that he would do that. That shows that he was

pretty smart king I think and so that they might teach these young

people and they caught them so that they're young. They were teenagers

okay that were that were set apart. These were the chosen

okay of the young people that could be a part

of the king's realm. Interesting. Daniel's name

was changed so weren't so weren't the others as

as you know. Daniel's name meant God is my judge.

Daniel's name was changed to Belteshazzar

which means lady protect the king. Interesting.

Now why did they change these names? What were they trying to do

with these people that they took? What were they trying to do to them?

That's right they wanted to erase their identity.

They want him to learn the culture the language

of Babylon. That's what they wanted to do.

Interesting. Would you like to erase your identity?

Sometimes. How many of you would like to run away from home sometimes?

You don't have to raise your hand but yeah there's a few hands. Interesting.

Yeah interesting. Well this was amazing but changing the names.

Now Shadrach or rather Hananiah's name meant the Lord is gracious

and Hananiah's name was changed to Shadrach

and Shadrach means I am fearful of the God. Then we have Mishael which means

who is what God is and Mishael's name was changed to what? Meshach.

Meshach which means I am of little account. Not a very good meaning

with that one. And Azariah's name meant the Lord has

helped me and Azariah's name was changed to

in the third one we know that one what is it? Abednego

which means what? Which means servant of God. That's interesting. That is

interesting. Wow. Well things went along pretty

well. Now Daniel had talked to the person that was in charge of the

eunuchs and he wanted to have a different diet.

He says test us for 10 days. 10 days. How'd you like a 10 day test?

You know I don't like a 10 minute test. Never mind a 10 day test.

But the king Nebuchadnezzar had set out the delicacies

of his table. Can you imagine what that must have been?

I mean it must have looked pretty pretty good. All the meats and all the wines and

the and I'm sure they had you know vegetables and whatever.

And Daniel because of their upbringing I'm sure that there was some

animal meat in there that probably maybe some of it was what

was presented to idols okay. Perhaps that that's one of the

issues that they had. Maybe it was because some of the

some of the meat wasn't processed correctly okay.

Because it may have you know had blood in it and so forth.

So they didn't want that diet. They didn't want that diet.

So he said test me. Now the king's master of the eunuch said you

know I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that.

Because you know the king will have my head if you guys are sick okay.

And if you don't look well okay after the three year period of time

the king gave them three years. They had three years

in order for them to be tested. How well did they know the language

okay. How well did they know the the custom. How well did they know the laws.

How well did they know all about their gods. How well.

After three years they're going to be tested. Well after 10 days

okay the the captain of the eunuchs tested Daniel and his three friends.

Interesting. And what did he find? He found that they

were looking pretty good. They were looking a whole lot better than all the

rest of these young people okay that were chosen to be part of the

king's you know realm. They were they were so much smarter.

Okay they looked better okay. Their countenance was bright.

And so he continued their diet. He continued their diet

which is quite amazing. Now in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign

Nebuchadnezzar had a dream. You remember the dream?

That's an interesting dream isn't it? And it scared him.

He didn't sleep. He was troubled and he decided that what he would do is he

would call the magicians. He would call the astrologers. The

sorcerers. The chaldeans. He would call all of them and ask them

to tell him what his dream was. What it meant. That's interesting. So here we

had gathered all these guys and he says now this is what I want you to

do. I want you to tell me what I dreamt number one. Number two I want you to

tell me what it means. Well they looked at each other and

they said you know they thought in their minds you've got to be out of your

mind. This king has got to be out of his mind. No one has ever ever

asked anybody to tell them what their dream was.

Well Nebuchadnezzar being a smart king knew that if he told them what the dream

was that eventually they would you know they would make they would make

up all kinds of stuff as to what the dream meant and he would

and that would be that's not what he wanted to do. He wanted to test them.

What was it? What was he what were they going to say? They said we cannot do that.

They said only the only the only god could do that okay. I mean this is going

to be a supernatural kind of thing. We can't tell you what you dreamt.

And they thought it was quite unfair. Well Nebuchadnezzar grew

very very angry. He got so angry that he said if you can't tell me what I

dreamt and what it means then I'm going to cut you up into pieces

and we're going to burn your houses down and you're going to be slaughtered.

Now that's that was that was pretty violent wasn't it?

I mean this was just playing on his mind and so Daniel found out and they'd

actually started the Bible said they started to kill. They started to kill

these astrologers and magicians and sorcerers and

chaldeans and Daniel found out about what was going on and

he was going to be killed as well and also his three buddies and so he went to

the king and he says you know he says he says give me some time give me

some time and I'm going to ask my god okay what your

dream meant just give us some time and and and we'll perform for you okay.

So he got together with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and they

they fasted and they prayed and Daniel was given the dream. He was given the

dream that King Nebuchadnezzar had. Not only was he given the dream but he

was given the interpretation of the dream. Interesting. So he

approached the king okay and he said king he says

I know I can tell you what what your dream was and also the meaning

and but it's not because of me it's because

of my god my god has given me all of this information

to share with you. So what was the dream? Well it was an image wasn't it? You

remember the image? And we can hardly imagine that what the image was. So

here's here's the image okay it's now all gold because that

that that's a little bit later but it had an image

an image of uh of this of who yeah that's right the head of

gold and so Daniel said you are the head of gold Babylon is

the head of gold you're the head of gold and then if we go on further the arms

and the chest was made of what what was the next one

silver silver is silver worth more than gold

no it's not does silver weigh as much as gold

no so in all aspects the gold was what the very very best

then we go into the means in the persia the belly and the thighs

were made of bronze and that was Greece that was Greece Greece was going to take

over then after that then the legs and the feet were made of

what iron okay and the toes were made of iron and clay

that's a terrible mixture okay not very strong

and so uh and then there was a stone cut out of a mountain without hands

and that stone did what it hit the statue okay and it ground all of

those elements all those metals and clay and it grounded

into a powder and the wind blew it away wow what a

dream what a dream so Daniel's saying Nebuchadnezzar you are the head of gold

you are the head of gold i mean this is the most

powerful let's talk about a powerful nation but what is going to happen

so god was telling king Nebuchadnezzar what was going to happen

after him after his reign and so sure enough the Medes and the Persians came

in okay and then the Grecians came in after

that and then Rome came in after that interesting but then that uh that stone

that was cut out what did that represent that represents

the kingdom of god that will never be destroyed never be

destroyed interesting isn't it now i think that uh when i look at

this the uh the dream and the image you know we

know we know what the ending is don't we we know the ending is that god's king

is going to be forever it will never be destroyed no matter

which kingdom we happen to be in at the moment

which is very interesting wow well well king Nebuchadnezzar i guess he was

he was feeling he was feeling pretty good all right so what he decided to do

he built an image okay he built an image it was 90 feet tall

can you imagine that that's huge it was about nine feet wide and 90 feet tall

and it was covered with gold covered with gold he was gold he was the head of

gold interesting what did he do he invited all

of his friends right well he invited all of the important

people of the realm okay not the entire citizenship okay but the entire people

okay of his realm he wanted to find out if these guys were loyal to him

okay that's what he was hunting for that's what he was hunting for

and so he made an edict and he says i want everybody to gather around

and you know when the symphony the orchestra plays and it probably was an

orchestra plays he wanted everybody to do what

wanted to bow down to the image the image representing him okay and his

power interesting and so what happened

orchestra played everybody bowed down except for whom

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. How would you have liked to have been

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Or would you have rather been

uh Daniel? I wonder where Daniel was have you ever wondered where Daniel was at

this time? Interesting interesting maybe the king

sent Daniel on a you know a little trip or whatever but

Daniel wasn't there at least we don't we don't read that but

they didn't bow down now how did this king find out that they didn't bow down

well they had some people that told on them

okay because if you have you know hundreds maybe thousands of

people you know how are you going to find out if you know somebody didn't bow

down and so they came to king Nebuchadnezzar he says king

there are three people that didn't bow down

not only didn't they bow down but we know something about them

they don't worship any of your gods okay and we know that and we they didn't bow

down so what did king Nebuchadnezzar do he

said well you bring them to me he said maybe they don't quite understand

what this is all about i'm going to give them a second chance don't you like

second chances oh i like second chances i like second

third fourth fifth and sixth i like chances i really do

so he told him he says look he says do you understand what this is all about if

you don't bow down when the symphony orchestra plays

and worship this golden image okay of me then we're going to throw you into

the what the fiery furnace well what was the fiery

furnace anyways well it was probably

where they probably baked their bricks right sure

and king Nebuchadnezzar was a builder okay he was very very much a builder

and so they had they had their fiery furnace

okay and uh there it was well what what did

Shadrach Meshach and Abednego how did they respond to the king

yeah they said okay you know live forever

but we're not going to bow down to this image and they said

our god will protect us but even if our god doesn't okay

did they know that god was going to protect them in that fiery furnace

no i'm sure that they had hoped that he would but they told the king even if he

does not and we perish into that fiery furnace

we're not going to bow down wow now this made the king even

madder than he was and he ordered the stove the furnace to be what seven

times hotter okay let's get this thing seven times hotter than it normally is

now you have to be careful in a kiln because that's basically what it was a

kiln if you get kilns too hot even the bricks and that it's made of can

actually melt as well but i guess it didn't melt down

interesting so what did he do he ordered

oh well the the orc sister played chadrech meshech and abednego did not

bow down i'm sure this time the king was watching those three men

okay then he ordered them to be bound okay hand and feet and he ordered them

to be thrown into the fiery furnace then he ordered his strongest men okay

his valor okay to tie them up and throw them in now interesting interesting

and what happened to these men that threw them in

they died they died now that tells us something about what

does that tell us something about how

okay that tells us something about how hot that fire was

i wonder how hot a human body can get before it actually dies have you ever

wondered that maybe it's just my mind that tries to

figure those things out that's interesting well

he ordered it to be hotter than than than it

then it should actually be about seven times hotter

got a little heat gun right here got it on the hot the hot space right here

let's see what happens we so we know that his uh

his guards that threw them in they actually burnt up

okay that's interesting and they're getting hotter and hotter and hotter

and they're feeling weaker and weaker and weaker

and then what happens to them what happened to them

they died they died can you imagine can you imagine that

now that is amazing it was really really hot

this is really really serious stuff that they're working with right here

well shad rack me shack and a benigo they were thrown into the fire

happen to have shad rack me shack and a benigo right here

let's check this out that's shad rack

let's put shad rack over here

there's shad rack

good looking boys weren't they they were good looking they didn't have any

blemish okay they were perfect in stature

and health there's me shack guess you always wanted to know what they

look like there's me shack put me shack over here

shad rack me shack and my favorite a benigo

there he is and they were bound head and foot

thrown into the fiery furnace thrown into the fiery furnace

but there was another another one

and this one was was who

was it right and so the fiery furnace

burned them up right there burn them all up

and they were burnt

and as the king looked down into the fiery furnace

he said didn't we throw three men in they did yes yeah we threw three men in

he says but i see four walking in the fire i see four

and the fourth one looks like what the son of god interesting

the fourth one was jesus wasn't it interesting

and then the king told them to well he got a little closer and he called

out he said shad rack me shack and a benigo come out

come out and so they came out was there even smoke smell on their body

was their hair singed at all no but what how they were bond they were

bound all of that was burned off of them that was amazing

it was absolutely amazing it made such an impression on king nebuchadnezzar

that he told all the people there was an edict going out

he says i don't want anyone to say anything

bad about shad rack me shack and a benigo's god

because he is the great god of all gods that was very interesting very very

interesting wow well i'm wondering

we know the end of the story it's in the bible

we know that they didn't burn up they didn't perish

but they had tremendous faith obviously how many times do we stumble

in faith if you and i had been there would we have bowed down

if not we were going to be thrown into the fiery furnace we didn't know you

wouldn't know that they were going to be saved interesting

but we do know the end we do know the end how many times

how many times do we make an excuse for something that we

should stand for how many times does that come up how

many times you know they could have just kind of

kind of bowed down a little bit and fixed their sandal or something

you know they weren't into that you know that wasn't going to happen

it wasn't going to happen at all interesting

you know people are watching us aren't they they really are

the people that told on them the first time that they didn't bow down

they told oh king there's there's three that didn't bow down

king might have not even had any idea that three people did not bow down

but there's people watching people watching you

there's people watching me every day in fact every moment of the day some of

those people maybe belong in your family maybe it's an

extra neighbor maybe it's somebody that you work with they're watching us

how many times do we not bow down and we make excuses

how many times are we not doing what we should do

you know that's the question we know the end from the beginning

we know how this world is going to end we know that the stone that was cut out

with a hand is going to that's jesus's that's

that's a kingdom that will never fail that's god's kingdom

so all these trials that you and i have if we could just see the end from the

beginning maybe maybe they wouldn't be as

severe as we think they they really are we know the end from the beginning and

we know even from history as we look at the progression from

babel and the meads and persians okay and the greece and rome we know

that all of this is true and we can look at that and even the

years and we know we know the kingdoms and and how they fell

we know that rome that rome is just scattered in it and it never

never got to be the power okay to rule the

the entire earth which that's interesting to me

wow you like tests

so yes yeah we like tests how do we know what we know unless we're

tested is god testing you is god testing me

i think every day is a test every day is a test every moment's a test

whether or not we realize it or not somebody's watching

if it's not your neighbor if it's not your family

god's watching he's watching us and he wants us to pass the test and

he'll help us to pass the testimony he helped them he was there with them in

the presence of that fire that's amazing to me that's really

amazing our heavenly father we thank you

that you are god of love that you are our salvation

we thank you that this stone that has been cut out of a mountain

without hands is your kingdom and your kingdom will last forever

and ever lord help us this week to do well in the test the test of life

the test of faith that others can see our strength that we have in you and

you will give us the strength to show them your love we thank you for

jesus and that he came to this earth not to condemn us but to give us

everlasting life and we ask this in his name and for his sake

amen