The Fourth Man - Jerry Savelle

Daniel chapter 3, and I want us to begin reading in verse 13.

Now, before we read there, let me give you a little bit of history. Nebuchadnezzar is king, and he has made a decree. In fact, you'll find this decree in verse five. He had commanded. Now, you remember he has gone into Israel and taken captive some of Israel's young men, mightiest men. He's taken them captive. And Nebuchadnezzar had published a decree that whenever you hear the sound of the instruments of music, that you are to fall down and worship the image which Nebuchadnezzar had erected.

But there were three Hebrew children and another fellow by the name of Daniel that refused to bow. And the theme of what I'm want to tell you and what I want to share with you is simply this. I'm going to say it just like Oral Roberts said it: If you don't bow, you don't burn. The law of compromise is, if you bow, you burn.

I remember a number of years ago, Brother Copeland said something to me as we were driving down the road, going to a meeting, and he had a habit of turning around and saying things to you, just a phrase or two, and then he'd hush and just give you thought for food, or food for thought. And, um, I remember one day he turned around and pointed his finger at me and said, "Jerry, anything you compromise to get, you'll ultimately lose." That's all he said.

Well, I didn't understand that fully, but as I began to understand the principles of faith and standing on God's word, and once you receive a revelation from God and you make up your mind that you're going to live by it, if you compromise it, whatever you compromise to get, you'll ultimately lose. The devil loves to cause people to compromise. The devil would love to cause the body of Christ to get under enough pressure to where she backs off. The devil loves to get you in a situation to where, when you're standing for your healing, is to create enough symptoms to where you'll compromise and agree with the rest of the Christian world that healing has passed away. Compromise is probably the number one sin that the body of Christ is involved in.

And the Apostle Paul said, "If you awake to righteousness, you sin not. You awake to righteousness, you sin not." When you get a revelation of who you are in Christ and your right standing with God, then compromise is out of the question. Why compromise if God's on your side? Amen. Why compromise if you know how it's going to turn out? You see, people who know and have awakened to righteousness know how it's going to turn out. Somebody said, "You know how it's going to turn out." I know how every situation in my life is going to turn out. I didn't say I know how God's going to do it. I didn't say I know the avenues that God would use, but I know what God is going to do. The Bible says He's going to deliver me from them all. Why wouldn't He? I'm His child. Why wouldn't He deliver me? I'm the righteousness of God. Why wouldn't He deliver me? I'm just as much a son of God as Jesus is. Why would He leave me in a jam and deliver Jesus out of one? Jesus said, "Father, show him that You love him as much as You love me." And if I can see God delivering Jesus out of hard places, then I can expect Him to deliver Jerry out of hard places. Hallelujah. Amen.

And since I know I have right standing with God, there's no need to compromise. You know, if somebody came in here and said, "Uh, Brother Jerry, the Lord has dealt with me about giving you a million dollars, and at the end of the month, I'm going to send you $1 million." Well, in the meantime, all hell could break loose in my finances. I mean, it could look like, "Dear God, everything's falling apart. I haven't got a dime. And it looks like that there's absolutely no way to ever get a dime. But if this man that told me that is a man that shall not lie, is a man of truth. He's faithful that promised, then I know how this is going to turn out." Why compromise just because the heat's on? Amen. Why compromise because of the present circumstances? Why fold up and quit? And somebody'd come by about that time and say, "You know, you ought to just quit. It looks bad." And I'd say, "No, I'm not going to quit because He is faithful." Who promised at the end of this month, I'm going to have a million dollars. There's no need me quitting because I know how this thing's going to turn out. Amen.

Well, let me tell you something. The Bible does say, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous." But don't you dare stop reading there. The Bible goes on to say, "But the Lord shall deliver them out of them all." That's how it's going to turn out. Hallelujah. If you don't compromise. In fact, you'll find in the amplified version of the Bible, most of the time, every time you see the word righteous, it's prefaced with the word uncompromisingly. We need to become the uncompromisingly righteous.

Nebuchadnezzar had made a decree and he told the inhabitants of the land. He said, "If you don't bow down when you hear the instruments of music, then you will burn." And there's three Hebrew children that absolutely refuse to bow, refuse to compromise. And some folks are quitting on a hangnail. These guys were facing a fiery furnace.

I want us to read it. You'll notice here that it says in verse 13, "Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these wise men before the king, or these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, 'Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, the flute, the harp, the sackbut, the sultry, the doulamer, and all kinds of music, ye shall fall down and worship the image which I have made well. If you do this, it'll be well with you.' He said, 'But if you worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a fiery furnace. And who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?'"

Now, I want you to notice this is a prime, a a a perfect example of the way the devil challenges the child of God today. God has promised you, you're standing on His word, and the devil will challenge it. It's exactly what he did with Eve. "Why, you won't surely die." That's what he's tried to do with everybody that's made a decision to stand on God's word.

Some of you get the idea sometimes that fellas like myself, Brother Copeland, Brother Hagen, men that are out before the public and preaching the word of God and, and, uh, perhaps our ministries have become established and known around the country because of our ministries, that we never have an opportunity to compromise, that we never have an opportunity to fold up and quit. Some of you that that saw these people standing here think, "Wow, bless God. Brother Jerry wouldn't do that." You don't know the times that thought has crossed my mind and I've had to cast it down. The devil don't play fair. And what he loves to do is create enough pressure to get you to back off.

Now, I want to tell you something about him. He, he don't like for me to reveal this. So, listen closely. He'd just as soon I don't bring this up, but I can't help it. I like to tell it. I've learned something about him. By nature, he is a compromiser. Now, he don't want you knowing that. But by nature, he is a compromiser. He has no choice. He has to back off. The same God that said, "Let there be light," and there was light, also proclaimed, "Resist the devil and he will flee from you." The same powerful word of God that created the universe has already been spoken over the devil. And God has told the devil, "When they resist you, you will flee." Do you understand? Amen. In other words, God as much as said, "Light be," "Devil, flee." Amen.

And so, by, by nature, Satan has to compromise when pressure is applied. And the pressure that you apply to him, it is written. It is written. It is written. It is written. It is written. It is written. It is written. And you keep that word slammed up against him, and that creates pressure, and God has already told him, "When you sense that pressure coming on you, devil, that is your cue to exit stage right, flee." Amen. Somebody said, "What if he don't?" He don't have a choice. Sometimes I wish he wouldn't, just to see what God'd do to him. But he has to.

Did you notice when God said, "Light be"? Light didn't argue and say, "I don't want to be." Light had no choice. Did you notice when Jesus spoke to the wind and the waves and said, "Peace, be still"? The wind and the waves said, "In about an hour." Did you notice when Jesus said, "Go down there and you, uh, the first fish you catch, Peter, take money out of his mouth"? Did you notice the fish didn't jump up about that time and say, "I'm tired of supplying these guys with money. Why don't you talk to the birds?" They have no choice. Did you notice when God told the prophet to go down there to the brook Cherith and the ravens will feed thee? The raven didn't say, "I did it last week. Talk to the sparrow." They have no choice. Did you notice when God anointed the mule to preach, the mule preached? He had no choice. Did you notice when God anointed a man to tell the moon and the sun to stand still, the moon and the sun had to stand still? It had no choice.

And when God said, "Devil, when My people come against you with the word of the living God, the same word that raised Jesus from the dead, the same word that created the universe, when they stand in your face and create pressure in your midst by saying My word," I want you to know, devil, that is your cue to flee. You will not argue. You will flee. Amen.

[Applause]

Now, see, when we get a hold of that, standing's not nearly as hard as you thought it was. Somebody said, "I'm tired of standing." How long you have to stand, Brother Jerry? Till you win. How long does it take to win? Till you don't have to stand no more. Amen.

See, a lot of times we don't realize that when we're standing on God's word, the same pressure that you're experiencing. The Lord showed me this the other day, and I'm telling you, I like to come undone when I saw it. You remember the Bible said that God turned the captivity of Job. It didn't say set him free. It said it turned the captivity. And that phrase kept sticking out to me. And I started doing some researching and going through every translation I could find, and, and, and my Strong's concordance, and went through everything I could find about that phrase, "God turned the captivity of Job." Now, it's one thing to set a guy free, but it's something else to turn the captivity. And I began to study it, and what I found out, I tell y'all, like tore my office up. What it literally means when you turn the captivity, that's, and we'd probably use this modern-day vernacular, we turn the tables, turn the tide. In other words, what happens is, it's one thing to get a guy free from some pressure situation, but it's something else to not only get him free, but put the pressure on the enemy that the guy that is now free once had. Turn the captivity. In other words, that's what God did. He delivered Job and put the pressure that was on Job on the devil.

When you have your captivity turned, how many of you have ever been under pressure? It's not fun, is it? It's not fun laying in bed and your mind beginning to think thoughts of failure, and the devil straddled you, and every time you open your eye, he's telling you, "You're going to lose. You're going to lose. You're going to lose. You're going to lose." And you try your best to go to sleep, throw that pillow over your head, and get up and walk around and go turn the TV on and do all those things you do when you get under pressure. It's not comfortable. There's times I've had to get up and go get in the car and drive down the road and turn my New Testament on, 'cause my head was trying to run away with me. Times I got up in the middle of the night and go walk out in the yard and just scream at the devil. Pressure is not fun. It's not comfortable. I don't like it.

But then I found out, praise God, that when I have done all to stand, stand. And I found out that God is on my side. And God promised by His holy word that He would not allow the devil to put anything on me that I was not able to bear. And with the temptation, God would provide a way of escape. Then I want you to know the pressure wasn't near what I thought it was. And God started turning the captivity. And this thing got a little bit different in its, in its outlook. Instead of me being the one under pressure, I just kept tightening up on the devil, the word. I just kept screwing that word down on him, praise God, just like a vice around his head, and just kept confessing the word and confessing the word until he just couldn't take it anymore. He had to get out of that vice and flee. Amen. Put the pressure on him. That'd be just like if somebody tied you up and bound you, and then the captivity was turned. That means you get free and they get roped. That's the way I like the devil. Roped, paralyzed at his wits' end. Don't know what to do next. You ever heard this? "I don't know anything else to do." I love to hear the devil saying that about me. "I don't know nothing else to do with him." Only problem is, he ain't got anybody to turn to. I do. God don't hear the devil's cry. Amen.

Hallelujah. Here's three Hebrew children made up their mind they wasn't going to bow. Now, I've been talking about in these services that I've been ministering about knowing God. Knowing God. Not just heard of Him, but knowing God. The reason these three Hebrew children wouldn't bow is because they knew their God. They knew how God operates. They knew His delivering power. They knew God.

And I want you to notice how they responded when the king said, "I'm going to give you one more chance, boys." In other words, he's saying, "Now, I'll tell you what. I have set up this image, and the decree is, you must fall down and worship when you hear the sounds of music, and if you will worship, then it'll be well with thee. If you don't, you're going to burn." And then he added this, as you know, as an insult: "And who is the God that is going to deliver you?" I'd like to know His name. In fact, he even made a comment about this in these, in Daniel. He said, "I've been to your country. I couldn't see your God. He has no physical form like a man. Who is your God? Where is your God?"

You see, Nebuchadnezzar was one of the proudest men that ever lived. He thought of himself as a god. He had built a city that was second to none. He had built a fortress that was magnificent. He had walls around his throne that the walls were so thick that you could race eight chariots abreast on top of those walls. The architecture, the structure of that city was the finest of any city that had ever been built. And there set Nebuchadnezzar's throne right in the center of it. And he was conqueror of that part of the known world. There was not another king that had ever been as mighty and had suppressed God's people and taken charge as Nebuchadnezzar. And he was a very, very prideful man. But three Hebrew children stood up to him like nobody had ever stood up to him before.

Satan's proud. Satan is proud. He loves praise. He loves the praise of his own. And what he'd love to do is to get you to praise him. And some of you going to be shocked to find out that every time that you say, "God made me sick," you're giving praise to the God that did it, and he eats it up. Satan is proud. When he has caused someone to die of what medical science has called an incurable disease while the Christians stand around and let it happen. Brother, I want you to know he begins to boast. He begins to be filled with pride of his great victory, and he receives the praise of all of his little imps and cohorts.

You talk about a time that he was, I mean, he was absolutely ravishing in praise and exaltation, was when Jesus was hanging at the cross and cried out and said, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" You see, as far as hell was concerned, as far as Satan was concerned, we won. When Jesus cried out, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" all of hell began to rejoice because it appeared to them that Jesus had failed in His mission to redeem mankind. It appeared to them that Jesus had failed and God turned His back on His only Son. And I mean, the moment that Jesus cried out, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" in the region of the damned, Satan was on his throne and he was receiving the cheers and the exaltation and the congratulations, and he was being exalted even above God because if he defeated Jesus, then he defeated God. And as far as all the cohorts of hell were concerned, Satan was the champion. He had defeated the Son of God on the cross.

For three and a half years, Jesus dealt Satan and all of hell nothing but misery. They couldn't touch Him. They couldn't make people sick fast enough; He healed them all. He couldn't cause them to be filled with demons fast enough; He cast them out. He couldn't kill folks; He'd raised them from the dead. He couldn't keep people blind; Jesus opened their eyes. He couldn't keep them deaf; He opened their ears. He couldn't keep them in bondage; Jesus set them free. And for three and a half years, Jesus dealt hell nothing but misery. Misery. I mean, He went about destroying the works of the devil.

But then one day, Jesus dropped His guard, allowed them to take Him captive, was crucified, hung at the cross, and cried out, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" And all of hell began to rejoice. They didn't totally understand it. They didn't know what had happened. For three and a half years, they couldn't touch Him. They tried to push Him off a cliff, and He turned around and walked through them. They tried to stone Him; He walked through them. They tried to trap Him by the religious leaders; they couldn't touch Him. They couldn't trap Him. Jesus was in control in every situation for three and a half years. And then all of a sudden, one day He's bound and He's led away to Pilate's court. And there He's blindfolded, stripped of His clothing. All of a sudden, hell sees a, a side of Jesus they'd never seen before. Every time before, nobody could touch Him. Now all of a sudden He's bound. He's stripped of His clothes. He's blindfolded. He's slugged. He's spit upon. And hell is standing back and watching. They don't know what's taken place. They don't know what's happened. But as far as they're concerned, Satan finally got to [Music] him. Now it's time to incite the people into crucifying Him. And brother, I want you to know the messengers of Satan just absolutely began to, uh, flood the religious-minded people and, and incite them to crucify Him. Crucify Him. Crucify Him. Do away with Him while He's weak. They took Him to the cross, crucified Him, stuck a spear through His side. He cries out, "Why hast thou forsaken me?" As far as hell is concerned, it's over. Thank goodness. Our champion, Satan, has defeated the Son of God. All of hell begin to rejoice. Jesus cries out one more time, "It is finished." And His spirit is ushered into the boughels of this earth there to pay the supreme price for man's transgression. And I want you to know the party had already begun in the region of the damned. The celebration was on. There was great exaltation for Satan the champion. He's seated at his throne. He's lifted up in pride. He thinks he has defeated the Son of God, thereby defeating God. And there's only one more thing for him to do. He already possessed the earth. Now it's time to take heaven, God's throne, because God's Son has failed, as far as the devil was concerned.

But don't forget, the Apostle Paul clues us in on something and said, "Had the princes of this world known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." They didn't know. They didn't know. They didn't know what was going to happen. But as far as they were concerned, from all the outward appearances, Jesus had failed. There His spirit is in the region of the damned. And there all of hell rejoices because of the defeat of the Son of God. And they planned at least a three-day celebration and just nothing but exalting their king, Satan, and he's eating it up.

But then that third day, while everybody is shouting and rejoicing and telling Satan what a master he is, what a champion he is, something happens over in the corner of the region of the damned that the region of the damned didn't plan on. Jesus is justified. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. All of heaven is satisfied. The blood of Jesus has paid the price. God has said, "It is enough. Let My Son go." And thank God, Jesus is justified right there in the region of the damned. Praise God.

And the next thing, while all of this great celebration is going on, Jesus rises up and walks over to Satan. And the first thing He does is take the crown off his head that belonged to Adam. The next thing He does is strip him of his armor that he trusted in. The next thing He does is takes the keys of death, hell, and the grave. Hallelujah. And then He spoiled principalities and made a show of them openly. Hallelujah. And I want you to know all the rejoicing [Music] [Applause] ceased. Hallelujah. It's ceased. All of hell. All of hell has been left in shambles. Jesus rattled Satan. Stripped him of the armor that he trusted in. Left him absolutely powerless. No authority, no power, no strength. Destroyed his forces and made him look like a dog in front of all that served him.

There was rejoicing going on, but at this point it starts in the upper regions of hell called paradise, where old David was and all of the Old Testament characters who were up there in paradise looking down and watching this. And I want you to know as Jesus began to strip Satan of his authority and He began to make a, a show of the powers of hell openly, He triumphed over them. I want you to know in paradise there was a celebration, and David was leading it. He's the guy that praised God with every fiber of his being. He's the guy that danced in the streets. And I want you to know they come undone up there in paradise. Hallelujah. They're watching it. Jesus ascends from the region of the damned to paradise. And there all the Old Testament characters have been protected. There's a great gulf fixed between paradise and the region of the damned. They're in Abraham's bosom. All of them are there. Moses, Joshua, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Elijah, David, Samson, Abraham, the whole gang is in paradise. The Bible says Jesus went up into the upper regions and preached to the spirits that were held captive there. And the Bible says He led captivity captive, took them out of paradise. And I want you to know the next thing that happens. The very portals of heaven are opening up. And oh, David, he's right behind Jesus. And he's going up with a shout. And he begins to scream, "Open ye gates, and the King of glory will come in." Hallelujah. Praise God.

Jesus stands before the throne of Almighty God. And the first thing God does is throw His arms around Him, welcome Him home. Jesus presents His blood, presents all of the Old Testament saints that He'd got born again in paradise. He preached to them the new birth. He became the firstborn of many brethren, led them all into heaven. He's presented them before the throne of God. And God says again, "You're My Son, and I'm your Father." And then He takes the oil of gladness and anoints Jesus with the oil of gladness. Man, this is inauguration day. And then He reaches behind Him and gets the scepter of righteousness and puts it in Jesus' hands and points His finger at Him and says, "Thy throne, O God, is forever." Hallelujah. And then Jesus is standing there with all power, and God the Father sat down. When God sat down, He turned the universe over to Jesus. Amen. Turned the universe over to Jesus.

Now, that's a beautiful story, but that's not where it quits. Jesus immediately descended and appeared to His disciples. And the first thing He said to them was this: "All power, all power, all power, all power, all power both in heaven and in earth has been given to me." Hallelujah. That meant all the power that the devil once had, now Jesus has got it. He not only has the power that Satan took from Adam, but He has the power of heaven itself and Almighty God. He says, "All power in heaven and in earth has been given unto me." And then the next thing He says is, "Now you go." He made them righteous and said, "You go in My name and you cast out the devil and you lay hands on the sick." And He ascended and took His position on the right hand of God. Jesus sat down. Here's the story. God sat down, turned the universe over to Jesus. Jesus sat down, turned it over to us. Hallelujah. Glory to God. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Thank You, Jesus.

We now have the power, my friends. If we have the power, then why compromise? If we're in the driver's seat, why quit? If the power has been given unto us, then thank God I can stand. Somebody said, "But you don't know what I'm going through." Yeah, but you don't know the power you got. Hallelujah. Somebody said, "You don't know how long I've had to stand." You get a revelation of the power you've got, and you'll be like Brother Hagen said, you'll prepare to stand forever, and it won't take long. Hallelujah. We have the power.

You see, the Apostle Paul said, "I know in whom I have believed." He's able. I'm fully persuaded that He is able. You see, the reason a lot of people compromise today, they don't know the God that is able to deliver them. They don't know whether He will. That's the reason they compromise. That's the reason when the pressure comes, they fold up and quit. But when you know and you're fully persuaded that He is able to deliver you, and He will, then thank God, you'll never bow down again. And guess what? You'll never burn. Hallelujah. You don't bow, you don't burn. Praise God. The law of compromise is, you bow, you burn. You bow, you burn. You bow, you burn. You bow, you burn. You fold up, you, you lose.

Dear God, if some of you only knew how close you were to the manifestation when you quit. The Lord told me one time, He said, "Son, I want to tell you something. Then don't you ever forget it. Every time there is pressure on you to quit, you remember this, and it'll be your deliverance." He said, "Son, I want you to realize that when you're under the most severe attack that you've ever been under, while you're standing on My word, there's more pressure on you than you've ever experienced. You've got that, that, that almost compelling thing on the inside of you to fold up and quit and call it a bad deal. Write it off as a bad deal." And, and just, just hope to God everybody you told forgets it. He said, "When you're under that kind of pressure, more pressure than you've ever experienced before for standing on the word," He said, "Son, that's the time to rejoice. That's the time to rejoice. That's the time to rejoice because that is a good indication the devil just fired his best shot. And if that don't get you, he's got nothing left." Hallelujah.

We don't have to compromise. We don't have to compromise. Hallelujah. [Applause] We don't have to bow. We know our God is able to deliver us. Why bow if you know God's on your side? Why bow if you know no weapon formed against you shall prosper? Why bow if you know nothing can separate you from the love of Christ? Why bow if greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world? Why bow? Praise God. If your faith overcomes the world, why bow if you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you? There's no need to bow, no need to compromise.

Three Hebrew children made up their mind. We're not going to bow. We know our God is able to deliver us. Listen to this. Nebuchadnezzar gave him another opportunity. He said, "I'm telling you boys, I'm giving you one more chance. Nobody's ever talked to me the way you guys are talking to me, and I want you to know my wrath is kindled against you, but I'm giving you one more chance. All you got to do is bow. I really don't want to see you burn. All you got to do is bow, and you won't burn. But if you don't bow, you're going to burn." And their next word was, "If it be so." If it be so. They didn't turn around there and say, "I think he's serious." They didn't huddle up and say, "Do you, what do you think?" Yeah, you know, we ought to maybe think this over. I mean, the first thing they said was, "If it be so." They wasn't too sure he's going to be able to carry that out. I mean, who's greater, God or Nebuchadnezzar? You know, you shouldn't be too sure the devil's going to be able to carry out everything he's telling you. Next time he says, "I'm going to, I'm going to stop your finances," say, "If it be so." Amen. Next time he says, "I'm going to put the flu on you." "If it be so." Don't run. Tell somebody, "The devil just told me." Tell him, "If it be so."

See, we give in. We, we've, we've been guilty of giving in. When, dear God, the example that has been set before us is standing. The Apostle Paul said, "I fought a good fight. I kept the faith. I finished my course." That's going to be my testimony when it's all said and done. Praise God. And I'm looking forward to hearing, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." Not, "That was a pretty good race you ran, Jerry. It's a shame you lost." I want to hear, "Well done." Not half done. Well done. Amen. Well done.

Nebuchadnezzar said, "Who is the God that shall deliver you out of my hands?" Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king. Verse 16, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter." I mean, they didn't even have to think about it. They didn't huddle up and discuss it and compromise. They said, "We're not even careful to answer you in this matter. We don't even have to have a conference here." I mean, listen, this the way it is, king. If it be so, our God's able to deliver us. We're telling you right now, we ain't going to bow. And I got something else for you. We ain't going to burn either.

And I want you to know when they said, "We're not careful to answer you in this," nobody had ever stood up and talked to Nebuchadnezzar that way. That's the reason it shocks the devil from time to time when somebody who's been programmed by religious traditions all of a sudden gets in a meeting like this and gets some meat and gets some word in them. And in the past, he's been able to suppress them and keep them in bondage and beat them down and make them the head the rest of the tail the rest of their life. All of a sudden, they come out of a meeting like this full of the word of God and launch an attack on him that he didn't plan on them launching. It's time you surprise him. Stand up to him. He's not the powerful lion that he'd love for you to believe that he is. Like Charles Cap said, "Even if he was a lion, he ain't got no [Applause] teeth." Jesus pulled them in the pit of hell. Hallelujah. But like Charles said, "Some of you, you're just absolutely spineless and, and, and, and, you know, no resistance whatsoever. He's gumming you to death. Next time he lays them gums on you, bust him in the mouth with your sword. That hurts." Amen. Amen.

They said, "We're not careful to answer you in this." They said, "If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will." And He will. Here's the revelation the church needs. Not only that God is able, but He will. God is able and He will. God is able and He [Applause] will. Half the church has been running around the country saying, "I, God is able, but you never know what He will do." You'd have burned that day. You would have burned. They said, "Our God is able to deliver us and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king." That's stout. And in the natural, it looked like all they were doing was speaking out of ego. Just like some of you think people who know who they are in Christ, when they dare to compromise, get mad at them because they won't compromise. Well, who's he think he is standing up there and say he knows God's going to deliver him. Well, I know so-and-so. They didn't get delivered. They don't know what I know. Well, bless God. I just don't like your attitude. I just don't like the way you stand up there and just make it all sound like that you can win every time you play the game. Well, I don't care whether you like it or not. I'm not going to stop winning because you don't like it. Amen.

I've had pastors get mad at me because I was younger than them and they'd been in the ministry longer than I am old and I was winning. They weren't. Got mad. One of them grabbed me by the collar, picked me up off the ground, said, "I don't know some boy. How can I know you? You was a body man. You was going to hell. I know all about you. You out here doing in three months what I've been trying to do for 16 years. And I want to know why." I said, "You let me down, I tell you. He'd let me down." I said, "Your problem is you know about the Bible. I'm doing the Bible." Amen. Thank God he's doing the Bible now. Got a powerful church down in South Texas. He better keep his hands off my collar, too. Hallelujah.

"If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, but if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up."

Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury. That means he's hot. And the form of his visage was changed. Now I know you understand that. That's the way you get over your husband when he don't get home on time. His visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Therefore, he spake and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was want to be heated. I would say he's seven times hotter at folks that stand up against him. He had them to turn the furnace up seven times hotter than it had ever been heated before.

Now, don't y'all start crying. I've heard this story preached and preachers cry while they preach it. "Oh, dear God. Don't you know Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego was so scared? Oh, that's just like us. We're just going through the fire and the flood and the mud. Oh." And if you read the story, there's nothing sad about it. Man, I read this thing and I'm telling you, it turns me on. It makes me want to get up and get on with the program. Wasn't anything sad about it. Somebody said, "Yes, they were tried. God was trying to kill them." No. Read it. Nebuchadnezzar heated the furnace. Not God. Not God. Amen. Or Robert said this. I'll never forget as long as I live. He said, "God had nothing to do with the furnace and everything to do with getting them out." And that's the way it is.

Nebuchadnezzar heated the furnace up seven times hotter than had ever been heated. And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army. The most mighty men. I'll tell you what, Satan gets a little bit frightened when you stand up against him. Nebuchadnezzar didn't reach over and say, "Hey, you pipsqueak, you skinny one, and you that we don't care too much about anyway, 'cause you might get burned trying to throw them in. Uh, you skinny cats, get over here and throw them guys in." He called mighty men. I mean, anybody stand up and talk to me like that, you never know, their God may show up. I think that "if it be so" got to him, brother. He's thinking now, he's not so high and mighty. He said, "I want all my mighty men to throw them in." Notice he didn't do it, 'cause that God he can't feel and see may show up and tear him up. So, "Mighty men, you do it." Ain't that just like the devil? Don't even care for his own.

He commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, their hats, and other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore, because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The thing was so hot the men that threw them in the furnace were instantly consumed by the flames. However, notice the flames did not consume three Hebrew children who knew their God.

Now, why did it consume the men that threw them in? But it didn't consume the men that got thrown in, 'cause the God that was able to deliver them had already began to work. And notice this. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded and rose up in haste and spake and said unto his counselors, "Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?" They answered and said unto the king, "True, O king." He answered and said, "Lo, I see four men loose. He said, 'Didn't we throw three in?'" "Yes, sir. We threw three in just like you said. The furnace was heated seven times hotter than it ever been heated before." He said, "Well, I want you to take a look in there if you will, please. I see four men. Who's the fourth man?" Nebuchadnezzar said, "I see four men loose walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no [Music] hurt. And the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. The form of the fourth is like the Son of God."

Now, you ready for this? They wouldn't bow, and they couldn't burn. They wouldn't compromise. And the fourth man showed up. They refused to compromise God's word. God had told them, "If you hearken unto My voice and follow it diligently, then when your enemies come against you seven one way, I'll cause them to flee seven ways." These said, "Thou shalt not have any other gods before me. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." And they stood on their covenant. They stood on their covenant, and they wouldn't bow. They wouldn't compromise. And because they wouldn't compromise, the fourth man showed up and caused the fire to have no power. [Applause] Amen.

Well, let me tell you about this fourth man. Who is this fourth man? I'll tell you who he is. In Genesis, He's the seed of woman. In Exodus, He's the Passover lamb. In Leviticus, He's our high priest. In Numbers, He's our pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. In Deuteronomy, He's the prophet like unto Moses. In Joshua, He's the captain of our salvation. In Judges, in Joshua, He's the captain of our salvation. In Judges, He's our judge and lawgiver. In Ruth, He's our kinsman and redeemer. In 1 and 2 Samuel, He's our trusted prophet. In 1 and 2 Kings and Chronicles, He's our reigning king. In Ezra, He's our faithful scribe. In Nehemiah, He's the rebuilder of the broken down walls of human life. In Esther, He's our Mordecai. In Job, He's our everliving redeemer. For Job said, "I know my redeemer redeemer liveth." Hallelujah.

Who is this fourth man? I'll tell you who he is. In Psalms, He's our shepherd. In Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, He's our wisdom. In the Song of Solomon, He's our lover and bridegroom. In Isaiah, He's the Prince of Peace. In Jeremiah, He's the righteous branch. In Lamentations, He's the weeping prophet. In Ezekiel, He's the wonderful four-faced man. In Daniel, He's the fourth man in the fiery furnaces of life.

Who is this fourth man? I'll tell you who he is. In Hosea, He's the faithful husband. In Joel, He's the baptizer with the Holy Ghost. In Amos, He's our burden bearer. In Obadiah, He's the mighty to save. In Jonah, He's our foreign missionary. In Micah, He's the messenger with beautiful feet. In Nahum, He's the avenger of God's elect. In Habakkuk, He's God's evangelist. In Zephaniah, He's our savior. In Haggai, He's the restorer of God's lost heritage. In Zechariah, He's the fountain open in the house of David. In Malachi, He's the son of righteousness with healing in His wings. Hallelujah.

Who is this fourth man? I'll tell you who he is. In Matthew, He's the Messiah. In Mark, He's the wonderworker. In Luke, He's the Son of Man. In John, He's the Son of God. In Acts, He's the Holy Ghost. In Romans, He's the justifier. In 1 and 2 Corinthians, He's the sanctifier. In Galatians, He's the redeemer from the curse of the law. In Ephesians, He's the Christ with unsearchable riches. In Philippians, He's the God that supplies all our needs. In Colossians, He's the fullness of the Godhead bodily. In 1 and 2 Thessalonians, He's our soon-coming King. Hallelujah.

Who is this fourth man? Who is this fourth man? I'll tell you who he is. In First and Second Timothy, He's the mediator between God and man. In Titus, He's our faithful pastor. In Philemon, He's the friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

Who is this fourth man? I'll tell you who he is. In Hebrews, He's the blood of the everlasting covenant. In James, He's our great physician. In 1 and 2 Peter, He's the chief shepherd. In 1, 2, 3 John, He is love. In Jude, He's the Lord coming with 10,000 angels. Hallelujah.

Who is this fourth man? I'll tell you who he is in the book of Revelation. He's the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah to Jesus. Hallelujah to Jesus. Oh, thank You Jesus. Thank You Jesus. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

Who is this fourth man? Who is this man that showed up in the fiery furnace? Who is this man that'll show up in every fiery furnace where you refuse to compromise? I'll tell you who he is. He's Abel's sacrifice. He's Noah's rainbow. He's Abraham's ram. He's Isaac's well. He's Jacob's scepter. He's Moses' rod. He's Joshua's sun and moon that stood still. He's Elijah's mantel. He's Elijah's staff. He's Gideon's fleece. He's Samuel's horn of oil. He's David's slingshot. He's Isaiah's fig poultice. He's Hezekiah's sundial. He's Daniel's visions. He's Amos' burden and, and Malachi. He's the son of righteousness.

Who is this fourth man? I'll tell you who he is. He's Peter's shadow. He's Stephen's signs and wonders. He's Paul's handkerchiefs. He's John's pearly white city. Hallelujah.

Who is this fourth man? Who is this fourth man that'll enter the fiery furnace when you dare to, to, to stand uncompromisingly? He's the father to the orphan. He's the husband to the widow. He's the traveler in the night to that is, that, that he that is traveling. He is the bright and morning star to those that are in the lonesome valley. He's the lily of the valley. He's the rose of Sharon. He's the honey in the rock. He's the brightness of God's glory. He's the express image of the person of God. He's the King of Glory, the pearl of great price, the rock in a weary land, the cup that runneth over, the rod and the staff that comfort. He's the government of the lie. And our lives are upon His shoulder.

Who is this fourth man? He's Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of the Living God. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Oh, thank You Jesus. Thank You Jesus. Hey.