Standing for God in a Fiery Trial

Daniel 3:7-28

Introduction:
In 606 BC, the Babylonians attacked Jerusalem and deported thousands of Jews to Babylon. Among them were some Hebrew young people named Daniel, Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael. Already, these young men had faced adversities that challenged their faithfulness to God, and they have remained committed. They have been promoted to high government positions and had their names changed to Babylonian names. Three of them now face a fiery trial: Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael, or Shadrach, Meschach and Adbednego.
King Nebuchadnezzar has built a huge statue and commanded that everyone bow down and worship it. These three Hebrew young men will not give their worship to anyone but God.
As we look at this passage, I wonder if there would be three among us with such dedication. We find ourselves pushed to compromise almost constantly. In Mark 12, Jesus said, “The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.”
The consequences of our trials are not nearly as severe as what these young men faced, and yet they remained faithful. Do we?

I. CONTROLLING SOCIETY-
King Nebuchadnezzer has this huge image constructed and demands worship
The golden statue was 90 feet high and 9 feet wide.
The Statue of Liberty is 111 feet from head to toe. Nebuchadnezzar’s was almost as tall!
He expects complete compliance and has an initiation on the day of its inauguration
An orchestra was brought in and specific instructions were announced
Nebuchadnezzar had imposed the sanction of death by the fiery furnace to deal with a possible lunatic fringe of anti-social cranks.
The ruthless dictator would tolerate no opposition
He expected to control everything and everyone around him, even if it meant killing those who would not obey his wishes.
You and I live in a world that speaks of tolerance, but what they mean is for us to be tolerant
They may not roll out a statue today and tell us to bow before it, but they expect our allegiance
They tell us that evolution is a fact, abortion is an acceptable choice, sexual deviance is normal
They tell us that all religion is the same, and none of it really matters
The real gods of our world are ourselves and material gain and pleasure.
And the band warms up and we are expected to bow before all of that nonsense.
When you won’t bow before the sacred sacrileges, they aren’t very tolerant

II. COMMITTED SERVANTS-
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego did not attempt to control the situation because it was literally out of their hands.
They have a choice to make, either bow down to the wishes of the king and sacrifice their relationship with God or stand for God and trust Him to deliver.
They really didn’t see a choice. When the band played and the masses bowed, these stood still
When the cloud of dust settled on the plain of Dura, there were three people standing tall
The Chaldeans were thrilled because they hated these Hebrews who took the jobs they wanted
They run to King Nebuchadnezzar and tattle on Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
The king calls them forward and chews them out and gives them another chance to bow
Shadrach, Meshach and