Heroes Shadrach Meshach Abednego

All right, so tonight we get to continue in our study on heroes of the Old Testament. And truly, we've been looking at some of the greatest men and women that have ever walked the planet. And as you see behind me tonight, we're gonna look at three men named Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And I'm gonna quote to you what Johnny Cash said about them. And he said, "They would not bend, no, they just lost it. They would not bend. They would, they would not bow. They would not bend, and they would not burn." And they are truly heroes of the Old Testament. And I'm excited to talk to you about it. This is one of my favorite stories. I love this story. And it is, if you don't know, it is mixed into the story of Daniel. And next week, we're gonna study Daniel. And these are two of the greatest stories. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego's story is quick, but it is very, very significant.

Now, most of you know the end of the story. How many of you know the end of the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Right, they were thrown into the fiery furnace, and Jesus showed up and didn't let them burn, right? Now, that part's really famous, but it's the detail within the story that shows us how it applies to you and I over 2,600 years later. See, we've looked at all these heroes, and one thing we have found is that they were ordinary men and women like you and I who submitted their lives to God and allowed His extraordinary power to flow through their lives, which is what made them heroic. Amen. I believe that we need more heroes. Do you believe we need more heroes in our society today? Can I get a good amen? We need more women, men and women who will submit their lives to God, who will not compromise to the ways of the world, who will stand for integrity and stand for righteousness, who will not give up on the fight of faith, who will not lose hope when a little challenge comes in their lives, that won't whine and complain when they hit a bump in the road, but they'll recognize that they can keep going beyond the bump, and that Jesus has given them the victory over anything that Satan could bring in their lives. And that way, we'll just do it God's way. They will get God's results. We need more heroes. Can I get a good amen? Amen.

All right, Daniel chapter one. This is a story of friendship. It's a story of loyalty. It's a story of hard work and promotion. It's a story of divine favor. It's a story of trusting in God, of non-compromise. And it is definitely a story of intense faith and courage. Amen. So, we pick up in Daniel chapter one. This is around 605 BC, before Christ. And there's a king named Nebuchadnezzar, and he's the king of Babylon, and he has taken over Jerusalem. You'll find in the next two weeks, Nebuchadnezzar is like a roller coaster. I mean, he's up, down, all around. He's a wild and crazy guy, okay? What he is also is incredibly powerful and incredibly wealthy, okay?

So, Daniel chapter one, we're gonna read in verse 3: "Then the king instructed somebody, the master of the eunuchs, to bring some of the children of Israel and some of the king's descendants and some of the nobles, young men, in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in wisdom, possessing knowledge, and quick to understand, who had the ability to serve in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans." The Chaldeans were the wise men and the counselors of the Babylonian culture. And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king's delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three years of training for them. Three years. Three years, let's just be honest, of brainwashing, okay? Can we, do you see it? So, he's getting the nation of Israel's children and bringing them into their culture to teach them the language, the traditions, the food, right? So, it's three years of brainwashing, okay?

And the king, in verse 6, "Now from among those of the sons of Judah," so we see here that the men we're gonna talk about were from the tribe of Judah in the nation of Israel, "where Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. To them, the chief of the eunuchs gave new names. He gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar, to Hananiah, Shadrach, to Mishael, Meshach, and Azariah, Abednego." But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank. Therefore, he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. Now, God brought favor. Now, God had brought Daniel into favor and goodwill of the chief, and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, "I fear my lord the king, who has appointed your food and drink, for why should he see your faces looking worse than the young men who are your age? Then you would endanger my head before the king." So, Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, "Please test your servants for 10 days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearances be examined before you, and the appearance of the young men who eat the portion of the king's delicacies, and as you see fit, so deal with your servants."

So, we see several things happening here at the beginning of the story. And I believe that there are two incredible points that are relevant to our everyday life right here, before we even get to the major part of the story. And the first is found in verses 4 through 6, where the king selects these young men and tries to force upon them to conform their ways and their lives to society. Now, I believe that this is a major issue in Christianity today. In fact, I would submit to you that Christianity is at a crossroads in the history of the world at this time today. See, the world is trying to get Christianity to conform to the world's ways. Can I get a good amen? The world is trying to get Christianity, at worst, to go in the corner, sit down, be quiet, and shut up. If they had it their way, we would not just do that, but we would actually conform to their ways. The question is, how do we respond? What do we as Christians do? See, Jesus was very specific about how Christianity should respond, how we should behave in society. Seem, Jesus did not tell us to go in the corner, sit down, and be quiet. Jesus actually told us to go into all the world to preach the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus told us to go be the light of the world, to go be the light in a dark world, not to go add darkness to the darkness. He did not tell us to avoid the darkness. No, He told us to go into the darkness and let the light of Jesus Christ shine. And that light is a light of love, of peace, of forgiveness, of grace, and of mercy. He did not tell us to conform. He told us to go, to go, not to run.

But what it is, see, we see an incredible thing here. It says, "But Daniel purposed in his heart." Now, it's very easy to see that it should say, "But Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego," because in verse 11, it's there, right? They all purposed in their heart. We're not going to do this. No, no. We're here, but I'm not doing that. See, there's a lot of pressure on us as Christians right now with a variety of issues, not just the one you're thinking about, a variety. In fact, the variety is more relevant than some of the things you're thinking about. You know, just because society behaves in a certain way does not mean you have to behave in that way. Just because your coworker is a gossip doesn't mean you have to gossip. Just because your family is all mixed up in strife and anger and bitterness does not mean you have to accept strife and anger and bitterness for you and your family. Just because there's hate in the world does not mean that you have to hate. Wrongs don't justify more wrongs. Racism doesn't justify racism. It doesn't anger doesn't justify more anger. That's how you get two people in jail. Just because society says certain things are okay does not mean you have to start doing it. I don't smoke. Society says it's okay, doesn't mean I have to smoke. Can I get a today, man? I'm not judging you. Listen. Someone asked me the other day, what do you think the biggest issue is facing Christianity today? I said, I think judgment and condemnation is the biggest issue. Judgment, condemnation. Jesus said that He came to save the world, not to judge it. Came to save the world. And Jesus was sent out of God's love. And Jesus said that He forgives. So, if we are to be like Jesus, then we are to go into the world to save the world and to love the world. See, Jesus was accused of being a friend of sinners. He was never accused of behaving like the sinner, but he was a friend. Why? So he could affect them. See, he was showing his light. Jesus went with his love, his divine love, his divine grace, and talked to people and met with people and hung out with people and showed them his goodness. It is the goodness of God, the Bible says, that leads men to repentance, not judgment and condemnation. You know what judgment and condemnation is? Getting Christianity closed doors. It's all its goodness. It's making us more and more irrelevant to the very world that we hope would meet Jesus, but they're shutting us out. Why? Judgment and condemnation, right? Right. Well, how do I respond when someone is is doing something that doesn't agree with the Word? Lead by example. Don't do it. Lead by example. Invite them to church. Bring them with you. Well, they could only come on Saturdays. Come on Saturday with them so they feel comfortable. But I like the third service. I just feel like someone's eternity is more important. Amen. Amen. Amen. Well, what they're doing is not right. Hey, you know what? I just believe this with all my heart. Every person's relationship with God is between them and God. I also know that the Bible says that He forgives all sin, all sin. He forgives it, but He can't forget it if we don't get Jesus to the person. It's our responsibility to go give Jesus to the people. Amen. You know where Christianity starts? Starts in your living room. Starts with you saving your family. Save your family. Quit worrying about some guy in Idaho. Save your kid. Posting all this anger and judgment on Facebook and Twitter. You know what? Don't spend time with your teenager and tell them what's right and wrong. Save your teenager. Get your neighbor to come to church. Christianity starts in our living rooms. Listen, we should, we as Christians should never be surprised that the world is being the world. You know what else we should never be surprised that Christians are being Christians? But you know what? Christians have stopped being Christians. Don't go sit in the corner and shut up. Go into the dark world and show the light, the grace, the forgiveness of Jesus Christ, and save your family. Can I just get a good amen? Amen. Romans 12, verse 2 says, "Do not be conformed to this world, rather be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Amen. I got to move on. Wow. Movin' on, movin' on, movin' on.

Verse 7. Okay, so the first thing is conforming to society. Number two, in verse 7, we see that Nebuchadnezzar changed their names. Each of them had a name that glorified God. Nebuchadnezzar tried to change their names and give them Babylonian names that all of them glorified false gods or had a negative connotation to the true God, the God that you and I serve. See, Nebuchadnezzar tried to bring negativity onto their life. But I'm here to tell you tonight, you don't have to accept a negative label onto your life. Maybe someone, society, or friends or family has tried to label you in a negative way. Maybe you've even accepted it. Maybe you walked in here tonight thinking that you're not worthy of God's love, or your past is too great for God to forgive you, or that somebody told you that you're not smart enough, or you know, you just didn't come from the right city, we weren't born on the right side of the freeway, and you know, are nobody in our family ever does anything. Have you any of you ever heard all that junk? Well, you're just not smart enough. Well, if you only hadn't done all that stuff. See, Nebuchadnezzar tried to label them in a negative way, but they never accepted it. You don't have to accept negativity. When Jesus says that the moment you made that, you met Him, the old man was washed away, and all things in your life became new. See, Jesus has given you a new identity, a new hope, a new future. And you don't have to accept that negativity. You can put aside that negativity and find a new identity in Jesus Christ. And what is the identity that Jesus has for you? The identity that He has for you is an identity of hope. It is an identity of faith. It is an identity of wisdom. Jesus says that you are strong, you are mighty, and you are able. He says that you have the victory. He says that you are blessed coming in, blessed going out. That everything you set your hand to do will prosper. That no weapon formed against your life will prosper. And I just thank God that He is always on your side. You don't have to accept that you're a loser, you're not worthy, you're not good enough, you're not smart enough. You are smart enough. God says, ask Him for wisdom, He'll pour it on to your life liberally. He says that He loves you so much, so much that He has His hand on your life to do something special. Tonight's your night to re-identify your life and accept the identity that Jesus has for you. Oh, my sister, cares what your sister thinks. So you're gonna exalt the words of your sister over the word of your Lord and Savior, Jesus? See, you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. All your needs are met according to His glory. Tonight's your night to put aside the negativity. Put it aside. Reject it out of your mind. Do as it says in Corinthians, "Bring every thought that exalts itself against the Word into captivity to the Word of God." Bring it into captivity. Replace the negativity with what the Bible says about you. Amen. See, these boys didn't accept it. They never accepted it. They were in that world, but they were never of it. And they're heroes today because of it. Amen.

Okay, we got to move forward. In verse, in chapter 1, verse 19 and 20, they get promoted. How funny is that? So, they reject all of the customs, and God gives them favor, and they get promoted. So, after the 10-day period, the king sees that they're actually healthier and stronger than the people that he had provided food for. In chapter 2, Nebuchadnezzar has a weird dream. We don't have time to go into all of it. Daniel gathers together Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, basically starts a prayer chain. Daniel interprets the dream, and God promotes, and God, Nebuchadnezzar promotes all four of them into leadership positions over the people who he had been, they had been set to serve. Now they're in leadership positions over them. Hey, can I just give you a word of encouragement tonight? Maybe you go to work and people mock you or make fun of you because of your Christianity, or you stand for righteousness, or you don't go out drinking with them on Friday night, so you'll go home with your wife and have dinner and go to a movie with your kids. Maybe they make fun of you. You know what your boss cares about? Go work harder than everybody else. That's what he cares about. See, Daniel got results. All the other guys couldn't interpret Nebuchadnezzar's dream. Daniel could. You know your boss cares about results? Get results. Outwork everybody else. Don't worry about what everybody thinks about you. Just outwork them. Somebody asked me the other day, what did you do when you faced persecution for your Christianity when you used to work in the secular world? I said, I just worked harder than all of them. It was work harder, be better than them. Your boss cares about results. Amen. Just go be faithful. Bible says, "Be faithful, and God will promote you." Be faithful. Amen. Amen.

Okay, chapter 3. Are you enjoying this tonight? Next week is gonna be awesome. I mean, Daniel is just, hey, when you have a book in the Bible named after you, you know that's something, right? Wow. Okay, let's see. For the sake of time, let me just give you context, okay? So, Nebuchadnezzar gets filled with pride and ego. He builds himself a tower to himself, 90 feet high, 9 feet wide. In today's monetary scale, it would cost $76 billion to erect one statue. I mean, he couldn't even lease out office space within the building. I mean, that's how much money this guy spent, just a statue. So, obviously, it shows how wealthy he was. It also shows how ridiculous he was, right? I mean, come on, $76 billion to exalt himself. His goal was to exalt himself equal to the gods, okay? The order that he gives is that all the leadership has to come, and he brings in an orchestra, and at the sound of the orchestra, everyone must bow and worship the statue, and of course, him, who's sitting next to the statue at that time. He turns on this lovely thing called a fiery furnace. Now, most people picture that like that furnace just happened to show up. No, no. It was Babylonian culture to burn people. You know, the Romans crucified people. The Persians, the Babylonians, they burned people. Did you know that one of the innate things that every human is born with is a fear of being burned? Fear of being burned. So, that had to be scary. How many of you know that was probably the most persuasive altar call in the history of mankind? Somehow, Daniel's not present, okay? Most people also never realized that Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were the best of friends, but Daniel's not there. Most historians believe that because he was basically the prime minister of the region, he had been, he would travel a lot, so he was probably somewhere else. But Shadrach, Meshach, have been to go over there. Now, can you picture this moment? I mean, you're standing there with the fire looking at you. So, these boys have determined in their heart that they will not bow. But can you picture it? Like, you gonna bow down? Hey, Meshach, you're not gonna bend, right? I mean, right? Okay, we're doing this together. But not bend. Doing what? An incredible amount of pressure on their faith. Do we stand for what we know is right and maybe die, or do we compromise? I mean, hey, we can just bow this one time, but not worship, right? I mean, everybody else is doing it. You ever heard you ever thought that before? Everybody else is doing it. Let's do it this one time and then ask God to forgive us later. Oh, come on. You know they thought about it. I mean, it is the custom of the land. See, heroes don't conform to society. They don't. And true heroes do not compromise who they are and what they believe, even under the heat of immense pressure. They don't compromise. See, heroes do what is right simply because it's the right thing to do. Did you hear what I said? We do what is right because it's the right thing to do. They don't whine, they don't complain, they don't quit, they don't give up, and they definitely don't compromise. See, there's a huge danger in compromise. Why? Because once you've compromised once, where does it stop? Compromising is like an avalanche. You know, an avalanche starts with one snowflake. By the time it gets down the hill, it's one of the most destructive things on our planet. Once you compromise once, well, where does it start, right? But see, heroes don't compromise. They do what is right because it's the right thing to do. They stand for Jesus because standing for Jesus is what Jesus told us to do. They don't quit. They don't complain when they hit a bump in the road. They pick themselves up and keep going. The Bible says, "Having done all to stand, stand therefore." Sometimes there's nothing left to even do except just keep standing, just stand. But whatever you do, don't bend in the face of pressure. Don't bow in the face of pressure. Don't quit. These guys wouldn't bend. They wouldn't bow. They definitely wouldn't worship. So, everybody bows, and they're standing there like, so that's pretty hot, right? So, Nebuchadnezzar goes berserk. But here's the thing. Nebuchadnezzar actually liked them. Don't forget that. He promoted them, right? So, he brings them to him and actually gives him a second chance. He says, "Hey, the people tell me you didn't worship. Do you want to worship now?" Now, let's read one of the greatest statements of faith ever made in the Bible. Daniel 3, verse 16: "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king and said, 'O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to even answer you in this matter. If that is the case, listen, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand.'" And I love this, "But if not, let it be known that we did not serve your gods." I mean, is there just something about reckless faith, or what? Huh? What about just relentlessly serving God? Hey, I'm not gonna do what you tell me. I'm gonna do what the Word of God says to do, and God will deliver me. And you know what? Even if He doesn't, He's gonna deliver me anyways because I'm going to heaven. Why? Because I believe in God. So, one way or the other, God is gonna deliver me from you. But let it be known that no matter what happens, I did not conform to your wrongdoing. Oh my goodness. Wow.

Skip down to verse 24. So, Nebuchadnezzar goes berserk. He turns up the temperature so high that the people that turn it up burn themselves. So, he throws Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in. And at verse 24, it says, "Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, 'Did we not cast three men into the fire?' They answered and said, 'O king, true, we did.' He says, 'Look, I see four men loose walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt. And the form of the fourth is the Son of God.'" Here's the question. Here's the question: Can your faith handle the pressure? Let's talk real for two minutes. Can we just talk real, real? Can your faith handle personal loss, or failure, family tragedy, or financial trouble, some type of intense attack on your family? Can your faith handle it? The answer is absolutely yes. And we see it in this story. And this is how five things, very quick, so simple, so simple. How many of you know that the, that your faith will come under attack at some point, right? But this is the victory that overcomes the world. What is it? Our faith, right? So, how do you withstand intense pressure, fiery pressure, pressure that has come to destroy you? Number one, you decide long before the pressure comes that you will not conform to it. Hey, listen, don't decide to decide in the moment. See, you don't decide not to cheat on your wife when some other woman is hitting on you. You decide that long before that ever happens. Long before. You don't decide not to be a gossip at work when the gossip is happening. You decide that in your bathroom when you're getting dressed for work. See, you decide not to conform to society long before the temptation comes. See, these guys didn't conform the moment King Nebuchadnezzar took over the country, not when they were staring the furnace in the face. Chapter one, they didn't conform. So, you decide long before ever getting to the moment that you're not going to conform. Number two, you obey God always instead of men. What did they say in 16? "We don't even need to answer you." Number three, you believe God's Word above the appearance of truth. It is God's Word that is the truth. What they say, "Our God will deliver us. He's mighty and able to deliver us, and He will deliver us." Number four, put your faith into action and fight the fight. Action is always greater than just words. Put your faith into action. And number five, who was with him in the fire? Jesus. Don't you ever forget that God is always with you. He is always for you. He will never leave you. He will never forsake you. He is always on your side. And as David said, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for the Lord..." Come on, somebody. Maybe your life is in a fire right now. Jesus is with you, and He's gonna deliver you. And don't you ever forget it. You know what's amazing? Nebuchadnezzar bows down and starts praising God in front of his own idol. Hey, can I just encourage you in something? You standing for what is right can change your family. Use you. You may be the closest thing to Jesus that any of your friends and family ever sees. And you know what? The person, the very person that's putting the pressure on you, at some point, is gonna give their life to Jesus. Why? Because you didn't conform. You didn't quit. You didn't give up. You stood for what is right. And you can change your family. Hey, I submit to you today, listen. It wasn't just Nebuchadnezzar that bowed down and started praising God. You know when the king did it, everybody else did it too. Why? Because they all did what the king did. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego changed the course. Can you change the course of your family? Absolutely. Pow. Stand for what is right. Don't conform to society, and do what the Word of God tells you to do. Can we just give Him a great shout of praise?