Daniel 3 - Introduction

SERMON NUMBER THREE

FOUR IN A FIERY FURNACE

Text: Daniel 3

INTRODUCTION

I.

Chapter S TWO AND THREE ARE CONNECTED

A.

Second chapter showed final outcome of growth and success of WORLD-POWERthe world-power must eventually crumble

B.

Yet, while its power lasts, must it not be feared by God's own because of the harm it can and will do to God's saints?

C.

Chapter Three answers, NO! He that is with us is greater than he that is with them!

II.

CHAPTER THREE A STUMBLING BLOCK TO UNBELIEVERS

A.

Farrar calls the chapter historic fiction

1.

Then he says its purpose is to inculcate the noblest truths.

2.

and he says always regarded it as one of the most precious among the narrative Chapter s of Scripture.

3.

also. it is not only superb in its imaginative grandeur, but still more in the manner in which it sets for the piety of ultimate faithfulness.

B.

But a purely fictional or mythological deliverance is small comfort to a man who is confronted by a factual peril of death.

C.

If we have no guaranty of the truth of the account, we have no guaranty of the validity of any comfort we may draw from the account.

D.

I believe this is a valid, historically accurate account of a miraculous deliverance from death by fire. these were real men and the miracle really happened. It is referred to in Hebrews 11:34 ... quenched the power of fire.

III.

THERE ARE GREAT LESSONS HERE. THERE HAVE BEEN MANY PARALLELS TO SUCH PERSECUTION AND FAITH

A.

There are lessons on religion and the state; faith; God's power

B.

There is one recent parallel in John Noble who endured 12 years of persecution, lived by faith, and was miraculously delivered time and again in Russian prison camps.

C.

We have outlined the chapter for sermon purpose thus:

1.

Religion and The State Daniel 3:1-15

2.

Resistance and The Sanctified Daniel 3:16-23

3.

Rescue and the Sovereign Daniel 3:24-30

DISCUSSION

I.

RELIGION AND THE STATE Daniel 3:1-15

A.

Nebuchadnezzar's image

1.

Probably after he had completed his major conquests and was feeling the magnitude and strength of his empire

2.

The image maybe copied from his dream to represent world-power established by himself

3.

Maybe represented one of his gods since heathen philosophy was that when they won victory their gods had triumphed over gods of those they had defeated

4.

It was 90 ft. high and 9 ft. wide, gold-plated (cf. Isaiah 49:19)

5.

The sound of such a conglomeration of musical instruments did not exactly sound like a symphony but they were intended only to give an arresting signal designed to impress the hearers by their variety and their volume. this they did quite well

6.

Whatever its appearance and regardless of what is symbolized, all the officials of the kingdom were commanded to worship it.

B.

There are various attitudes world-power has taken toward religion, depending upon the attitudes of the state's governors

1.

All the gods worshipped by others were to be recognized

2.

New ones might be introduced by authority of the state

3.

The gods which the state approved and acknowledged were to be honored by all

4.

If any persons denied their existence, and their claims to homage, they were to be treated as enemies of the state.

5.

These principles are followed even today by world-powers which are heathen, pagan and atheistic (for atheism is a religion and in Russia all who do not worship it are enemies of the state)

6.

Russia has been committed for over 50 years to the proposition that the Living God is a myth; religion an opiate for oppressed working classes; after 1917 revolution 2/3 of all clergymen in Russia were executed; 4/5 of all church buildings closed or turned into museums for instruction in scientific atheism. A prisoner related to John Noble his trial. After sentencing to 25 yrs. hard labor in Siberia his judges laughed and asked him if he believed in God; the prisoner replied he certainly did; the Russian judge then pointed to a picture of Stalin hanging on the wall and said, That is our God, and the only God we have. BUT THREE YEARS LATER THEIR GOD WAS DEADDISHONORED IN DEATH AS SOON AS HIS BODY WAS COLD! China is even worse in its deification of Mao Tse Tung!

7.

The three Hebrew children were experiencing the results of world-government perverting its God-ordained purpose. it was dictating what man should worship rather than protecting man's liberty to worship as he pleased.

C.

The only proper attitude of world-power toward religion:

1.

There is to be, on the subject of religion, perfect liberty to worship God in the manner that shall be most in accordance with the views of the individual himself, PROVIDED IN DOING IT HE DOES NOT INTERFERE WITH THE RIGHTS OR DISTURB THE WORSHIP OF OTHERS. State is not merely to tolerate exercise of religion, for toleration implies that state has right of control which it does notthe word is liberty.

2.

The state is to protect all in the enjoyment of these equal rights. Its authority does not go beyond this. Its duty demands this.

3.

For this reason Christians need to beware of their zeal to insist that the government take action to restore religion to the public school system. Forcing the government to such action might force the government to make laws regarding the establishment of a state-controlled religion.

4.

A nation cannot be Christianized by force; and a Bible verse a day will not keep immorality away.

5.

We should never expect the public school to do the job that parents and churches must do. We-'ve been passing the buck for too long.

6.

In Connellsville, Pa., citizens have taken the law into their own hands and defied the Supreme Court and the Constitution. Prayer is compulsory there now, no matter what the Supreme Court said. In fact, the Lord's Prayer and ten verses of Scripture are required each day, the same rite which was declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1963.

7.

HOW CAN CHRISTIAN PEOPLE, WHO ARE CONSTANTLY BEWAILING THE BREAKDOWN OF LAW AND ORDER IN SOCIETY, DISREGARD THE HIGHEST COURT IN THE U.S.? EVEN IF WE DISAGREE, DOES THAT GIVE US THE PREROGATIVE TO DISOBEY? DO WE RENDER UNTO CAESAR ONLY WHEN WE AGREE WITH CAESAR?

8.

What the Supreme Court outlawed was state-controlled religious worship and requiring young people to worship in a way that was contrary to their consciences. IN FACT, CHILDREN CAN STILL READ THEIR BIBLES. TEACHERS CAN READ BIBLES TO THE CLASS FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES. BUT LET US NOT INSIST UPON STATE-CONTROLLED RELIGION!!!

II.

RESISTANCE AND THE SANCTIFIED Daniel 3:16-23

A.

Upon what basis did the three young men refuse to worship Nebuchadnezzar's idol?

1.

Whole-hearted belief in the Living God

a.

Whole-hearted belief is an intelligent belief. Not one of emotion alone.

b.

It is not obstinacy. Obstinacy is where a man has made up his mind, and resolves to act, without any good reason or investigation of the evidences

2.

Unhesitating determination to DO what is right. Not what is expedient or popular, or lucrative, BUT WHAT IS RIGHT

3.

With such convictions we will always do our God-given duty regardless of the consequences and put our trust in God believing that if He pleases He can protect us from danger.

4.

There is no need for saying more than they said to the king. They believe that God will either deliver them and the issues will then be cleared up, or, for reasons best known to Him, He will not be able to deliver themeven at that they will not alter their position for even in their death they believe God's purposes will be served.

5.

They were thrown into a fiery furnace whose heat was so hot it consumed the men who got close enough to throw them in.

B.

When the pride of world-power is wounded or its authority threatened and it is not founded on the principles of the God-ordained liberties of its constituents, it persecutes.

1.

The three Hebrew youths were thrown into a fiery furnace whose heat was so hot it consumed the soldiers who were throwing them in

2.

John Noble writes: I have seen Christianity under the most terrible persecution it has suffered since the days of Nero. and I am convinced it was God's will that I be a member of that persecuted Church for several years in order to testify that God is with it and is sustaining it.

3.

Brutal whippings; starvation for 15 days; solitary confinement for days in dungeons; working long hours in 50-70° below zero weather; 9000 people died of disease and starvation in 3 years in one camp alone; women raped and abused by guards; men sadistically tortured. One man, to keep from being sent to the mines, put his hand on a stool palm down, took a hatchet and chopped off all four fingersthe guards came and took the delirious man to the camp infirmary where the stumps were trimmed and sewed up without anesthetic and threw him in the dungeon for 60 days for sabotage.

C.

The viciousness and bestiality of the persecutions some of the sanctified have been called upon by the Lord to endure are almost beyond human comprehension

1.

The early saints under Nero and successors: lighted as human torches to illuminate his chariot races; women and babies and old men unarmed thrown to face lions starved to death; forced to fight gladiators; made slaves and treated in most despicable manner

2.

The true believers who were persecuted by a Roman church which had become united with the state: hacked to pieces, hanged, torn limb from limb on a rack, flogged to death with a whip.

3.

Modern saints persecuted by Nazis, Communists in Russia, China and Cuba, and even here in the U.S.

4.

Indeed all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. 2 Timothy 3:12

5.

... a servant is not greater than his master. if they persecuted me, they will persecute you. John 15:20

6.

persecution arises on account of the word. Matthew 13:21

7.

You have need of endurance, so that you may do the will of God and receive what is promised. Hebrews 10:36

III.

RESCUE AND THE SOVEREIGN Daniel 3:24-30

A.

... the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment. 2 Peter 2:9

1.

The 3 Hebrew youths were rescued by an angel (not the Son of God) but some supernatural being sent by God. Nebuchadnezzar got the shock of his life. Not only were the 3 not harmed nor was there even upon them the smell of smoke but there was a FOURTH MAN IN THE FURNACE!

2.

Peter writes, ... the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is right? He continues, ... it is better to suffer for doing right, if that should be God's will, than for doing wrong.

3.

We are not to be surprised at any fiery ordeal for it has come to prove us. we are to rejoice to be able to share in Christ's sufferings because we know the spirit of glory and of God rests upon us. 1 Peter 4:12 ff Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will do right and entrust their souls to a faithful Creator.

4.

God has not promised to deliver every suffering saint by a miracle from physical harm. But it is better that we should not fear him who is able to destroy the body, but Him who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell.

5.

We should not expect exact and perfect judgment to be enacted upon earth while we live here.

6.

If the righteous were never persecuted, poor, hungered, many would believe not in God but in the loaves which fill their bellies.

7.

While it is proper for God to miraculously save some saints in order to demonstrate His faithfulnessit would not be proper for Him to save all and thus have many coming to Him simply for the reward and not for the sake of who He is

B.

Examples of deliverance

1.

John Noble tells of a cell-mate of his father's in prison camp. This cell-mate was terrified he might be placed in a cell with non-christian. He miraculously stayed with Noble's father. He was starving to death and dying of diseasegot down to 80 lbs. and could not even eat what little food they had. He constantly called for wife and daughter. Noble and has father prayed earnestly that the dying man might receive some word about his family. Very next day, a man from his home town, a neighbor was assigned to the very next cell. Upon receiving news that his family was safe, this man prayed, thanking God, and saying he was now ready to die if it was God's will. BUT HE BEGAN TO IMPROVE, REGAINED HIS HEALTH, AND TWO YEARS LATER WAS RELEASED AND REJOINED HIS WIFE-' AND DAUGHTER.

2.

J. Russell Morse's accounts of prison and deliverance are accounts of modern day acts of the providence of God in rescuing his saints.

3.

You have heard of others, I am sure, THERE IS NO DOUBT ABOUT ITGOD KNOWS HOW TO RESCUE THE GODLY FROM TRIAL!

4.

But, it is not always God's purpose to rescue from physical harm. Sometimes His purpose is better served by suffering and death. WHAT WE MUST BELIEVE AND TRUST IS THAT WHEN GOD'S PURPOSES ARE SERVED IN OUR LIVES, WE WILL ALWAYS BE VICTORIOUS. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad when men shall persecute you and say all manner of evil against you for my names sake, for so persecuted they the prophets before you.

CONCLUSION

NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S REACTION REMINDS ME OF ONE OF JOHN NOBLE'S MOST TOUCHING STORIES
Date: November, 1950. Place: Vorkuta slave labor camp. Three nuns, of which church and order Mr. Noble was uninformed, assigned to work at making bricks for construction work throughout the whole Arctic area of Russia.
The nuns told their guards they regarded doing any work for the communist regime as working for the Devil and they were servants of God and they were not going to work despite any threats they might make.
They were put on punishment rationsblack bread and rancid soup, day after day. Each morning they were ordered to go out to the clay pits in the brick factory and each morning they refused. They were placed in strait jacketshands tied in back of them, then the rope with which their wrists were bound was passed down around their ankles and drawn up tighttheir feet were pulled up behind them and their shoulders wrenched backward and downward into a position of excruciating pain, NOT A SOUND OF PROTEST ESCAPED THEIR LIPS.

Then the commandant ordered water poured over them so that the cotton material in the strait jackets would shrink. they moaned softly and lapsed into unconsciousness. This was done more than once. Kept in this state for 2 hours.
The commandant decided they were either going to work or he was going to have to kill them in the attempt to make them do so. They would not so he ordered that they be taken out in the bitter wind of the Arctic winter and left to stand there immobile all day long to watch the other women work. The guard went over expecting to see them frozen to death but found them kneeling, praying, relaxed and warm.
At this the commandant ordered their gloves and caps be removed so they would be exposed to the full fury of the wind. All through the 8 hour day they knelt on that windy hilltop in prayer. Three days in a row they were thus exposedand while those working with boots and caps and gloves were complaining of frostbite and frozen feetnot one indication of frostbite could be found in the nuns.

News of what was happening spread throughout the camp. Everyone was murmuring that indeed God had brought a miracle to pass. Even hardened MVD men found excuses to come by the brick factory and take a furtive look at the three figures on the hill. Women working down in the pits crossed themselves and nervously mumbled prayers. Even the commandant was sorely disturbed. IF NOT A RELIGIOUS MAN, HE WAS AT LEAST A SOMEWHAT SUPERSTITIOUS ONE AND HE KNEW WELL ENOUGH WHEN HE WAS WITNESSING THE HAND OF A POWER THAT WAS NOT OF THIS EARTH!
By the fourth day, the guards themselves were afraid of the unearthly power they were witnessing and they flatly refused to touch them or have anything more to do with them. The commandant was afraid to go and order them out into the hill any more. So they were not disturbed in their prayers, and were taken off punishment rations.
When I left Vorkuta 4 years later, those nuns were still at the brick factory and none of them had done a day's work for the communist regime. They were regarded with awe and respect. The guards were under instructions not to touch them or disturb them. They were preparing their own food and even making their own clothes. Their devotions were carried on in their own way and they seemed at peace and contented. Though prisoners, they were spiritually free. NO ONE IN THE SOVIET UNION HAD SUCH FREEDOM OF WORSHIP AS THEY!
Later on, when I had the opportunity as a locker-room attendant for the MVD men to talk with some of the more hardened Russian Communists about religion, not one failed to mention the Miracle of the Nuns.
YES, GOD KNOWS HOW TO DELIVER THE GODLY.

EXAMINATION THREE

REFUTATIONS

(Answer the following by giving the argument which will correct the statement)

1.

This image of Nebuchadnezzar was erected because of God's command to do so. Refute!

2.

The three Hebrew friends of Daniel did not worship the image, but Daniel did. Refute!

3.

The fourth person Nebuchadnezzar saw in the fiery furnace was Jesus Christ. Refute!

ASSOCIATIONS

(Associate the person or thing of column 1 with the correct parallel of column 2)

1

2

dulcimer

location of the image

image

Cyrus

Meshach

Abed-nego

hosen

Daniel

angel

Mishael

satrap

tree

sheriff

bagpipe

Dura

triangular board instrument

cubit

kingdom guardian

furnace

Nebuchadnezzar

sackbut

kiln

lesser official
boots
a son of the gods
city of Babylon
measurement

MEMORIZATIONS
(Fill in the blanks:)

Nebuchadnezzar spake and said, Blessed be the ___________ of Shadrach, ______, and Abed-nego, who hath sent his _______, and delivered his servants that ____________ their bodies, that they might not ________ nor _______ any god, except their own God,

EXPLANATIONS

1.

Explain the probable reason Nebuchadnezzar commanded that all people worship his image.

2.

Explain why they had the Hebrew men thrown into the fiery furnace,

3.

Explain how the guards were consumed by the fire.

4.

Explain the deliverance of the three Hebrew youths.

5.

Explain the reaction of Nebuchadnezzar to this miracle.