ARE YOU FIREPROOF?

Daniel 3:8-30.

Daniel 3:8-30 (HCSB) - ⁸ Some Chaldeans took this occasion to come forward and maliciously accuse the Jews. ⁹ They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “May the king live forever. ¹⁰ You as king have issued a decree that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, drum, and every kind of music must fall down and worship the gold statue. ¹¹ Whoever does not fall down and worship will be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire. ¹² There are some Jews you have appointed to manage the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men have ignored you, the king; they do not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.” ¹³ Then in a furious rage Nebuchadnezzar gave orders to bring in Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king. ¹⁴ Nebuchadnezzar asked them, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, is it true that you don’t serve my gods or worship the gold statue I have set up? ¹⁵ Now if you’re ready, when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, drum, and every kind of music, fall down and worship the statue I made. But if you don’t worship it, you will immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire—and who is the god who can rescue you from my power?” ¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, “Nebuchadnezzar, we don’t need to give you an answer to this question. ¹⁷ If the God we serve exists, then He can rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and He can rescue us from the power of you, the king. ¹⁸ But even if He does not rescue us, we want you as king to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.” ¹⁹ Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He gave orders to heat the furnace seven times more than was customary, ²⁰ and he commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and throw them into the furnace of blazing fire. ²¹ So these men, in their trousers, robes, head coverings, and other clothes, were tied up and thrown into the furnace of blazing fire. ²² Since the king’s command was so urgent and the furnace extremely hot, the raging flames killed those men who carried Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego up. ²³ And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego fell, bound, into the furnace of blazing fire. ²⁴ Then King Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in alarm. He said to his advisers, “Didn’t we throw three men, bound, into the fire?” “Yes, of course, Your Majesty,” they replied to the king. ²⁵ He exclaimed, “Look! I see four men, not tied, walking around in the fire unharmed; and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.” ²⁶ Nebuchadnezzar then approached the door of the furnace of blazing fire and called: “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, you servants of the  Most High God—come out!” So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the fire. ²⁷ When the satraps, prefects, governors, and the king’s advisers gathered around, they saw that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men: not a hair of their heads was singed, their robes were unaffected, and there was no smell of fire on them. ²⁸ Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, “Praise to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! He sent His angel and rescued His servants who trusted in Him. They violated the king’s command and risked their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. ²⁹ Therefore I issue a decree that anyone of any people, nation, or language who says anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego will be torn limb from limb and his house made a garbage dump. For there is no other god who is able to deliver like this.” ³⁰ Then the king rewarded Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

INTRO:  There are some things that really puzzle me.  Sometimes I can sit around when I have nothing particular to do and just ask myself some silly questions.  Here are a few:

Why does the sun lighten our hair, but darken our skin?  Why can’t women put on their mascara with their mouths closed?  Why don’t we ever see the headline, “Psychic wins the lottery?  Why is “abbreviated” such a long word?  Why is it that doctors call what they do “practice”?  Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor, but dishwashing liquid made with real lemons?  Why is the busiest time of day with all the traffic jams in Houston called “rush hour”?  Why didn’t Noah swat those two mosquitoes?  Why do they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?  You know that indestructible black box on airplanes that always survives the crash intact, why don’t they make the whole plane out of that stuff? If con is opposite of pro, then is Congress opposite of progress?  If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal? 

I have just one more question that I’d like an answer for.  Only you can answer this question.  Are you fireproof?

We see Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego not bow before golden statue.  They suffered for it.  But their heart was in the right place.  Daniel 3:17-18 (HCSB) - ¹⁷ If the God we serve exists, then He can rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and He can rescue us from the power of you, the king. ¹⁸ But even if He does not rescue us, we want you as king to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.”

You see, they knew that God could rescue them from their fiery trial.  But if God didn’t, they still were not going to bow.

That’s the key to fireproof living.  Knowing that God can rescue us from fiery trails, but if He doesn’t, we will not bow or compromise.

Here is another question:  Are you willing to be thrown into the fire of your Christian convictions?  We are not talking about a social Christianity where everything is fun, but really living out your faith in this world, and suffering fiery trails because of it.

Here are a few keys that will get you on the road to fireproof living.

1.  Develop Divine confidence.

Daniel 3:17 (HCSB) - He can rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and He can rescue us from the power of you, the king.

A.     The 3 Hebrew Children had Divine confidence.

1.      They had confidence not in their ability to endure this fiery furnace, but they had confidence in the God that they served.

B.     We must have the same confidence.  Not in our abilities or strengths, but in God’s ability to take care of us.

1.      Remember this, even when facing death, God can and will deliver you.

2.      Paul had this same attitude that we need.

2 Timothy 1:11-12 (HCSB) - ¹¹ For this [gospel] I was appointed a herald, apostle, and teacher, ¹² and that is why I suffer these things. But I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to guard what has been entrusted to me until that day.

2.  Don’t allow circumstances to cause you to compromise.

Daniel 3:10-12 (HCSB) - ¹⁰ You as king have issued a decree that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, drum, and every kind of music must fall down and worship the gold statue. ¹¹ Whoever does not fall down and worship will be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire. ¹² There are some Jews you have appointed to manage the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men have ignored you, the king; they do not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.”

A.     The circumstances were bleak for the 3 Hebrews.

1.      They were caught red handed not bowing down to the statue.

2.      But they did not compromise once even facing death.

B.     Conviction and compromise are opposing forces.

1.      When you give in to your circumstances, your convictions begin to erode.

3.  Grab onto God’s hand as you walk through the fire.

Daniel 3:25 (HCSB) - He exclaimed, “Look! I see four men, not tied, walking around in the fire unharmed; and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”

A.     God allowed the 3 Hebrews to go through the fire.  But the good news is that Jesus got in the fire with them!

B.     Sometimes God will rescue us so that we don’t have to go through the fire.

C.     Sometimes God will not rescue us from going through the fire.

1.      When this happens, He walks in the fire with us and takes us through it.

D.     It is human nature for Christians sometimes to compromise and drift away from God when we are going through the fire.

1.      But if you go through the fire with your hand already in His, this is the time to hold on to every promise He has spoken over you, every song of worship and deliverance, the people of God you belong too (the church), and His very Word He has given us (the Bible).

4.  Realize that with each fiery trial, comes the opportunity for promotion.

Daniel 3:29-30 (HCSB) - ²⁹ Therefore I issue a decree that anyone of any people, nation, or language who says anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego will be torn limb from limb and his house made a garbage dump. For there is no other god who is able to deliver like this.” ³⁰ Then the king rewarded Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

A.     In the end, God was praised by a pagan king, and the 3 Hebrews were promoted and rewarded because of God’s faithfulness to them.

B.     Promotion does not come through the good times.

1.      It comes through the fiery trials, the valleys, the burdens.

2.      It is during those times that God is able to take you to the next level of spiritual maturity.

3.      When you stand for Him, in the face of fiery trials, God always has greater things in store for you.

CONCL:  God is not interested in lazy, casual Christians.  He wants dynamic, fireproof Christians.  This is only shown by how you face each fiery trial.

Remember this:  God does not abandon you during the trial.  He wants you to completely and absolutely put your complete trust in confidence in Him, and then face the trial head-on, leaving the results up to God.