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Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Edward Prodanovic

Faith on Fire

I entitled this message Faith on Fire and as I was studying my Bible and looking through resources I saw this story that I didn't pass by it until recently and it was a story of a 10 year old boy.

His name is Willie Myrick and he's from Atalanta and he was actually playing out on his driveway when a person drove up and abducted him.

And he put him in the back of the car and he drove off.

And during that time, that boy kept on singing praise songs, and I understand it was maybe a couple hours that he just kept on singing praise song, praise song, praise song that eventually the abductor said, this is enough.

And he told them to get out, and the abductor left.

And when his story went out in public, it was such a story of faith and such a wonderful thing that God can do in the life of a young person, that He's gotten quite a bit of publicity.

So if a young man's faith like that can work, imagine what a group of us and each and every 1 of us can do too.

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you so much that we can gather on a special day, Lord, that we can open your word.

Please prepare our hearts, Baptize our minds now that you can cleanse it and you can allow the Holy Spirit to dwell.

Baptize my tongue that the words I speak come through your word and your word only.

Thank you for all your kindness, love, and mercy.

The book of Daniel records 1 of my favorite stories, and I'm gonna go ahead and read Daniel chapter 3, verse 17 and verse 18.

And it says, if we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it.

And He will deliver us from your majesty's hand.

But even if he does not, we want you to know, your majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were 3 young men who faced 1 of the most difficult decisions you could ever imagine.

It was either disobey God and live, or obey God and die.

I'm sure these individuals had fears in their lives, but when they were faced with the choice of falling God or giving into their fears, they chose to fearlessly obey the Lord.

As a little historical background, around 605 BC, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had attacked and conquered Judah, and some of that's written in Daniel chapter 1.

Following his victory, Nebuchadnezzar had ordered the best and the brightest young men of Judah to be deported to Babylon.

His plan was to train these young men for 3 years and give them some of the positions in the royal court.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were among this group.

The 3 years of training in Babylon was really an attempt, in a sense, to brainwash the Jewish captives.

Nebuchadnezzar wanted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and the others to become so indoctrinated in Babylonian culture that at the end of their training, basically they would be Babylonians.

Even the names of the young men were changed, right?

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the original names were Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

Their Jewish names honored their Lord, But their new names honored the gods of the Babylonians.

His name was changed to Belshazzar, which means Bell is my judge, and Bell is the name of 1 of the Babylonian gods.

His name was changed to Shadrach, which means illuminated by the sun god.

His name was changed to Meshach, which means who is like Venus.

Azariah's name was the Lord is my helper.

His name was changed to Abednego, which means the worshiper of Nego, or Nego or Nebo was also 1 of the Babylonian gods, the god of wisdom.

But the Babylonians could change their names, but 1 thing they couldn't change was their hearts.

They would remain loyal to the God of Israel no matter what.

Their faith in God would not allow them to stoop to the level of the pagans.

Their standards and the manner of life made them different from the others around them that day, and their convictions made them stand out.

As the story continues, King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold.

It was 90 feet high, about 9 feet wide, and it's set up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.

If we continue to read in Daniel chapter 3, verse 4 through 6, Then the herald loudly proclaimed, nations and peoples of every language, this is what you are commanded to do.

As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, the flute, the zither, the lyre, the harp, and pipe, and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

Whoever does not fall and worship will be immediately thrown into a blazing furnace.

The music sounded and everyone bowed low except for 3 men who stood tall, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

And in verses that continue in 13 to 15, Nebuchadnezzar gives him a second chance.

He knows why these boys are refusing to bow and he mocks the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

He implies that he, Nebuchadnezzar, is more powerful than the God they serve.

He demands that they bow to the will, to his will, instead of the will of God.

They wouldn't bow in public, and they wouldn't bow in private.

If we are going to live for Jesus in this world, if we are going to be His alone, if we are going to refuse to let this world squeeze us into its mold, then we are probably going to suffer persecution.

If we are going to live godly lives, if we are going to live for Jesus, then we are going to be persecuted.

Furnaces of criticism, furnaces of intimidation, furnaces of hatred, furnaces of temptations, furnaces of trials like you cannot imagine.

But if we are thrown into a blazing furnace, the promise is that God will be able to deliver us.

God is able to do amazing things, but as in verse 18 said, even if he does not, we will not worship your God or bow down to the image of God you have set up.

So in a sense, it's a mind decision that no matter what happens, even persecution, that we will still stand tall for God.

It's easy to be faithful to God, right, when things are going easy.

When there are no earthquakes or tornadoes or rain storms in our lives, it's easy to say we're faithful to God.

But the Hebrew boys said that even though he may not save them, they will not bend their knee.

How many times in the Bible does it say life is going to really be that easy if you are faithful?

The furnaces of life, especially the furnaces of persecution, are absolutely no fun.

But I will argue 1 point, that in spite of how difficult they can be, the furnaces of life can be really good for us as well.

The furnaces of life exist to help us to become more like Jesus.

Just as gold and silver are placed in the furnace and are purified through this process, persecution has a way of removing the dross from our lives.

Shedrack, Meshach, and Abednego, they were cast into the fire as we know, but amazing thing happened, right?

Instead of dying in those flames, they were loosened from their bonds and were walking around in the flames.

Now Nebuchadnezzar could not believe his eyes, nor would we, and he commanded them to come out, which they did.

They were found to be totally unharmed by the violence of the flames.

The fire did nothing more to them than burn away the things that had Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego tied up.

The Lord used the fire in the furnace to free them from the ropes that held them.

When the fires of persecution and affliction come into your life, You need to remember this truth.

The Lord is merely freeing you from some of the things that have you bound in your life.

And as the flames burn away the ropes of besetting sins, of bad attitudes, of bad habits, whatever they may be, you will find that you're freer in the fire than you were outside of the fire.

Often persecution seems like the worst possible thing that could happen in our lives, but it can prove the best thing that we have ever experienced.

In verse 25 it said that they had no hurt.

He did not allow the fire to go through them.

There's a powerful truth here for those who find themselves in a fiery furnace now.

The furnace may be frightening, but you were not sent there to be destroyed.

God did not allow it for harm, but for your good.

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Faith on Fire

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