Prior to the Super Bowl football game, I read a rather interesting story about Ronald Reagan in the L.A. Times.   He was about to leave a press conference in New Hampshire and someone fired a question at him.   “Who do you like in the Super Bowl?”   Without hesitation, the former governor of California and now the presidential hopeful said, “The Rams.”   Then a light apparently went on in his brain and he paused and said, “Wait a minute.   I’m not running for governor of California anymore.   May the best team win.”

It’s amazing how fickle our loyalties are, isn’t it?   Dependent upon certain external pressures, we get swayed so very easily by the circumstances and who we want to influence.   This is just a part of life for most people.   And I hope as we study Daniel chapter 3 tonight we can do what we’ve done so many times already in the book of Daniel, and that is we can learn to draw a line, and call that line conviction, and determine in our minds and our hearts that we’ll never descend below that line.

That isn’t easy to do.   Let me give you a simple way to look at it.   Our decisions, our attitudes, and our behaviors are determined by one of two things:   External pressure or internal principle.   Let me say it again.   Our attitudes, our decisions and our behaviors are determined by one of two things:   External pressure or internal principle.   And the battle is going on all the time in our lives between these two conflicting items.

And we’re very good at self-justification, so a lot of times when we succumb to external pressure, we define it as internal principle.   But basically, we have to come down to that bottom line.   Do we do what we do, say what we say, and act the way we act because we have convictions about it or because we feel the pressure coming from the outside?   And are our convictions somewhat altered by whatever pressures are brought to bear upon us?

There are times when I’m in a situation where if I say what I believe I’ll alienate a lot of people and I face that same bottom line.   Do I say what I believe based on internal principle or do I succumb to the external pressure and let them hear what they’d rather hear?

When you are working in a business situation and you have the opportunity to make hay, shall we say, to do very well by yourself and close a big deal by simply compromising a little bit, maybe telling a small lie, cheating in a small way, violating a rule that seems to you rather insignificant, do you succumb to that kind of external pressure, or do you act completely and totally on the basis of what you know to be proper internal principle?   Because that’s really the key issue as we live and move in this world.

And frankly, the world if it ever needed it needs now men and women who function on internal principle.   I don’t know about you but whether you’re talking about politics or anything else, you get a little weary of people who succumb to external pressures and wind up ever saying what you want them to say.

Now, as we approach the third chapter of Daniel, we’re going to meet three young men who functioned on internal principle and they didn’t really care what the external pressure was.   And as followers of Jesus Christ, I think we have a lot to learn from these three young men.   I want you to put yourself in this situation tonight.   I want you to see yourself here.   I’m not so concerned that you see Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego as that you see you here.   And that you see how you would respond in a similar situation.

I’ve been filtering that through my own mind now for several weeks, and I really want to put myself in the sermon, and I want you to put yourself in the sermon, because that is the only thing that’s going to make it meaningful for you.   It doesn’t really matter that these three Hebrew young men did what they did.   It doesn’t really matter to us today unless there is something here that we have gained personally in the way we confront the world.   Do we put God first?   Do we put His Word first?   Do we do what we do based entirely upon internal principle?   Or do we vacillate, and compromise, and act on external pressure?

Studdert-Kennedy, who was an Anglican minister and a pastor at Worster in England, also was a chaplain in World War I.   And he has written some very, very beautiful poems that have always been favorites of mine.   But Studdert-Kennedy, as well as a poet, was a pastor and a chaplain.   And as a chaplain, he had to go to the war, and he had to leave his family.   He had a little son, and he wrote a letter to his little son from the trenches of France, where he was in the midst of very serious warfare.   This is what he said.   Obviously the letter was through his wife for his son couldn’t read.

“The first prayer I want my son to learn to say for me is not, ‘God, keep Daddy safe.’   The first prayer I want my son to learn is, ‘God, make Daddy brave, and if he has hard things to do, make him strong to do them.’   Life and death don’t matter, my son.   Right and wrong do.   Daddy dead is Daddy still.   But Daddy dishonored before God is something too awful for words.   I suppose you’d like to put in a bit about safety, too, and Mother would.   Well, put it in afterwards, always afterwards, for it doesn’t matter nearly as much.”

Well, Studdert-Kennedy was right.   Daddy dead is Daddy still.   But Daddy compromised is something awful.   And that’s the uncompromising integrity that God calls for, and that’s precisely what we see in the lives of these three men, who were able to face external pressure that was literally unbelievable but make decisions based absolutely and only on internal principle received through the divine revelation that they were taught.

And I say again, and I’m not just talking about the world of politics, or the world of government, or the world of business.   I’m telling you that the church of Jesus Christ needs men to whom external pressure brings no fear.   And that just isn’t true in all cases.

One poet wrote it this way, “I saw the martyr at the stake, the flames could not his courage shake, nor death his soul appall.   I asked him whence his strength was given, he looked triumphantly to heaven and answered, ‘Christ is all.’ ”   That is the heart of the three young Hebrews, and I trust that God will give you that same heart as you learn tonight from this marvelous passage.

Now, the story unfolds with eight key features, and as Jerry said last time, we did number one, and I told him I was going to try to do number two through eight tonight, and they were skeptical.   But we’ll see.   The flow of the text is a narrative text, and it flows from the ceremony, to the command, to the conspiracy, to the coercion, to the courage, the consequences, the companion, and the commendation.

And curiously, I would just add this footnote.   Daniel isn’t here in this passage.   And I think that is abundantly important to us.   We all know of the great character and virtue of Daniel as indicated in the first chapter and the second.   We’ve all seen this tremendous strength of character that Daniel had in his uncompromising stand against the king’s meat, and the king’s wine, and the king’s activities.   And I think we kind of felt that Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael - otherwise known as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in their Babylonian names - sort of slid along on Daniel’s coattails, and so just so that we’ll know that wasn’t the case, the Lord conveniently removes Daniel.

And he’s not even around when all of the things are going on in chapter 3, which is amazing in itself because this is such a massive event in the kingdom of Babylon.   It must have been that Daniel was out of the country on some very important business as prime minister, or whatever rank he had at this particular time.   But he’s not here and these three young men stand alone, but they stand courageously.

First of all, the ceremony.   Look back at verses 1-3.   We’ve already discussed them, but just to remind you.   “Nebuchadnezzar the king - ” he’s the king of Babylon, where these young men, Hebrew young men, have been taken captive along with all that was left of the nation of Judah.   “Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth of it six cubits - ” that’s 90 feet high and 9 feet wide.   “He set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.   And then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

“And then the princes, the governors, the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.”

Now, what you have here is Nebuchadnezzar making an image, a massive statue to himself, identifying himself, if you will, as a god, and demanding that all of the highest ranking people in the Babylonian Empire fall down and worship him.   And as I told you before, the gold that represented Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel’s vision of the four world empires captivated his thinking, no doubt, and so he decided to make a massive statue all of gold to his own glory.

And it sort of symbolizes the monarch and his empire embodied into one great reality, and he wanted everyone to bow down and worship him.   Nebuchadnezzar was simply doing what all men tend to do who don’t know God, that is they worship themselves.   They invent gods of their own thinking to fit their own mind and their own attitude.

And having established this great idol, and demanded that everybody worship it, this brought these three Hebrew young men into a very chilling decision.   Because they knew the Law of God regarding idolatry, and they knew what it was to set up graven images, and how heinous it was to the mind of God, they knew that it was unacceptable, and they knew they faced the reality of making a decision.

Now, you’ll notice that all the nobles had little character, because in verse 2 it says he called them all, and then in verse 3 it lists them all over again, almost in a sarcastic way, and says they “all stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.”

In other words, typically, all of these leading politicians, and all of the hierarchy of Babylon was willing to do whatever it took to get the approval of Nebuchadnezzar.   They would compromise all of their convictions, whatever other deities they may or may not have worshiped, they would set all of that aside to do what was ever necessary for them to gain favor with this man, and to take themselves out of a position of being punished or even being killed because they failed to do it.

And so all the great ones stand there in their typical compromising fashion, and it reiterates them all in verse 3, I think, in order to sort of humiliate them in almost a satirical way as their lack of character is made manifest.

Now, we move from the ceremony to the command in verse 4.   “Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations and languages.”   Now let me just give a footnote there.   “Peoples, nations and languages” is just a common form of address to speak of a conglomerate of people.   It is used again in the same chapter in verse 7.   It is used again, I think it’s over in verse 29.   Yes, “people, nation and languages.”   It’s used in chapter 4, “people, nations and languages,” in verse 1.   It’s used again, I think it’s in chapter 6.   It’s just a way of sort of a common way of addressing any conglomerate assembly of people.   And so he calls together all of this conglomerate and he gives them a command.

And what is it?   It's in verse 5.   “That at that time - ” and that means “at that precise moment,” he wants absolute submission, in absolute precision at a very exacting moment.   “At that moment that you hear the sound of the horn, the pipe, the lyre, the sackbut, the psaltery, the dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up.”

Now, apparently this guy had a royal orchestra with all of this stuff playing together, some no doubt sensual music, to try to draw everybody’s attention to the image and cause them to bow down.   It is kind of interesting to note - I’ll say this for Clayton’s benefit - that you have both wind and string instruments here.   There is the horn and there is the pipe, and that means a flute.   And then, by the way, the horn had a lower sound and the flute had a higher sound.

And then you have a lyre, L-Y-R-E, which is a harp, and this was a smaller harp with high sounds.   And then there is the sackbut, which is very difficult to ascertain.   In fact, frankly we haven’t got the faintest idea of what that is.   Sorry about that.   Then there is a psaltery.   I mean, there’s a lot of speculation, but it’s useless.   There’s a psaltery, and that is a harp with a sounding board.   A lyre was a high sounding harp and a psaltery was a low sounding harp.   And then there was a dulcimer, and believe it or not, that’s basically a bagpipe.   And then all kinds of music with all these instruments was the cue.   When the music started, everybody was instantly to fall down and worship the image.

Now frankly, people, this guy’s really got an incredible ego.   He’s got the whole nation gathered together, all of the leading dignitaries.   He’s called out the royal orchestra.   They’re all ready to go.   And when they hit their cue, everybody is supposed to bow down to his massive image.

I might just add that music has always been a part of sensuality and has always been connected with the worship of idols.   And like every other good thing that God has given us, Satan has surely used music to promote his evil system, hasn’t he?   Never has he done a better job of it than our current day today.

All right.   Then the consequences come in verse 6.   “And whoever falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast int o the midst of a burning fiery furnace.”   Now, I don’t know what it could be except a burning fiery furnace if it was a fiery furnace, so we assume that the burning is set there for the intensification so you’ll understand that it’s a superlative approach that he makes.   Anybody who refuses to bow down constitutes a treasonous act and will be thrown into the fiery furnace.   If you’re standing in opposition to the greatness of Nebuchadnezzar, that’s all for you.

Well, most people respond to external circumstances and external pressure.   They conform to whatever is required of them rather than internal principle.   So verse 7 says, “Therefore at that time - ” that precise moment “ - when all the people heard the sound of the horn, the pipe, the lyre, the sackbut, the psaltery, and all kinds of music, all the people, the nations and the languages - ” there they are again “ - fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.”

Now you what to meet a pile of non-thinking, intimidated people, that’s them.   Typical approach to life.   You do whatever you need to do to get whatever you need to get, living on the lowest level, compromising internal principle based on external pressure.   Men invariably bow to the system.   They bow to the powers that be.   They do whatever they have to do.   Afraid to lose their position, and so they compromise.

But, it doesn’t tell us but we know that in the white spaces here something else was going on.   Everybody was down except three guys, and boy, would they ever stick out.   They didn’t go down.   And so we move to the ceremony, to the command, to the conspiracy in verse 8, the conspiracy.   Now watch this.

“Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and accused the Jews.”   Now I told you when we first started to study this book that there were probably as many as 75, at least, young men who were taken from the court of Judah to the court of Babylon to be trained to work in that court in the matter of Jewish affairs.   But out of all of the 75 - and that’s just a kind of an educated guess, it could have been more or a few less - but out of all of these young men that were taken into captivity who were the sons of the royalty of Judah, only 4 of them ever are presented as uncompromising:   Daniel and his three friends.

And so we assume that the rest of them just hit the deck with everybody else.   They were going to buy the bag, accommodate themselves.   They were moving up in the system and they weren’t about to give themselves problems, and so they just followed along.   But apparently, from the indication of verse 8, there were these 3 that did not.   And may I hasten to add that they were probably about 20 years of age.   They were very young.   Tremendous conviction for men so young.

Now, I want you to notice in verse 8 a very important word - well, two words really.   First of all, “Chaldeans.”   The Chaldeans had been kind of the mainstay of Babylonian culture and hierarchy.   But when these three young men had shown such great character, and when Daniel had been able to interpret Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, both Daniel and his three friends, remember, got elevated to very high places, and it’s very likely that they were even set above the Chaldeans.

Look back in 2:49.   “Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: and Daniel sat in the gate of the king.”   Daniel was given a place of - I think at this point we could call it - the prime minister of Babylon, and the other three were placed in the leadership of the affairs of Babylon, as the province of Babylon.   So they had been elevated.   And the Chaldeans resented this.   They were angry about this.   And so it says they “accused the Jews.”

That’s a very interesting word.   It means literally to “eat the pieces of.”   Okay?   It is used to eat the pieces of flesh that are torn off a body, as a rapacious animal would strip the flesh and the tissue off a body and consume it.   The Chaldeans came in a malicious way to slander almost in a cannibalistic way, to strip the flesh off, to literally devour to pieces these Jews.   So it’s not a legal term.   It’s not talking about something of a law court accusation, but rather a malicious, hating desire to tear their flesh.   And like cannibals, they came after these three Jews.

And the Chaldeans, of course, I think also we have to remember, were energized by Satan, for they were the basically the priests of the god known as Bel-Merodach, who was the main god - Bel being a similar to the form we know as Baal.   And so they saw their chance, energized by Satan through their own false religious system, to tear into these young Hebrews.

Hypocritically, they spoke to the king as if they were defending him.   They accused the Jews as if to aid the king in finding out if everybody had obeyed.   In verse 9, “They spoke and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live forever.”   Gave him all that flowery jazz that kings like to hear.   “We’re really here, king, just to assure you of our commitment.”   They were envious of the high positions of these Jewish boys, and they wanted to do all they could to change that but they came on hypocritically.

Verse 10, “Thou, O king, hast made a decree, - ” and they go through the whole deal “ - that every man that shall hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, shall fall down and worship the golden image:   And whoever falleth not down and worshippeth, that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.”   And they got it pretty accurate.   That’s pretty well verbatim what the king said.   They reiterated the standard, and then they revealed the real issue in verse 12.

“There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon - ” and that’s what stuck in their craw – 2:49 - that is what really aggravated them that these captive Hebrews would be given such a high ranking place.   “Those certain Jews - Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee:   they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.”

Slaves, imported hostages, foreigners, and you’ve made rulers out of them, and they rule over us.   That’s what really eats at them.   And you get a little bit of the insight of the appalling sin of envy.   God says, for example, in Proverbs 14:30, “A sound heart is the life of the flesh:   but envy the rottenness of the bones.”   J. Allen Blair writes, “Envy in the believer is as rotting bones in the sense that spiritual power and usefulness are curtailed.”

This was the case in the life of Saul.   He had been a great king, anointed of God to be the Lord’s witness.   But because of the sin of envy, Saul’s life degenerated into utter uselessness.   Saul heard people singing, “Saul had slain his thousands and David his ten thousands.”   This was only a song, but it awakened in his heart the wicked passion of envy.   The Song of Solomon 8:6 says, “Jealousy is cruel as the grave.”   Jealousy and envy is like an acid.   It literally corrodes the soul.   It destroys the beauty of the soul like a grave destroys the beauty of the body.   And they were being consumed by the sin of envy.   And so they bring this to the king.

Now, notice that they accuse them of three things, verse 12.   One, in the middle of the verse, “ - O king, these men have not regarded thee.”   First of all, they haven’t regarded you.   They haven’t given attention to you.   They haven’t responded to you.   They haven’t given you your due.

That’s not true.   They had faithfully fulfilled unwritten Scripture in Matthew 22:21 where our Lord said, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.”   They had unquestionably fulfilled their responsibility to the king insofar as it didn’t violate their responsibility to God.   They were good citizens.   They had responded to the king.   Go back to chapter 1 you find out that they had given the king his due.

The second two accusations were true.   Verse 12.   “They serve not thy gods, - ” that was true “ - and they don’t worship the image which you set up.”   Now what’s amazing, here is this.   These three young men knew the price of disobedience.   And you have to ask yourself how could anybody put principle so high that they would literally stand there while the entire mass of people went down, they would stand there resolute, ready to walk into a burning fiery furnace?   Now that’s character, people.   That’s functioning on internal principle, not external pressure.

Now you just think about the pressure.   You think about it.   Nebuchadnezzar was their friend.   Nebuchadnezzar was their benefactor.   Their destiny was in his hands.   Resisting Nebuchadnezzar would be utterly useless.   They have no other resource.   Future advancement in their careers in Babylon were absolutely dependent upon their allegiance.   They could have said to themselves, “An idol is nothing, anyway, so why do we worry about it?   We’ll just kneel down with everybody else, only we’ll pray to the true God.”

They could have said, “Everybody’s doing it.   If we’re going to reach people we’ve got to be part of them.”   They could have said, “Well, you know, the fire tends to be fatal, and if we’re dead we’re not real useful to God, and we’re in such a strategic place if we get burned up it’s just going to mess up the whole plan.”

And they also could have thought, “Well, if we don’t bow down, we’re going to play into the hands of these jealous Chaldeans.”   And they may have thought for a moment that death wasn’t in their contract.

There were lots of things that could have come to bear upon them as pressures, but in spite of all of this they were resolute and absolutely uncompromising.   It’s amazing the situation they were in to take such a firm stand.   Stephen Girard, the unbelieving millionaire of Philadelphia, years past, told his clerks one Saturday that they had to come the next day and unload a shipment which had just arrived.   Well, the next day was Sunday.   One young man stepped up to the desk and said nervously, “Mr. Girard, I can’t work on Sunday.”   “Well, sir,” replied the employer, “if you can’t do as I wish, we can separate.”

“I know that, sir,” said the young man.   “And I know, too, that I have a widowed mother to care for, but I cannot work on Sunday.”

“Very well,” said Mr. Girard, “go to the cashier’s desk and he’ll settle with you.”

For three long weeks the biographer says the young man tramped the streets looking for work, and one day a bank president asked Girard to name a suitable person for cashier of a new bank about to be started.   After reflecting a moment, Girard named the young man he had just fired.  

“But I thought you said you fired him,” said the bank president.   “I did,” retorted Gerard, “because he wouldn’t work on Sunday.   And I tell you, the man that will lose his job on account of principle is the man with whom you can trust your money.”

You know, you have to kind of ask yourself the question if you’re in Nebuchadnezzar’s situation, why bother about three guys, right?   You’ve got everybody else down.   What’s the sweat?   But have you ever noticed egomania can’t stand one person that doesn’t conform?   One person is all it takes to make them literally livid, let alone three.   And so Nebuchadnezzar was never satisfied with everybody but three.   Megalomaniacs are never satisfied with anything less than everybody, period.

And so, the conspiracy.   From the conspiracy, we go to the fourth feature in this narrative, the coercion.   And by coercion here, we find Nebuchadnezzar confronting the three, and trying to coerce them into a response that is more fitting.   But we find them to be unshakeable.   Notice, we’ll read 13-15, follow along.   “Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury - ” now that shows you what kind of a guy he was.   He is - those words are strong words.   He is a raving maniac because these three Hebrews won’t bow down.   You’d have to figure to yourself, you know, “All these thousands are down.   I’m not going to worry about those three.   I’ve got a pretty good majority going.”

But not if you’re a man like Nebuchadnezzar.   He is in an absolute fury and he commands to be brought to him Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and then they brought these men before the king.   “And Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?”

Notice he dropped the first accusation that they made in verse 12 that they don’t regard the king, because he knew that wasn’t true.   So he just dropped that first one.   But he said, “Is it true that you don’t worship and serve my gods, and you won’t bow down to the golden image?”

And then he goes through this whole routine again.   “Now, if you be ready that at that time you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, sackbut, psaltery, dulci - ” he must have memorized this speech “ - and all kinds of music, fall down and worship the image which I have made; but if you worship not, you shall be cast in the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.”

And then he adds this stupid statement.   “And who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?”   Boy, he’s really getting carried away.   “Who is that God that will deliver you out of my hands?”   He’s got a short memory, this guy.   Has he forgotten the same God that was able to reveal dreams and visions?   What a maniac.

“Is it true - ” he says.   “Is this really true - ” verse 14 “ - that you won’t do this?”   And in his favor, I guess, he is a somewhat just man.   He at least gives them a chance to speak for themselves before he throws them into the fiery furnace based on the accusation of the Chaldeans.   I’m sure he knew that they were a little upset about what was going on politically, anyway.

And his pomp makes him furious, and he is white-hot at this particular point, and he goes to the point of actually putting himself against God, and pitting his power against the power of God.   “Who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?”

O the folly and the stupidity of that kind of pride.   When you pit yourself against the eternal God, you have met your match, and he meets his match in this chapter and in succeeding ones, as we shall see.   Had he forgotten that Daniel’s God was greater than all the gods of Babylon, including his own gods who couldn’t answer his dreams and help him in any way, shape or form?   It seems as though the idolatrous fool in the midst of his egomania had forgotten that.

We go, then, from the ceremony, to the command, to the conspiracy, to the coercion, and finally the courage, verse 16.   And this is the climax, it’s just fabulous.   “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king - ” now, we’re right there, folks, what are they going to say?   “O Nebuchadnezzar - ” they don’t give him all that “long-live-the-king” stuff.   “O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.”   I love that.   Well, what does that mean?

Well, basically, “We just don’t have anything to say.”   It isn’t arrogant.   There just was nothing to say.   They were simply admitting their guilt.   “We have nothing to say to you by way of a denial, and we have nothing to say to you by way of an explanation, because explanations won’t mean a thing, and so we just are not concerned about giving you an answer at all.   We’re standing, and that’s the way we’ll remain.”

They had faithfully served Nebuchadnezzar as far as they could.   This was going too far.   And then comes the sublime statement.   In fact, maybe the most sublime statement any mortal ever makes in the whole of the Bible, maybe the greatest affirmation of true faith anywhere in holy Scripture.   Verses 17 and 18.   “If it be so, our God whom we serve - ” and that’s pretty direct “ - is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king - ” one way or another.   “But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.”   End of speech, period, paragraph.

No rationalization, no dialogue, no, “Well, what would you like us to do?   Could we bend down half way?”   None of that.   “We don’t have any defense,” they say.   “We don’t have any answer.   We don’t have any out.   We have absolutely nothing to say, except our God whom we serve is greater than you.   And He’ll deliver us out of your burning, fiery furnace, and even if He doesn’t, we still aren’t going to bow down.”

O what a sublime statement.   What faith these young men had.   What courage.   We all agree with that, and it’s easy here in this comfortable place.   They were standing on the edge of the fiery furnace.   Their testimony was unflinching and unwavering and their faith held true in the worst moment.

Beloved, I submit to you that this is because they were absolutely committed to internal principle.   They had been taught the Word of God and they knew that they were to respond in a certain manner based upon the truth of God, and they would not compromise that no matter what the external pressures were.   What virtue.   And it wasn’t dependent on whether or not they got their miracle.   They would accept God’s will even if it meant death rather than be idolatrous.

O I’m telling you, if there’s anything we can give this world it’s this kind of a spirit.   It’s an uncompromising, unflinching integrity that says, “I will stand true to my God if it costs me my life.”   And we bow, don’t we, all the time to the 20th century idols to gain whatever we want to gain among the people of this world?   They knew the blindness of that heathen king.   They knew their lengthy explanations were useless.   They simply commit themselves to God.

And like Job in Job 13:15, they said, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.”   They knew that what happened to their bodies was not the issue, but that their soul had to be riveted on the truth of God.   This is for us, people, an uncompromising life that will not bow to any idol no matter what the cost; the idol of popularity, the idol of comfort, the idol of fame, the idol of respectability in the world, none of those idols can make us bow.   There is no compromise for one who stands like this.

God is just as good when He doesn’t heal as He is when He does.   God is just as loving when He doesn’t provide all that we think we need as when He does.   God is just as gracious when He says “no” as He is when He says “yes.”   God is God, and God is to be uncompromisingly worshiped, and what He does is His business.   You might sum it up by saying, in God’s case, death is as good as life.   Right?

Paul said it, “For to me to live is Christ and to die is - ” what? “ - gain.”   Death never put any fear in his heart.   Death never forced him to compromise.   He put his head one day on a block, and an axehead flashed in the sun, and severed it from his body, and he never flinched and compromised.

Listen, the Lord calls us to that.   In Exodus 32:26, the question was asked, “Who is on the Lord’s side?”   In Matthew 10, “Whosoever shall confess Me before men, him will I confess before My Father whose in heaven.”   In Mark 8:38, “Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous generation; of him shall the Son of man be ashamed.”

In other words, there is a call for an uncompromising commitment to confess the reality of God and stand true.   And the world comes to us over and over again to call us to its idols.   We want to be popular.   We want to be famous.   We want to be liked.   We want to make money.   We want to get a promotion.   We want to get good grades.   We want to win somebody over.   And so we compromise and render ourselves useless and our testimony negative.

Naaman, 2 Kings 5, was cleansed of his leprosy and he stood before Elisha and this is what he said, “There shall be no god in my heart but Jehovah.”   Now that’s good.   Naaman says, “From here on out, there shall be no god in my heart but Jehovah.   But in this I pray your forgiveness, - ” he says to Elisha “ - that when the king goes forth to the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow down before the god Rimmon:   in this way thy servant be pardoned.”   Now, Naaman was so concerned that he not compromise himself that he said, “Look, in my heart there’s nobody but Jehovah.   But when the king needs help to get his frame down, and I have to be leaned on to get him down there, you please forgive me, because it is not an act of worship to that god.”   And Elisha sent him on his way in peace.

Is our faith so real that there’s no price to make us bow down?   Martin Luther in loneliness on his way to face the inevitable hour of excommunication at what is known as “The Diet of Worms,” to appear before King Charles V and the Roman prelate, and all of the princes assembled, said this - and it’s a great word.   Martin Luther, “My cause shall be commended to the Lord, for He lives and reigns who preserved the three children in the furnace of the Babylonian king.   If He is unwilling to preserve me, my life is a small thing compared with Christ.   Expect anything of me except flight or recantation.   I will not flee, much less recant, so may the Lord Jesus strengthen me.”

He took his cue from those three Hebrews.   He didn’t say, “Deliver me.”   He said, “If God wants to take my life, it is a small thing.”   So with these great men of God and others, we stand before the presence of the pressure of the world to bow to its idols unflinching and unwavering.   And someone has written,   “The dearest idol I have known, what e'er that idol be, help me to tear it from its throne and worship only Thee.”   No wonder in 1 John 5:21 John closes his marvelous epistle with the words “Keep yourselves from idols.”

So, we see the ceremony, the command, the conspiracy, the coercion, and the courage.   And now the consequences, and we’ll just look at this very rapidly, verse 19.   Well, after that little deal, “Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury.”   In verse 13 it says he had “rage and fury.”   Now he’s full of it.   “And the form of his visage was changed.”   You know what that means?   That means he screwed up his face.   He was so mad that he began to wrinkle up his face and make faces at them.   This is a grown man.   Stupid.   He is so thwarted in his egomaniacal effort to have everybody worship him, he’s just literally enraged, and he starts making faces at them.   “And he spoke - ” and now he does a stupid thing “ - he commands that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated.”

Now you say, “Boy, he wants that thing to really burn.”   Yeah, but that’s dumb.   If you wanted to really torture somebody, you turn the heat down and prolong it.   Heat it up seven times hotter just means it will be less trauma.   He doesn’t even know what he’s doing.   He’s lost control of himself.   Here we are in the court full of spineless flatterers and men pleasers, and we see these three young men confounding, and confusing, and turning Nebuchadnezzar into some kind of an idiot.   And so he says, “heat it seven times hotter than it should be.”

Verse 20.   “He commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: and cast them into the burning fiery furnace.”   As far as we know this, trying to reconstruct this, it was probably a pit in the ground that had a some kind of opening down low, and at the top there was an open hole, and they were thrown in the open hole, though the fire was stoked and fed from below.  

And Nebuchadnezzar could have some kind of a balcony that he could look down through that opening in the top to see what was going on.   And so the fire is hotter, and hotter, and hotter, and he calls on the strong men - that is the best soldiers, probably his own personal bodyguard - to tie them up and then cast them into the burning fiery furnace.

“And then these men were bound in their coats, their stockings, their turbans, and their other garments, and cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.”   Now what’s interesting about this is the coats, and the garments, and the turbans, and the stockings indicates that they were dressed to kill.   I mean, they were all dressed up in the festivic - fes - they were all dressed up in fancy clothes.   Win a few, lose a few, right?   Trying to make an adverb out of something that’s not an adverb.   But anyway, they were dressed up fancy for the big occasion.   And they were all - and the king was so furious, he never altered that at all.

They were all dressed up, and I think the kind of a hint here from the Holy Spirit that they had really come to do what was right as those who responded to the king.   They were not rebellious.   They were properly attired for such a great event.   They just couldn’t follow through in disobedience to their God.   And so they were wrapped up in a great big hurry.   Their clothes weren’t even changed.   They just wrapped them up and threw them in the midst of the fiery furnace.   As I said, likely from a hole in the top.

Now, immediately they knew God was not going to save them from the fire.   That became abundantly clear as they were on their way in.   Plan B, if you can’t get saved from the fire, you hope to get saved in the fire.   And that’s what happened.   So, they knew they were not going to be able to escape the experience, but they were trusting God to suffer through the experience to His glory.   Maybe they were remembering the comforting words of Isaiah 43:2, “When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.”   That would have been a comfort to them, wouldn’t it?

Well, the soldiers didn’t have it so well.   Verse 22.   “Therefore because the king’s commandment was urgent - ” he was completely out of control “ - and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.”   The soldiers that threw them in all burned to death.   Here they were on the outside burned to death and the others were on the inside having a great time.   They died in the fire.

Verse 23, “And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down - ” and that’s why we believe there was a hole at the top and they were cast down “ - bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.”   Now, if you didn’t know this whole story I could just say, “Come back next week and find out what happened.”   But we’ll move on.

We move from the consequences to the companion in verse 24.   “Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded, and rose up in a hurry, and spoke, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?   They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.   He answered and said, Lo, I see four men - ” not bound, but “ - loose, walking around in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”

Now you think Nebuchadnezzar was shook when this started, he is really shook now.   He is seated at a comfortable distance, able to see through this hole at what’s going on.   He looks in there and many things astound him.   First he sees four, not three.   Then he sees that they are not bound, but they’re loose.   They’re not lying down, they’re walking around.   They’re not burning up and roasting, they’re completely unhurt.   The fourth one looks like a son of the gods and they weren’t looking for the exit, they were just patiently waiting and enjoying each other’s company.

What about the phrase “a son of the gods,” who is that?   Nebuchadnezzar was a pagan.   He wouldn’t have known the Son of God if he had seen Him.   He wouldn’t have understood a pre-incarnate Christophany or appearance of Christ such as we find in Genesis 18.   I believe that what Nebuchadnezzar had in his mind with that statement is simply an angelic being because over in verse 28 of this same chapter, he uses the word “angel.”   It seems to me that Nebuchadnezzar recognized a supernatural spiritual being that he would equate with an angel.

Now some would like to believe it was Christ, and it may well have been.   Others believe it was an angel, and frankly, folks, there’s no way to be certain about it at all.   We know Christ did appear at certain times in the Old Testament, but whether it was Christ in a special appearance prior to His incarnation in earth, or whether it was an angel is really not the issue.   The point is, I believe, that God sent that angel into that fiery furnace to explain to those three guys what was going on, and they were walking around, and he was telling them I’m sent from God to preserve you in the midst of this fire.   You’re not going to be burned.   We’ll just enjoy our fellowship until the next scene in the drama.

I believe they knew they weren’t burning and God sent His angel to care for them.   When the Bible says that the Lord says in Hebrews 13:5 “I will never leave you, or forsake you,” I think God means that.   And I think God sends those who are His angels to care for us in the midst of dire circumstances.

Years before, Elijah had been similarly honored by having God’s angels sent personally to serve him food at a time he was terribly discouraged.   You can read it in 1 Kings 19.   How wonderful it is to know that we go through no experiences where God is not there in divine companionship, and the hotter the fire the sweeter the fellowship.

You know, I can tell you, folks, in my own experience, that whenever I get into a situation where I decide to take a stand for something and it’s the unpopular thing to do, and you start getting flack, you have this tremendous sense of divine companionship.   It’s what Peter talked about when he talked about the fact that when we go through persecution, the Spirit of grace and glory rests on us.   I had this overwhelming sense of the presence of God strengthening.   And here they were in the fiery furnace in divine companionship.

So, the ceremony, the command, the conspiracy, the coercion, the courage, the consequence, the companionship, and lastly, believe it or not, the commendation, the commendation.   And this is very simple to see, verse 26.   “Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spoke and said, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, you servants of the Most High God.”   How did he know that?   Well, it was obvious he had met his match.   “Come forth, come here.”   I love this.   “Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came forth from the midst of the fire.”   You’ve got to believe Nebuchadnezzar was rubbing his eyes all this time.

And here we go again.   “And the princes, the governors, the captains, the king’s counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose body the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.”

Now, they did an investigation.   When I was in college one time, I needed to buy a sport coat and I didn’t have any money.   My mother always sent me cookies, not money.   So I needed a sport coat and a store burned down in the town where our college was and so I decided to go to the fire sale.   I’ll never forget that coat.   The smell of it lingers with me even now.   I wore that coat for about three years in college and it never stopped smelling.   In fact, when people would come around me they would just sniff automatically.   If you’ve ever been through a fire you know the smell of smoke that gets into clothes just doesn’t ever get out.

And so they gave them this, you know, full investigation and there’s not a hair singed, and their garments aren’t even changed in terms of being burned at all, and there’s not even the smell of fire on them.

“Then Nebuchadnezzar spoke, and said - ” now watch this “ - Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.”   You say, “Ah, the conversion of Nebuchadnezzar.”   Wrong.   In verse 26 he says, “The Most High God.”   He is not abandoning his polytheism, he’s just sticking this God on the top of the pile, that’s all.   He is not saying, “The one true God.”   He is just saying, “You got to be the supreme one,” that’s all.   He is maintaining his traditional polytheism, many gods.

And here when he says, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,” he is simply acknowledging what theologians call “henotheism.”   And that is the belief that certain people and certain nations have their own gods.   And in a henotheistic way he has room in his polytheism for the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and he is willing to say at this point that this is the Most High God of all the gods.   That’s a far cry from saying He’s the only God, isn’t it?

“Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent His angel, and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and hath changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.”   He says, “I just have to bless the God of these people who wouldn’t compromise and wouldn’t worship any other god.”

And I love this statement, verse 28, “They yielded their - ” what? “ - their bodies.”   What verse does that sound like?   Romans 12:1, “Present your bodies a - ” what? “ - a living sacrifice.   And be not conformed to this world.”   That’s exactly what they did.   You want an illustration of Romans 12:1-2, here it is.   They yielded their bodies.   And he says, “Blessed be the God who can get that kind of allegiance out of His people.”

Listen, we can set the world on its ear.   We can turn the pagan world around in a tizzy, literally, by living an uncompromising life so that even in their unbelief, they will have to say that ours is the Most High God.   Even in their unbelief they will have to say, “Blessed be the God of those folks.   Any God who can draw that kind of allegiance must be some God.”

And then the commendation, verse 29.   “Therefore I make a decree, that every people, nation, and language, who speak anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a refuse heap - ” and that was the ultimate desecration, to take a person’s house and make it a dung pile, a sewage place, “ - because there is no other god that can deliver after this sort.   And then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the province of Babylon.”   And when you already rule and you get promoted, that’s some promotion.

If you think the Chaldeans were unhappy at the beginning in chapter 3, you can imagine what it was like at the end in chapter 3.   He says, Anybody who speaks a word against their God is going to be cut in pieces, and their houses will be made a refuse heap.”   Nebuchadnezzar isn’t dumb.   He’s determined that he’s going to be nice to this God because if ever he wanted anything, he wants this God on his side.

One of the coaches in the National Football League was asked why he always had a Christian minister on the sideline.   He said, “Do you believe in God?”   He said, “Well, I’m not really sure, but in case there’s one I want Him on my side.” That’s Nebuchadnezzar.   He wanted Him on his side.

Now, let me close just quickly.   You and I will probably never face a fiery furnace, right?   Probably never will.   But you’re going to face trial by fire, believe me, and so am I.   And they’re going to come from several sources.   First of all, Satan afflicts us.   He afflicted Jesus and tempted Him.   “He goes around - ” says Peter “ - as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.”   He is the accuser of the brethren.   He wants to plant evil thoughts.   Paul himself said he received a messenger from Satan sent to buffet him.   Satan is going to afflict us through the avenue of the flesh.

Secondly, the world is going to torment us.   The world is going to try to lure us.   The world is going to try to persecute US.   The world is going to try to force us to compromise.   And, believe it or not, God will even bring trials into our life, testing our faith, right?   In Hebrews chapter 12, it talks about how God afflicts us with chastening.

So, we’re going to have the trials:   Some from Satan, some from the world, and some that God allows; but in all of this the end result is that we may be refined and that we may stand courageous and uncompromising.   The hymn writer says, “When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie, My grace all sufficient shall be thy supply:   The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.”   You see?   Let’s pray.

Father, I’m remembering that when a warrior went to battle in medieval times, the first thing he had to do was kneel and bend his sword over his knee to see if it would break.   He needed to know that it would hold up in the heat of the battle.   And, Lord, we are Your swords in many ways, and there are times when You bend us over Your knee to see if we’ll break.   And if we don’t break, then You use us to win mighty victories.

May we trust in Your great delivering power.   May we allow the tensions, and tests, and trials that come our way to be those things which refine us like gold.   And may we not compromise and forfeit the blessedness that is ours when we stand true.   And may we know that through it all there will be standing at our side one like a son of the gods, a divine companion, to strengthen us in the midst of battle.

Make us an uncompromising people that like these young men we may stand firm, that the world may say, “Blessed is the God of this person who could call from them such yieldedness.”   May that be our testimony, for Christ’s sake.   Amen.

在超级碗橄榄球比赛之前，我在《洛杉矶时报》上读到了一个关于罗纳德·里根的相当有趣的故事。他正准备离开新罕布什尔州的新闻发布会，有人向他提出了一个问题。“你喜欢超级碗中的谁？”这位前加州州长、现在的总统候选人毫不犹豫地说，“公羊队。然后他的大脑里显然亮起了一道光，他停顿了一下，说：“等一下。我不再竞选加州州长了。愿最好的球队获胜。

令人惊讶的是，我们的忠诚度是如此善变，不是吗？依赖于某些外部压力，我们很容易被环境和我们想影响的人所左右。对于大多数人来说，这只是生活的一部分。我希望今晚我们学习但以理书第3章时，能够做我们在但以理书中已经做过很多次的事情，那就是我们可以学习划清界限，称这条界限为信念，并在我们的思想和心中决定，我们永远不会低于那条界限。

这并不容易做到。让我给你一个简单的方法来看待它。我们的决定、我们的态度和我们的行为是由以下两件事之一决定的：外部压力或内部原则。让我再说一遍。我们的态度、我们的决定和我们的行为是由以下两件事之一决定的：外部压力或内部原则。在我们的生活中，这两个相互冲突的项目之间的战斗一直在进行。

我们非常善于自我辩解，所以很多时候当我们屈服于外部压力时，我们将其定义为内部原则。但基本上，我们必须归结为这条底线。我们做我们所做的、说的和行动的方式，是因为我们对此有信念，还是因为我们感受到来自外部的压力？我们的信念是否因施加在我们身上的任何压力而有所改变？

有时候，如果我说出我相信的话，我会疏远很多人，我也会面临同样的底线。我是根据内在原则说出我所相信的，还是屈服于外部压力，让他们听到他们想听的话？

当你在商业环境中工作，你有机会赚大钱，容我们说，自己做得很好，通过简单地妥协来达成一件大交易，也许说一个小谎言，以小方式欺骗，违反一个在你看来相当微不足道的规则，你是否屈服于那种外部压力， 或者你是否完全、完全地根据你所知道的适当的内部原则行事？因为这确实是我们在这个世界上生活和行动的关键问题。

坦率地说，如果世界需要的话，它现在需要按照内部原则运作的男人和女人。我不知道你是怎么想的，但无论你是在谈论政治还是其他任何事情，你都会对那些屈服于外部压力的人感到有点厌倦，最终会说出你想让他们说的话。

现在，当我们接近但以理书第三章时，我们将要见到三个年轻人，他们按照内部原则运作，他们并不真正关心外部压力是什么。身为耶稣基督的信徒，我认为我们可以从这三位年轻人身上学到很多东西。我希望你今晚把自己置于这种境地。我希望你在这里看到自己。我并不担心你看到沙得拉、米煞和亚伯尼歌，就像你在这里看到你一样。而且你会看到在类似情况下你会如何回应。

几个星期以来，我一直在通过自己的头脑过滤它，我真的很想把自己放在讲道中，我希望你把自己放在讲道中，因为这是唯一能使它对你有意义的事情。这三个希伯来年轻人做了他们所做的事情，这并不重要。这对我们来说今天并不重要，除非我们在面对世界的方式上获得了一些个人收获。我们是否把上帝放在首位？我们是否把他的话语放在首位？我们所做的事是否完全基于内部原则？还是我们摇摆不定，妥协，并依靠外部压力采取行动？

Studdert-Kennedy 是英国圣公会牧师和英格兰 Worster 的牧师，也是第一次世界大战的牧师。他写了一些非常非常优美的诗，一直是我的最爱。但 Studdert-Kennedy 不仅是一位诗人，也是一位牧师和牧师。作为一名牧师，他必须去打仗，他必须离开他的家人。他有一个小儿子，他在法国的战壕里给他的小儿子写了一封信，当时他正处于非常严重的战争中。他是这么说的。显然这封信是通过他的妻子写的，因为他的儿子不识字。

“我希望我儿子学会为我说的第一个祈祷不是，'上帝，保佑爸爸的安全。'我希望我儿子学习的第一个祷告是，'上帝，让爸爸勇敢起来，如果他有困难的事情要做，就让他坚强去做。生死无关紧要，我的孩子。对与错都是如此。爸爸死了，爸爸还是爸爸。但是爸爸在上帝面前被羞辱是一件无法用语言表达的可怕的事情。我想你也想说一点关于安全的事，妈妈也想说。嗯，以后再放进去，以后再放进去，因为这几乎没那么重要。

嗯，Studdert-Kennedy 是对的。爸爸死了，爸爸还是爸爸。但爸爸妥协是一件可怕的事情。这就是上帝呼唤的不妥协的正直，而这正是我们在这三个人的生活中看到的，他们能够面对简直难以置信的外部压力，但做出决定的依据是绝对的，而且只是根据通过他们所接受的神圣启示所得到的内在原则。

我再说一遍，我不仅仅是在谈论政治世界、政府世界或商业世界。让我告诉你，主的教会需要那些不受外在压力所惧怕的人。但并非在所有情况下都是如此。

一位诗人这样写道：“我看到殉道者被钉在火刑柱上，火焰无法动摇他的勇气，死亡无法震撼他的灵魂。我问他从哪里得到力量，他得意洋洋地望着天，回答说：'基督就是一切。“那是三个年轻的希伯来人的心，我相信上帝会赐给你同样的心，就像你今晚从这段奇妙的经文中学到的那样。

现在，故事以八个关键特征展开，正如 Jerry 上次所说，我们做了第一名，我告诉他今晚我打算尝试做第二到第八名，他们对此表示怀疑。但我们拭目以待。文本的流程是叙事文本，它从仪式流向命令，流向阴谋，流向胁迫，流向勇气、后果、陪伴和表彰。

奇怪的是，我只想加上这个脚注。但以理不在这段经文中。我认为这对我们来说非常重要。我们都知道但以理的伟大品格和美德，这在第一章和第二章中有所体现。我们都看到但以理在他毫不妥协地反对君王的肉、君王的酒和君王的活动时，所具有的巨大品格力量。我认为我们有点感觉到哈拿尼雅、亚撒利雅和米沙利——在他们的巴比伦名字中也被称为沙得拉、米煞和亚伯尼歌——有点顺着但以理的尾巴滑行，所以为了让我们知道情况并非如此，上帝方便地将但以理挪开。

在第 3 章中，当所有事情发生时，他甚至不在身边，这本身就很神奇，因为这是巴比伦王国的一件大事。一定是丹尼尔出国处理一些非常重要的事情，作为首相，或者他在这个特定时期拥有的任何级别。但他不在这里，这三个年轻人孤军奋战，但他们勇敢地站着。

首先是仪式。请回顾 1-3 节。我们已经讨论了它们，但只是提醒您。“尼布甲尼撒王——”他是巴比伦的王，这些年轻人，希伯来年轻人，与犹大国剩下的一切一起被俘虏。尼布甲尼撒王造了一座金像，高六十肘，宽六肘——“高九十英尺，宽九英尺。他在巴比伦省的杜拉平原建立了它。尼布甲尼撒王就派人去招聚首领、总督、元帅、士长、司库、谋士、治安官和各省的官长，来参加尼布甲尼撒王所立的偶像的奉献礼。

「众首领、总督、元帅、士师、司库、谋士、治安官和各省的官长，都聚集起来，为尼布甲尼撒王所立的偶像举行奉献典礼。他们就站在尼布甲尼撒所立的偶像前。

现在，你看到的是尼布甲尼撒为自己制作了一个形象，一个巨大的雕像，如果你愿意的话，他表明自己是一个神，并要求巴比伦帝国所有最高级别的人都下来敬拜他。正如我之前告诉过你们的，在但以理对世界四大帝国的异象中，代表尼布甲尼撒的黄金无疑吸引了他的思考，因此他决定用黄金建造一座巨大的雕像，以彰显他自己的荣耀。

这在某种程度上象征着君主和他的帝国体现在一个伟大的现实中，他希望每个人都跪下崇拜他。尼布甲尼撒只是在做所有不认识神的人倾向于做的事情，那就是他们崇拜自己。他们发明了自己思想的神，以适应自己的思想和态度。

在建立了这个伟大的偶像，并要求每个人都崇拜它之后，这让这三个希伯来年轻人做出了一个非常令人不寒而栗的决定。因为他们知道神关于偶像崇拜的律法，他们知道什么是雕刻的偶像，以及这对神的心来说是多么令人发指，他们知道这是不可接受的，他们知道他们面临着做出决定的现实。

现在，你会注意到所有的贵胄都没有什么品格，因为在第2节说他召了他们所有人，然后在第3节又把他们一遍又一遍地列出来，几乎是以讽刺的方式，说他们“都站在尼布甲尼撒所立的偶像前”。

换句话说，通常情况下，所有这些主要政治家，以及巴比伦的所有等级制度，都愿意不惜一切代价来获得尼布甲尼撒的认可。他们会妥协他们所有的信念，无论他们可能崇拜或不崇拜其他神灵，他们都会把这一切放在一边，做任何必要的事情来赢得这个人的青睐，并使自己摆脱因未能做到而受到惩罚甚至被杀害的境地。

因此，所有伟大的人都以他们典型的妥协方式站在那里，我认为在第3节中重申了他们，为了以一种近乎讽刺的方式羞辱他们，因为他们的缺乏品格被显现出来。

现在，我们从仪式转到第4节的命令。“传令官大声喊道：'人民、国家、语言啊，这是命令给你的。”现在让我在那里做一个脚注。“人民、国家和语言”只是谈论一群人的常见称呼形式。它在同一章的第7节中再次被使用。它再次被使用，我认为它在第 29 节结束了。是的，“人民、国家和语言”。它被用在第4章 “人民、国家、语言” 的第一节。它又被使用了，我想是在第 6 章。这只是一种称呼任何企业集团成员的常见方式。因此，他把所有这些企业集团召集在一起，给他们下达命令。

它是什么？它在第5节。“在那个时候——”意思是“在那个精确的时刻”，他想要绝对的服从，在一个非常精确的时刻绝对精确。你们一听见号角、笛声、七弦琴、麻袋琴、诗篇、扬琴和各样乐曲的声音，就俯伏敬拜尼布甲尼撒王所立的金像。

现在，显然这家伙有一个皇家管弦乐队，所有这些东西一起演奏，有些无疑是感性的音乐，试图将每个人的注意力吸引到这个形象上，让他们低头。有趣的是 - 我这么说是为了 Clayton 的利益 - 你这里有管乐器和弦乐器。有号角，有笛子，意思是长笛。然后，顺便说一句，圆号的声音较低，而长笛的声音较高。

然后你有一把七弦琴，L-Y-R-E，这是一把竖琴，这是一种较小的竖琴，声音很高。然后是 sackbut，这很难确定。事实上，坦率地说，我们还没有对那是什么有丝毫的概念。很抱歉。然后是诗篇。我的意思是，有很多猜测，但没用。有一首诗篇，那是一把带有共鸣板的竖琴。七弦琴是高音竖琴，而诗篇是低音竖琴。然后是扬琴，信不信由你，那基本上就是风笛。然后，所有这些乐器的各种音乐就是提示。当音乐响起时，每个人都立即跪下来敬拜这尊像。

现在坦率地说，人们，这家伙真的有一个令人难以置信的自我。他让整个国家聚集在一起，所有的主要政要。他叫来了皇家管弦乐队。他们都准备好了。当他们击中提示时，每个人都应该向他的巨像鞠躬。

我只想补充一点，音乐一直是感性的一部分，并且一直与对偶像的崇拜有关。就像上帝赐给我们的所有其他美好事物一样，撒旦肯定利用音乐来宣传他的邪恶系统，不是吗？他从来没有像我们今天这样做得更好。

好吧。然后，后果出现在第6节。“凡不俯伏敬拜的，必在那时被扔在燃烧的火炉中。”现在，我不知道它是什么，如果它是一个燃烧的火炉，那么除了一个燃烧的火炉，所以我们假设燃烧是为了加强而设置在那里的，这样你就会明白这是他所做的最高级的方法。任何拒绝低头的人都构成叛国行为，将被扔进火炉里。如果你站在尼布甲尼撒的伟大对立面，那就是给你的全部。

嗯，大多数人都会对外部环境和外部压力做出反应。他们遵守对他们的任何要求，而不是内部原则。所以第7节说，“所以在那时候——”确切的时刻“——当万民听见号角、笛、琴、麻布、诗篇和各样音乐的声音时——”他们又在那里“——俯伏敬拜尼布甲尼撒王所立的金像。

现在你遇到一堆不思考、被吓倒的人，那就是他们。典型的生活方式。你做任何你需要做的事情来得到你需要得到的一切，生活在最低的层次上，在外部压力的基础上妥协内部原则。男人总是向这个系统低头。他们向当权者低头。他们做他们该做的任何事情。害怕失去自己的地位，所以他们妥协了。

但是，它并没有告诉我们，但我们知道，在空白处发生了其他事情。除了三个人之外，每个人都倒下了，天哪，他们还会站出来吗？他们没有倒下。因此，我们转到仪式，命令，第8节的阴谋，阴谋。现在看这个。

“所以，那时有几个迦勒底人上前来，控告犹太人。”当我们第一次开始研究这本书时，我告诉过你们，至少有多达75个年轻人，他们从犹大宫廷被带到巴比伦宫廷，接受培训，在那个宫廷里处理犹太人的事务。但是在这 75 人中——这只是一种有根据的猜测，可能会更多或更少——但在所有这些被俘虏的年轻人中，他们是犹大王室的儿子，其中只有 4 人被描述为不妥协的： 丹尼尔和他的三个朋友。

因此，我们假设其余的 S 只是和其他人一起撞上了甲板。他们打算买这个包，自己住下。他们在系统中向上移动，他们不打算给自己带来麻烦，所以他们只是跟着走。但显然，从第8节的指示来看，有这3个没有。请允许我赶紧补充一点，他们可能大约 20 岁。他们都很年轻。对于这么年轻的男人来说，这是巨大的信念。

现在，我希望你注意到第8节中一个非常重要的词——嗯，真的是两个词。首先是 “迦勒底人”。迦勒底人一直是巴比伦文化和等级制度的中流砥柱。但是，当这三个年轻人表现出如此伟大的品格，当但以理能够解释尼布甲尼撒的梦时，但以理和他的三个朋友，请记住，都被提升到非常高的地位，他们很可能甚至被置于迦勒底人之上。

请回顾 2：49。“但以理向王求问，就派沙得拉、米煞、亚伯尼歌管理巴比伦省的事务，但以理就坐在王的门口。”但以理被赋予了一个位置——我想在这一点上我们可以称呼它为——巴比伦的首相，其他三个人被安排领导巴比伦的事务，作为巴比伦的行省。所以他们被抬高了。迦勒底人对此深恶痛绝。他们对此很生气。所以它说他们 “控告犹太人”。

这是一个非常有趣的词。它的字面意思是 “吃掉碎片”。好？它被用来吃掉从身体上撕下来的肉块，因为贪婪的动物会从身体上剥下肉和组织并吃掉它。迦勒底人以一种恶意的方式来，几乎以食人的方式诽谤，剥去肉体，把这些犹太人吃成碎片。所以这不是一个法律术语。它不是在谈论法庭的指控，而是一种恶意的、仇恨的欲望，想要撕裂他们的肉体。他们像食人族一样，追赶这三个犹太人。

当然，我认为我们也必须记住，迦勒底人是被撒旦激励的，因为他们基本上是被称为 Bel-Merodach 的神的祭司，他是主神——Bel 类似于我们所知道的巴力。因此，他们看到了他们的机会，在撒旦的激励下，通过他们自己的虚假宗教体系，撕裂这些年轻的希伯来人。

他们虚伪地与国王交谈，仿佛在为他辩护。他们指责犹太人，仿佛是为了帮助国王查明是否每个人都服从了。在第9节中，“他们对尼布甲尼撒王说：'王啊，万岁吧。给了他国王喜欢听的所有华丽爵士乐。“我们真的在这里，国王，只是为了向您保证我们的承诺。”他们嫉妒这些犹太男孩的崇高地位，他们想尽一切可能改变这种状况，但他们虚伪地来了。

第10节，“王啊，你已颁旨，”他们完成了整件事“，凡听见号角、笛子、七弦琴、麻袋琴、诗篇、扬琴和各样乐曲的人，都要俯伏敬拜金像，凡不俯伏敬拜的，必被扔进燃烧的火炉中。他们得到了相当准确的信息。国王所说的话一字不差。他们重申了这个标准，然后在12节揭示了真正的问题。

“你派了一些犹太人管理巴比伦省的事务——”这就是他们心中深深记的——2：49——这就是真正让他们恼火的原因，这些被俘虏的希伯来人会得到如此高的地位。那些犹太人 – 沙得拉、米煞和亚伯尼歌;国王啊，这些人不理会你，他们不事奉你的神，也不崇拜你所设立的金像。

奴隶、进口的人质、外国人，你用他们造了统治者，他们统治我们。这才是真正让他们吃东西的地方。你对嫉妒这种骇人听闻的罪有一点了解。例如，上帝在箴言14：30中说：“健全的心是肉体的生命，但要嫉妒骨头的腐朽。J. Allen Blair写道：”信徒的嫉妒就像腐烂的骨头，从某种意义上说，属灵的力量和有用被削弱了。

扫罗的生活就是这种情况。他曾经是一位伟大的君王，蒙 神膏抹，为主作见证。但因着嫉妒的罪，扫罗的生命堕落到全然无用。扫罗听到人们唱道：“扫罗杀了他的千人，大卫杀了他的一万人。这只是一首歌，但它唤醒了他心中邪恶的嫉妒激情。雅歌 8：6 说：“嫉妒像坟墓一样残忍。嫉妒和嫉妒就像酸一样。它确实腐蚀了灵魂。它摧毁了灵魂的美丽，就像坟墓摧毁了身体的美丽一样。而且，他们被嫉妒的罪所吞噬。所以他们把这事带到了国王面前。

现在，请注意他们指控他们做了三件事，第12节。一个，在诗句的中间，“——国王啊，这些人没有顾及你。首先，他们没有把你放在眼里。他们没有关注你。他们没有回复你。他们没有给你应得的。

那不是真的。他们忠实地应验了马太福音 22：21 中未成文的经文，我们的主说：“凯撒的财物要归给凯撒;把属于上帝的财物归给上帝。他们无疑已经履行了对君王的责任，只要这不违反他们对 上帝的责任。他们是好公民。他们已经回应了国王。回到第 1 章，你会发现他们已经给了国王应得的。

后两个指控是真的。第 12 节。“他们不事奉你的神，——”这是真的“——他们不崇拜你所设立的形象。现在令人惊奇的是，这是这个。这三个年轻人知道悖逆的代价。你得问问自己，怎么会有人把原则放得这么高，以至于当整个人群都倒下时，他们真的站在那里，他们却毅然决然地站在那里，准备走进燃烧的火炉呢？这就是性格，人们。这是根据内部原则运作，而不是根据外部压力运作。

现在你只考虑压力。你想想看。尼布甲尼撒是他们的朋友。尼布甲尼撒是他们的恩人。他们的命运掌握在他的手中。抵挡尼布甲尼撒是完全没有用的。他们没有其他资源。他们未来在巴比伦事业的发展绝对取决于他们的效忠。他们本可以对自己说，“无论如何，偶像不算什么，那么我们为什么要担心它呢？我们只会和其他人一起跪下，只是我们会向真神祈祷。

他们本可以说，“每个人都在做。如果我们要接触人们，我们就必须成为他们的一部分。他们本可以说，“嗯，你知道，火往往是致命的，如果我们死了，我们对上帝就没有真正的用处，而且我们处于这样一个战略位置，如果我们被烧毁，它只会打乱整个计划。

他们也可能想，“好吧，如果我们不低头，我们就会落入这些嫉妒的迦勒底人的手中。他们可能曾想过，死亡并不在他们的合同里。

有很多事情可能会作为压力压在他们身上，但尽管如此，他们还是坚决不屈，绝对不妥协。他们所处的境况如此坚定，真是令人惊讶。多年前，费城不信的百万富翁斯蒂芬·吉拉德 （Stephen Girard） 在一个星期六告诉他的店员，他们必须在第二天来卸货。嗯，第二天是星期天。一个年轻人走到桌子前，紧张地说：“吉拉德先生，我星期天不能工作。“嗯，先生，”雇主回答，“如果你不能如我所愿，我们可以分开。

“我知道，先生，”年轻人说。“我也知道，我有一个寡妇要照顾，但我不能在星期天工作。”

“很好，”吉拉德先生说，“到收银台去，他会和你算账的。

传记作者说，在长达三个星期的时间里，这个年轻人在街上跋涉找工作，有一天，一位银行行长让吉拉德为一家即将成立的新银行的出纳员指定一个合适的人选。沉思了一会儿，Girard 说出了他刚刚解雇的那个年轻人的名字。

“但我以为你说你解雇了他，”银行行长说。“我记得，”杰拉德反驳道，“因为他星期天不工作。我告诉你，因为原则而失去工作的人，就是你可以把钱托付给他的人。

你知道，你得问自己一个问题：如果你处于尼布甲尼撒的情况，为什么还要为三个人而烦恼，对吧？你让其他人都失望了。汗水是什么？但是你有没有注意到，自大狂无法忍受一个不顺从的人？一个人就足以让他们真正活泼起来，更不用说三个了。因此，尼布甲尼撒从不满足于除了三个人之外的所有人。自大狂从不满足于任何低于所有人的东西。

所以，阴谋。从阴谋开始，我们来到这个叙述的第四个特征，胁迫。在这里，我们发现尼布甲尼撒与这三个人对峙，并试图胁迫他们做出更合适的回应。但我们发现它们是不可动摇的。请注意，我们将阅读 13-15，请继续阅读。“然后尼布甲尼撒在他的愤怒和愤怒中——”现在这让你知道他是个什么样的人。他是——这些话是强硬的。他是一个狂热的狂热者，因为这三位希伯来人不会低头。你知道，你得自己想想，“这数千人都宕机了。我不会担心这三个。我有相当多的赞成。

但如果你是像尼布甲尼撒这样的人，那就不是了。他大发雷霆，吩咐人把沙得拉、米煞、亚伯尼歌带到他面前，然后他们就把这些人带到王面前。「尼布甲尼撒对他们说：『沙得拉、米煞、亚伯尼歌啊，你们岂不是事奉我的神，也不敬拜我所立的金像吗？〝

注意到他放弃了他们在12节里提出的第一个指控，说他们不看重君王，因为他知道那不是真的。所以他就放弃了第一个。“他说：”你不敬拜侍奉我的神，不向金像下拜，这是真的吗？

然后他又经历了一遍整个例行公事。“现在，如果你准备好了，在那个时候你听到号角、笛子、七弦琴、麻袋、诗篇、杜尔奇的声音——”他一定记住了这个演讲“——以及各种音乐，就俯伏下来敬拜我所造的偶像;但你们若不敬拜，就在那时辰被扔在燃烧的火炉中。

然后他又补充了这个愚蠢的说法。“那能救你脱离我手的上帝是谁？”天哪，他真的有点忘乎所以了。“那能救你脱离我手的神是谁？”他记得很短，这家伙。难道他忘记了那位能够揭示梦境和异象的上帝吗？真是个疯子。

“这是真的吗——”他说。这真的是真的吗 - “第14节 ”——你不会这样做吗？我想，对他有利的是，他是一个有点正义的人。他至少给了他们一个为自己说话的机会，然后根据迦勒底人的指控将他们扔进火炉。我敢肯定，他知道他们对政治上发生的事情有点不安。

他的排场使他愤怒，在这个特定时刻他白热化，他实际上把自己放在上帝对立的地步，用他的能力与上帝的力量对立。“那能救你脱离我手的神是谁？”

哦，那种骄傲是多么的愚蠢和愚蠢。当你与永恒的上帝对抗时，你遇到了你的对手，而他在这一章和后续的章节中也遇到了他的对手，正如我们将看到的。难道他忘记了但以理的神比巴比伦所有的神都伟大，包括他自己的神，他们无法回答他的梦想，也无法以任何方式、形式或形式帮助他？这个偶像崇拜的傻瓜在他的自大狂中似乎忘记了这一点。

然后，我们从仪式开始，到命令，到阴谋，到胁迫，最后是勇气，第16节。这就是高潮，简直太棒了。“沙得拉、米煞、亚伯尼歌回答对王说——”现在，我们就在那儿，伙计们，他们要说什么呢？尼布甲尼撒啊 - “他们没有给他所有那些'国王万岁'的东西。尼布甲尼撒啊，在这件事上，我们并不小心回答你。我喜欢这一点。那么，这是什么意思呢？

嗯，基本上，“我们就是没什么可说的。它并不傲慢。就是没什么可说的。他们只是承认自己的罪行。“我们没有什么要通过否认的方式对你说的，我们也没有什么要通过解释的方式对你说的，因为解释没有任何意义，所以我们根本不关心给你一个答案。我们站着，这就是我们将保持的方式。

他们尽其所能忠心地事奉尼布甲尼撒。这太过分了。然后是崇高的声明。事实上，这也许是凡人在整本圣经中所做的最崇高的陈述，也许是圣经中任何地方对真实信仰的最伟大的肯定。第 17 节和第 18 节。“如果是这样的话，我们所侍奉的上帝——”这是非常直接的“——能够将我们从燃烧的火炉中解救出来，他会把我们从你的手中解救出来，国王啊——”无论如何。但如果不行，王啊，你当知道，我们不会事奉你的神，也不会崇拜你所设立的金像。演讲结束、句号、段落。

没有合理化，没有对话，没有，“好吧，你希望我们做什么？我们能不能半途而废？这些都没有。“我们没有任何防御措施，”他们说。“我们没有任何答案。我们没有任何出路。我们绝对没有什么可说的，只知道我们所侍奉的上帝比你更伟大。而且，祂必救我们脱离你那燃烧的火炉，即使祂不这样做，我们也不会低头。

哦，多么崇高的声明。这些年轻人多么有信心。多么大的勇气。我们都同意这一点，在这个舒适的地方很容易。他们站在炽热的火炉边缘。他们的见证坚定不移，在最糟糕的时刻，他们的信仰是真实的。

蒙爱的信徒啊，我向你提出，这是因为他们绝对致力于内在的原则。他们被教导了神的话语，他们知道他们要根据神的真理以某种方式做出回应，无论外部压力如何，他们都不会妥协。多么美德。这并不取决于他们是否获得了奇迹。他们愿意接受上帝的旨意，即使这意味着死亡，而不是崇拜偶像。

哦，我告诉你，如果我们能给这个世界什么，那就是这种精神。这是一种不妥协、不屈不挠的正直，它说：“即使付出生命的代价，我也会忠于我的上帝。我们无时无刻不在向 20 世纪的偶像低头，以在这个世界上的人们中得到我们想得到的任何东西？他们知道那个异教国王的盲目。他们知道他们冗长的解释是没有用的。他们只是将自己交托给上帝。

就像约伯记 13：15 中的约伯一样，他们说：“他虽然杀了我，我还是要信他。他们知道，他们身体的遭遇不是问题，而是他们的灵魂必须被神的真理所吸引。对于我们，人们来说，这是一种不妥协的生活，无论付出什么代价都不会向任何偶像低头;受欢迎的偶像，舒适的偶像，名声的偶像，世界上受人尊敬的偶像，这些偶像都不能让我们低头。像这样站着的人没有妥协。

上帝不医治的时候和他医治的时候一样好。当上帝没有提供我们认为我们需要的一切时，他和他提供时一样慈爱。当上帝说 “不” 时，他和说 “是” 时一样仁慈。上帝就是上帝，上帝应该被毫不妥协地崇拜，他所做的就是他的事。你可以这样总结说，在上帝的情况下，死亡和生命一样好。右？

保罗说：“因为我活着就是基督，我死了就是——什么——得益。死亡从来没有让他的心感到恐惧。死亡从未迫使他妥协。有一天，他把头放在一块木块上，一把斧头在阳光下闪过，把它从身上斩断了，他从来没有退缩和妥协。

听着，主呼召我们这样做。在出埃及记 32：26 中，有人问道：“谁站在耶和华这边？在马太福音 10 章中，“凡在人面前认我的，我必在我天父面前认他。在马可福音 8：38 中，“所以，在这淫乱的世代，凡以我和我的话为耻的;人子必因他而感到羞愧。

换句话说，呼吁人们不妥协地承诺承认上帝的真实性并坚持真实。世界一次又一次地来到我们身边，呼唤我们归向它的偶像。我们想受欢迎。我们想出名。我们想被喜欢。我们想赚钱。我们想得到晋升。我们想取得好成绩。我们想赢得某人的青睐。因此，我们妥协了，使自己变得无用，我们的见证变得消极。

拿缦，列王纪下 5 章，他的麻风病被洗净了，他站在以利沙面前，他说：“除了耶和华以外，我心中再无神。现在很好。乃缦说：“从今以后，我心里再没有神，只能有耶和华。但是，在这件事上，我祈求你的宽恕，“他对以利沙说，”当国王出去到利门家敬拜时，他倚靠在我的手上，我在利门神面前下拜，这样你的仆人就被赦免了。乃缦非常关心，不敢妥协，以致他说：“看哪，我心里除了耶和华以外，再没有别的人。但是，当国王需要帮助来安抚他的身体，而我必须依靠才能让他下来时，请原谅我，因为这不是对那个神的崇拜。以利沙就打发他平平安安地上路了。

我们的信仰是如此真实，以至于没有代价让我们低头吗？马丁·路德 （Martin Luther） 在孤独中，在前往所谓的“蠕虫议会”面对不可避免的逐出教会的时刻时，出现在国王查理五世和罗马主教以及所有聚集的王子面前，他说了这句话——这是一个很棒的词。马丁·路德，“我的事业将归于主，因为他活着并统治着，他将三个孩子保存在巴比伦国王的火炉中。如果他不愿意保护我，我的生命与基督相比就是微不足道的。期待我什么都不要，除了逃跑或反悔。我不会逃跑，更不会悔改，愿主耶稣加添我力量。

他从那三个希伯来人那里得到了启发。他没有说，“救我。他说：“如果上帝要夺走我的生命，那是一件小事。因此，我们与这些伟大的神人和其他人一起，站在世界的压力面前，要坚定不移地向它的偶像低头。有人写道，“我所知道的最亲爱的偶像，那是什么偶像，请帮助我把它从宝座上扯下来，只崇拜你。难怪在约翰一书 5：21 中，约翰以“你们要远离偶像”这句话结束他奇妙的书信。

所以，我们看到了仪式、命令、阴谋、胁迫和勇气。现在是后果，我们要非常快速地看一下这一点，第19节。好吧，在那件小事之后，“尼布甲尼撒充满了愤怒”。在第13节里说他有 “忿怒和忿怒”。现在他已经充满了它。“他的面貌也改变了。”你知道那是什么意思吗？这意味着他把脸搞砸了。他非常生气，开始皱起脸来，对着他们做鬼脸。这是一个成年人。愚蠢。他让每个人都崇拜他的自大努力受挫了，他真的被激怒了，他开始对他们做鬼脸。“他说——”现在他做了一件愚蠢的事情“——他命令他们把炉子加热到平时加热的七倍。

现在你说，“孩子，他想让那东西真的燃烧起来。是的，但那太愚蠢了。如果你真的想折磨某人，就把火力调小，延长火力。将其加热七倍只是意味着它会减少创伤。他甚至不知道自己在做什么。他失去了对自己的控制。我们现在在宫廷里，到处都是无骨气的阿谀奉承者和讨好男人的人，我们看到这三个年轻人令人困惑，令人困惑，把尼布甲尼撒变成了某种白痴。所以他说，“加热它的温度比它应该热的七倍。

第 20 节。「他吩咐他军队中最勇士，要捆绑沙得拉、米煞、亚伯尼歌，把他们丢在烈火的火炉里。据我们所知，试图重建它，这可能是地上的一个坑，在低处有某种开口，顶部有一个开放的洞，他们被扔进了开放的洞里，尽管火是从下面点燃和喂养的。

尼布甲尼撒可以有某种阳台，他可以通过顶部的开口往下看，看看发生了什么。所以火越来越热，越来越热，他呼吁那些强壮的人——也就是最好的士兵，可能是他自己的私人保镖——把他们绑起来，然后扔进燃烧的火炉里。

“这些人就用外衣、长袜、头巾和别的衣服被绑起来，扔进燃烧的火炉里。”有趣的是，外套、衣服、头巾和长袜都表明他们是为了杀人而打扮的。我的意思是，他们都穿着节日的盛装——他们都穿着华丽的衣服。赢一些，输一些，对吧？试图用不是副词的东西组成副词。但无论如何，他们都为这个盛大的场合打扮得很漂亮。他们都是——国王非常愤怒，他根本没有改变过这一点。

他们都打扮得漂漂亮亮的，我认为这是来自圣灵的那种暗示，他们真的来做那些回应君王的人是正确的事。他们并不叛逆。他们为如此盛大的活动穿着得体。他们就是无法违背他们的 神。就这样，他们陷入了一场非常匆忙的战斗中。他们的衣服甚至没有换。他们只是把他们包起来，扔进火炉里。正如我所说，可能是从顶部的一个洞里。

现在，他们立刻知道 神不会把他们从火中拯救出来。当他们走进来时，这一点变得非常清楚。B 计划，如果你不能从火中获救，你希望在火中得救。事情就是这样。所以，他们知道他们无法逃避这种经历，但他们相信神会通过这种经历受苦，以荣耀他。也许他们想起了以赛亚书 43：2 的安慰话语，“你走过火时，必不被烫伤;火焰也不会在你身上燃起。那对他们来说是一种安慰，不是吗？

嗯，士兵们没有那么好。第 22 节。“所以，因为王的命令很紧急——”他完全失控了“——炉子非常热，火的火焰杀死了那些占领沙得拉、米煞和亚伯尼歌的人。把他们扔进去的士兵都被烧死了。他们在外面被烧死，而其他人在里面玩得很开心。他们在大火中丧生。

第23节，“这三个人，沙得拉、米煞、亚伯尼歌，都跌倒了——”这就是为什么我们相信顶部有一个洞，他们就被扔下去了“——被捆绑在燃烧的火炉中。现在，如果你不知道整个故事，我只能说，“下周回来看看发生了什么。但我们会继续前进。

我们在第24节从后果转向伴侣。「尼布甲尼撒王就惊愕，急忙起来，对他的谋士说：『我们不是把三个人绑在火中吗？〝他们回答说，王啊，是的。他回答说，看哪，我看见四个人——“不是被绑着的，而是”——松散的，在火中走来走去，他们没有受伤;第四个的形体就像众神之子。

现在你认为尼布甲尼撒在这开始时是震撼的，他现在真的是震撼了。他坐在一个舒适的距离上，能够透过这个洞看到发生了什么。他往里看，很多事情都让他感到震惊。首先，他看到的是四个，而不是三个。然后他看到他们没有被捆绑，而是被释放了。他们不是躺着，而是四处走动。他们没有燃烧和烘烤，他们完全没有受伤。第四个看起来像是众神之子，他们不是在寻找出口，他们只是耐心地等待，享受彼此的陪伴。

“众神之子”这句话呢，那是谁？尼布甲尼撒是个异教徒。如果他看到上帝的儿子，他就不会认识他。他不会理解道成肉身之前的基督或基督的显现，就像我们在创世记18章看到的那样。我相信尼布甲尼撒在他心中所说的只是一个天使，因为在同一章的第28节，他使用了“天使”这个词。在我看来，尼布甲尼撒认识到了一个超自然的灵性存在，他会把这个存在等同于天使。

现在有些人愿意相信那是基督，而且很可能是基督。其他人认为这是一个天使，坦率地说，伙计们，根本没有办法确定它。我们知道基督确实在旧约的某些时候出现，但基督在道成肉身来到地上之前是否以特殊方式出现，或者是否是一位天使，这真的不是问题。关键是，我相信，上帝派那位天使进入那火炉里，向那三个人解释发生了什么，他们四处走动，他告诉他们，我是上帝派来的，要在这火中保护你。你不会被烧伤的。我们只会享受我们的友谊，直到戏剧的下一个场景。

我相信他们知道他们没有燃烧，上帝派遣了他的天使来照顾他们。当圣经说主在希伯来书 13：5 中说“我总不撇下你，也不丢弃你”时，我认为神的意思是这个。我认为上帝派遣那些作为他的天使的人在可怕的环境中照顾我们。

几年前，以利亚也曾因亲临上帝的天使而获得类似的荣幸，在他极度沮丧的时候，亲自派遣为他提供食物。你可以在列王纪上 19 章中读到它。知道我们没有经历过上帝不在神圣陪伴中的经历，这是多么美妙的事情，火越热，团契就越甜蜜。

你知道，我可以告诉你们，伙计们，根据我自己的经验，每当我决定为某件事表明立场时，这是一件不受欢迎的事情，你开始变得懈怠，你就会有一种巨大的神圣陪伴感。这就是彼得在谈到当我们经历逼迫时，恩典和荣耀的灵住在我们身上的事实。我有一种压倒性的感觉，感觉到上帝的同在正在加添力量。他们在这里，在神圣的陪伴下，在炽热的火炉里。

所以，仪式、命令、阴谋、胁迫、勇气、后果、陪伴，最后，信不信由你，表彰，表彰。这很容易看出，第26节。“尼布甲尼撒来到烈火炉口，说：'沙得拉、米煞、亚伯尼歌，你们是至高神的仆人。'他怎么知道的呢？嗯，很明显他遇到了他的对手。“出来，过来。”我喜欢这个。“沙得拉、米煞、亚伯尼歌就从火中出来。”你得相信尼布甲尼撒一直在揉眼睛。

我们又来了。“众首领、总督、将军、王的谋士都聚集起来，看见这些人身上没有火，一根头发也没有烧焦，外衣也没有换，火的气味也没有散发在他们身上。”

现在，他们进行了调查。当我上大学的时候，有一次我需要买一件运动外套，但我没有钱。我妈妈总是给我送饼干，而不是钱。所以我需要一件运动外套和一家在我们大学所在的小镇上被烧毁的商店，所以我决定去参加大甩卖。我永远不会忘记那件外套。直到现在，它的气味仍然挥之不去。我在大学里穿了那件外套大约三年，它从来没有停止过闻起来。事实上，当人们绕过我时，他们会自动闻一闻。如果您曾经经历过火灾，您就会知道进入衣服的烟味永远不会消失。

所以他们给他们做了这个，你知道的，全面的调查，没有一根头发被烧焦，他们的衣服甚至根本没有被烧毁的改变，甚至没有火的味道。

“尼布甲尼撒就说——”现在看吧“——愿沙得拉、米煞、亚伯尼歌的神颂赞。”你说，“啊，尼布甲尼撒的转变。错。在第26节中，他说，“至高的神”。他并没有放弃他的多神论，他只是把这个神放在了堆的顶部，仅此而已。他不是在说 “独一的真神”。他只是在说..「你得是至高无上的那一位”，就这样。他保持着他传统的多神论，许多神。

“在这里，当他说，”沙得拉、米煞、亚伯尼歌的神是应当称颂的“时，他只是承认神学家所说的”单神论”。那就是相信某些人和某些国家有他们自己的神。以一种半神论的方式，他在他的多神论中为沙得拉、米煞和亚伯尼歌的神留出了空间，他愿意在这一点上说，这是所有神中的至高神。这与说他是唯一的神相去甚远，不是吗？

“沙得拉、米煞、亚伯尼歌的神是应当称颂的，他差遣了他的天使，拯救了信靠他的仆人，改变了王的话，交出了他们的身体，使他们除了自己的神之外，不侍奉也不敬拜任何神。”他说，“我只需要祝福这些人的上帝，他们不会妥协，也不会崇拜任何其他上帝。

我喜欢这句话，第28节，“他们交出了他们的身体。这听起来像什么诗句？罗马书 12：1，“将你们的身体献上 - 什么 - 活祭。不要效法这个世界。他们正是这样做的。你想要罗马书 12：1-2 的例证，就在这里。他们交出了自己的身体。他说，“能从他的子民中得到这种忠诚的上帝是应当称颂的。

听着，我们可以让世界听从它。我们可以通过不妥协的生活来扭转异教世界，从字面上看，即使他们不信，他们也不得不说我们是至高的上帝。即使他们不信，他们也必须说：「那些人的 神是应当称颂的。任何能够获得这种效忠的上帝都必须是某个上帝。

然后是赞美，第29节。“所以我定旨说任何坏话的民、国、方言，凡说坏话的，都要被切成碎片，他们的房子要变成垃圾堆。”这就是终极的亵渎，把一个人的房子变成粪堆，变成污水堆。 “——因为没有别的神可以拯救这种人。然后王在巴比伦省提拔沙得拉、米煞、亚伯尼歌。当你已经统治并被提升时，这就是某种提升。

如果你认为迦勒底人在第 3 章开始时不快乐，那么你可以想象在第 3 章结束时是什么样子。他说，谁说一句违背他们神的话，就要被切成碎片，他们的房子也要变成垃圾堆。尼布甲尼撒并不愚蠢。他决心要对这位上帝好，因为如果他想要什么，他希望这位上帝站在他这边。

美国国家橄榄球联盟（National Football League）的一位教练被问到，为什么他总是让一位基督教牧师在场边。他说..「你信神吗？」他说，“嗯，我不太确定，但如果有的话，我希望他站在我这边。那是尼布甲尼撒。他希望他站在他这边。

现在，让我快速结束。你和我可能永远不会面对炽热的熔炉，对吧？可能永远不会。但相信我，你将面临火的考验，我也是。他们将来自多个来源。首先，撒旦折磨我们。他使耶稣受苦，也试探他。“他四处走动——”彼得说——就像一只吼叫的狮子，寻找他可以吞噬的人。他是弟兄们的控告者。他想种下邪恶的思想。保罗自己说，他收到了撒旦派来的使者来打击他。撒旦要通过肉体的途径折磨我们。

其次，世界将折磨我们。世界会试图引诱我们。世界将试图迫害我们。世界将试图迫使我们妥协。而且，信不信由你，上帝甚至会把试炼带入我们的生活，考验我们的信心，对吧？在希伯来书第12章中，它谈到神如何用管教来折磨我们。

所以，我们将要经历试炼：有些来自撒旦，有些来自世界，还有一些是上帝允许的;但在这一切中，最终的结果是我们可以被熬炼，我们可以勇敢和不妥协地站立。赞美诗作者说：“当你的道路经过火炼时，我的恩典将为你提供充足的供应：火焰不会伤害你;我只设计你的渣滓来消费，让你的黄金来提炼。你看？让我们一起祈祷。

天父，我记得在中世纪，当一个战士上战场时，他要做的第一件事就是跪下，把剑弯到膝盖上，看看会不会折断。他需要知道它会在激烈的战斗中站得住脚。主啊，我们在许多方面都是祢的宝剑，有时祢会让我们屈膝，看看我们是否会折断。如果我们不崩溃，那么祢就会使用我们来赢得伟大的胜利。

愿我们相信祢伟大的传递能力。愿我们允许临到我们面前的紧张、考验和试炼成为那些像金子一样炼净我们的东西。愿我们不要妥协，当我们坚持真理时，不会失去属于我们的祝福。愿我们知道，通过这一切，将有一位像众神之子一样站在我们身边，是神圣的伴侣，在战斗中加强我们。

让我们成为不妥协的子民，像这些年轻人一样，可以站立得稳，让世界可以说，“这人的神是应当称颂的，他能从他们那里呼召这样的顺服。看在基督的份上，愿这就是我们的见证。阿门。