Welcome to I Dare You, a series through the book of Daniel with Skip Heitzig.

Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for the comfort of the Holy Spirit. Much of that is felt as we gather together and exercise the gifts that you have given to us as we minister to one another in love. You help us to receive a comfort, a touch that is divine. We understand how much you care for us. And we just pray, Lord that you would give us ears to hear now as we study and apply this chapter to our lives, in Jesus' name, amen.

In Psalm 34:19 the psalmist says, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous." And though he is quick to add, "But the Lord delivers him from them all," yet, the question persists: Why? Why do the righteous suffer? Why do tragedies occur to those who love the Lord? That question has been brought into focus this week more poignantly than at other times.

As you know, five members of our spiritual family were shot in their home and killed this week. That has brought national and international attention and a variety of other subjects have been brought up. I do peruse websites, and I found one atheist website denouncing, really, the fact that we gathered on Wednesday night for prayer. And in their website they said, "Well, prayer didn't prevent the tragedies that occurred."

And so we wonder, at least some do, why the Lord would allow such deep tragedy to occur to people who love the Lord with all of their hearts. Now that's an issue some people are, frankly, afraid of. Some of you might be. Some of you are thinking, "Why should I surrender to a God who might allow horrible things in my life?"

Or you're afraid to give a verbal witness because this issue may be brought up, and you have no adequate explanation for why a good God could allow suffering. And you're just hoping that no one will say, "Why do you believe in God now?" Because you think you're going to feel awkward and say, "Yeah, you're right. There can't be a good God if He allows evil to exist," and just sort of cave in.

The three men in the story we're about to read are men who dared to stand up while everybody else around them bowed down. And because of that they faced the trial of their lives: a burning, fiery, furnace. This chapter is one of the most well known in all of Scripture, and best-loved stories. If you grew up in Sunday school, you're familiar with it.

But I want to look at these thirty verses in three different cuts, three different slices, because of three different truths and principles they bring out. Number one, the world wants you to shut up; but your God, number two, wants you to speak up, stand up; and number three, and we'll see this at the end of chapter, your opponents may learn to look up. That's the flow that we get as we go through chapter 3 of Daniel.

We look now at verse 1, and it says, "Nebuchadnezzar the king," we remember him, "[he] made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits and its width six cubits. He set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. And King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to gather together the satraps," those are princes, "the administrators, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, the officials of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up."

"And so the satraps," and the rest of these nincompoops, "gathered for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And a herald cried aloud: 'To you it is commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, that at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, you shall fall down and worship the gold image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up; and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.'

"So at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the horn, flute, harp, and lyre, in symphony with all kinds of music, all the people, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the gold image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up." If we were to simply read this without the benefit of chapter 2, we would say, "So what? This is just another example of a pagan king putting up another idol. Been there, done that." But we do have the benefit of chapter 2, and a couple of ancient sources tell us that there is a sixteen year gap between chapter 2 and chapter 3.

Now, let's piece a couple things together. Sixteen years have come and gone a lot of water under the bridge. Sixteen years ago Nebuchadnezzar had a dream, that's chapter 2. Nobody could tell him what it was; nobody could tell him what it meant, except for Daniel. Daniel came and said, "What it means is that you are the head of gold, Nebuchadnezzar. But after you shall arise a kingdom inferior to yours. You're not the only dog on the block. Somebody else is going to push you off the hill and be king after you."

That was sixteen years ago. Nebuchadnezzar has been waiting for sixteen years. He has not grown weaker, he has since grown stronger. And after waiting for this dream to be fulfilled, he now makes a golden image. Do you think he's making a statement? Do you think he has something to say? He is, in effect, saying, "Nuts to the gold, and the bronze, and the iron, and the clay. Nuts to other kingdoms who will come after me. I am invincible. I'm going to make an image whose head is not of gold, but the entire thing is made out of gold." As if to say, "My kingdom is an eternal kingdom," which historians tell us was the idea of the Babylonians. They insisted their kingdom would outlast even time.

This is important because so often we think, "Well, just give this problem some time. Just give that person some time. Time will soften them up. Time will heal all wounds." Sometimes that's true, but not always. Sometimes as time wears on, a person doesn't soften the heart, but hardens the heart. Things can grow worse rather than better.

We have a warning given to us in the book of Hebrews, chapter 2. I'll read it to you: "We must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it." That is the tendency of people, us, as we listen to truth that we heard a long time ago, but we're not affected by it. As time goes on we drift away from it. There's some truths you may have heard as a child, and, wow, they were special to you, they made an impact on you, but not so much now. You, perhaps, have drifted away as Nebuchadnezzar did from a very ominous revelation that shook his world, but now he's not as affected by it.

In a, in effect, Nebuchadnezzar is in love with Nebuchadnezzar. The whole idea of this statue is, is him showing himself off. Now, in the next chapter we get another glimpse into this. In chapter 4 this king will walk through Babylon and will declare as he looks around, "Is not this the great Babylon that I have built by my majesty and for my glory?" Of course, God will have a message to give to him after he says that.

Vernon McGee tells of a downtown Los Angeles store, a business, that put a giant mirror out in front where people walked every day. They wanted to study human beings walking by the mirror, and how many would stop and look at themselves and check themselves out, turn around, kind of do a little: "H'm, I am very, very cool," kind of a deal. And they discovered that a lot of people did stop. But get this, men stopped more and looked at themselves longer than women did. Just thought you'd like to hear that, gals. [laughter]

This gold image in the Plain of Dura is what Nebuchadnezzar saw as he looks in the mirror. A ninety foot tall statue of gold, not head of gold, one that is imposing and ominous and will last over time.

I can't resist something that I noted, I want to pass onto you. You'll notice that it's sixty cubits by six, that this worship system is enforced. You have to bow down to it or you will die. And the reason that's important to me is if I fast forward to the book of Revelation, chapter 13, I read about another image that will be cast, and another enforced worship that will take place around the entire world of the Antichrist.

People are told to bow down to the image and the text of Scripture says, "Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: his number 666," the number of man. So here is the six-million-dollar man, the image, or the 666-million-dollar man, I suppose. Nebuchadnezzar is the quintessential humanist magnifying humanity, diminishing God. That's what the statue was about.

But if keep reading we find that the demand to bow is met by defiance: there's three guys in the crowd who make a stand. Verse 8, "Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and accused the Jews. They spoke and said to King Nebuchadnezzar, 'O king, live forever! You, O king, have made a decree that everyone who hears the sound of,' " all these instruments, " 'shall fall down and worship the golden image; whoever does not fall down and worship will be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.' "

Now look at this, " 'There are certain Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed Nego; these men, O king, have not paid due regard to you. They do not serve your gods or worship the gold image which you have set up.' "

I heard about a preacher who could never remember the names of these guys: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed Nego; and he wanted to tell his congregation this story one Sunday as an illustration. So he wrote the names Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed Nego on a card and put them right here in his suit pocket. The idea is that during the message he could just sort of open it up, and glance down, and tell them the names, and go on.

It didn't work out so well because he said, "Well, you guys remember the story, don't you, of Hart Schaffner & Marx?" That's the name of a suit company. He read the wrong label. [laughter] Three Hebrews, yes, but the wrong ones. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed Nego were names given to these Jewish captives by the king in changing their names. We read on.

"Then," verse 13, "Nebuchadnezzar, in rage and fury, gave the command to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed Nego. So they brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying to them, 'Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed Nego that you do not serve my gods or worship the gold image which I have set up? Now if you are ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, and you fall down and worship the image that I have made, good! But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?' "

Now these three guys have done nothing wrong. In fact, they would get our applause. They love God. They serve God. They're loyal to God's name, and yet they are facing the trial of their lives. They, they are faced with an ethical dilemma: obey the government and bow or obey God's command. God is the one who said, "I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods beside me." Well, they're going to pick option number two, but that is the dilemma that Nebuchadnezzar gives to them.

You and I, we face the same pressure, different circumstances, same pressure: the pressure to conform. The pressure to not stand up or stick out, but go along with the crowd, be quiet, blend in, be like everybody else.

W. C. Fields, remember him? W. C. Fields, that great intellect [laughter] said something very profound. He said, "Any dead fish can float downstream." Of course, he said it, [W. C. Fields impersonation] "Any dead fish can float downstream." [laughter] He said, "It takes a live one to swim upstream."

They're banking on the fact that everyone will do what everybody else does, that there will be a mass conformity. In fact, there is for the most part. In verse 7, "All people, and nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the gold image." But these three did not. They kept standing.

I remember the first time I went to Israel. I was single and I went to live on a kibbutz, a farm, a working farm. And I just could not wait to go to the Holy Land. I thought, "This is going to be the most exciting—I'm going to wake up every day and feel the presence of God. It's going to be so holy and awesome and wonderful." And I was in for a shock.

It was a trial, because in, in that day, at that time, on that kibbutz, volunteers from all over the world, young kids came to work. But I discovered that the Europeans that came, my age, all came to party. They wanted to work, but at night it was all party, and there was lots of things going on. It was loose living. And a lot of temptation came my way to conform to that, because I was young, and single, and of that age.

And I was so glad I had other believers with me on that kibbutz that I came with, and we could strength each other. In fact, I'm convinced that's why Jesus sent his disciples out two by two. And why Paul the apostle often went with other people around him to strengthen the choices that he was making. So these three encouraging each other; stand up against the mass conformity of bowing down.

Did you notice number 12? Verse 12 " 'There are certain Jews.' "I can't help but read a little cynicism into that. Anti Semitism is nothing new, and these Chaldeans have been waiting for sixteen years. Because sixteen years ago when that dream had been interpreted, Nebuchadnezzar gave a promotion, a raise, to Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed Nego, and other Chaldeans were waiting for an opportunity just like this to get back. "There are certain Jews," they say. They're brought before the king. Let's go on and see what happens.

Verse 16 shows us the second slice of this message: yeah, the world wants you to shut up, but your God wants you to stand up. "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed Nego answered and said to the king, 'O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.' "Isn't that interesting? That's their way of saying, "We're not at a loss for words here. This is a no brainer for us. We already know what the answer is going to be. We don't have to think about this long."

"'If that is the case,' " verse 17, " 'our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us from your hand, O king.' "Now, notice the twist," 'but if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.' "

No explanation is offered. No long elaborate explanation, just simply, "No. We're not going to do it. We don't have to think about this. No." Now pause here a minute. Couldn't these three guys have done something different? Couldn't they have come up with a different approach? Maybe a little rationalization would be fitting at this moment.

For example, they could have thought, "Well, you know, Nebuchadnezzar he's treated us pretty well. He's given us a good job and a good pay scale, and we should at least show our appreciation to him and just bow. Get it over with." Or, perhaps they could have thought, "It's really not idolatry if we just get down quickly and get back up, and the rest of our lives serve the Lord."

Or, perhaps they could have rationalized by saying, "Look, we're thousands of miles away from home, nobody will see us. And besides didn't God, through the prophets, predict that we would be taken captive and serve other gods in a foreign land? We'd just be fulfilling Scripture if we were to bow. Maybe this is God's will that we bow." It shows you how warped we get when we start rationalizing.

We're really good at rationalizing, you know that. We have an infinite ability to do so, just ask anybody on a diet. [laughter] We're good at rationalizing why we need that extra pastry. I found some other rationalizations about that. Rules for dieting: If you drink Diet Coke with chocolate, the calories in the chocolate are canceled out by the Diet Coke. That's how we think, isn't it?

Foods like hot chocolate or cheesecake for medicinal purposes don't count—comfort food, sort of like medical marijuana. [laughter] Cookie pieces have no calories. The process of breaking the cookies causes calorie loss. Isn't it funny how we'll take a little break, a little piece of it—we're going to eat the whole thing, but we will do it in pieces. Somehow it makes us feel better. And finally, things licked off of knives and spoons have no calories if you're in the process of preparing something else. We rationalize.

These three men did not rationalize the decision that they made: "We don't have to think about it. We don't have to ponder it. We don't have to make a defense for ourselves. We're not going to bow. God can deliver us, if not, not going to do it."

God's people throughout Scripture often go against the flow. That's what Paul encourages us to do, Romans, chapter 12, "Do not be conformed to this world, but transformed by the renewing of your mind." Or as the J. B. Phillips Translation puts it best, "Don't let the world squeeze you into its own mold." They didn't.

Verse 17, again notice, "'If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us . . . But if not,' " verse 18, " 'let it be known to you, O king, we do not serve your gods.' "Let me retranslate that: "We serve a sovereign God who can deliver us. And he will deliver us in life or by death, either way it's a deliverance from you, O king." It's remarkable!

If you want to get a good book on suffering, get a book that was put out a few years ago by Yancey, Philip Yancey, called Where Is God When It Hurts? In that book he writes a story about an athlete by the name of Brian Sternberg. Sternberg was a pole vaulter and he set record after record, after record, and one, one time he set a new world record. Three weeks after he set that record he was pole vaulting again, cleared the pole, but this time when he landed he landed on his neck. He heard it snap, and then he felt nothing, and from that day forward was a quadriplegic consigned to a wheelchair.

Less than a year after that accident a major magazine in America asked him to write an article about his athletic career, the accident, and how he as a Christian, because he claimed he was one, was dealing with the fact that he was now in a wheelchair as a quadriplegic. He wrote that article. I'll just give you the last four short sentences of it.

He writes: "Having faith is a necessary step toward one of two things. Being healed is one of them. But peace of mind, if healing does not occur, is the other. Either one will suffice," close quote. Faith to be healed, faith to have peace if I don't get healed. Either one will suffice. Either one will suffice. Here's these three guys before the king: "We might be delivered miraculously. We might die. Either one will suffice. Either one."

Verse 19, "Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed Nego." Have you ever had that happen? Have you ever been in a conversation with somebody and they're tracking with you, and then suddenly you say something they don't like, and it's written all over their face. They contort and you can just see—they don't like what I just said.

"He spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated." It's called overkill. "And he commanded certain mighty men of valor who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed Nego, and cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their coats, and trousers, their turbans, and other garments, and they were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace."

"Therefore, because the king's command was urgent, and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed Nego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed Nego, fell down bound," third time it's mentioned they were bound, tied up, "into the midst of the burning fiery furnace."

"Then Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and he spoke, saying to the counselors, 'Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?' They answered and said to the king, 'True, O king.' 'Look!' he answered, 'I see four men' "what? " 'loose.' "They went in bound, but now they're loose," 'walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.' "

I'll get back to that in just a moment when we close: they were bound but now they're loosed. But three were thrown in and they see four. And it says in my translation as I read it, "The fourth looks like the Son of God." A better translation would be, "The fourth looks like a son of the gods."

You see, Nebuchadnezzar wasn't a Trinitarian. He did not have the benefit of New Testament theology. He didn't understand the concept of the "Son of God" as you and I do. He simply saw some other form, some godlike deity or angelic apparition, walking with the other three men who are now loosed in the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

What's amazing to me is that these guys are not trying to get out. In fact, you'll see it in a minute; they have to be asked to get out by the king. They're just walking around, hanging out, talking, in fellowship with this fourth.

Let's go down to verse 26. We've seen, we've seen two slices so far: Your world wants you to shut up. You're God wants you to stand up. The best part of the story is yet to come: your opponents may learn to look up. Verse 26, "Then Nebuchadnezzar went near the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke, saying, 'Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed Nego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here.' "They needed that to get them out.

"Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed Nego came from the midst of the fire. And the satraps, administrators, governors, and the king's counselors gathered together, and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed, nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them. Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, 'Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed Nego, who sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him, and they have frustrated the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God!'"

"Therefore I make a decree,' " I suppose he would at that point, " 'that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed Nego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made an ash heap; because there is no other God who can deliver like this.' Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed Nego in the province of Babylon."

I wonder if you realize how monumental this is. In chapter 2—remember this same king sixteen years prior, though he had forgotten by now, until now. Sixteen years prior this king said, "Your God is the God of gods. He's the Lord of kings." Now this king makes into law: a crime will be committed if you say anything against this Jewish God.

Now just think how monumental this is. This is Babylon. This is ancient Iraq and Iran. You know how they feel toward Israel now, right? Think how pro Israel or God of Israel this king is in this ancient time. Why? Because the testimony of three men who stood up made on impact on this pagan king; their life preached.

Your life can preach more eloquently than any sermon I could every come up with from this platform. Especially as you suffer and you trust God in the midst of your suffering. It will be impressive not only to Christians but to nonbelievers. They look at you while you're experiencing suffering, your fiery trial, your ordeal, and they see you clinging, and trusting, and rejoicing in the Spirit. And it's an enigma to them, number one; but it's impressive to them, number two. Now, that's the story.

I'd like to close by giving you three takeaways, three principles that emerge from what we have read. Number one: standing up for God is always better than bowing down to man, but it's always harder. Nobody likes to stick out like a sore thumb. It's always harder to swim against the current than just float with it. It's better, but it's harder, and because of that, you should ready yourself for that. So that if somebody yells at you or disses you because you're a believer, or persecutes you, you won't be taken by surprise.

In the fourth century Athanasius did exactly that. He readied himself. He stood before a council. And Athanasius was the patriarch of Alexandria. He believed in the deity of Christ as the Scripture says, the Trinity, the nature of God. There was a man at the council named Arius. He was heretic. He denounced the deity of Christ and the Trinity.

And at one point in this heated meeting, Arius stood up and said, "Athanasius, look how many are against you. The whole world is against you." To which Athanasius replied, "If the whole world goes against the truth, then Athanasius will go against the world." He readied himself for that. It's better to stand up for God than bow to man, but it's always harder.

Truth number two: God is always sovereign whether the outcome is triumph or tragedy. I take you back again to verse 17 and 18, "Our God can deliver us and he will. But if not, we will not bow." It's so important that we grasp this truth. In other words, "If we get delivered, he's sovereign. If we die, he's sovereign." Some of you still live under that illusion that says: if, if trouble is avoided or you get delivered from calamity, that God's sovereignty is upheld. But if the bottom drops out of your life, if there's pain, and suffering, and loss of life, there goes the sovereignty of God.

That's why we get so fearful when somebody would ask us during a tragedy, "You believe in God? What kind of a God of love would allow this? What kind of a God is this?" Answer: This is a sovereign God who gives and takes away. And listen to the words of Job who lost ten of his children in one day, and his own health, and fell down and worshiped God, and said, "Blessed be the Lord! He gives and he takes away." He gives and he takes away.

Romans 8:28 is a promise we often land on. "And we know," the Scripture says in that verse, "that all things work together for good to those who love God and are the called according to his purpose." Notice it does not say, "all things will feel good," or, "all things will seem good to you at that moment," but "all things will work together for your good."

The Scripture is not some fairy tale that promises you a fairy tale ending: happily ever after, white picket fence, cherry on top that's not in Scripture.

I remember when I was younger and I read this tract that I was given, it says, "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life." I've discovered that there are times that plan doesn't feel very wonderful. But it's still God's plan for my life. When God says no, he is as sovereign and loving as when God says yes. When God takes away, he is to be worshiped as much as when God pours out and gives. These three knew it.

Here's the third and final principle, and we'll close: suffering is the doorway to freedom. Now, I'm going to bring you back to something that we noticed as we read the text. Four times in the text the word bind or bound is used—that is, they tied these guys up with ropes, threw them in the fire. Nebuchadnezzar looks down and says, "Wait a minute. Didn't we throw three guys tied up? How come I see four loosed?"

Here's the principle: the only thing the fire burned is what bound them. Their clothes didn't burn. Their hair didn't burn. They're flesh didn't burn. They didn't even smell like smoke. The only thing that burned were those ropes that tied them. And that is why we need adversity in life, because adversity frees us from certain bondages that we have been living under.

If I brought ten of you up here to give your testimony of your time of suffering or grief or loss, I'm sure all of you would have some story of how God set you free from some habit, some practice, some way of thinking, because suffering in the doorway to freedom.

I leave you with this, it's from A. W. Tozer: "The hammer is a useful tool, but a nail, if it had feeling and intelligence, could present another side of the story. For the nail knows the hammer only as an opponent, a brutal, merciless enemy who lives to pound it into submission, to beat it down out of sight and clinch into place. That is the nail's view of the hammer, and it is accurate except for one thing: the nail forgets that both it and the hammer are servants of the same workman."

"Let the nail but remember that the hammer is held by the workman, and all resentment toward it will disappear. The carpenter decides whose head will be beaten next and what hammer had been used in the beating. That is his sovereign right. When the nail has surrendered to the will of the workman it has gotten a little glimpse of his benign plans for its future, then it will yield to the hammer without complaint."

Our sovereign God gives and takes away, blesses and pounds—all for a purpose. Some of that purpose you may discover; you might not discover for years. Part of it you'll never discover until he himself tells you when you're on the other side. But that's a place to rest: "And we know all things work together for the good of those who love him."

And, Father, that is where we rest this morning as we close, with that truth. We thank you, Father, for not only the promises of Scripture, but people who believe them, and we get the benefit of their story, their testimony. It's impressive to us as it was impressive to that king who glorified you in that moment, because of the remarkable testimony of those who dared to stand up and not bow down, in Jesus' name, amen.

For more teachings from Calvary Albuquerque and Skip Heitzig visit calvaryabq.org.