Faith in the Fire (Daniel 3:1-30)

Amen. Thank you, Youth Praise Band. To just get up here and do this in front of the youth is already scary to do in front of the entire church.

There's just so much more, the courage you have to do this. Just good job, guys.

Children, you may now go with Miss Savannah to Children's Church.

And even though today is Graduation Sunday, I know that a few weeks ago Savannah had the opportunity to send off some of her fifth graders that will be coming to me.

And as she said, I was the only one not upset that day because it was a great day for me as we get to have new students come in.

And this is just one of the many things as a blessing to children and youth because we get to just see more and more and more come in as the years go on.

And a quick reminder, because I didn't get to say anything that day, fifth grade parents as well as our senior parents,

this is a great summer of transition that your students can try out both the fifth or the children's, the last of the children's events and the youth events this summer.

As well as our 12th graders, you can do the rest of your youth events and then go to the college ministry on Sunday mornings.

This is a great transition time for you to try a little bit of both, to dip your toe in the water.

Because in August, I will say bye-bye to my seniors and welcome in my new coming sixth graders.

So you are encouraged to go and try all the many different things.

Dip your toe in the water, get used to it before the fall.

Well, if I have not met you this morning, my name is Josh Lorenz.

I'm a youth pastor here at First Baptist.

And usually, the youth pastor gets to speak on graduation Sunday and then sometime in December.

But if you remember, I just had a baby and I told Brett that I might not be awake in December to come and preach that day.

And so Brett was totally fine with that.

But now we are here and I'm so blessed to come and get to speak in front of our church this morning.

About a year ago, I was welcomed to First Baptist Church.

And Sarah and I's mindset coming in was to focus on sharing the gospel with all of our students to build relationships.

But also, we had a heart in intentionally preparing our seniors for what is next to come.

Both Sarah and I had the opportunity in youth ministry to experience this, to be prepared for what college may hold.

And so we wanted to do the same for our seniors.

Because senior year, if you remember from when you were a senior,

is just a fast blur of tests and college applications and essays and ceremonies and award banquets and graduation parties

and last-minute planning and packing.

And then all it comes to the first day of freshman year and there you go.

Senior year is over.

And you wonder what happened to the last year of your life.

So as we begin this morning, the thought for graduation Sunday is just simply this.

What is one thing we can say to the seniors to encourage them as they go into the next stage of their life?

So today we are going to read through the entire book of Proverbs to get our seniors ready.

And that is a joke if you don't know.

It's a book on wisdom.

And instead, no, we're not going to go read the whole book.

But seniors, I do encourage you to do so.

But we are going to step away from Hebrews for just one week.

And as Clay likes to mess with Brett, we're going to step away from our favorite character,

Melchizedek, for just one week.

And we are going to step into a story that most of us, if you grew up in church,

or if you've even been around church for just a little bit,

you would know this story.

We are going to turn to the book of Daniel chapter 3.

Daniel 3 · chapter mention

And if you don't know this story, this is the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

This story tells the story of three men who were faithful to God,

the king of Israel and of the Jews.

This is the same God who had led Moses and the Israelites out of Egypt.

This is the same God who rose up great men in the history of Israel,

such as Joshua and David and Solomon.

And now the Israelites find themselves in Babylon, a foreign land.

And God continues to be the people of Israel, even in their exile.

So as we go through this passage today, there's one big point that I want us to focus on,

and it is this, the fire reveals what we truly believe.

And through this point, we will learn how to be more like the three men who follow God

through their circumstances, through what people will tell them to do,

through what culture tries to convince them of,

and focus our eyes truly on the Lord.

And so what I like to do with our students is I love to hear about the context of the story,

especially in the narrative.

So in Daniel chapter 1 and 2, leading into what we're reading today,

Daniel 1 · chapter mention

the people of Israel are in exile in this new land of Babylon.

And there's a ruler by the name of King Nebuchadnezzar.

And Nebuchadnezzar does not worship Yahweh, the God of Israel,

though he is seen in chapter 2 of Daniel, this power through the servant Daniel.

And Daniel does something that no one else could do in the land.

He reveals to Nebuchadnezzar a dream that Nebuchadnezzar had,

and identifies its interpretation.

And in doing so, in hearing this dream,

Nebuchadnezzar identifies that Yahweh is truly the God of gods and the Lord of kings.

And in response, the king promotes Daniel to ruler over a province of Babylon,

as well as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

So we're going to read the entirety of chapter 3,

and so we're going to break this into pieces as we go,

but we're going to start with Daniel chapter 3, verse 1 through 7.

Daniel 3:1–7

And it says this,

And the herald proclaimed aloud,

So as we read into the story,

we're going to break this down into even further points.

So the first thing that we learn from this passage is this,

is that you mimic what you worship.

In the previous chapter of Daniel,

Nebuchadnezzar is approached by our main character of Daniel,

and through God's power,

Daniel tells the king of his dream

that there is a large statue that will eventually be torn down.

And the head of the statue is made of gold,

and that represents King Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom,

but there would be a day where this kingdom would fall.

And you would think that the king who claims that God is the king of kings

would listen to said imagery, to said interpretation,

and probably not build a statue.

And King Nebuchadnezzar, we would be wrong,

does the exact thing that we don't think he should do.

He builds a statue for himself.

And this statue is listed as 90 feet tall.

And it is something to obviously marvel at from all around the land.

Now I think about when I go to different places,

I love to travel,

and one of the things I love to see is the history of the land that I'm in.

We went to Boston this past year,

and I know that we will start mentioning the Boston mission trip here soon.

If you walk around Boston,

sure enough, you will find statues of the founding fathers

and other important figures of Boston.

Same thing is I've gotten to go to Washington, D.C.,

and if you don't know, you walk around,

you will see founding fathers' statues everywhere you go,

especially Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial.

And I remember being a little freshman in college

and looking at how big Abraham Lincoln was

and obviously thinking,

this guy means a lot to the people of the United States.

This guy has a lot

and is humongous in what we are supposed to be honoring him for.

And so we see in Daniel

that Nebuchadnezzar builds a statue 90 feet tall,

and not only is it 90 feet tall,

he overlays it with gold.

And what this does is this is an image

that would be seen for miles around,

and the main goal of it is to show the power

of the king of Babylon.

And we see early on in Daniel 3

that all the officials are gathered to look at

and worship this statue.

And in verse 4,

it is demanded that when the music is to play,

that you are to fall down and worship the statue

that the king has made,

and whoever does not

will be thrown into the fiery furnace.

And so we are told that there is something

that needs to be worshipped,

an idol of sorts,

and for all of the Israelites

who have been pulled into Babylon

from their land,

you would see,

or you would hope,

that they would identify this

as an idol

and something wrong in which to worship.

Because the Israelites believe

in the teachings of the Ten Commandments,

and in Exodus 20,

we are introduced to this,

and the first two laws,

the commandments are this,

do not have any other gods before him,

and do not make idols in your own image,

nor should you worship these idols.

And yet we see Israel fail time and time again

to follow even the first two commandments,

but people continue to do so

even though it is against the law.

And we see later that there are consequences

to worshipping idols and gods other than Yahweh.

And the people of Israel would know this

as they would be taught this

and held to this standard.

And yet we see all of the land

bowed down to worship the king of Babylon

and his statue.

And the question really is this,

how would you react?

If you were in the face of pressure,

the face of culture looking to you

to do the same as everybody else,

what would you do?

Culture loves to pressure us

and put us into compromised positions

where we must make a choice.

And we have to make a choice

of whether we are going to go against

what we have been taught as right,

or will we bow down

to the authority of the world.

And not only this,

but as we learn,

Shadrach, Neshach, and Abednego

become the central characters

of the story.

And you think about this,

that these men are not only facing

just societal pressure,

they are facing pressures

from different directions.

The first of which is political.

These men are in a place of power

over a province of Babylon.

Everyone is looking to them

and to what they are going to do.

There are pressures religiously

because this is a land

where worshiping Yahweh

is definitely not taken well.

There are pressures socially

because these men

will eventually take a stand

against what everyone else does.

And then there is obviously

the pressure physically

because if you are caught standing,

then you will die in a fiery furnace.

And the question that these men

must face is this,

will they compromise

and seek self-preservation?

Or will they follow the commandments

in which they have been given?

And the question we must ask ourselves

is this, so what would we worship?

What do these men do?

Well, we know the story,

but let's continue in Daniel chapter 3,

Daniel 3 · chapter mention

starting in verse 8.

It says this,

therefore at that time,

certain Chaldeans came forward

and maliciously accused the Jews.

They declared to King Nebuchadnezzar,

O king, live forever.

You, O king, have made a decree

that every man who hears

the sound of the horn

and the pipe and the lyre,

the trigon, the harp, the bagpipe,

and every kind of music

shall fall down

and worship the golden image.

And whoever does not fall down

and worship shall be cast

into a burning, fiery furnace.

There are certain Jews

whom you have appointed

over the affairs

of the province of Babylon,

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

And these men, O king,

pay no attention to you,

and they do not serve your gods

or worship the golden image

that you have set up.

So then Nebuchadnezzar,

in a furious rage,

commanded that Shadrach, Meshach,

and Abednego be brought.

And so they brought these men

before the king,

and Nebuchadnezzar answered

and said to them this,

Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach,

and Abednego,

that you do not serve my gods

or worship the golden image

that I have set up?

Now if you are ready

when you hear the sound

of the horn, the pipe,

the lyre, the trigon,

the harp, the bagpipe,

and every kind of music

to fall down

and worship the image

that I have made,

well, and good.

But if you do not worship,

you shall be immediately cast

into a burning, fiery furnace.

And who is the God

who will then deliver you

out of my hands?

So Shadrach, Meshach,

and Abednego answered

and said to the king,

O Nebuchadnezzar,

we have no need

to answer you in this matter.

If this be so,

our God whom we serve

is able to deliver us

from the burning, fiery furnace,

and he will deliver us

out of your hand, O king.

But if not,

be it known to you, O king,

that we will not serve your gods

or worship the golden image

that you have set up.

The second point

we can learn from this

is that real faith stands

even when it costs.

So here are these men,

these leaders in Babylon

of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,

and they do something

that no one else does.

They stand in refusal

of the demand

of King Nebuchadnezzar.

And the king hears

that these men

refuse to bow down.

And they've been told,

and the king has been told this

by different people

from the kingdom,

and whether these people

had something against the Jews,

we do not know.

But they come to the king

and they say this,

those Jews that you appointed

have ignored the king

and instead stand against your word.

So the king brings them

into the kingdom,

to the throne room,

and looks at these men

and asks this question.

Is it true

that you do not serve my gods

or worship the gold statue

that I have set up?

He says this,

so I can see with my own eyes.

We'll have the music play.

We'll play the music for you.

And in front of me,

bow down and worship,

or you will be thrown

into the fiery furnace.

And I think how hard it must be

for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

to stare at the face of the king,

not just in their own home,

not just publicly,

but to stare at the face of the king

who holds all the power of the land,

and to still disobey his law.

And in that moment,

they have a choice.

Do we bow to the king of Babylon,

or do we stand and worship

the king of all kings?

And Nebuchadnezzar asks a question

that sparks an incredible response.

He asks this,

who is the God who will rescue you

from my power?

And what Nebuchadnezzar is really

giving them two situations,

he says this,

you can either do one,

keep standing for a God

whom I do not see,

who cannot save you,

and you will die in the furnace

in response.

Or,

you can bow to me,

the king who you can see,

can hear,

can touch,

and who has the power

to physically pull you

from the fire,

from the hands of the fire.

Now,

we have all been asked this question

in one form or another,

and maybe not in the chance

of being thrown into

an actual fiery furnace.

If that is your story,

I would love to hear it

because that is

what incredible testimony

that would be.

But instead,

we stare in the mirror

and we ask this,

who is the God

that we will serve?

Who is the God

that we will serve

that will eventually

save us?

And obviously,

if you read ahead

into the Bible

and to the whole theme

of the text

is that there is

an obvious answer,

but oftentimes,

we look in the mirror

and we think things

such as this,

well,

I've lived quite a life

by myself.

I've lived a life

where I've weighed

the good and the bad,

and I've made

some pretty good choices.

I have been able

to get through

some hard times

by myself.

Maybe I'll just bet on me.

Maybe I'll just handle it

by myself

because there is no God

that I can see or hear,

so I will do it

on my own.

Others may look

at the faces of culture

and to people

in our culture

as seen as higher

than others,

and this might be

a singer

or an actor

or a political figure,

and they say,

well,

if I just follow them,

I will find

the same success

that they do.

So I will mimic them

and then I will find

that I will have

the same success

as them.

Others of us

look to our people

in our church

and we say,

well,

if we just mimic

our lives

around our pastor

or around

our small group leader

or around this

or that person

in our church,

then obviously

they have it figured out,

so I'll have it figured out.

And now,

as fun as it is

to have a bunch

of little pastors

in the room,

a bunch of little Bretts

following Bret everywhere

and doing what he does,

humanity

will eventually

fail you.

Following

a human God

will eventually

fail you.

That person

you look to

will eventually

falter in something.

They will eventually

do something wrong

that you see

as such a big deal.

They will eventually

say something

that you might take

as hurtful

in the end of the world

and your whole belief

will crumble.

That they have it

all figured out,

so if I just do

what they do,

I'll have it figured out.

And when they falter,

you falter.

But really,

if you look to this,

the God of the Bible,

the one who has sent

his son down across

so we may forever

look upon his face

in eternity,

the one who lives

within us,

guiding us

to do right and wrong,

only this God

is the God

worth worshiping.

And so what do

these men do?

They give a response

of all responses,

which I don't think

I would have the courage

to say to a king

who is about to throw me

into a furnace.

They say,

O Nebuchadnezzar,

we have no need

to answer you

in this matter.

If this be so,

our God whom we serve

is able to deliver us

from the burning,

fiery furnace,

and he will deliver us

out of your hand,

O king.

But if not,

be it known to you,

O king,

that we will not

serve your gods

or worship the golden image

that you have set up.

They take a stand

against the power

in the room

and say,

you might be

a powerful king,

Nebuchadnezzar.

You might have

a glorious big statue

overlaid with gold,

but guess what?

We serve a God

much bigger,

more powerful than you.

We serve a God

whose robe in Isaiah

tells us that

it fills a throne room.

We serve a God

who will strike down

in literally the dream

you just had

every single kingdom

that comes after yours

and will provide us

with an everlasting kingdom

that we will live

with him in forever.

We will serve that God,

not you.

We refuse to bow

because we would rather

do anything

but bow to you,

O Nebuchadnezzar,

and this is a picture

of real faith.

We as believers

should look at this

and turn to culture

and repeat this.

Yes, culture,

you can mock me,

people,

you can scorn me,

make fun of me,

call me names,

threaten me,

scare me.

Devil,

you may throw everything

in your arsenal

at me,

and yet I serve

a bigger God

than you

who that one day

in my text,

in my Bible,

says that he will

defeat you forevermore

and you will be nothing.

And these men

show us the key

to a resilient faith.

These men

show us the key

to true obedience

to the Lord

in the face of danger.

These men

show us what it looks like

to live more like God

in any situation.

And so you're like,

well, how's the story end?

Well, if you grew up

in church, you know,

but let's continue

in verse 19.

It says this,

and Nebuchadnezzar

was filled with fury

and the expression

of his face

was changed

against Shadrach,

Meshach,

and Abednego.

And he ordered

the furnace heated

seven times more

than it was usually heated.

And he ordered

some of the mighty men

of his army

to bind Shadrach,

Meshach,

and Abednego

and to cast them

into the burning,

fiery furnace.

Then these men

were bound

in their cloaks

and their tunics,

their hats

and their other garments,

and they were thrown

into the burning,

fiery furnace.

Because the king's order

was urgent

and the furnace

was overheated,

the flame,

the fire,

killed those men

who took up

Shadrach,

Meshach,

and Abednego.

And these three men,

Shadrach,

Meshach,

and Abednego,

fell bound

into the burning,

fiery furnace.

And then king Nebuchadnezzar

was astonished

and rose up in haste.

He declared

to his counselors,

Did we not cast

three men

bound into the fire?

They answered

and said to the king,

Oh, true.

He answered and said this,

But I see four men

unbound,

walking in the midst

of the fire,

and they are not hurt,

and the appearance

of the fourth

is like a son

of the gods.

Then Nebuchadnezzar

came near to the door

of the burning,

fiery furnace,

and he declared,

Shadrach,

Meshach,

Abednego,

servants of the

Most High God,

come out

and come here.

Then Shadrach,

Meshach,

and Abednego

came out

from the fire.

And the satraps

and the prefects,

the governors,

and the king's counselors

gathered together

and saw that the fire

had not had any power

over the bodies

of those men.

The hair of their heads

was not singed,

their cloaks

were not harmed,

and no smell of fire

had come upon them.

And Nebuchadnezzar

answered and said this,

Blessed be the God

of Shadrach,

Meshach,

and Abednego,

who has sent his angel

and delivered his servants

who trusted him

and set aside

the king's command

and yielded up their bodies

rather than serve

and worship any god

except their own god.

Therefore,

I make a decree,

any people,

nation,

or language

that speaks anything

against the God

of Shadrach,

Meshach,

and Abednego

shall be torn

limb from limb

and their houses

laid in ruins,

for there is no other god

who is able to rescue

in this way.

And the king promoted

Shadrach,

Meshach,

and Abednego

in the province

of Babylon.

The third and final thing

we see from the story

is that God meets

his people

in the fire.

So in response

to them telling

King Nebuchadnezzar

that they will not

bow down to him,

he tells his guards,

he says,

make it hotter,

turn it up,

turn the flame

seven times hotter.

And you know what?

Just for extra measure,

tie them up.

Make sure that they

experience this

to the full.

And he throws them in

and in doing so,

sacrifices some of his own men

in throwing Shadrach,

Meshach,

and Abednego

into the flame.

And what we see is this,

is that King Nebuchadnezzar

says what he is going to do,

does what he says

he is going to do.

He throws these men

into the fire

and in doing so,

church,

we see a hard truth

that we must face.

Standing against Babylon,

standing against the world

that we live in

might have earthly consequences.

You might stand

and find that the result

is less than lovely.

You might find

that in defiance

of the world

that you get thrown down

into your own

fiery furnace.

But there is something

that is so great

is this,

that no matter

what the world

throws at you,

no matter how hot

the flames of culture are,

nothing can separate us

from the love

and the power of God.

Nothing can take away

our faith

in the almighty

saving God.

And what this fire does

is it doesn't snuff out

God's presence,

it reveals God's presence

in our lives

and to all of those

who may see it.

Seniors in the room,

you will have hard times.

If you haven't heard

from your parents

or from any adult

in the room,

we can tell you

hard times will come.

You will face something

that you are not prepared for.

And oftentimes,

people make this decision

in the times of hardship.

Obviously,

because I am suffering,

the Lord must not be present.

The Lord must have left me.

The suffering leads us

to find this place

of loneliness.

And circumstances

such as this,

well,

I just failed this big test.

I must not be loved by God.

You must not want me

to succeed

in this path.

Lord,

this relationship ended.

Lord,

you must not want me

to be happy

to find everlasting peace

in a marriage.

God,

you took away

this person in my life,

this loved one,

or this hardship

is happening,

a disease

has taken root

into one of my family members.

God,

you must want me

to be miserable.

And in response,

God,

you must not be there.

You see,

what Nebuchadnezzar

was hoping

is that this fire

would destroy

the believers in God.

But what we just said

is this,

is that the fire

does not do that.

It instead reveals

that God is present

and is not just

the Son of God,

all lowercase

as we see in Daniel,

but is the God

who stands with us

in the fire,

capital G.

and these men

were called out

to you by the king

and Nebuchadnezzar says,

come out,

men,

I see you standing there.

What do you do?

Come out of the fire.

And they come out

and one of my favorite

details is this,

is that none of them

smell like they've even

been near a fire.

Now,

I've been on a lot

of campouts growing up.

I've been camping

with my parents

because that is

what they love to do.

I was also in the Cub Scouts

and the Boy Scouts,

so we went on

playing campouts

as well as

I was in college

and what do a bunch

of Christian believers

do when they have

an afternoon off?

They have a bonfire

and a worship night.

And so I've been

around a fire

and what I can tell you

is this,

everyone knows

you've been near a fire.

You smell it.

Okay,

these men are in flames

that are so hot

that they're killing

not only,

not only them,

not only is it meant

to kill these men,

but it also kills

the men of Nebuchadnezzar.

And they walk out

and their clothes

are unsinged

and they don't even

smell of the fire.

And Nebuchadnezzar

in response

says this,

he says,

to praise the angel

that has saved them.

And we all know

who this is.

This is the Son of God.

This is Jesus

who came to save

these men

from the fire.

And what this really is

is that this is

a perfect picture

of what he does

on the cross.

Not only does Jesus

come to save,

but he comes

to save everyone.

Not only does he save

the one who stand

in the fire,

but he comes

and he offers himself

to all who may believe.

He offers himself

up to the ones

who cursed him,

who mocked him,

who threatened

to kill him,

the ones who would

worship anything else

in a heartbeat,

where a statue would be

raised,

they would bow down.

Everyone he came

to save

and he offers

his life

to save

all of us.

Jesus dies

this death

of the sinner.

He's thrown

into the flames

of judgment

and he does this

for a simple fact

that we oftentimes

overlook

is that he loves

us so much.

He takes upon

the wrath

of death

of sin

and our place

saves us

so that one day

we may be able

to come out

of the flame,

out of the furnace,

like these men,

unharmed,

not smelling

like fire,

just for the fact

so we might find

peace and love

and eternity

with him.

he does all

of these things

for us.

And students,

this is

the good news.

This is the gospel

and early on

in the semester,

Sarah and I

opened our home

to our seniors

and we had a few

come and in that time

I told our seniors

this,

is that there are

going to be people

who will one day

ask you,

what do you believe in?

Not just,

are you a Christian,

are you not,

what do you believe in?

Why do you believe

in Jesus?

Why do you believe

in this Jesus figure

in your life?

And I had them

write down a response.

What would you say?

Because if not

ask the question,

we are unprepared

and so we should

prepare ourselves

for what is coming next

to try and prepare

ourselves to say,

well I believe

in a king

who would stand

in the fire,

who would die

on a cross

so that I may

one day be

in eternity

with him

just because

he loves me.

That is why

I believe in Jesus,

the son of God.

And today,

Jesus is still

wanting a relationship

with us.

Jesus wants it

even though

we may have

our doubts,

even though

we may find

ourselves in

disobedience,

we may find

ourselves in the

midst of a failure.

everything we do

against him,

he still

chooses us.

And this is why

we look at this

as being what

standing in the

face of the fire

truly teaches us

is that God's

presence is in us

and can be seen

for everyone.

And seniors,

this is what we want

you to take away

from this day.

Church,

this is applicable

to all of us

is that this,

is that the fire

truly reveals

what you believe

and in the fire

God meets his

people and

stands with them

especially when

we stand for him.

Let us pray.

Lord, thank you

for this day.

Thank you for

all that you do.

God, we pray

over our seniors

on Senior Sunday

Lord, that they

would go out

and they would

hear this message

that there is

a fire burning

and culture

ready to consume

us but Lord,

you will stand

in the fire

with us.

That you are

bigger and stronger

and mightier

than anything

that can be

thrown our way.

And God, we pray

that we would

turn and worship

you.

There are a bunch

of idols,

a bunch of statues

that might rise up

in our life

and we might turn

to those

and we might look

at that is the

way that we are

supposed to live

our life.

God, I pray

that we would

only look to

you.

We would only

praise you.

We would only

worship you

for all the

days that we

have to come.

Lord, I thank

you that we

have your name.

We have your

kingdom to look

forward to.

We have the

promise that you

will stand with

us in the fire.

That you sent

a son to die

in our place

so that we

may one day

be in right

standing with

you.

And God,

until that day

you just desire

one thing and

that is a

relationship with

us.

So God, I pray

that our seniors,

that everyone in

our church,

those who are

struggling,

those who find

themselves in the

midst of the fire,

that we would

turn to you.

We would worship

you.

We would love

you just as you

have loved us.

Let everyone go

forward from this

day and see the

fire not that we

are in, but the

fire burning

within us that

shows the presence

of you.

It's in your

name we pray.

Amen.

I want to invite

you to stand

during this time

of invitation to

sing a song as we

respond to what

God has put on

our hearts this

morning.

Let us stand

and sing.