Transcription
Hey, what's up everybody? I'm Pastor KJ from Radiant Church. I want to welcome you to the Radiant Church's YouTube channel. We're so glad you're joining us today, and we have a sermon entitled "Another in the Fire."
And sometimes in life, you're going to go through fire, pressure, crushing, and hard situations. But I want you to know, when you're in the fire, don't be discouraged because there's another in the fire standing next to you. God is always with you. I believe you're going to be blessed by this service. Come on, y'all, let's jump into it.
If you are taking notes, the title of my sermon is "Another in the Fire." Another in the Fire. Now, what is the fire? What is the fire? I'm gonna tell you what the fire is. The fire is the pressure of life. The fire is the pressure of life. It's heartache. It's hard situations. It's pain. It's turmoil. It's turbulence. It's the storms of life. That is the fire.
And here's the thing: everyone in this room will go through fire. Everyone in this room will go through a storm. Everyone in this room will go through a heartache. Everyone in this room will go through a tough time because the Bible says it rains on the just and the unjust. In other words, guys, there's always three seasons of life: it's a season before the storm, it's the season during the storm, and it's a season after a storm. And every moment of your life, you're in one of those seasons. You're in a season before the storm, you're in the season during the storm, or you're in the season after the storm.
And I don't know what that storm is. It can be a tough marriage. It can be struggling at your job. It could be financial turmoil. It can be depression, mental illness. It could be so many different things. Maybe you need healing in your body. There's so many things that are storms in our lives or fire in our life. But I want you to know something: you never go through the storm alone. You never go through the fire alone. You never go through the pressure alone. God is always with you. He is always for you. He's never leaving you or forsaking you. He is always near, y'all. He's always there.
And I just want to encourage somebody that whatever you're going through in this room, you're not going through alone. God is with you. And not only is he with you, but he is for you. He is not against you. He is not mad at you. He is madly in love with you. And he's saying, "Hey, I want you to come near." Some of you guys ain't been to church in months and years, and you're like, "I'm ashamed to come in church." And God is saying, "You don't have to be ashamed to come to church because I died for you to be at church. I planned for you to be at church. I was crucified for you to be at church. I resurrected for you to be at church. You deserve to be here. You get a seat at the table. You get a seat at the table."
And when you go through the storms, we ask questions like, "Why would a good God let something so bad happen? Why? If God is good, and if he's love, why does he allow storms? Why does he allow climate calamity? Why does he let these things happen?" And the answer to that question is, church, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know why he let these things happen. But I know him, and I know he is good, and I know he is faithful, and I know he's with us, and he's for us. And we might not understand everything, but we can understand our God. And we can understand that he's a good, good Father. He's good.
So you're going to go through pain, and you're going to go through storms. But I want to tell you something: when you go through storms, you can't always choose your season, but you can choose your spirit. Let me say it again: you can't always choose your season, but you can't choose your spirit. And you have to make a decision in this season: "I'm going to have a spirit of peace. I'm going to have a spirit of joy. I'm going to have a spirit of love. I am going to walk through this the best way possible."
One of the things I want to do as a believer is give God glory. And one of the ways we give God glory is how we go through our story. My question is, church, how do you go through your story? When calamity hits you, do you act like the world? When calamity hits you, do you go crazy, get on social media, start posting? Or do you get on your knees and start praying? Or do you go and start fasting? Do you go and start leaning into the things of God? How do you handle the storm? How do you handle it?
And I want to tell you something, church: one of the biggest things of faith, one of the biggest things of faith is how we respond to fire. How we respond to fire. Because here's what the devil wants to do. The Bible says the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy. So here's the thing: he wants to come and steal. A lot of you, he can't kill. He can't destroy. He wants to steal. And what does he want to steal? He wants to steal you. He wants to take you out of character. He wants you frustrated. And he wants to use your pain as a way to mock God. He wants to steal you.
And what happens is, some storms that you go through in life, they wasn't designed to kill you. They was designed to steal you. And the enemy was coming, and he said, "I let that guy break your heart so I can take your joy." So the people at work and see you with no joy and doubt God. And the devil is mad because he's not you. He don't carry what you carry. He doesn't have what you have. So he wants to use you to mock God. He wants to use your faith and crush it to mock God. But I got news for you, devil: you're not going to use me to mock God. You're not going to break my faith. You're not going to crush my faith. You're not going to stop my faith because my faith is in God. And my faith is not based on circumstances. My faith is based on Christ. It's based on Christ.
And church, we have to get to a place where we don't let conditions define reality. We have to get to a place. In other words, Jesus is saying to us, if we're truly going to live a faithful life, we're not going to live a faithful life that's a fireproof life. You're still going to go through fire. You're still going to go through calamity. It happened with Job. Job, Job, everything was perfect. He was blessed. He was prosperous. And God told Satan, he said, "You can touch everything, but don't touch his life." And there will be seasons in the in your life where the enemy comes to sift you. And he's going to touch your job, your finances, your mental health, the people around you, your relationships, your friendships. And God is going to say, "You have permission and access to touch everything, but their life." And God is saying he wants to prove to the devil that you won't bend, you won't shake, and you won't break under fire. You have faith-filled under fire. You're faithful.
So I want you to know the reason why you can be faith-filled under fire is because God is faithful in the fire. I'm going to go through this story in the Bible, and I hope after this story, you see the faithfulness of God, you see the goodness of God, and you see the strength of God under fire. If you have your Bibles, go to Daniel chapter 3. Daniel chapter 3. When you guys are there, say "Ready." Y'all don't even bring no Bible. See, y'all ain't even, y'all ain't even got no Bible. Some of y'all just waiting for it to come up on the screen. You got to have your own sword.
[Music]
Some of y'all just got glowing Bibles like you just on Google. Get your Bible. Pastor, you got to go on Bible. You're right. I shouldn't have said that. Daniel chapter 3. It's a lot of scripture I'm gonna read, but I'm gonna go back and exegete them. I'll probably skip through a couple verses. Daniel chapter 3. We're gonna start at verse 13. It says, "Yes, well, let me give you a little, a little context before I read." Um, this is the Babylonian Empire. Nebuchadnezzar is the king of the Babylonian Empire. And what would happen is, in war back in the day, whenever there was a war, the wars was accredited to the gods. In other words, if, if you believed in Jesus and you fought against another nation that believed in another God, what would happen is whoever won, they would consider that God the real God, that God the true God. And they would convert another nation. They would colonize them, and they would make them worship their gods. So war was always about, "What God do you serve? What God do you serve?" And unfortunately, here, Nebuchadnezzar had took over everything. He was over the Babylonian Empire, and he had Hebrews, over 4,500 Hebrews. And he was coming to strip them of their faith, strip them of their names, and stripped them of their gods. It was always about stripping you of your gods. Even today, there's not like a lot of different false gods like it used to be back then, but a lot of gods is just, it's just ourselves. We make gods out of ourselves. We make gods out of TV. We made gods out of all kind of things. Anything that's an idol, it could be a god in our life, stripping us from the one true God. So everything at that time was about, "Who God is? Whose God is real? Who's, who God is true? Who God is mighty?" And they would never let you keep your God when they took over your nation. So that's the context.
So it says, "Then Nebuchadnezzar flew into a rage and ordered that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought before him." So it's these three Hebrew boys. And these three Hebrew boys have been promoted by this Babylonian King, but they serve the real, true God. So now the King is enraged because the King was told that they wouldn't worship His golden image. His golden image was 80 feet tall. It was about eight stories. And everyone would have, when the music came on, they would have to bow down and worship this God. So that's the context.
So it says, "Then Nebuchadnezzar flew into a rage and ordered that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego," someone said "a bad negro," but it wasn't me, "be brought before him. When they were brought in, Nebuchadnezzar said to them, 'It is true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you refuse to serve my gods or to worship the gold statue I have set up? I will give you one more chance to bow down and worship the statue I have made. When you hear the sound of the musical instruments, but if you refuse, you will be thrown immediately into the blazing furnace. And then what God will be able to rescue you from my power?'"
Verse 16: "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego," I mean, "a bad negro," I'm playing, "reply, 'Oh Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. Let me read that again: the God in whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, your majesty. But even if he don't, we want, we want to make it clear to you, your majesty, that we would never serve your gods or worship the gold that you have set up.'"
Nebuchadnezzar was so fierce with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that his face became distorted with rage. He commanded that the furnace be heated seven times hotter than usual. Then he ordered some of the strongest men in his army, army, to bind Shadrach, Meshach, could have been going to throw them into the blazing furnace. So they tied them up and threw them into the furnace, fully dressed in their pants, to turbans, robes, and other garments. And became in Beca, and because the King and his anger has demanded such hot fire in the furnace, the flames killed the soldiers as they were storing the three men in.
So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, securely tied, fell into the roaring flames. But suddenly, Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in amazement and as in excitement, and he explained to his advisors, "Didn't we tie up three men and throw them into the furnace?" "Yes, your majesty, we certainly did," they replied. "Look," Nebuchadnezzar shouted, "I see four men, unbound, walking around in a fire, unharmed. And the fourth looked like the Son of God."
Then Nebuchadnezzar came as close as he could to the door of the flaming furnace and shouted, "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the most high God, come out! Come here!" So Shadrach, Meshach, and ithacao stepped out of the fire. Then the high officials, officers, and governors, and advisors caught it around them and saw the fire had not torched them. A hair on their head was not singed, and their clothes was not, was not scorched. They didn't even smell of smoke.
And then it says in verse 29, "I make this decree: of any people, whatever their race or nation or language, speak a word against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they will be torn from limb to limb, and their houses will be turned into heaps of rebels." Y'all, check this out. Then verse 30 says, "Then the King promoted Chiraq, Meshach, and Abednego to a higher position in the province of Babylon." Y'all, let's preach.
So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they were these three Hebrew boys. They got promoted. Once they got promoted, when it was time to worship this false god, they would not worship. And then the snitches win snitched on them and said, "Hey, King, he's not worshiping." The King was mad. He promoted them. He turned up the furnace seven times hotter to burn these boys. But one of the things I love about what they said to the King, they said, "King, I will not bow to your God. I will not bow to your god."
What is so significant about this word "bow"? To bow means to worship. To bow means to worship. The Bible says at the name of Jesus, every knee shall confess and every knee shall bow. Which means that bowing is designed for Yahweh. Bowing is designed for God. Bowing is designed for Yahshua. Bowing is designed for Jesus Christ. And they're saying, "We will not bow to no other God, no other person, no other image, no other thing, no other circumstance that's not God." They say, "You will never get our bow."
And the devil, since the beginning of time, has been after your bow. Everywhere the devil goes in the Bible, he wants your bow. He wants to apply pressure. And after that pressure comes, you bow. He wants to bring pain. So after that pain, you bow. He wants to bring anxiety. So after that anxiety, you bow. He wants to bring depression. So after that depression, you bow. He wants to bring turbulence in your family. So after that turbulence, you bow. But I got news for you, devil: you will never get our bow. They said, "Your Majesty, we want to make it clear to you, we ain't bowing."
And I got some news for depression: depression, I want to make it clear to you, I ain't bowing. Medical report, I want to make it clear to you, I ain't bowing. Her circumstances, I want to make it clear to you, I ain't bowing. Financial pain, I want to make it clear to you, I ain't bowing. Because there's only one that's worthy of my bow, and that is God.
So the enemy wants your bow. He's always wanted to bow. When he came to Jesus in the garden, he said, "If you bow down and worship me, I'll give you all the kingdoms of this world and their glory." In other words, all the devil really wants is a bow. And the difference between him and God is, God will only take a direct bow. But Satan will take an indirect bow. Because here's the thing that you got to know is this: God says, "If I am going to be Lord at all, I have to be Lord of all."
And if I'm Lord of all, I ain't Lord at all. And Satan is an anti-god. In other words, he is saying, "I can be Lord of your life even if I don't directly sit in the seat." And what Satan does is, he makes you the king of your kingdom. He makes you the king of your kingdom. And he says, "Do as you will, do what you feel, do what you think." And you think you're running your life, but you're indirectly bound to the enemy. Because when you're not bound to God, you're bowing to the enemy.
And let me tell you something: you don't have to bow to the enemy when you bring pain. And when he brings pressure, because like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they said, "Our God is well able to bring us out." I got news for you, church: your God is well able to bring you out. He can bring you out the storm. He can bring you out the fire. He can bring you out the furnace. But even if he don't, we still won't bow.
I'm telling you right now, we got to have some "even if he don't" faith. "Even if I don't get the car, I still won't bow. Even if I don't get the house, I still won't bow. Even if the marriage ain't restored, I still won't bow. Even if I don't get the promotion, I still won't bow." Even if he don't, I'm telling you, you got to have some "even if he don't" faith. "Even if he don't," they said, "Hey, God can bring us out this furnace, but even if he don't, we still won't bow." We won't bow. We're not bowing down to the things of this world. We're not bowing down to the enemy. We're not bowing down to the tactics. We're going to stand tall. We're going to stand tall. Even if he don't.
I'm going to show you a couple things, church. Even if he don't, the enemy will come and he is coming to get you to bow. But you got to have "even if he don't" faith. And whenever you won't bow, he's going to turn it up seven times hotter. Some of you guys have been going through some things this season that's seven times hotter. Some of you guys have been going through some pain that's seven times hotter. I'm telling you, the devil, he keeps turning up the furnace. He keeps turning it up. But let me tell you something: be of good courage and be encouraged. Because the people that took Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and threw them inside of the furnace, the Bible says they was consumed and burned.
See, I want to tell you something: what came against you, God is going to come against it. What came against you, God is going to come against it. God said, "I'm not going to let it break you. I'm not going to let it stop you. I'm not going to let it crush you. Because as they was defending, as they were trying to defeat you, I was defeating them." The same fire you try to throw me in is the same fire you fell in. God is saying, "I'm telling you, I will avenge you. I will fight for you. I will cover you. I will protect you. I am your avenger." And they were trying to destroy these boys, and yet they were destroyed. They were destroyed.
But there's a scripture in the Bible, and it says, "The weapon may form, but it won't prosper." The weapon may form, but it won't prosper. Church, one of the biggest deceptions of the enemy is a formed weapon. One of the biggest deceptions of the enemy is a formed weapon. Jessica, she got up here and she shared that she was going to sing, and she said she went to the doctor, got a medical report that she did have fibroids. That's a formed weapon. And one of the biggest attacks of the enemy is a formed weapon. Because we see it, we hear it, we got the medical report, we see the bank balance, we see the pain, we see the storm. The weapon formed.
[Applause]
It formed. And now you're seeing the storm with your eyesight. You're seeing the fire with your eyesight. You're seeing the weapon with your eyesight. The weapon formed. But I got news for you, church: though formed, it won't prosper.
[Applause]
See, see, and prosper is a word that's for the end. Let me tell you something about your God. God is Alpha and Omega. Alpha and Omega, which means beginning and end. God said, "I am the beginning and the end." God said, "I am the author of your story. I wrote your story." And I got news for you: it may look bad in the beginning. It may look bad in the middle. But at the end, you win. At the end, chains are broke. At the end, I reverse the curse. At the end, I break the back of the enemy. I'm telling you, at the end, you win. Your enemies won't win. At the end, you win. Your circumstances won't win. At the end, you win. Jessica, at the end, you win. What did the doctor say? What did God say?
[Applause]
Well, it looks bad. Thank God we don't walk by what it looked like. We walk by what God said. God said, "We walk by faith." And even when I can't see God, I'm still gonna trust God. I'm gonna walk by faith when I don't know where I'm going. I'm gonna walk by faith when I'm broken. I'm gonna walk by faith when I'm lost. I'm gonna walk by faith. It don't matter what it looks like. What did God say? And I'm going to believe the word of God before I believe a medical, a medical diagnosis. I see that's a formed weapon, but it won't prosper. You will have kids. You will be a mother. God will use you. And when you got up here and worshiped, you were slapping the devil.
[Applause]
Telling you, sometimes you got to be personal against the devil. He's coming after you. He's coming after your family. He's coming to destroy you. He's coming. But it won't prosper. In other words, some of you guys feel like you are in the tomb. I got news for you: you're not in a tomb, you are in the womb. That's not your tomb, that's your birthday place. That is not your death place, that's your birthday place. God is about to birth something in you. God is about to birth something in your family. God's about to move. This is not your tomb, it's your womb. You are being incubated for such a time as this. Oh, come on, somebody, give our King a shout of praise.
I'm going to share something at this point. The three Hebrew boys, they actually got tied up. Why does God allow this stuff to happen? Y'all like, "God, you could have came and stopped this at first sight. Like, you could have came down and split everything up." Well, how you gonna let your brother get tied up? Just imagine, they walk up to the King, they're like, "King, we want to make it clear to you, we ain't bowing to your God. And even if our God don't, even if he don't, even if he don't, I still won't bow." King. Then they get snatched up and tied up. You're like, "Lord Jesus, Jesus, please, Jesus, Jesus." Y'all didn't know that was going to actually tie me up. Lord Jesus, quit playing, quit playing. And they're tied up in their throne in the furnace, thrown in the furnace.
Has anyone here ever been thrown in the furnace? Thrown in the furnace? Now, them being thrown in the furnace had to happen. It had to happen. The flames had to happen. The fire had to happen. The fear had to happen. The anxiety had to happen. The divorce had to happen. The storm had to happen. The pain had to happen. Your co-workers had to come against you. Your family had to stand against you. They had to oppose you. It had to happen because it's the fire, and it's designed to burn your faith. But I got news for you, devil: you can't burn my faith. My faith is fireproof. My faith is fireproof, and it's been fire-tested. I'm telling you, God delivered me then, and God's going to deliver me now. God brought me out then, and God's going to bring me out now. God stopped my enemies in the past, he's going to stop them in the future. My history will not be my destiny. It won't be my destiny.
So you get thrown in this furnace, and I want you to know, it had to happen. Moses, you had to be deserted in the desert. It had to happen. Daniel, you had to be trapped in the Lion's Den. It had to happen. I'm telling you, John the Baptist, you had to be beheaded. It had to happen. Jesus, you had to be crucified. It had to happen. Gideon, they was going to surround you. It had to happen. Jehoshaphat, your enemies would surround you and that would unite to come against you. It had to happen. Paul and Silas, you had to get put in prison. It had to happen.
And the reason why it had to happen, because if I didn't allow you to go through prison, your praise would break the chains in the prison doors. Daniel, if I didn't allow you to go through the Lion's Den, how can I prove to the world I can stop the mouths of lions? Moses, I had to let you go through the sea because how can I prove to the world I can hold back the sea? And Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, or Abednego, I had to let you go through the furnace to prove to the world that you're not going to be consumed when I cover you. It had to happen. Your family betrayed you. It had to happen because that's where your anointing came from. That's where your blast off came from. That's where your strength came from and your zeal came from. They betrayed you because they didn't know what you carried. And God said, "I allowed you to sit in that room and see how you would be treated when they thought they didn't need you." So when I bless you, you'll know who your real friends are. We didn't start already in church with a building. We started Radiant Church in a parking lot. It had to happen. Why? So that we would know when God starts blessing us, we're not doing it for the blessing, we're doing it for the broken people, for the lost people. It had to happen so when people would come and questioning your motives, you would know the truth because you know where you came from. You know where you started at. I preached this gospel with no microphone. I preached this gospel with no lights. I preached this gospel to college kids without a salary, a stop position. I preached this gospel in season, out of season, good times and bad times. It had to happen. Or come on, somebody, give God a praise break in this place.
Ten, nine. Hey. It had to happen. Now check this out, church. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is in the furnace. It had to happen. And the reason why it had to happen is because if it didn't happen, Nebuchadnezzar wasn't going to eat his words. Nebuchadnezzar wasn't going to make a decree saying, "If you come against Yahweh, you're going to get torn apart." It had to happen. In other words, sometimes you got to see through your situation to the plan of God. And God was telling Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, "This ain't even about y'all. This is about the kingdom. If you stand and don't bow, we can bring praise and worship back into Babylonian culture." It had to happen.
And I want you to know that your furnace season had to happen. You had to be betrayed. You had to be lied on. They had to come against you. They had to speak against you. They had to leave you. They had to turn it back on you. They had to fire you. It had to happen. And I know you feel like you hate it because you're under fire. But I got news for you: there's a special grace when the heart is under fire. There's a special grace. If you read the Bible, our God loves fire. He loves fire. When he was talking to Moses, he was talking in a burning bush. He loves fire. God loves fire. God loves fire. It had to happen. The furnace. And some of you guys have to survive the furnace season. And here's why you have to survive the furnace season: because the furnace season wasn't designed to burn you. It was designed to burn everything off of you that can't go with you. Let me say it again. Let me rewind this thing. You missed it. My furnace season wasn't designed to burn you. It was designed to burn everything off of you that can't go with you to the next season.
[Applause]
It had to happen. Don't come on somebody. Now, church, now, church, they're in this fiery furnace, and they're tied up in this furnace. They're tied up. They're bound. And all of a sudden, they're in the worst season of their life. And then Nebuchadnezzar looks in and he says, "There was three in the fire. Now there's four in the fire. There's another in the fire. There's always another in the fire." Jesus will always be waiting for you in the fire. The Son of God will always be in the fire. And Jesus was in the fire. And guess what Jesus did? He untied them in the fire.
See, you want Jesus to bring you out the fire and untie you. Jesus said, "I'm going to untie you in the fire." In other words, "I'm not going to just feed you. I'm going to feed you in the presence of your enemies, right there in the fire, right there amongst the haters, right there amongst the doubters and backbiters. I'm going to feed you in the presence of your enemy, right there in the fire." He untied them in the fire. And when Nebuchadnezzar saw it, he jumped in amazement. He said, "I thought three was in there." They said, "Nah, Doc, there's four in there." And he asked them to come out. You got something so powerful in the Bible. Three went in the fire, four was in the fire, but only three came out the fire. Why didn't the Son of God come out the fire? He stayed in the fire to let Radiant Church know, "When the enemy throws you in the furnace, I'm already waiting on you. I'm..."
[Applause]
"...delivering you. I'm already ready to process you." He stayed in the fire because he was waiting on you. He never left the fire. And Jesus is still sitting in the furnace saying, "When you come through here, I'm gonna be right here, standing next to you, untying you, and show everybody that came against you, there was another in the fire." They came out the fire. And the Bible says that their hair wasn't scorched, their clothes wasn't singed. And then the Bible said they didn't even smell like smoke. You don't look like what you've been through, and you don't smell like where you came from. You don't look like what you've been through, and you don't smell like where you came from. Some of you guys came from drug addiction, alcoholism, abuse, being homeless, not growing up with a father, being a single parent. God said, "You don't look like what you've been through, and you don't smell like where you came from. You smell like the presence of God. You smell like the fragrance of God. You smell like the Spirit of God. You smell like the Son of God." Not only is God going to allow you to go through the fire, but in the fire, it won't touch nothing on you besides the ropes that's tying you. My God in heaven. You don't look like what you've been through, and you don't smell like where you came from. Some of you guys came out of drug addiction, and you tell your testimony, they're like, "No way." Some of you guys came out of depression, you tell your testimony, they're like, "No way." Some of you guys wasn't educated, you tell your testimony, they're like, "No way." Why? You don't look like what you've been through, and you don't smell like where you came from. Another in the fire.
Now, I'm going to show you something, and I'm gonna get ready to close. I'm gonna show you something. I have this paper. And what does this paper say? This paper says "Fireproof." "Fireproof." "Fireproof." It says it's fireproof. In other words, this paper says it is fireproof. It can endure the storms. It can endure the pain. It can endure the betrayal. It can endure the hard times of life. It can endure the fire. Only problem is, soon as pressure, pain, tearing, and ripping comes, it tears, it rips, it breaks, it gives. It said it was fireproof, but when the fire showed up, it caved. And the reason why that paper caved is because though it said fireproof, it hadn't went through the fire. In order to be fireproof, you have to go through the fire. Not have this paper right here that says fireproof, but this paper went through a process called lamination. And during a process called lamination, there's a coat of plastic that goes around it. And then you send it through the fire. You send it through the heat. And now it comes to seal the paper.
I want to tell you something right now: what the enemy brought to try to kill you, God is going to use to seal you. And the reason why he's going to let the fire seal you is because when the enemy tries to tear you, he can't. When he tries to crumble you, he can't. When he tries to destroy your family, he can't, because you've been through the fire. I'm gonna tell you something right now: God wants you to go through the fire, not so you can have baby faith, but for you to have crazy faith. Not forget crazy faith, for you to have "placey" faith. God said, "You're gonna have lazy faith." You're gonna have fireproof faith. Faith that can stand betrayal. Faith that can stand the test of time. You're gonna have fireproof faith.
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Fireproof faith. As I get ready to close, I'm having to preach with fireproof faith right now. I'm having to preach with fireproof faith. And the reason why I'm having to preach a fireproof faith is when I grew up as a kid, my cousin Quad was like my brother. We grew up together. We did everything together. Unfortunately, we had to take baths together. Can I get my own bath, please? We dressed alike. We both had a little pigtail ponytails at the back of our head that was braided down. Y'all remember those with the bees on it? Why y'all do them babies like that? Don't do that to your kids. And I grew up with him. And as I'm getting ready to go to sleep, I get a phone call from my mom, and she is just hollering and hollering and hollering and hollering. And I'm like, "Mom, what is going on?" She says, and I can't make her none, she's saying, so I just hang up. I'm like, "I can't do this. This is, this is just running my blood pressure up. What's going on?" And finally, she called back. She calmed herself down. And she said, "Your cousin has been shot in the head. And right now, he's going into emergency surgery." So immediately, all I could do is fall on my knees and begin to pray. Like, "God, please, like him. My cousin, please. Like, protect them, God. Please bring them out. He's got a purpose. He's got a plan. God, please, please, please, please, please, please." I begged God in the furnace, under fire, bad. God stayed up all night. Hadn't been asleep. Didn't go to sleep last night. Couldn't walk away, begging God, "God, heal and deliver my cousin. That's all I cared about, and that's all I wanted in that moment." And then I get a phone call today that said he didn't make it through surgery. And I'm just like, "God, man, I preach this gospel. I help so many people. I've seen healings. I've seen miracles. I've seen you move. Why did my cousin have to pass away? Me and him, we was this tight, guy. Like, why? And now I have to go and preach faith, and after go and worship you and praise you and encourage people, but I'm under fire. I'm under fire. I'm burning. I feel consumed. God, why?" And all I could hear was, "I count the cost of every battle because I know that's where you'll be. I count the cost of every battle because I know that's where you'll be." And all I could think about was the sermon I prepared: "There's Another in the Fire." I don't know why I had to bear that furnace, but what I do know is I don't have to bear it alone. And I can be hurt, and I can be sad, and I can be frustrated, but I will not be bound because Jesus is in the fire. And anything that tries to bind me, he's burning off of me. And I'm going to walk out of this circumstance not smelling like smoke, not smelling scorched, not smelling singed, but smelling like a fragrance of God. And though that was a bad situation, I still serve a great God.
So church, I just want you to know something: there is no bondage for the child of God. There is no bondage for the daughter of God. There is no bondage for the Son of God. There is another in the fire. There's another in the fire. Church, I don't know what your fire is. I don't know what your pain is. I don't know what your circumstance is. I don't know what your fear is. I don't know what your anxiety is. I don't know what came against you that's impossible. You feel like you're all alone, but you are not alone. There's another in the fire. And he is saying that you will leave untied. I don't know what you're tied to. Some of you guys in here is tied to drugs and alcoholism, and God's saying today, "I declare by the power of God, you're leaving untied." Some of you guys are tied to lust. God said, "You're leaving untied." Some of you guys are tied to fear. God said, "You're leaving untied." There's another in the fire. There's another in the fire. There's another in the fire. And God said, "If you're gonna walk this faith journey, you're gonna need some blazing faith because there's a crazy enemy that wants to take you out, and he wants to steal, kill, and destroy everything that God is doing in your life."
Wow, I absolutely love the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and it encourages us to have "even if he don't" faith. Even if he don't bring us out, even if the situation don't change, we're still gonna stand tall and bless God. I hope you was blessed by today's message and I hope it encouraged you. Also, if you would like prayer, text the Radiant phone number at 903-201-0606. And if you would like to partner with Radiant Church financially, you can give at radiantchurchtsk.com and hit the give tab. Thank you guys so much for tuning in to Radiant Church's YouTube channel. Hope you guys have a blessed day.