⁸ But some of the astrologers^[e] went to the king and informed on the Jews. ⁹ They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “Long live the king! ¹⁰ You issued a decree requiring all the people to bow down and worship the gold statue when they hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and other musical instruments. ¹¹ That decree also states that those who refuse to obey must be thrown into a blazing furnace. ¹² But there are some Jews—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—whom you have put in charge of the province of Babylon. They pay no attention to you, Your Majesty. They refuse to serve your gods and do not worship the gold statue you have set up.”¹³ Then Nebuchadnezzar flew into a rage and ordered that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought before him. When they were brought in,¹⁴ Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you refuse to serve my gods or to worship the gold statue I have set up? ¹⁵ I will give you one more chance to bow down and worship the statue I have made when you hear the sound of the musical instruments.^[f] But if you refuse, you will be thrown immediately into the blazing furnace. And then what god will be able to rescue you from my power?”¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. ¹⁷ If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. ¹⁸ But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.”

As we continue looking at idols it becomes clear that the goal was:

6. CONTROL – 3:8-12

We need to realize that the real battle is one for control. Nebuchadnezzar wanted complete CONTROL of his subjects. But he was not the only one who cared about control. Those who pointed them out did it because they wanted to be in a place of CONTROL of the kingdom. The spiritual battle we are in, is a battle for CONTROL. Who are you going to let CONTROL your life? Your friends, your boss, your wants and desires, people and their peer-pressure or GOD?  What was happening to these 3 men was out of their CONTROL. They hadn’t done anything wrong, God wasn’t punishing them, SOMETIMES things happen to us which are beyond our CONTROL. What we need to remember is that when things seem out of control Christ’s is still in control. The reason we don’t live like we believe this is because we tend to base things being under control on our circumstances, when our circumstances are good, we feel like God is good. When it all goes bad, we blame Him. But control is not based on your circumstances it’s based on Christ. Scripture tells us that He is seated at the right hand of the Father, why is He seated because everything is under control. He has already conquered sin and death. King Nebuchadnezzar was not in control, but the King of Kings Jesus Christ was and is. Church it’s time to stop looking to government for control and start looking to God. Are you trusting in political policies or the Prince of Peace? Has politics become your idol? Nebuchadnezzar was just a puppet king, Jesus is the true and all-powerful King. Nebuchadnezzar is no longer around, he is no longer making policy, but Jesus is.  Are you listen to the voice of your circumstances or the voice of Christ? It’s here that Nebuchadnezzar because he thinks he is in charge issues the:

7. CHALLENGE – 3:13-15

The King CHALLENGES them to change their mind. He give them a 2nd chance because he thought very highly of them, and didn’t want to lose them. It’s a powerful statement about their character. But we also need to remember that Satan is the of king of second chances. While opportunity may knock only once temptation will knock again and again. Nebuchadnezzar doesn’t just challenge God’s servants he CHALLENGES the power of God. He not only CHALLENGED God when he set up the image for all to worship him, but he CHALLENGED God for His ability to do anything about it. And as he would shortly find out God was up to the challenge. It’s here in the midst of the challenge for control that we see their:

8. CONFIDENCE – 3:16-18

When Nebuchadnezzar challenged them they didn’t even have to think about it! They responded in verse 16, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you.”It wasn’t even debatable in their minds. Because they had already determined who their master was. Who is the ultimate authority in your life? They knew that they answered to a much higher authority than this earthly king. What I want you to take away from this is the confidence that they had in their God. They knew that no matter the outcome, GOD WAS STILL GOD!! It wasn’t based on the outcome it was based on obedience. Too often we base our obedience on the outcome, if things work out the way we want we are all for His Will. As a result, our prayer lives are driven by our agenda instead of the Almighty. They understood a truth we seem to have forgotten, that no matter the outcome if it’s God’s Will it’s a win. Even death because death doesn’t end our life it brings us into the presence of the author of life. They chose the Lord over life, but how do you make those kinds of choices in the heat of the moment? You don’t, you need to prepare ahead of time and decide how you are going to live. A soldier doesn’t wait for war to start sharpening their sword, they prepare in advance. How do we prepare, by spending time in His presence. This is prayer based on His presence not just your problems. We need to be in the Word to discover His Will not confirm our wants. The more you know Christ the more confident you will be in your convictions. Because without confidence we are susceptible to compromise. So what about you, who are you letting control your heart and mind? Are you up to the challenge because your eyes are firmly fixed on Jesus or will you cave to the culture? Who is your confidence in, is it self, society or the Savior?

Daniel 3:1-7

“King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue ninety feet tall and nine feet wideand set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. ² Then he sent messages to the high officers, officials, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the provincial officials to come to the dedication of the statue he had set up. ³ So all these officials came and stood before the statue King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.⁴ Then a herald shouted out, “People of all races and nations and languages, listen to the king’s command! ⁵ When you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and other musical instruments, bow to the ground to worship King Nebuchadnezzar’s gold statue. ⁶ Anyone who refuses to obey will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.” ⁷ So at the sound of the musical instruments, all the people, whatever their race or nation or language, bowed to the ground and worshiped the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.”

It’s here on the heels of king Nebuchadnezzar command to fall down and worship his idol that we have to consider the:

3. COST – 3:6

There are 2 costs here, that of the statue and that of not bowing to it. What did this 90-foot statue of gold cost the king and the country? Which begs the question, how much are we investing in idols today? What is idol worship costing us as a country? The second cost was that anyone who refused to worship this image would be cast into the fiery furnace. They would be persecuted for their Biblical beliefs. Why are we so shocked by this, look what was true 2500 years ago in their culture is what we see in our country today. It’s what Jesus said in Luke 14:27-29: “And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. ²⁸ “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? ²⁹ Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you.” There is always a COST to following Christ. What about us are we willing to bear the cost of following Christ or are we chasing after comfort? These men chose Christ over compromise because they were faithful followers, not fair-weather followers. Fair-weather followers make decisions based on their circumstances, but faithful followers make decisions based on Christ. Are your decisions based on your faith or on your feelings? Are you following God or a feel good? If we are not careful, we will follow what’s comfortable instead of following Christ. They didn’t just follow God when things were easy and going their way. They were willing to follow God even if it cost them their life. Notice that nothing they did changed, it was the culture and circumstances which changed and made their beliefs stand out a bit more and brought about opposition. Living a Godly life will bring opposition which to many Christians seems counter intuitive. I mean if we are living a godly life, shouldn’t we have an easy life? Well, here is the problem with that thinking, we confuse a blessed life with an easy life. Yes, Scripture clearly teaches that God wants to bless us, but blessing does not always equate with ease of circumstances. Being blessed by the Lord has more to do with experiencing His presence in the midst of life, than it does a problem free life. Living a godly life does not guarantee an ease life. In fact, it guarantees just the opposite, as 2 Timothy 3:12 says, “everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

4. CROWD – 3:7

It’s here that we see the contrast between the crowd and those who didn’t bow. When the band began to play the people fell down and worshipped the image. But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow and instead stood for what they believed. Are you going to take a stand for what you believe or bow to what you don’t? Who are you going to follow the crowd or Christ? Are you going to cave to the culture and conform or stand for what is right because of your convictions?  You will either be conformed by the crowd or your convictions. It’s here that we see that we all have a:

5. CHOICE – 3:7

They had a CHOICE live out the beliefs of the culture or live for Christ. Every day we are confronted with CHOICES. We can live out God’s Will or do what WE want. Are you going to choose to look good in the eyes of man or in the eyes of God? Joshua had the same decision to make and he challenged God’s people to make a choice as well, Joshua 24:15: “But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”They had a CHOICE whether or not to take a stand. Am I going to stand up for Christ in an anti-Christian culture or cower to the crowd and bow to their beliefs? Not only does living a godly life bring opposition, but it also brings hard Choices. They had to choose between worshiping a false idol and keeping their physical life or worshipping the living God and losing their physical life. It’s the challenge of the second commandment am I going to bow to idols or to Immanuel? What do I love more my life or my Lord?  It is not too often in this country that we face a choice which is going to risk our life, unless we believe that sin brings forth death. The second commandment reminds us that it is a choice that comes with generational consequence. A choice that doesn’t just affect our lives but can infect or protect the lives of our children and their children.  If you want what’s best for your kids then you will pursue God’s best. Every generation wants it better for their kids, the problem is we have defined better as easier. As a result, we have made it so good for our kids that we have made it bad. Instead of it being better we’ve made brats. Rather than raising soldiers for Christ we are ruining our country with spoiled consumers. If you want to bless your kids make it about the bible not your bank account. You will become what you worship and as Greg Beale says, “what people revere, they resemble, either for ruin or for restoration.”If you want to ruin your kids worship the things of this world, but if you want to restore then lead them in the worship on the One true God, Jesus Christ. I have been greatly blessed in my life, but it’s not just because of the choices I have made but because I had a Dad who sought to honor Christ not the culture. Thank you Bill Armstrong for modeling not only what a godly man looks like but how he should live and love. Is the way you are living going to unleash God’s lavish love on the next generation or plague them with problems?