Shadrack, Meshack, Abednego-A Living Faith. by John.

SHADRACK, MESHACK, ABEDNEGO-A LIVING FAITH.
Daniel 3:1-30 (Read 3:8-18)

1. (Recount the story of Chapter 2, and subsequent obelisk.)
2. It's easy for people with little faith, or no faith, to discount the great miracles of the Bible.
(1) We know it is human nature to stretch the truth. The Gossip Game illustrates it well.
(2) We know everyone wants his nation to look good.
(3) We know everyone wants his God to be the greatest.
3. But stranger things than Biblical truths occur daily, and we have no trouble accepting them.
(1) I opened the Wichita Eagle-Beacon May 10, 1981 and read that the earth opened up in Winterhaven, Florida and swallowed a house and 8 Porsche autos. (Limestone dissolved, or a subterranean water channel collapsed.) Who would believe that? I did. Do you?
(2) In 1945 during WW II, Harry S. Truman had a little sign on his desk that said, "The buck stops here!" He made a choice, and two atomic bombs completely cleared a circular mile in both the cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. They left a huge depression in the earth! Do you believe it? I do.
(3) Blind Homer wrote about a city being covered with volcanic lava. In the 20th century archaeologists uncovered portions of it. Do you believe that really happened? I do.
(4) Why disbelieve this Daniel account? Why disbelieve that the earth opened up and swallowed Korah in Numbers 16:31,32. Why disbelieve Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19 were destroyed by fire and brimstone? (These things differ very little from these later historical facts I just mentioned. We believe them, don't we?)
4. We need to be like Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego!

I. THEY TOOK A STAND FOR GOD.

1. Taking a stand for God is in itself a fearsome thing, but for them it was a multiplied fearful situation.
(1) They lost a war and were captives in a foreign land. (Even their names were changed.)
(2) They had already taken one stand with Daniel and that turned out okay, but another one?
(3) Life and death hung in the balances for them. They stood any way!
2. Now this concerns us because we are constantly faced with choices.
(1) Will we eat oatmeal and water, or spiced meat and alcoholic beverages?
a. That's not really very important, is it?
b. Most of our decisions seem no more important than that, but every decision prepares us for another greater decision!
(2) When a big test comes, what then? ill. We pray at meals, but not always in restaurants. Suppose you were eating in a very worldly supper club, would you pray? If you did not because you did not want to embarrass someone else, that's one thing, but if you were afraid to be embarrassed, that's another!
3. These three men had not tested God and did not know what God would do, nor did they know for sure what they would do.
4. Sometimes fears become fact, and theirs did!

II. God Allowed Their Faith to Be Tested.

1. God knows all about us. He doesn't allow us to be tested to find out about us, but so we can find out about ourselves!
2. These men spoke right up for God, and gave a good witness of their faith in Him. vv 16-18.
(1) Note they did not try to commit God to save them. God is Sovereign, and they knew it and they acknowledged it.
(2) Our God has all eternity mapped out in fine detail, and He works His Own plan, not ours. (I believe He even plots in changes ahead of time because He knows what and when we will pray!)
(3) The king carried out his legal threat and the enemies must have chortled in fiendish glee! (Note these men were killed).
3. If you are tested, will you pass or fail? God knows, do you know?
4. What will you do if you find out you will fail your test of faith?
5. When you've been tested, you know what to pray about and for!

III. God Vindicated Their Faith in Him.

1. Nebuchadnezzer saw four figures walking in the flames.
2. He called to them, but only three came out.
3. Not a scorched thread or even the smell of smoke was on them!
4. Will God vindicate your faith?
(1) Is your faith in God?
(2) Or is your faith in your own abilities?
(3) You will be vindicated if your faith is real!
5. God has not changed!

Conclusion:

1. If you really belong to Jesus, take a stand and stay with it!
2. You will be tested, but you'll pass every test because God will not let you be tested above your ability to bear it, and you will grow every time you pass a test.
3. God always keeps His Word. He is growing you into the person He wants you to be, and He alone knows just what you can be!
4. Will you stand with Him, or fall without Him?

Emmanuel 5/10/1981
Emmanuel 8/23/1987
1st Bapt, Valentine, Revival, 4/23/1990
Emmanuel Community Church 10/22/2006