Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king, and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up? Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace. The king’s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.
Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?”
They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.”
He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”
Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!”
So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.
Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.” (Daniel 3:13-29 NIV)
It’s hard to stand out. Would you agree? We want to fit in. To be like everybody else. It’s hard to be different. Like when someone asks you where you go to church. You say, “I’m a Lutheran.” And they look at you like you have green hair. “What’s that?” Inside you go, “Ahhhh!” What can you say? “A Lutheran believes that we’re saved by grace alone, by faith alone, through Christ alone.” But they probably won’t understand that in one conversation. In Oklahoma, I bet there are more people with green hair than there are WELS Lutherans. It’s hard to stand out.
I know three guys who can relate: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They stood out a lot! All three of them grew up in Israel. But since the Israelites turned away from God, God let the Babylonians attack them. In 605 B.C., King Nebuchadnezzar defeated Jerusalem. He didn’t destroy the city, but he took its best people as captives. Especially young people like Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego and their friend… Remember his name? Daniel—the guy with the lions. All the way to Babylon. They stood out: Captives. Exiles. With strange customs and a strange God.
So what should they do? It seemed like they had three options—the same three options we have when we’re different than the people around us. #1: Give up. Isn’t that the first thing on our minds when life is hard? They could give up. Or #2: Separate themselves from everyone else. They could live in their own little community and have nothing to do with the Babylonians. Or #3: Join in the pagan culture around them. If you can’t beat them, _______ [join them]! They could give up their beliefs and their God and become like everybody else. Those where their options, right? Give up. Separate. Join in. Which is the best option for believers in God?
None of them. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego didn’t give up. They lost their families and their country, but they didn’t lose their faith in God. They didn’t give up. But they also didn’t separate themselves. It’s surprising, but Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and Daniel all became officials for King Nebuchadnezzar. They didn’t live in their separate little world. They let their lights shine. They used their God-given talents to the best of their ability. God wants Christians to be active in the world. “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). They didn’t give up. They didn’t separate.
But they also didn’t join in. They kept believing in the true God. Nebuchadnezzar had the idea to build an enormous gold statue—ninety feet high! He ordered all the leaders of his kingdom to come and stand before it. When the music played, they were all commanded to bow down and worship the idol. Can you picture this scene? The music started. Everyone bowed. Except three people: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. You talk about standing out! I wonder if that phrase actually comes from this story. These three guys literally stood out. They were the only ones standing. They didn’t give up. They didn’t separate themselves. But they also didn’t join in sin.
Do you? It’s hard to stand out. When everyone around you bows down to having to have the coolest new things like phones and clothes to be happy, do you? When everyone around you bows down to the god of sex with his pornography and adultery, do you? When everyone around you bows down to that politician and praises his plans and his greatness, do you? When everyone bows down to TV or video games instead of reading God’s Word, do you? It’s hard, isn’t? It’s one thing to stand up for Jesus at church. It’s a whole different story when you’re with the crowd. Every day, when the music plays and people bow down to the idols of our world, do you?
It would have been so easy for those three men to just bow down. Just one time, right? No one would have even noticed. What harm would it have done to bow down just once to that silly statue? Who would have even known? God. God would have known. Those three men cared more about what God said than what people said. They were more concerned about being right with God than fitting in with the crowd. They feared God more than Nebuchadnezzar. They feared the fire of hell more than the fiery furnace. They trusted in God above all things. Do you?
If you do, if you trust in God, then be ready for the fire. That sounds strange, doesn’t it? If we stand up for Jesus, good things should happen, right? No. Be ready for the fire. “Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego…. ‘Is it true that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up?… If you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?’” What a threat! A blazing furnace? “What god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”
I would have been shaking! But they weren’t. They calmly replied, “We do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” Have more courageous words ever been said? “What god will be able to rescue you from my hand?” “Our God. The God we serve is able to deliver us from it.” May God give us that faith! How could we worship anyone else? There is only one God who saves!
Two little words highlight their faith in God: “Even if…” Did you catch that? “Even if he does not [rescue us], we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” Do you understand what they were saying? “Even if God doesn’t save us from the fire, we will still trust in him.” That’s faith! “Even if…” Those three men didn’t obey God to get something from him. They obeyed God out of love and thankfulness for God’s promise of salvation. They knew the truth that Paul would later write: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). They trusted that “neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39). That’s faith! “Even if he does not,” we will trust in God!
How could they be so bold? Because the Holy Spirit lived in their hearts. This is what Jesus promised: “Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit” (Mark 13:11). God the Holy Spirit gives us faith through God’s Word. It doesn’t come from you! God the Holy Spirit gives us courage. It doesn’t come from you! You are going to be called on to confess your faith. You are going to be called on to stand up for Jesus. It’s going to happen. How can you stand on that day? It doesn’t depend on you. God the Holy Spirit gives you courage.
Like he did for Martin Luther. Martin Luther lived 2000 years after Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, but he faced a similar situation. The leaders of the Catholic Church arrested him for teaching that we’re saved by faith in Jesus. He was threatened with burning at the stake. Fire! Sound familiar? He was told to retract everything he had written about God’s Word, about faith in Jesus as our Savior. But he said, “Unless I am convinced by Scripture, I cannot and will not retract anything. Here I stand; I can do no other. God help me! Amen.” What a confession! God the Holy Spirit gives Christians the courage to stand out, to stand up for the truth of God’s Word.
“Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to… throw them into the blazing furnace… The furnace was so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers… These three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace. Then Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, ‘Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire? Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”
Little did he know, he was right. The “Son of God.” He’s the one who saves us, right? Jesus! We can’t say for sure who that fourth man in the fire was. He could have been an angel. He could have been Jesus himself. Either way, we know who saved them: God did. Notice how: Not by keeping them from going into the fire. Not by pulling them out of the fire. Jesus saved them by going into the fire with them. For them. The strongest soldiers died. The powerful king was amazed. The exiles were saved. Because the Son of God walked through the fire with them.
That’s exactly what Jesus did for all of us. When it comes to our sin and our guilt… When it comes to the devil’s temptations and schemes… When it comes to death and hell… Jesus didn’t make sin and temptation stop. Jesus didn’t pull us out of it. Jesus came. He stepped into the fire. For you. For me. He suffered for our sins. He died the death we deserve. He faced the fires of hell for us. So we don’t have to. There is another in the fire. It’s Jesus! Jesus stood out—on the cross—for you and me. That’s how you’re saved: By faith in the Son of God. “No other god can save in this way.” That’s what Nebuchadnezzar learned: “No other god can save in this way!”
What’s a Lutheran? It’s someone who believes that we are saved by faith alone in Jesus. Life doesn’t depend on my strength. I can’t! It depends on Jesus’ strength. Being saved doesn’t depend on my works. There’s no way! It depends on Jesus’ works. My relationship with God doesn’t depend on my goodness. It depends on Jesus’ goodness. Not my strength. His! Not my works. His! Not my goodness. His! “No other god can save in this way!” “The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress” (Psalm 46:11). A mighty fortress is our God!
Do you know what that means? It means, “Even if…” This salvation by faith in Jesus isn’t just something that will help us on Judgment Day. Look at Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: It is faith in Jesus that gives us peace and courage right now in the fire. Practice saying those two words, “Even if…” “Even if everyone else has abandoned me, my God never will.” “Even if I don’t know how this can possibly turn out okay, my hope is in Jesus.” “Even if everything is stacked up against me, God is for me.” “Even if Satan is accusing me, Jesus has forgiven me.” Even if I’m in the fire, even if the world hates me, even if I’m all alone, even if I sin, even if I die, I am saved by faith in Jesus! That’s something to stand out for! Even if… we trust in Jesus!
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