How to Prepare for a Storm

Posted by David Whitten on August 31, 2011 under Staff | Read the First Comment

How to Prepare for a Storm

First I want to tell you that I missed worshiping with you last Sunday and I look forward to our fellowship this Sunday.

Since Irene blew through here last Saturday night I thought I’d like to share some thoughts about how to weather a storm. It is obvious that I am not qualified to instruct you on the preparation for a hurricane like Irene. I’ll leave that to Jim Cantore and the experts at the weather channel. I would like to offer some suggestions on how to weather the storms of life. These I have a little personal experience in. Many of which I have found my faith stronger after the winds of these storms have died down.

You can be sure that if you live long enough you will face storms that will challenge your faith. I’d like to share some storm tips to help you weather these storms.

Even Don Slater will advise you that the time to prepare for a storm is not when you see the wind blowing and the rain pouring. Prepare ahead of time. I would have never made it through the storms I have faced,  if I had not known to hunker down in the knowledge of God’s Word that had been planted in my heart long before the storms started brewing.

So, how do we prepare for these storms?

• The most important tool to protect us from the winds we will surly face is having a firm grasp on God’s Word. That means we must be students. Invest time my friends in the truth. We do this by having a daily practice in reading our bibles. It has been surprising that the scriptures I have studied before my storms have come have been the very words of truth that have helped me when I have been challenged.

Psa 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”

In the storm it gets dark God’s Word is a light in that darkness. May we learn to have a habit of ingesting a healthy portion of this food for our spirit so we may stand strong when the lightening of doubt flashes and the thunder of temptation rolls in.

• Surround yourself with godly friends. Accountability is a great strategy to have when we are tempted to give in to sin or when depression hits and we feel like giving up. A good godly friend can make the difference in our faith and can hold us accountable to the commitment we have made in Christ. God has given me some great friends to help me through the personal storms I have faced. I thank God for Chris Sowers, Dan Magan, Beau McFarlin, Merlin Swartzentruber, Greg Jennings, Michelle Davis, Beth Dodson, Becky Wilson and my best friend Carol Whitten. These people have been like gold to me. They have told me the truth when I believed a lie. They have held me up in prayer when all I wanted to do is fall down. They made me listen to the whole council of God’s word when His truth hurt.

Sure they were there when times were good and they laughed and rejoiced with me but the true measure of a friend is when the howls of the storm come in and these rush in when others run away.  As Proverbs 27:17 tells us “As iron sharpens iron,  so one person sharpens another.”

I strongly recommend that you find a few godly friends who you meet with regularly that will build you up, that you have the opportunity to stand shoulder to shoulder with in their struggles. You will find that doing life with these people will help you stay strong when you are tempted to give in.

Proverbs 12:26 teaches us “The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.”

It is important to be intentional in choosing you friends. Be selective. Just as a good friend can help you in dark times, bad friends can help your dark times get darker. Choose well.

• Lastly in our storm preparations before the storms come we must call on the one who can command the wind and rains. Having a healthy prayer life builds the relationship you have established with God through Christ. It has never been about religion to God it is about a relationship. This is the wonderful mystery that God has made known to us through Christ (Eph. 1:9) He desires all to come to him. All to be his people and He their God. This relationship is built primarily through prayer.

You think about your closest friendships, aren’t these the people that you spent the most time talking to? If you want to get close to God then, spent time talking to him.

James teaches us “Come near to God and he will come near to you” (James 4:8 NIV). The best way to come close to God is through constant, consistent prayer.

Many times we wait to pray to God while we are in the midst of our storm. We call out “God help”, and we don’t understand why God feels distant. It is because we don’t have a regular habit of drawing near to God. Our God is not a God of convenience. He doesn’t stand behind a glass that says “break only in time of emergency”. God is much more accessible when we have taken time to know God before the storm hits.

I have found that my time spent in prayer in the storms I have faced were more bearable  when I have spent significant time on my knees way before the storm rolled in.

Before Irene started howling through here my family took the time to secure the yard furniture, buy batteries, bottled water and tune in to the weather channel. These preparations before the storm made the aftermath way more manageable. Likewise, these few things we practice before the storms of life blow, will have the ability to stay strong during the storm and the sun will shine a little brighter after the clouds have cleared away.

See You Sunday!

Dave

Trouble Making Tongue

Posted by David Whitten on August 21, 2011 under Staff | Be the First to Comment

When I was 9 years old, I used to walk home from school since it was only a few blocks away from my home. My instructions were to always come directly home from school.
One day I was walking home with my friend Carlos, and he suggested we stop by his house and play for a while before I went home. We devised a lie to tell my parents. Then we went to Carlos’ house and played. His parents weren’t home so we could do anything we wanted. We watched TV but that got boring. Then we went in the back yard to find something to do. We sat there for a while and then Carlos went over to the grill and opened it up.

“Have you ever seen Ohio Blue Tips?” He said.
“No.” I replied.
“You can strike them about anywhere!” he said.

I was amazed. He lit them on the ground, on his zipper and even on the side of the house. So I tried it. I even struck one on my tooth. It wasn’t long until we got bored with just striking them. We had to build a fire. We stacked up the used matches in a Tee-Pee. And lit it. We added paper, bigger sticks, grass and leaves. We eventually had a pretty good fire going. Then Carlos went to the grill once again and said, “Watch this!”

He took out the charcoal lighter fluid and squirted it on our blaze.
Boof!
I was amazed. Then he did it again. Wow! I had to try it. So I did. Squirt!! Boof!! Cool!! I thought, “If a little squirt could make such a blaze, I wonder what a bigger squirt could do?” So I tried it.

I squirted a stream like you wouldn’t believe. The flame was enormous. But then something happened that I hadn’t counted on. The stream leading from the fire to the can ignited and even before I could think, the can blew up in my face!
My face caught on fire. I dropped the can and began running. I can still hear Carlos pleading, “Stop. Drop. And Roll”
Fine time for him to think of fire safety!. Eventually the fire went out. My skin was not burned thankfully-just the hair on my face--all the hair on my face. And the hair on my head was burned all the way to my forehead.
It looked like I had a receding hair-line. Ash was where my eyebrows were supposed to be. I didn’t know what I would tell my Mom and Dad.
I told them the first thing that I could think of “I fell down in sawdust and it stuck to my face” They weren’t buying that. I wasn’t allowed to play with Carlos anymore.
And I always came straight home from school

It all started with a small spark and that fire got out of control real fast.

This is the picture that James paints when he speaks of the trouble we have controlling our tongue

James 3:5 -6 Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole

person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

James is teaching us a very important truth here. We would do good to learn from his instruction.

The first thing we learn from James’ instruction is

1. Words Hurt

Do you remember that rhyme “Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me”

Well it’s a lie!

Whoever first made that statement clearly never has been the  butt of someone’s bad joke of has never been on the receiving end of a person’s uncontrolled angry words

Words hurt. It probably goes without saying but our words can seriously hurt people.

How many of us have been hurt by someone’s name-calling or gossip. We know the sting of an unkind word or a harsh criticism aimed to take us down a notch or two.

Proverbs 12:18 says “A reckless word is like a piercing sword”

Let’s take a moment and highlight some of these reckless weapons we often allow to flow out of our mouths

Gossip-

The most common reckless use of out tongue is gossip. It is one of those sins that everyone does. Ironically, this is a sin that most of us would readily admit because it is so common. But the truth of the matter is, It’s wrong. And it is a very destructive tool of division

Prov. 16:28 A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends.

Friendships are built on trust and When we gossip we destroy the trust that we have earned and turn a friend into an enemy.

1tim 5:13 they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things they ought not to.

It is detrimental for a church I have seen gossip go through a church and destroy friendships decades old. Few things can destroy a church like gossip. I believe it is the devil’s choice weapon to bring division in our congregations. The best way to keep gossip is not to participate in it.

Prov. 26:20 Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down.

It is very hard to have a one sided conversation. Do yourself a favor and refuse to entertain gossip. When you hear someone strike up a conversation about someone change the subject, question the would be gossip about his or her motives in this conversations or just simply walk away.

A lot of times you hear gossip start with a comment like this “so and so is a bum and I’d tell them that to their face” as if telling someone that they are a bum is as long as you tell it to their face. Gossip is never okay it is a sin that needs to be repented of.

Þ    Name calling

Þ    Cut downs or snide comments

If we know that words hurt us when we have been hurt by them why do we use our words to hurt others?

James 3:9-10
9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.

My challenge is that we ought to watch our words carefully.

Stop yourself when you are tempted to say something about someone.

Watch your words when you are talking to people and be careful when you bring up another person. Decide not to say anything that would unflattering of that person no matter who they are.

Not only can our word hurt others they can hurt us

ILL Cont. : When I got home that day my mom and dad were already home it was very apparent when I walked in that I looked quite a bit different then when I walked out of the house that morning. They asked where my eyebrows were an I explained the events of the day and as a result my mom and dad punished me and as part of that punishment was that I wasn’t allowed to play with carols any more.

That’s just what happens with reckless words they get out of control and ruin relationships.

Lets look at how reckless words hurt not only others but our relationships too

• Lying about others can earn you a reputation where no one will trust you

John 8:44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native

language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

when we lie we are practicing deception. There may be many reasons we lie but none of them are good and the result is the designation of trust we have from people. I have always heard that sin grows best in the dark. The reason is that it is shielded from the truth. when sin is brought to light it can stop growing and dealt with.

john 8:31-32 “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Þ    Cussing

ILL: A Little boy selling a push lawnmower. a preacher come along and wanted to buy it and asked did it run. "Yes sir", said the boy. The preacher pulled and pulled on the rope and said, "Son, this thing won’t start." The boy said, "That’s ‘cause you ‘gotta’ cuss it." The preacher said, "Son, I’m a preacher, and I haven’t cussed in 18 years." Boy said, "Keep pulling; it’ll come back to you."

the problem with cussing is that it comes back to you

• Cussing is evidence of an impure heart, these filthy words spew out of our mouths and ruin our witness of the Christ we professed as our Lord and master. for the new Christian it is a matter of training the tongue but for the seasoned Christian there ought not to be such profanity.

As James points out. “out of the same mouth come praise and cursing my brothers this should not be

cussing, just like lying and gossip will not only hurt others but it will also hurt us if we exercise it

Words not only can hurt, but if we choose words can heal and help

1. Words can heal and help

Fire is a priceless resource. We use it to cook our food, to keep warm we even use it in industry and to make energy to power our houses and businesses.

Our words are equally priceless in helping spread the gospel and instruct the church

Instead of using our words as weapons lets use them to encourage inspire teach Praise and glorify God.

Prov 16:24 Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

Þ    Encourage

a powerful use of our words is to use them in the encouragement of others. a life path can possibly be changed at the encouragement of a person who stops to notice the admirable qualities in another.

when someone encourages us we are motivated to do good.

Ill kieth buttermire

in Acts 4we meet a man named Joseph who was nicked named for the quality of encouraging others. they named him Barnabas which means “son of encouragement”

it is much better to have the reputation of building people up rather than having the reputation of tearing people down.

let’s strive to be a Barnabas

Þ    Inspire to action

our words can inspire others to action. we have all heard motivating speakers who have really challenged us and have called to change our ways.

Þ    Teach

there is quite possibly no better use for our words then instruction. and the instruction of God’s word.

Romans 10:14-15 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?  And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

God is Here

Posted by David Whitten on August 15, 2011 under Sermons | Read the First Comment

God Is Here!

David Whitten
Genesis 3:8-3:9

Most of us go to church and expect to entertain the presence of people we know. You may have thought to yourself oh, when I see Julian I want to ask him how the new job is going, when I see Terry and Dawn I want to thank them for the wonderful job they have done in the toddlers class room. When I see Ceil I want to ask her about Dean and see how he is coming along…
When we come to church we prepare to see people.
But did you come today expecting to entertain the presence of God?
He is here you know.. I mean, Really… He Is Here!

Think for a moment you have gathered in the presence of

• the one who knows what earth looked like before to was took form.
• The one who saw the look in Jonah’s face when he was spewed out of that big fish.
• The hands that held back the waters of the red sea for Moses and the Hebrew children as they escaped form Egypt are in this room that we gather in today.

We are in the presence of greatness today.

Have you come to show your gratitude,

Stand awe of his splendor of his glory?

To give honor, to offer blessing?

Did you come to ask him a question,

tell him thank you,

plea for mercy,

offer him praise,

serve him or did you come to church this morning just expecting to find people.

If you came just expecting to find people then I am here to encourage you to aim a little higher.

In adjusting our scope I’d like for us to…

1. Perceiving His Presence

2. Practice his presence through Prayer

3. Take his Presence Personal

1. Perceiving His PresenceIt has been God’s desire to have his presence dwell with man from the beginning.
   Consider this… When God created Adam and Eve it appeared that it was his practice to visit his creation in his literal presence
   Gen 3:8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?”10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

Think about it God was truly with man… I wonder what he looked like, I wonder what language he spoke… Was his voice deep and booming, or soft and calming.
None the less God was with man in the Garden. Wow…

But man sinned and because man sinned he had to remove man from his presence… man and God had to be separated. Because God is holy, he could not be in the presence of sin. And man, because of his disobedience became sin. Man was expelled from the garden

God had a plan to correct that.
Man’s sin grew rampant so man had to destroyed to restore order. He sent the flood and saved one man, his family and a two of every creature he made at creation… Noah.
God again assured man of his presence in the form of a rainbow after the flood.
He spoke verbally to the patriarchs
He presented himself to Moses and the Israelites in the form of a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of smoke by day.
He instructed Moses to build a Tabernacle to house his presence while his people were wandering in the wilderness.
God showed his presence through the many miracles in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, God walked with man again this time in the form of a human being in the body of Jesus the son of God.
He was born like you and me, he laughed like us, he cried like us, when he stubbed his toe it hurt like when we stub our toe.
He was completely human like us in every way except one… he had no sin. He was God. This gave him the unique ability to be the only human who ever lived who was capable to make restitution for the sin that was first committed by Adam and for every sin we have committed.

This could be paid for, by this one who was human but completely sinless.
This is what is meant in 2 Cor. 5:21 God made him who had no sin to be sin[a] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Jesus did die for each man and woman who has sinned (by the way that is every one of us) Romans 3:23 tells “all have sinned and fallen short.”

We are also told that Jesus is our only hope. John 14:6 says “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Now the presence of God is in us
1 cor. 6:19-20 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
God lives within each of us in the form of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 8:11 the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

It is God’s overwhelming desire to be in our presence. He wants his people to recognize that presence and experience him and share in his glory and blessing. He still wants that today from you and me.
The best instruction for us to perceive God’s presence is found in Psalms 46:10

“Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”

(watch this video)

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2s6d4X/www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DGMge_r7a13I

1. Perceiving His Presence

2. Practice his Presence Through Prayer
Hagar The Horrible’s Search for God
One of the world’s most loved comic strips is Hagar the Horrible. In one strip we find Hagar kneeling in prayer. “It’s not easy to believe in you God. We never see you. How come you never show yourself? How do we know you even exist…” Next we see
0. a flower springing into life beside Hagar,
0. a volcano erupting in the distance,
0. an eclipse of sun turning the sky black,
0. a star shooting across the stratosphere;
0. a tidal wave rushing over Hagar,
0. lightning flashing,
0. a bush beginning to burn,
0. a stone rolling away from the entrance to a tomb.
Hagar pulls himself from the mud, dripping wet, surrounded by darkness. “OK, OK. I give up! Every time I bring up this subject, all we get is interruptions.

Prayer is the practice of the presence of God. It is the place where pride is abandoned, hope is lifted, and supplication is made.

Prayer is the place of admitting our need, of adopting humility, and claiming dependence upon God. Prayer is the needful practice of the Christian.

Prayer is the exercise of faith and hope.
Prayer is the privilege of touching the heart of the Father through the Son of God, Jesus our Lord.? The Bible speaks much of prayer.

• Jonah prayed and God showed him a rainbow and made a promise
• Abraham prayed and God sent him on a journey of a life time and gave him a son even though he was old and his wife was barren
• Abraham’s chief servant prayed and God directed him to Rebecca Isaac’s wife
• Moses prayed and God showed him his presence through a burning bush
• Joshua prayed and the sun stood still over Gibeon and the Israel won the battle against the Amorites
• Hezekiah prayed and god extended his life
• Elijah prayed and it did not rain for 3 years. He prayed again and God sent a down-pour
• King David Prayed and we are inspired still today by the beautiful Psalms
• King Solomon Prayed and God gave him wisdom beyond compare and untold fortune
• Daniel prayed and God showed him his glory in heaven and things yet to come
• Jesus prayed and turned water to wine, withered a fig tree, calmed the storm feed 5 thousand people with 5 loves and 2 fish, He raised the dead and sent fourth his disciples who turned the world upside down
• The first century Christians prayed at the release of Peter and John from prison and the foundation of the house they were meeting were shaken. Acts tells us that because of this their faith was strengthened and they preached boldly and because of this preaching you have heard the Gospel and have the hope of eternity

Why don’t we pray more?
too often, we ignore prayer and seek to accomplish in the strength of our own wills

For those of us who are too often guilty of this, we need to bow our knees, confess our sin, receive God’s forgiveness, and beg that the will of the Lord be done above our own.

God is sovereign and loving and He knows what is best for us and others, even if it doesn’t always seem to make the most sense.?

We should pray consistently, trusting God.

We should pray for healing, trusting God.

We should pray for others, trusting God.
We should pray and when our prayers are answered or are not answered remember this: If we knew what the Lord knew, we wouldn’t change a thing.?

Prayer changes the one praying because in prayer, you are in the presence of God as you lay before Him your complete self in confession and dependence.

There is nothing to hide when in quiet supplication we are reaching into the deepest part of ourselves and admit our needs and failures. In so doing, our hearts are quieted and pride is stripped and we enjoy the presence of God.

Listen to this psalm

Psalms 131:1-2

My heart is not proud, O LORD,
my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
or things too wonderful for me.
² But I have stilled and quieted my soul;
like a weaned child with its mother,
like a weaned child is my soul within me.
David paints a beautiful picture of the peace of a child fulfilled by her mother, there is no need. There is only peace, so it is in the presence of our God in prayer we can rest.

James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”

Peace is one of those benefits of prayer. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus,” (Phil. 4:6-7).

I suppose that we can test our prayer life and dependence upon God by the peace or lack of peace in our hearts.

In all things we are to seek the Lord and in His continued presence peace will surely be our gain.?

Prayer is the practice of the presence of God.
1. Perceiving His Presence

1. Practice Prayer

3. Take His Presence Personal
ILL:  When I was in the seventh grade at Brandon Jr. high, I was short (I’m not much taller not) but I was really short I even has a nick name it was munch (short for munchkin). Needless to say I was picked on, Jr. high could be a very cruel place for a short kid with a learning disability. I was held up at my locker and running late for my next class. I decided to run and take a short cut to the next wing by going outside past the trailer in to the other part of the building. And I was running as fast as I could. The warning bell had already rung and the tardy bell would ring and second. I remember rounding the corner of a trailer and there is where I met the ninth grade football player. My head cam up to the middle of his chest. I know cause that is where my face hit him. You see he was late too. And he was running to where I was coming too. We meet at that corner and I ran in to him and bounced back about 15 feet and landed on my back and knocked the wind out of me. He didn’t budge he looked down and reached to picked me up to my feet. I was dizzy and couldn’t walk straight so he took me to the nurse.

I remember vividly walking with this giant of a kid and feeling secure. I don’t remember his name but I remember his kindness and his hugeness and thinking that with guy around no one would dare pick on me and I felt protected in this guys presence. He looked gown at me on our way to the nurse that day and asked “you okay little guy? With confidence I sad “yah, I doing good”

This is the confidence we have in the knowledge that God is With us. We have the greatest power in the universe at our side as we walk down the halls of life. We know that “if God is for us then who can be against us? Romans 8:37-39    ³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ 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

With that we have a great confidence in his presence

1. Perceiving His Presence

2. Practice his presence Through Prayer

3. Take his Presence Personal
We are in the presence of greatness today. Have you come to show your gratitude, to give honor, or offer blessing or did you come to just find people.

Oh friend there is more here, so much more. Come find the living God is here to welcome you home. Come enter the embrace of the one who knew your name even before you took your first breath

Not Gonna Bow to your Idol

Posted by David Whitten on August 8, 2011 under Sermons | Read the First Comment

“Not Gonna Bow to your Idol”

Daniel 3

It’s easy for us to look at this story in Daniel 3 and quickly pass judgment of the “stupid idol worshipers”. We might be tempted to say that we, in our advanced society have evolved past such foolishness. In reality we are just guilty of this activity as the Babylonians, Assyrians, Egyptians and Philistines we read about in our bibles. We judge the silly Hebrews for falling in to the habit of worshiping rocks and wood but we do the same things.

We would never bow a knee to Baal, Set, Dagon or Rah. But we worship at the altar of American idol and it is okay, we pay homage to our favorite ball team, Race car driver or movie star and we call that entertainment, we gamble, drink and ogle women (or Hot Guys) for you ladies (oh yes I’ve noticed the battle for the new old spice guy).

But everyone is doing it so it must be alright. It is time to take a look at this event that took place in the 6 century BC and take note of these committed Hebrew children and follow their example.

Let’s look at the account of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego

Outline:

Background Dan 1

1. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were some of the captives seized when Judah was conquered
2. Babylon took Israelites from the royal family and the nobility young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace
3. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego was not their original names. to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.
4. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were given a high position because of Daniel was able to interpret a dream for King Nebuchadnezzar in Dan 2

Then king had a dream that really bothered him so he gathered all his wise men, astrologers and fortune tellers and advisors and asked them to interpret this dream but the catch was they had to tell him the dream he had first then interpret it.

The response was this in v 11 What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among men.”

This made the king very man and he issued a decree to kill all the wise men, astrologers, fortune tellers and advisors. Daniels response was to get his friends (Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego ) to pray and ask God to show him the dream that the king had. And God did. The next morning Daniel awoke with the news and told the commander of the Kings guards that He could not only interpret the dream he knew what the dream was.

So Daniel told the king his dream and interpreted the dream He told him that he dreamed of a large statue with a head of Gold, arms and chest of silver belly and thighs of bronze and legs and feet of a mixture of iron and clay.

this greatly pleased the king so much that he richly rewarded Daniel making him ruler over the province of Babylon and placed him over all the wise men

This bring us to the beginning of our story.

It starts with…

An Arrogant King’s Idol let’s look at v. 1-3

¹ King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, ninety feet high and nine feet wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. ² He then summoned the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials to come to the dedication of the image he had set up. ³ So the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials assembled for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up, and they stood before it.

Now apparently the king was inspired by the image he saw in his dream that Daniel interrupted for him.

Look at Daniel 2:38  ³⁸ in your hands he has placed mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.

In the king’s dream what did the head of Gold represent?

Apparently Nebuchadnezzar got a big head over this dream (no pun intended) and built his own statue of himself

Have you ever meet someone so arrogant they made you sick and you felt a little embarrasses for them? They made you uncomfortable.

I have the feeling that King Nebuchadnezzar was that kind of a guy

He had a real god complex. It wasn’t enough to have insane wealth and it wasn’t enough to conquer every kingdom from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea, he had to have all these people that he ruled bow and worship him as a god.

That takes a special kind of arrogance. I like what God says about the proud and arrogant in

Isaiah 2:11-12

Isaiah says    “The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled
and the pride of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.  ¹² The LORD Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty,  for all that is exalted   (and they will be humbled),”

And that word had come true in Daniel 4 King Nebuchadnezzar was humbled. God quite literally sent him out to pasture.

^{Dan 4:28-33       28} All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. ²⁹ Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, ³⁰ he said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?”
³¹ The words were still on his lips when a voice came from heaven, “This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you. ³² You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like cattle. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes.”
³³ Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like cattle. His body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.

The eyes of the arrogant are humbled indeed.

Next we see

The Arrogant King’s Order in verses 4-6

⁴ Then the herald loudly proclaimed, “This is what you are commanded to do, O peoples, nations and men of every language: ⁵ As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. ⁶ Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.”

Not only was the king arrogant enough to make a statue of himself he ordered everyone to bow down to it and if they did not they would be burned in his people burning furnace.

I don’t know if this was a furnace that had some other use or if it was a custom built for this special occasion but it was some, furnace as we will see later.

Verses 7-12 show us Shadrach Meshach and Abednego

Standing out when others are fitting in v.7-12

⁷ Therefore, as soon as they heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp and all kinds of music, all the peoples, nations and men of every language fell down and worshiped the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up

Our heroes here refuse to bow even in the midst of all others falling on their faces in front of this gaudy display of their king’s arrogance.

Can you imagine the courage it took for these three men to stand while the masses around them fell flat on their faces? Talk about standing out like a sore thumb.

there was no way they were going to go unnoticed.

⁸ At this time some astrologers came forward and denounced the Jews. ⁹ They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! ¹⁰ You have issued a decree, O king, that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music must fall down and worship the image of gold, ¹¹ and that whoever does not fall down and worship will be thrown into a blazing furnace. ¹² But there are some Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon—Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego—who pay no attention to you, O king. They neither serve your gods nor worship the image of gold you have set up.”

Then enter in the Tattle tales; I can only imagine these astrologers were looking for a time to reap their revenge when Daniel made them look bad in front of the king.

I do believe that some prejudices and personal vendetta was at play here. When Daniel appointed Shadrach Meshach and Abednego to be administrators of the province of I think the astrologers who ratted out our heroes were jealous and envious. So they were quick to point out that Shadrach Meshach and Abednego did not obey the king’s order.

The Arrogant King’s Anger v.13-15

¹³ Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king, ¹⁴ 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? ¹⁵ 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?”

When Nebuchadnezzar got the news he clearly was not happy but surprisingly he gave them another chance. There is nothing stated as to why Shadrach Meshach and Abednego weren’t immediately thrown in the furnace, I think perhaps that Nebuchadnezzar felt some sort of loyalty to Daniel and maybe, just maybe he respected the God of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

Notice the king’s last statement. The Arrogance Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand? Well king Nebuchadnezzar was about to discover what God could save them.

Next Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego

Defend their actions “we are not Gonna Bow to your Idol” v.16-18

¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. ¹⁷ If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us^[c] from Your Majesty’s hand. ¹⁸ 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.”

Picture this, here was Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego standing in front of the most powerful man in the known world and he was giving them a second chance to save their life. Most of us would jump at the chance. All you had to do is blend in… who would blame them?

If we were watching this in a movie, this is the place in the movie where the background would work up to a intensity. And Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego say no, we are not going to bow to your Idol.

I want to point out that their ability to stand against this king comes from two most important attributes that these men possessed.

1. Integrity-   it began with starting with integrity

from the beginning these men set a standard that  they would be obedient to God

in ch 1 when they first were taken in to captivity they were determined not to defile themselves by the kings food and wine.

We would do good to make such determinations. We must make intentional decisions not to defile ourselves in the “little things” so when the big temptations come we will have the strength to stand when larger temptations come

This was the strategy that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had set up early on, so when it came to face the king they had ability to stand against the temptation to give in

1. Faith – They had an incredible faith in the God who they served. This evident in their bold statement to the King “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. ¹⁸ 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”

Lets note some bold statements of faith here

1. “The God we serve is able”

There is something very important about KNOWing God is able to move in our life’s circumstances. I can say I believe in something but the knowing goes a little deeper. It moves our believing in God to a believing God status.

When I believe in God I know some things about him and can make statements of truth.

When I believe God I believe in his actions and ability to do more then we can ask or imagine as eph 3:20 states

If I Believe God then, I can walk on water, move mountains and I can open the eyes of the blind and stand in front of a relentless king and tell him that I serve a God who is able to save me from his hand and from his fiery furnace.

Faith is not just a bold statement about your God but it is the total assurance that your God will act. This is the faith that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had. They Believed God.

1. “even if he doesn’t” these men were willing to stand in front of the king and denounce his idol even if God didn’t act. Even if he remained silent.

They were facing being thrown in a furnace even if God didn’t act. This showed the utter distain to the evil of idol worship, the evil of sin.

-          We can take a lesson here. We tend to give sin an audience to sin. To coddle it and excuse it. We take it out and play with it little while

-          “,no one will know, who is it going to hurt, what does it matter, everyone is doing it. We can always ask for forgiveness later. God will understand.”

-          We Reason and excuse our detestable actions. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego would have none of it because their faith went deeper and their dedication was stronger.

Boy what an example to learn from these faithful men

Next we see the reward of our heroes’ faith

Fireproof followers and the fourth fellow in the furnace v.19-27

¹⁹ 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 ²⁰ and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. ²¹ So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace. ²² 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, ²³ and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.

²⁴ 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.”

²⁵ 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.”

²⁶ 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, ²⁷ 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.

1. After Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego made these bold statements any loyalty the king had to Daniel or respect he had for their God disappeared in his anger toward Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
2. He had the furnace stoked up to beyond dangerous levels and he threw in at the expense of his own guards. What did he care? He was getting revenge.
3. Apparently this custom made people burning furnace was fashioned in such a way that an audience could be assembled and watch the “show” from a safe distance

What the king and the other onlookers saw was not at all what they expected.

They saw Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego walking around in the fire unbound and perfectly unaffected by the scorching heat and deadly flames. Then they saw something else they didn’t expect. It was a 4^th person they didn’t throw in the fire.

The story here says that this fourth person was likened to the gods. Some scholars say that is a theophany, an appearance of a god in human form. In our case it would be an appearance of the preexistent Christ.

Others say it was an angle. In either case God miraculously intervened.

1. The King was astonished and called our heroes our of the blazes and they stand before the king unharmed without even a hair singed. Amazing!
2. The result was praise glory given to the one true God. By an arrogant king who thought himself a god. That brings us to v 28-29

The Flabbergasted King and his order to Praise the Almighty v.28-29

²⁸ 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. ²⁹ 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.”

The king praises God.

When God does something remarkable it always bring forth God’s glory, even from the unbelieving.

Then the king offers a new decree 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.

This new decree is a little brutal but it turns the attention from the arrogant King to the truly Almighty God.

It’s kinda neat that the king who indented to receive the glory from his grand statue ended up giving glory to The One who deserves all glory and honor.

Promotion of the Protesters v. 30

³⁰ Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

Lastly our heroes are restored. They didn’t bend, they didn’t bow and they didn’t burn instead they were blessed.

So what can we take home from this?

1. Decide early on to be dedicated to God in the small things so when the hard times come we can stand strong
2. 2. Develop a distain for evil and all this unholy. Make up your mind that your sin is not just a failure in your obedience to God but it is detestable to God. Being sanctified means that we are set apart for God as his ambassador we are the representatives of God to this world he commands that we reflect him  1Peter 1:14-15 ¹⁴ As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. ¹⁵ But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; ¹⁶ for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

Decide to be holy and you will be a true reflection of God

1. 3. Believe God don’t simply believe in him. Ephesians 3:20 says Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. There is a power at work within us that God can and will use that will astound us.

Ill: My missionary friend, Jeff Hostetter from Ghana West Africa came to stay with Carol and I while on furlough when we were at Creeds. I remember that I took him to the air port to catch a plane back to Ghana. He spoke at Creeds the night before and we collected a small offering from the few that where there it was $90. I was a little embarrassed because the offering was so small so I gave him the little bit that I had in my wallet which was $26.18. I remembered that I had to pay the parking which was $1 so I took $1 back.

I remember the brief conversation about the duty charges that they sometimes charge on over weight items. He was concerned that the container he sent 3 weeks earlier was a little heavy and he didn’t have a way to pay for the duty. I told him something we often say when we don’t know what to say “God will provide”.

Well his plane arrived he boarded and then he was gone. About two months later Jeff wrote me a letter, in it he told me something astounding. When he went to go pick up his container there was an extra duty charge. And do you know how much it was? It was $115.18 to the penny. The exact amount from the $90 from the church and the $26.18 I gave Jeff after I took the dollar for parking… little did I know it in my pat answer to Jeff but God did provide indeed.

God does do immeasurably more then we can ask or imagine.

2011-08-07 DSW @GBCC

“Not Gonna Bow to your Idol”

Daniel 3

It’s easy for us to look at this story in Daniel 3 and quickly pass judgment of the “stupid idol worshipers”. We might be tempted to say that we, in our advanced society have evolved past such foolishness. In reality we are just guilty of this activity as the Babylonians, Assyrians, Egyptians and Philistines we read about in our bibles. We judge the silly Hebrews for falling in to the habit of worshiping rocks and wood but we do the same things.

We would never bow a knee to Baal, Set, Dagon or Rah. But we worship at the altar of American idol and it is okay, we pay homage to our favorite ball team, Race car driver or movie star and we call that entertainment, we gamble, drink and ogle women (or Hot Guys) for you ladies (oh yes I’ve noticed the battle for the new old spice guy).

But everyone is doing it so it must be alright. It is time to take a look at this event that took place in the 6 century BC and take note of these committed Hebrew children and follow their example.

Let’s look at the account of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego

Outline:

Background Dan 1

1. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were some of the captives seized when Judah was conquered
2. Babylon took Israelites from the royal family and the nobility young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace
3. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego was not their original names. to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.
4. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were given a high position because of Daniel was able to interpret a dream for King Nebuchadnezzar in Dan 2

Then king had a dream that really bothered him so he gathered all his wise men, astrologers and fortune tellers and advisors and asked them to interpret this dream but the catch was they had to tell him the dream he had first then interpret it.

The response was this in v 11 What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among men.”

This made the king very man and he issued a decree to kill all the wise men, astrologers, fortune tellers and advisors. Daniels response was to get his friends (Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego ) to pray and ask God to show him the dream that the king had. And God did. The next morning Daniel awoke with the news and told the commander of the Kings guards that He could not only interpret the dream he knew what the dream was.

So Daniel told the king his dream and interpreted the dream He told him that he dreamed of a large statue with a head of Gold, arms and chest of silver belly and thighs of bronze and legs and feet of a mixture of iron and clay.

this greatly pleased the king so much that he richly rewarded Daniel making him ruler over the province of Babylon and placed him over all the wise men

This bring us to the beginning of our story.

It starts with…

An Arrogant King’s Idol let’s look at v. 1-3

¹ King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, ninety feet high and nine feet wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. ² He then summoned the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials to come to the dedication of the image he had set up. ³ So the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials assembled for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up, and they stood before it.

Now apparently the king was inspired by the image he saw in his dream that Daniel interrupted for him.

Look at Daniel 2:38  ³⁸ in your hands he has placed mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.

In the king’s dream what did the head of Gold represent?

Apparently Nebuchadnezzar got a big head over this dream (no pun intended) and built his own statue of himself

Have you ever meet someone so arrogant they made you sick and you felt a little embarrasses for them? They made you uncomfortable.

I have the feeling that King Nebuchadnezzar was that kind of a guy

He had a real god complex. It wasn’t enough to have insane wealth and it wasn’t enough to conquer every kingdom from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea, he had to have all these people that he ruled bow and worship him as a god.

That takes a special kind of arrogance. I like what God says about the proud and arrogant in

Isaiah 2:11-12

Isaiah says    “The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled
and the pride of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.  ¹² The LORD Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty,  for all that is exalted   (and they will be humbled),”

And that word had come true in Daniel 4 King Nebuchadnezzar was humbled. God quite literally sent him out to pasture.

^{Dan 4:28-33       28} All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. ²⁹ Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, ³⁰ he said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?”
³¹ The words were still on his lips when a voice came from heaven, “This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you. ³² You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like cattle. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes.”
³³ Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like cattle. His body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.

The eyes of the arrogant are humbled indeed.

Next we see

The Arrogant King’s Order in verses 4-6

⁴ Then the herald loudly proclaimed, “This is what you are commanded to do, O peoples, nations and men of every language: ⁵ As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. ⁶ Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.”

Not only was the king arrogant enough to make a statue of himself he ordered everyone to bow down to it and if they did not they would be burned in his people burning furnace.

I don’t know if this was a furnace that had some other use or if it was a custom built for this special occasion but it was some, furnace as we will see later.

Verses 7-12 show us Shadrach Meshach and Abednego

Standing out when others are fitting in v.7-12

⁷ Therefore, as soon as they heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp and all kinds of music, all the peoples, nations and men of every language fell down and worshiped the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up

Our heroes here refuse to bow even in the midst of all others falling on their faces in front of this gaudy display of their king’s arrogance.

Can you imagine the courage it took for these three men to stand while the masses around them fell flat on their faces? Talk about standing out like a sore thumb.

there was no way they were going to go unnoticed.

⁸ At this time some astrologers came forward and denounced the Jews. ⁹ They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! ¹⁰ You have issued a decree, O king, that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music must fall down and worship the image of gold, ¹¹ and that whoever does not fall down and worship will be thrown into a blazing furnace. ¹² But there are some Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon—Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego—who pay no attention to you, O king. They neither serve your gods nor worship the image of gold you have set up.”

Then enter in the Tattle tales; I can only imagine these astrologers were looking for a time to reap their revenge when Daniel made them look bad in front of the king.

I do believe that some prejudices and personal vendetta was at play here. When Daniel appointed Shadrach Meshach and Abednego to be administrators of the province of I think the astrologers who ratted out our heroes were jealous and envious. So they were quick to point out that Shadrach Meshach and Abednego did not obey the king’s order.

The Arrogant King’s Anger v.13-15

¹³ Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king, ¹⁴ 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? ¹⁵ 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?”

When Nebuchadnezzar got the news he clearly was not happy but surprisingly he gave them another chance. There is nothing stated as to why Shadrach Meshach and Abednego weren’t immediately thrown in the furnace, I think perhaps that Nebuchadnezzar felt some sort of loyalty to Daniel and maybe, just maybe he respected the God of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

Notice the king’s last statement. The Arrogance Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand? Well king Nebuchadnezzar was about to discover what God could save them.

Next Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego

Defend their actions “we are not Gonna Bow to your Idol” v.16-18

¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. ¹⁷ If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us^[c] from Your Majesty’s hand. ¹⁸ 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.”

Picture this, here was Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego standing in front of the most powerful man in the known world and he was giving them a second chance to save their life. Most of us would jump at the chance. All you had to do is blend in… who would blame them?

If we were watching this in a movie, this is the place in the movie where the background would work up to a intensity. And Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego say no, we are not going to bow to your Idol.

I want to point out that their ability to stand against this king comes from two most important attributes that these men possessed.

1. Integrity-   it began with starting with integrity

from the beginning these men set a standard that  they would be obedient to God

in ch 1 when they first were taken in to captivity they were determined not to defile themselves by the kings food and wine.

We would do good to make such determinations. We must make intentional decisions not to defile ourselves in the “little things” so when the big temptations come we will have the strength to stand when larger temptations come

This was the strategy that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had set up early on, so when it came to face the king they had ability to stand against the temptation to give in

1. Faith – They had an incredible faith in the God who they served. This evident in their bold statement to the King “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. ¹⁸ 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”

Lets note some bold statements of faith here

1. “The God we serve is able”

There is something very important about KNOWing God is able to move in our life’s circumstances. I can say I believe in something but the knowing goes a little deeper. It moves our believing in God to a believing God status.

When I believe in God I know some things about him and can make statements of truth.

When I believe God I believe in his actions and ability to do more then we can ask or imagine as eph 3:20 states

If I Believe God then, I can walk on water, move mountains and I can open the eyes of the blind and stand in front of a relentless king and tell him that I serve a God who is able to save me from his hand and from his fiery furnace.

Faith is not just a bold statement about your God but it is the total assurance that your God will act. This is the faith that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had. They Believed God.

1. “even if he doesn’t” these men were willing to stand in front of the king and denounce his idol even if God didn’t act. Even if he remained silent.

They were facing being thrown in a furnace even if God didn’t act. This showed the utter distain to the evil of idol worship, the evil of sin.

-          We can take a lesson here. We tend to give sin an audience to sin. To coddle it and excuse it. We take it out and play with it little while

-          “,no one will know, who is it going to hurt, what does it matter, everyone is doing it. We can always ask for forgiveness later. God will understand.”

-          We Reason and excuse our detestable actions. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego would have none of it because their faith went deeper and their dedication was stronger.

Boy what an example to learn from these faithful men

Next we see the reward of our heroes’ faith

Fireproof followers and the fourth fellow in the furnace v.19-27

¹⁹ 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 ²⁰ and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. ²¹ So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace. ²² 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, ²³ and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.

²⁴ 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.”

²⁵ 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.”

²⁶ 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, ²⁷ 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.

1. After Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego made these bold statements any loyalty the king had to Daniel or respect he had for their God disappeared in his anger toward Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
2. He had the furnace stoked up to beyond dangerous levels and he threw in at the expense of his own guards. What did he care? He was getting revenge.
3. Apparently this custom made people burning furnace was fashioned in such a way that an audience could be assembled and watch the “show” from a safe distance

What the king and the other onlookers saw was not at all what they expected.

They saw Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego walking around in the fire unbound and perfectly unaffected by the scorching heat and deadly flames. Then they saw something else they didn’t expect. It was a 4^th person they didn’t throw in the fire.

The story here says that this fourth person was likened to the gods. Some scholars say that is a theophany, an appearance of a god in human form. In our case it would be an appearance of the preexistent Christ.

Others say it was an angle. In either case God miraculously intervened.

1. The King was astonished and called our heroes our of the blazes and they stand before the king unharmed without even a hair singed. Amazing!
2. The result was praise glory given to the one true God. By an arrogant king who thought himself a god. That brings us to v 28-29

The Flabbergasted King and his order to Praise the Almighty v.28-29

²⁸ 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. ²⁹ 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.”

The king praises God.

When God does something remarkable it always bring forth God’s glory, even from the unbelieving.

Then the king offers a new decree 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.

This new decree is a little brutal but it turns the attention from the arrogant King to the truly Almighty God.

It’s kinda neat that the king who indented to receive the glory from his grand statue ended up giving glory to The One who deserves all glory and honor.

Promotion of the Protesters v. 30

³⁰ Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

Lastly our heroes are restored. They didn’t bend, they didn’t bow and they didn’t burn instead they were blessed.

So what can we take home from this?

1. Decide early on to be dedicated to God in the small things so when the hard times come we can stand strong
2. 2. Develop a distain for evil and all this unholy. Make up your mind that your sin is not just a failure in your obedience to God but it is detestable to God. Being sanctified means that we are set apart for God as his ambassador we are the representatives of God to this world he commands that we reflect him  1Peter 1:14-15 ¹⁴ As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. ¹⁵ But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; ¹⁶ for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

Decide to be holy and you will be a true reflection of God

1. 3. Believe God don’t simply believe in him. Ephesians 3:20 says Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. There is a power at work within us that God can and will use that will astound us.

Ill: My missionary friend, Jeff Hostetter from Ghana West Africa came to stay with Carol and I while on furlough when we were at Creeds. I remember that I took him to the air port to catch a plane back to Ghana. He spoke at Creeds the night before and we collected a small offering from the few that where there it was $90. I was a little embarrassed because the offering was so small so I gave him the little bit that I had in my wallet which was $26.18. I remembered that I had to pay the parking which was $1 so I took $1 back.

I remember the brief conversation about the duty charges that they sometimes charge on over weight items. He was concerned that the container he sent 3 weeks earlier was a little heavy and he didn’t have a way to pay for the duty. I told him something we often say when we don’t know what to say “God will provide”.

Well his plane arrived he boarded and then he was gone. About two months later Jeff wrote me a letter, in it he told me something astounding. When he went to go pick up his container there was an extra duty charge. And do you know how much it was? It was $115.18 to the penny. The exact amount from the $90 from the church and the $26.18 I gave Jeff after I took the dollar for parking… little did I know it in my pat answer to Jeff but God did provide indeed.

God does do immeasurably more then we can ask or imagine.

Modern Day Idolatry

Posted by David Whitten on August 2, 2011 under Uncategorized | Be the First to Comment

Develop Great Habits

Posted by David Whitten on August 1, 2011 under Sermons | Be the First to Comment

Develop Great Habits

We have been in this series of “Going from Good to Great in God’s Eyes” This has been a lesson on practical Christian living. It has been a challenge for us to consider our current commitment and a challenge us to improve in the areas of ours thought life, our Prayer life and in the area of personal sacrifice.

Today we are going to hear a challenge that will call us to develop great habits in each of the areas we have already studied.

“Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.” Vince Lombardi

“Your net worth to the world is usually determined by what remains after your bad habits are subtracted from your good ones.” Benjamin Franklin

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.” Aristotle

To develop great habits we need to be intentional in both driving out bad habits and ushering in new habits. So how do we do that? Where do we start? Well a good place to start is to take what we have learned in this study and make them Great Habits in what we do in our daily lives.

1. 1. Develop the habit of Great Thoughts

Ben Alexander Said that there is a battleground that both God and Satan are fighting to posses and that battle ground is every man’s and woman’s mind and will.

Our thoughts will go one way or another we decide which way they will go. Certainly it remains our idol thoughts will almost always go to please our flesh.

James 1:14-15 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. ¹⁵ Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

Let me offer a few suggestions of how to Develop the habit of Great Thoughts

1. Take inventory

We can’t have good godly thoughts if we don’t purposely evaluate our current thoughts and sources of those thoughts.

Go through this exercise, for one day just take note actually write down any negative thoughts you may have and note what you were doing when you had that thought. either listening to music or watching  TV or reading information on the internet.  Just write down 10 or 20 thoughts should be enough. At the end of the day and evaluate them.

This holds a mirror up in your face and allows you to face your thought life.

This also puts in to practice 2 Cor 10:5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

1. Purge your negative or impure thoughts

You wouldn’t pour a drink in to a dirty glass, would you? Neither should you attempt to have pure godly thoughts with a mind that is filled with filth.

The best way to start great thoughts it to trim the fat out of your entertainment and information diet.

Another personal challenge is to take an actual fast for a weekend from entertainment and information mediums. Start with Prayer and ask God for direction.  Replace that time with reading good godly books, read the bible, listening to nothing but good and godly music, Do something for someone else, do some activities either by yourself or with your family . Go outside in nature and take note of God’s beauty, tell him about it.

After your experience take note on your thoughts. You’d be surprised the reduction of negative and impure thoughts.

Seriously consider the removing some things that create negative or impure thoughts.

1. Be intentional in regularly feeding things that are Good and Godly

. find time to read godly books

. Read your bible daily

. Join or Start a small group that studies the bible

. listen to Godly music

. use your remote, change the station when things come on tv that are not good. Or better turn the TV off and do something else.

. engage in conversations about God

. walk away from conversations that tear down others or become impure and avoid conversations with people who criticize or complain

. Memorize scripture Start with Phillipians 4:8

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

1. 2. Develop the habit of Praying Great Prayers

Jesus gave us a pattern for prayer but putting prayer in to our daily habit is a discipline that most of us struggle with.

If like to offer a few suggestions of how to take your prayer life from good to great.

1. Plan for it

“If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.”
— Harvey MacKay

Plan a time and a place for prayer every day. If you are a morning person pray in the morning then pray in the morning, if you are a night owl then pray at night. Do it daily. Just start it and make it a priority.

You might find it helpful to have a place you go to think, meditate on God and pray. Don’t be afraid to let your family or coworkers know that that is what you are doing. Doing this will accomplish a few things 1. They will leave you alone and offer you some uninterrupted quiet time. 2. They may have a prayer concern that will want you to pray about and allow an opportunity to witness to your friends. 3. It will help you keep accountable to others. One warning here, AVOID SELF RIGHTOIUSNESS and HYPOCRISY.  Attitudes of piousness will ruin your witness quick. Hypocrisy  will turn off people to your witness. If you struggle with either of these I suggest you just quietly pray in your place not calling attention to yourself.

1. Make a Prayer list or keep a prayer Journal

As things come up in your day have a place where you write down the items you can pray for. Note cards or a small tablet Some people have made it a discipline to keep a prayer Journal they will write out their prayers and date them this gives them the ability to look at what they prayed for and see how God has answered their prayers.

1. If you tell someone you are going to pray for them be sure to do it. It can have a greater impact than you realize

ILL Mrs. Cameron

1. Make it a relationship rather than a ritual.
2. Pray for and with your spouse.

There is something about the bond that is created when people pray together. When you pray for your spouse God will do some incredible things that you never thought possible. Do this I dare you and you will see your spouse as the precious gift they are to you.

When you pray with your spouse you will add a dimension to your relationship that you may never have known that was there. I love to hear my wife pray. In her prayers I hear her devotion and faith in the God and savior we both love. It builds for my love for our God and for her.

Also there is something about praying with someone when you have a desperate need that brings about action.

Mat 18:18 “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

ILL. Prayer for a car

1. 3. Develop the habit of Making Great Sacrifices

When we talk about making great Sacrifices we are talking about making a personal decision to do something for the Kingdom of Christ. What that looks like for you will be different for what that looks like for me.

Jesus said “deny yourself and take up your cross daily”

This is a clear, contingent and costly call. For some it has meant leaving career and family and to become a missionary in Africa like my friends Jeff Hostetter and Patrick Kline. For others it has been a severe life change that meant they would live right where they are to declare the glory of God and impact the world with the blessings that Gods has freely given them like this lady named Jamie in David Platts book Radical (ch 4 p. 84)

God may call you to go on a mission trip, he may ask you to serve in a homeless shelter, he may ask you to defend the plight of the thousands being sold in to human trafficking.  He may ask you to start a small group, volunteer at church. We would be surprised the impact we would have If we would just allow god to move in us to do his service.

My challenge is to stop for a minute doing life the way you have always and sacrifice a little of your own comfort in order to bless someone. Have you ever thought that the reason God has blessed you is that you may be a blessing to someone else. How are you going to do that?

Watch this video