Transcript Continually making a stand for Jesus

Continually making a stand for Jesus this year
- It is so important that we continually put Jesus
Christ first place in our life and that we are always
prepared to stand up for Him and for our faith
-We must never allow our trials and other people
(peer group pressure) to discourage us from living
whole heartedly for the Lord
-Today I will be looking at four young men
who refused to compromise in their faith,
even during great tests and trials
- Jesus Himself said,
“Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I
will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But
whoever denies Me before men him I will also deny
before My Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32-33)
- Today I will be looking at the lives of these 4 young
men who continually stood up for God
Daniel
Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego
- When we read about these four young men in the
book of Daniel we can learn much from their lives
and be greatly encouraged
- I will begin by looking at the lives of Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abed-Nego in chapter three of
the book of Daniel in the Old Testament
- I will commence by looking at the first six verses
and verses 8-9, 12 and 13 of Chapter three
“Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold,
whose height was sixty cubits and its width six
cubits. He set it up in the plain of Dura, in the
province of Babylon. And King Nebuchadnezzar sent
word to gather together the satraps, the
administrators, the governors, the counsellors, the
treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the
officials of the provinces, to come to the dedication
of the image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set
up.” (Daniel 3:1-2)
“So the satraps, the administrators, the governors, the
counsellors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates,
and all the officials of the provinces gathered together
for the dedication of the image that King
Nebuchadnezzar had set up; and they stood before the
image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.” (Daniel 3:3)
“Then a herald cried aloud: “To you it is commanded,
O peoples, nations, and languages, that at the time
you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and
psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, you
shall fall down and worship the gold image that King
Nebuchadnezzar has set up; and whoever does not
fall down and worship shall be cast immediately into
the midst of a burning fiery furnace.” (Daniel 3:4-6)
“Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward
and accused the Jews. They spoke and said to King
Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever!” (Daniel 3:8-9)
“There are certain Jews whom you have set over the
affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abed-Nego; these men, O King, have not paid due
regard to you. They do not serve your gods or worship
the gold image which you have set up.” (Daniel 3:12)
“Then Nebuchadnezzar, in rage and fury, gave the
command to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego.
So they brought these men before the king.
(Daniel 3:13)
This now brings me to the first point that we can
learn from this passage of Scripture
1) We will at times be persecuted and even rejected
when we choose to stand up for Jesus and to live a
God glorifying life
The Apostle Paul wrote,
“Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus
will suffer persecution.” (2 Timothy 3:12)
In chapter 13 of the book of Acts we see that many
people were coming to Christ in Antioch but then
persecution arose for the word sake,
“But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent
women and the chief men of the city, raised up
persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled
them from their region.” (Acts 13:50)
“Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying to them, “Is it true,
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, that you do not
serve my gods or worship the gold image that I have set
up? Now if you are ready at the time you hear the sound
of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony
with all kinds of music, and your fall down and worship
the image which I made, good! But if you do not
worship, you will be cast immediately into the midst of a
burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will
deliver you from my hands? (Daniel 3:14-15)
This brings us to another thing that we can learn
from this passage of Scripture
2) That we all at times will be put in situations where
we are asked to compromise our values and to
disobey the Word of God – The ways of the world
are often so different to God’s ways
We then have a choice – Do we please man or God
FEAR IS SO OFTEN A KEY STRATEGY THAT THE DEVIL
USES TO CAUSE CHRISTIANS TO COMPROMISE IN
LIFE AND TO MAKE WRONG CHOICES
“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and
said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no
need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case,
our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from
the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from
your hand, 0 King.” (Daniel 3:16-17)
A third thing that we can learn from this passage of
Scripture is that Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego
had absolute trust in God’s ability to deliver them
3) We must simply just choose to trust God in every
situation in life and just do what He would want us
to do, knowing that with Him nothing is ever
impossible and that God knows what is best for us
In the book of Proverbs we read,
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on
your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge
Him, And He shall direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)
“But if not, let it be know to you, O king, that we do
not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold
image which you have set up.”
Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the
expression on his face changed toward Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abed-Nego. He spoke and commanded
that they heat the furnace seven times more than it
was usually heated. (Daniel 3:18-19)
Here we see that even if they were to die Shadrach,
Meshach and Abed-Nego would not compromise
their faith and values – They wanted to honour God
with their lives rather than pleasing man
4) We must be continually committed to standing
up for our faith and doing what is right even when it
is hard to do so at times – GOD HAS OUR BEST
INTERESTS AT HEART – He loves us and is always
willing and able to help us – We must continually
put our trust and confidence in Jesus Christ
WE CAN BE ASSURED THAT IF WE CONTINUALLY SEEK TO
DO GOD’S WILL IN OUR LIFE, IN THE LONG RUN WE WILL
BE BLESSED
Jesus Himself said,
“Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of Mine,
and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who
built his house on the rock; and the rain descended,
the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on
that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on
the rock.
But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and
does not do them, will be like a foolish man who
built his house on the sand; and the rain descended,
the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on
that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
(Matthew 7:24-27)
“And he commanded certain mighty men of valour
who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abed-Nego, and cast them into the burning fiery
furnace. Then these men were bound in their coats,
their trousers, their turbans, and their other
garments, and were cast into the midst of the
burning fiery furnace.” (Daniel 3:20-21)
“And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abed-Nego, fell down bound into the midst of the
burning fiery furnace.” (Daniel 3:23)
“Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he
rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counsellors, “Did
we not cast three men bound into the midst of the
fire? They answered and said to the king, “True, O
King.” “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose,
walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt,
and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”
(Daniel 3:24-25)
We see in this passage of Scripture that the preincarnate Christ was with the three young men
during their fiery trial in the furnace keeping them
from being hurt
5) We can be assured that Jesus will always comfort us
and be with us during the fiery trials of life. He
promises to never leave nor forsake us – He is able to
keep us safe during the storms of life and is
continually interceding and praying for us
Jesus said,
“... and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the
age. Amen” (Matthew 28:20)
“And the satraps, administrators, governors, and
the king’s counsellors gathered together, and
they saw these men on whose bodies the fire
had no power; the hair of their head was not
singed nor were their garments affected, and the
smell of fire was not on them.” (Daniel 3:27)
6) In this passage of Scripture we see the ability of
God to supernaturally protect us and to keep us
safe when we walk in humble trust and obedience
“Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, “Blessed be the God of
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His
Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him,
and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded
their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any
god except their own God. Therefore I make a decree
that any people, nation, or language which speaks
anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abed-Nego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses
shall be made an ash heap; because there is no other
God who can deliver like this.” (Daniel 3:28-29)
Here we see the impact that our lives can make
on others when we stand up for our faith and
refuse to compromise. King Nebuchadnezzar now
has a clear understanding of God’s power and
ability to deliver people and that there is no other
God that can deliver like Him
7) As we stand up for our faith others will be
influenced to come to Christ as they see our
commitment to Him and God’s faithfulness
towards us. For with God nothing will be
impossible
Jesus said,
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may
see you good works and glorify your Father in
heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)
“Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abed-Nego in the province of Babylon.”
(Daniel 3:30)
PROMOTION
Finally we see that as Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abed-Nego continued to remain faithful in their
walk with God, they received a promotion from
King Nebuchadnezzar. As long as we stay faithful in
our walk with the Lord, we will ultimately gain
favour with men and see God raising us up to do
great things for His glory.
The Apostle Paul wrote,
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly
above all that we ask or think, according to the power
that works in us.” (Ephesians 3:20)
God has much in store
for every believer’s life
I will now finish by quickly looking at the
life of Daniel
• Daniel had an excellent spirit and loved God
• Daniel was committed to honouring God with
his life
• Because of his integrity Darius the king gave
thought to setting Daniel over the whole realm
• The other Satraps and 2 governors then sought
to find some charge against Daniel to pull him
down
• But they could find no charge or fault because
he was so faithful
“Then these men said, “We shall not find any charge against
this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law
of his God.” So these governors and satraps thronged before
the king, and said thus to him: “King Darius, live forever!”
“All the governors of the kingdom, the administrators and
satraps, the counsellors and advisors have consulted
together to establish a royal statute and to make a firm
decree, that whoever petitions any god or man for thirty
days, except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions.”
- The satraps and governors only wanted to see Daniel
removed because of God’s favour upon his life
- KING DARIUS THEN ESTABLISHED THIS DECREE AND SIGNED IT
- Even though Daniel knew of this decree he refused
to stop praying to God – His trust was always in
God – He loved God and did not fear man
“Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed,
he went home. And in his upper room, with his
windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his
knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks
before his God, as was his custom since early days.”
(Daniel 6:10)
As Christians we can be assured that nothing
can ever happen to us apart from the will of
our Father in heaven
Jesus Himself said,
“Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin?
And not one of them falls to the ground apart
from your Father’s will.” (Matthew 10:29)
“Do not fear therefore; you are of more value
than many sparrows.” (Matthew 10:31)
- The satraps and governors told King Darius of what
Daniel had done in still praying to his God
- Reluctantly King Darius, because of the decree that
he had made, had Daniel put into the lions den
• But God protected Daniel from those hungry lions
• When King Darius awoke in the morning he went in
haste to the lions den and cried out, “... Daniel,
servant of the living God, has your God, whom you
serve continually, been able to deliver you from the
lions?”
(Daniel 6:20)
• “Then Daniel said to the king,
“O king, live forever!”
(Daniel 6:21
“My God sent His angel and shut the lion’s mouths,
so that they have not hurt me, because I was found
innocent before Him; and also, O King, I have done
no wrong before you.” (Daniel 6:22)
“Now the king was exceedingly glad for him, and
commanded that they should take Daniel up out of
the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and
no injury whatever was found on him, because he
believed in his God.” (Daniel 6:23)
SO IN CONCLUSION WE HAVE A GOD WHO LOVES US
WITH A PASSION AND WHO IS BOTH WILLING AND
ABLE TO DELIVER US OUT OF ALL THE TRIALS AND
CHALLENGES THAT WE WILL ALL AT TIMES
EXPERIENCE IN LIFE
GOD IS ABSOLUTELY FAITHFUL – We can depend on Him
FOR THIS REASON, May I encourage you to always stand
up for the Lord in every circumstance as He has the best
plan for each of our lives and our best interests at heart –
God knows what is best for our life – We must never allow
a fear of man to stop us from fully embracing all that God
has planned for our life
As we continually live for the Lord, God will raise us up to
do great things for His glory, “exceedingly abundantly
above all that we ask or think, according to the power that
works in us.” (Ephesians 3:20)