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Faith in the Furnace

SERIES: Standing Firm #3 of 6

2008-07-13

PRODUCTION #: 1033

SPEAKER: Shawn Boonstra

Someone once asked the great preacher, Charles Spurgeon, if he would be ready to die for his faith.

"Pastor Spurgeon," he asked, "if you actually had to lay down your life for the things you believe, do you think you could do it?"

"Absolutely not," Spurgeon said.

Well, the answer was a little surprising, so he asked Spurgeon to explain himself.

"Well, it's like this," he said. "If you're asking if I have the courage to die for my faith right now, and I'm honest, I'd have to tell you, "no." The thought of dying just doesn't appeal to me. But if that moment were to actually come, I believe that God would give me the courage to do it."

That is a pretty amazing answer. And you know, I have often wondered myself if I'd have what it takes to be a martyr, to die for my faith. And then, one day, digging through the prophecies of the Bible, I found a key that gives hope to the faltering heart; a key so powerful that it gives me unshakable confidence that no matter what might come my way, I can face it with a smile on my face and a song in my heart. Stay with me, and I'll show you what I found.

Have you ever worked really hard for something, I mean slaved over it for years, just to have someone come along and take it away? Well, then, maybe you can identify with the fears and frustrations of an ancient king by the name of Nebuchadnezzar.

As a young man, he came to power in the Babylonian kingdom, and through a lot of hard work, he grew it into the greatest empire the world had ever seen. It was so great that it literally became a monument to human achievement.

And the ancient historian, Herodotus, tells us that he was awestruck by what he saw in the ancient city of Babylon: "Babylon, [he said] lies in a wide plain, a vast city in the form of a square with sides nearly 14 miles long and a circuit of some 56 miles, and in addition to its enormous size it surpasses in splendor any city of the known world."

It would have come as no surprise to Herodotus to discover that we still use the word "Babylon" to describe a state of opulence and absolute self-indulgence.

Nebuchadnezzar had built the greatest kingdom the world had ever seen, and in his heart, he knew it. His empire was a monument to his own greatness, a guarantee that neither history nor geography would ever forget who he was or what he accomplished.

But then came that fateful night when God spoke to him in a dream and showed him a statue made of different metals. The statue represented the succession of world empires to come. And that night, he discovered that Babylon would not stand forever.

Eventually, it would be dismantled by a power that not even the greatest king in history could withstand.

"Nebuchadnezzar," said Daniel the prophet, "you may be the head of gold on that statue; you may rule the most fabulous kingdom that has ever existed. But one day, another kingdom, in fact, an inferior kingdom, will take your place."

Unbelievably, God had chosen to reveal the world's future to a pagan king. In the quiet recesses of the darkest part of the night, He flooded the king's mind with a vivid picture of the future that continues to stump the toughest critics of the Bible to this day.

Hundreds of years in advance, Nebuchadnezzar saw the rise and fall of world empires. He was carried through the corridors of time from his own day to the consummation of world history and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The message he got that night was crystal clear: God has a purpose in history that cannot be defeated, not even by the most capable people with the most ambitious plans.

But instead of drawing comfort from the fact that God is in control of human history, Nebuchadnezzar found the dream disturbing, because everything he had worked for was destined to crumble.

So in the third chapter of the book of Daniel, just one chapter after Nebuchadnezzar has the prophetic dream, we find the king building a literal statue in defiance of God's prediction. Instead of four different metals plus clay, his statue was made of gold from head to toe. And the implication was clear, his name and his kingdom would never fail, no matter what God said. He was telling himself that God was wrong.

Let's open the pages of sacred history and read about it now, beginning in Daniel, chapter three and verse one. The Bible says (Daniel 3:1 NKJV):

"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."

It was a public declaration that nobody could stop Nebuchadnezzar's greatness. He was shaking his fist at the God of heaven, trying to reassure himself that maybe God was wrong.

Now, what is really interesting about Nebuchadnezzar's statue is that it was not the first monument to be built on the plains of Babylon.

In the eleventh chapter of Genesis, there is a story about another shrine to man?s greatness built in defiance of God. In Genesis 11, verse four, we read (Genesis 11:4 NKJV):

"And they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth."'

It was the tower of Babel, built on the plains of Shinar, a God-defying monument to the greatness of the human race. And at the same time, they built a city, which became the city of Babylon, a lasting symbol of religious confusion and rebellion against God. Babylon was the birthplace of false worship, the cradle of self-serving pagan religions and astrology. Its influence was so profound that the effects of Babylon are still with us to this day.

But in Daniel chapter three, the monument to self-sufficiency is not a tower this time; it's a giant golden statue. And I sometimes wonder if Nebuchadnezzar built it in exactly the same place as the tower of Babel.

Now, of course, I don't know that for sure, but even it if wasn't built in the same place, it was certainly built with the same spirit, something that becomes really obvious when you look at who was invited to the dedication ceremony.

Let's read about it in Daniel, chapter three and verse two. The Bible says (Daniel 3:2 NKJV):

"And King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to gather together the satraps, the administrators, the governors, the counselors, 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."

Just like the tower of Babel, this statue was an attempt to unite the whole world in the spirit of Babylon. All of the government officials from across the kingdom were required to show up, sending a clear signal to the empire that the kingdom was as strong as ever. And once everyone was assembled, they were required to participate in a brand-new one-world religion.

Let's read about it now in verse four (Daniel 3:4, 5 NKJV):

"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."'

Now, did you read those last two words, where it says the king "set up" the image? You know, in the original language, the word for "set up" is "haqim." And that is exactly the word God uses in Daniel, chapter two, to describe the kingdom that He will "set up" at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

And (as Bible scholar Jaques Doukan points out) this word "haqim" is used eight times to describe the setting up of Nebuchadnezzar's statue. It's almost as if the king is building his statue as a direct challenge to Jesus Christ, publicly denying that God will ever defeat Babylon or set up a kingdom of His own.

In a desperate attempt to stop what God said would happen, Nebuchadnezzar establishes a universal world religion, an alternative to the truth where people are required to worship an image instead of God. It's a religion based on force instead of love; a system that forces people to their knees in front of falsehood instead of gently wooing them to the truth.

But you'll notice that Nebuchadnezzar doesn't come up with something entirely original. His new religion is loosely based on something true. He borrows from God to build his lie, taking the prophetic statue in Daniel two, and twisting it just enough to make it mean something entirely different. And you know, THAT is still the outstanding characteristic of every false religion in the world today. They are all loosely based on truth, which is why you can find a semblance of truth in almost any religion.

You see, the devil knows that he is not likely to get a bunch of committed Christians to blatantly disobey the Word of God. So what he does is cunningly twist the Christian religion just enough to rob it of the depth and richness God intended it to have. The most dangerous deception in the world is not an outright lie; it is the mingling of truth with lies so that falsehood becomes more palatable.

There are a number of obvious examples of this in the Bible. Take, for example, the story of Cain and Abel. In Genesis, chapter four, both brothers offered a sacrifice to God. But God accepted one sacrifice and rejected the other.

Now, as a kid, that story used to really bother me, it just didn't seem fair. But then I came across a key in Hebrews, chapter 11, that explains why it happened. Hebrews 11, verse four, tells us that Abel offered his sacrifice by faith, and of course, the clear implication is that Cain did not. And still both of them offered sacrifices.

Here is what actually happened. In the Bible, sacrificial lambs were a powerful symbol pointing to a coming Redeemer who would die for the sins of the world. Repentant sinners would lay their hands on a lamb, confess their sins over it, and then take the lamb's life. It was a forward-looking reminder of what Jesus would do for them one day at the cross of Calvary.

By faith, the sinner demonstrated his belief that the coming Lamb of God was his substitute, and that's why Abel offered a lamb.

But his brother Cain sacrificed fruits and vegetables instead, which, while they were still a sacrifice, were not the symbols that God had asked for. They were not a living, breathing, spotless substitute for the sinner. And because of that, God rejected Cain's offering.

Now I'm sure that Cain picked very nice vegetables, and I am sure he offered lots of them. But the bottom line was that God didn't ask for vegetables. He asked for a lamb, but Cain was determined to do things his own way. He took a clear requirement of God and twisted it slightly, stripping it of the meaning that God intended it to have. And the result was a faithless counterfeit that looked almost like the real thing. It was man-made religion that paid lip service to God but wasn't based on a real, living faith in Christ.

And, you know, that's the hallmark of any cult or false religion. The most dangerous deceptions are the ones that look almost like the truth, weaving a lethal blend of superstition and falsehood through the fabric of reality. You're more likely to drink cyanide if it's mixed into a tall, cool glass of lemonade, than if it's just sitting around in a little bottle marked "poison."

Now, that is why the language the cults use so often sounds just like the language you might hear from a Christian pulpit. It sounds so much like the truth that a lot of people fall for it.

And so, bit by bit, the devil planted the idea in Nebuchadnezzar's mind. "Maybe you could take the statue and twist it just enough to suit your own purposes. After all, why should only the head represent the kingdom of Babylon? Why not the whole body? Is there really any evidence to suggest that this kingdom is about to collapse, and isn't Babylon the greatest kingdom the world has ever seen?"

The very fact that Nebuchadnezzar had enough gold to build a statue 90 feet high, and never even miss it, was pretty strong evidence that the kingdom of Babylon was a long ways from falling.

So, the story of Daniel, in chapter three, is a story where God's truth is mixed with human ambition and pride. It is a man-made monument built on top of the Word of God; a clear signal to heaven that the human race has no intention of believing what the Almighty Creator says.

And to make matters even worse, Nebuchadnezzar forces people to bow down and worship the image on the threat of death. In Daniel, chapter three and verse six, we read these words (Daniel 3:6 NKJV):

"And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace."

Now, I want you to notice the key components of this story, because they're some of the golden keys that unlock the meaning of some of the toughest passages found in Bible prophecy.

First of all, the king establishes a false religion based on idol worship. Then he sends out a universal decree to all the political leaders of the empire, insisting that they come and worship the image. And if they won't comply, he says, they will be put to death.

There is a striking parallel between this story and something that happens in the 13th chapter of the book of Revelation. In that somewhat disturbing chapter of the Bible, there are two beast powers whose main objective is to lead the world into a false system of worship.

The second beast, says the Bible, sets up an image to the first beast, and then he insists that the whole world worship the image of the beast. Just like the story of the golden statue, it is a universal decree, and the penalty for not complying is death. There are uncanny similarities between Daniel chapter three and Revelation chapter 13.

Speaking of the second beast, for example, Revelation, chapter 13 says, beginning in verse 14 (Revelation 13:14, 15 NKJV):

"And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed."

Again, it's a universal call to false worship with the death penalty for those who won't cooperate. Buried not-so-deep in the story of the fiery furnace is a clear message to God's people living at the end of time. There is coming a moment when your faith will be tested, a moment when the world will require you, even upon pain of death, to do something that is a direct violation of God's moral law.

In Nebuchadnezzar's case, he was telling people to break the second commandment, which forbids the worship of images. And in the final hours of earth's history, the Bible makes it clear that God's people will once again be caught up in a religious controversy surrounding the issue of worship. They will be asked to break God's commandments.

But the good news is, according to the Bible, there will be people who stubbornly cling to their faith in Jesus Christ. They refuse to accept substitutes, and they refuse to compromise.

Here is what the Bible says, just one chapter later in Revelation 14, verse 12 (Revelation 14:12 NKJV):

"Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus."

In the face of unbelievable persecution, there will be people who refuse to compromise. Their commitment to Christ is completely unmovable.

You see, back in Nebuchadnezzar's day, the Bible says that there were three young men who refused to bow down to a counterfeit: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They knew that nothing in this world is worth missing heaven. They knew that nothing in this world was worth losing out on a relationship with Jesus, and they stood firm for the truth.

So what happened to those three young men? Well, true to the king's word, they were thrown into the fiery furnace.

"Nebuchadnezzar," they said, "we don't know if God is going to save us from your furnace, but this much we do know, we will never violate our relationship with Him."

Let me ask you an important question today, where does that kind of unbending commitment come from? Where do people find the strength to stand for God even when they are not entirely sure they won't have to pay for it? As you search your own heart, don't you sometimes wish you had that same kind of unquestioning confidence in the Word of God?

Here is what the Bible says happened. In a blind rage, with wounded pride, the king ordered three faithful boys into a furnace so hot, it killed the men who threw them in. But to his astonishment, he discovered that there is Someone bigger than the biggest of human ambitions, someone whose ultimate purpose in the salvation of the world will not be derailed by anybody.

As Nebuchadnezzar peered into the furnace, he noticed, not three men, but four men.

"Lo," he says in verse 25, "I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God."

You see, the Bible says that when you face life's worst, you are never alone. When it seems as if everything is lost, you will suddenly meet your Redeemer, because, you know, Jesus isn't just out there somewhere, watching what happens to you from a distance. He is walking through the flames right next to you.

Those three young men came out of the furnace without so much as the smell of smoke on their clothes. And what God is trying to tell us is that we're going to make it, too.

Not only will Christ give us the courage to stand true in the face of incredible opposition, He will also personally walk us through to the end of the whole ordeal, right up to the day when we step out of this world of heartache into an everlasting paradise prepared for those who stubbornly loved God.

The third chapter of Daniel is the story of a Redeemer who is looking for those who will always stand true for Him. And I would like to suggest that you are just the person He is looking for. You may not think that you have the courage to walk into a fiery furnace, but God's promise in Daniel, chapter three, is that you can do it.

And sometimes, you may not be sure that when life's toughest moments arrive, you will always find Jesus standing there waiting for you. But the promise of God is that the moment you step into the furnace, He will be there.

And the question God asks you today is this: When all the world bows to a counterfeit, caving in to cultural pressures and unbearable temptation, wouldn't you rather have the truth? And when all the world stands on the plain, safe from bodily harm in their disobedience to God, wouldn't you rather be safe for eternity with Jesus?

PRAYER:
Dear Father in heaven, teach us never to be happy with manmade counterfeits. Create in our hearts a longing to be where Jesus is. Even though we sense that the Christian life isn't always the easy way to go, we believe that our Redeemer will ultimately save us, and that one day, we will see Him face to face. Give us the courage to stand alone. Give us the faith to believe that Jesus saves us. For we ask it in His precious name, Amen.

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Scriptures Used in “Faith in the Furnace”

"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."
—Daniel 3:1 NKJV

"And they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth."'
—Genesis 11:4 NKJV

"And King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to gather together the satraps, the administrators, the governors, the counselors, 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 3:2 NKJV

"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."'
—Daniel 3:4, 5 NKJV

"And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace."
—Daniel 3:6 NKJV

"And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed."
—Revelation 13:14, 15 NKJV

"Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus."
—Revelation 14:12 NKJV