Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP200004S
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00:01 The Bible tells us, "In the beginning was the Word,
00:03 and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." 00:08 It says, "To receive with meekness the implanted Word, 00:12 which is able to save your souls. 00:14 And to be diligent to present yourself 00:16 approved to God, 00:18 rightly dividing the Word of truth." 00:21 Join us now for the 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:25 Our study today is the Book of Daniel. 00:32 Hello, and welcome to another edition 00:34 of 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:36 We are so excited that you have been able to 00:38 join us again for another week of study as we are... 00:40 We're trucking along in the Book of Daniel. 00:43 And this week is our fourth study. 00:46 And we're gonna be talking about 00:47 From Furnace to Palace. 00:49 We're gonna be looking at Daniel Chapter 3, 00:51 and the great image that was set up there. 00:53 And we just wanna remind you at this moment 00:55 if you want to have a free copy of this study, 00:58 go to ABSG.Adventist.org. 01:03 Again, that's ABSG, it stands for 01:06 AdultBibleStudyGuide. Adventist. org, 01:10 almost let that one get away from me for a moment. 01:12 But go there, you can get a free copy of this lesson, 01:14 but I always suggest 01:16 that you go to your local Seventh-day Adventist Church 01:17 because there you'll find fellowship 01:19 and a small group to study with, 01:21 hear from different views and ideas to 01:23 be able to collaborate together as a group. 01:25 I love studying from a small group, 01:27 but it's so good to have each and every one of you again 01:29 this week with us. 01:30 And before we go any further, I wanna go ahead 01:31 and introduce our wonderful panel, 01:34 this great Sabbath School Panel 01:36 that I have the privilege of studying with 01:37 each and every week. 01:38 To my left is Miss Jill Morikone. 01:40 It's good to have you. 01:41 Thank you so much, Pastor Ryan, 01:42 privilege to be here. 01:44 Amen. Praise the Lord. 01:45 Of course, my pastor, 01:47 Pastor John Lomacang, how are you, Brother? 01:48 I'm doing well, and I'm ready to go. 01:49 Praise God. Praise the Lord. 01:51 And, of course, our dear Sister Shelley Quinn, 01:52 how are you? 01:53 I am so excited to be here. 01:55 You know, the fun thing about studying 01:57 things you're familiar with 01:59 when you're deep studying to present, 02:01 you learn something new every time. 02:03 Absolutely. Amen. I love it. 02:05 And, of course, Brother Kenny Shelton. 02:08 I love it. Love to be here. 02:10 Love to study the Word of God, 02:11 especially this book 'cause it's so prevalent 02:13 to the days that we're living in. 02:14 Amen. Amen. 02:16 Absolutely. I agree with you 100%. 02:17 And, of course, 02:18 before we dive deep into this study, 02:20 it's important that 02:21 we go to the Lord in prayer first. 02:23 Miss Shelley, would you have a prayer for us? 02:24 Absolutely. 02:26 Oh, glorious Heavenly Father, 02:27 how we are come to You 02:30 with hearts that are overflowing 02:32 with Thanksgiving for Your plan of salvation. 02:35 And, Lord, we praise You for Jesus 02:38 and Your Holy Spirit and Your Word. 02:41 Thank You, Father, 02:43 You did not leave us as orphans. 02:44 Thank You that we don't have to guess, 02:47 but that You reveal Yourself 02:51 in a progressive manner in Your Word. 02:54 And we pray now as we study the Book of Daniel. 02:57 Open our eyes, 02:58 send the Holy Spirit to be our teacher in Jesus' name. 03:01 Amen. Amen. 03:03 Amen. Praise the Lord. 03:05 I'm so excited about this study. 03:06 This is one of my favorite stories in all the Bible. 03:08 You know, while many people consider this story to be 03:11 kind of one of those Sunday school, 03:13 you know, Sabbath School, elementary type stories, 03:16 which we all heard growing up in church. 03:19 You know, this has very much a very sophisticated, 03:23 mature adult application in the last days. 03:26 And we're gonna see that as we're making a comparison 03:29 from what is happening in Daniel Chapter 3, 03:31 which from our perspective is history, but of course, 03:34 we see a last day events application as well. 03:37 In fact, I wanna start with a quote 03:39 that I found on Sabbath afternoon study 03:41 comes from in Heavenly Places, page 149. 03:45 And I love how this was beautifully put. 03:46 Notice what it says here. 03:48 "Thus these youth, imbued with the Holy Spirit, 03:52 declare to the whole nation their faith, 03:56 that He whom they worshiped 03:58 is the only true and living God. 04:01 This demonstration of their own faith 04:03 was the most eloquent presentation 04:05 of their principles. 04:07 In order to impress idolaters with the power of greatness 04:10 and the living God, 04:12 His servants must reveal their own reverence for God. 04:16 They must make it and manifest it that 04:22 He is the only object of their honor and worship, 04:26 and that no consideration, 04:27 not even the preservation of life itself, can induce them 04:32 to make the least succession to idolatry 04:35 or concession to idolatry. 04:37 These lessons have a direct and vital bearing 04:40 upon our experience in these last days." 04:43 Amen. 04:44 And I love our memory text for today 04:46 because it comes directly from Daniel 3:17. 04:49 And the Bible says, 04:51 "Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us 04:53 from the burning fiery furnace, 04:55 and He will deliver us from your hand, O King." 04:59 We serve a mighty God indeed. 05:01 And, you know, as I'm studying through, 05:04 and I'm recognizing, you know, 05:05 as I'm reading back through this third chapter of Daniel, 05:08 I'm recognizing just how powerful it is 05:11 and how much of these events 05:13 that we see happening at Daniel Chapter 3 05:15 are going to manifest itself on a greater global scale 05:18 in the last days. 05:20 And it's vitally important that 05:21 we understand these stories like this 05:23 and what is happening in this particular book. 05:25 And so I wanna start with Daniel Chapter 3 05:28 start right there in verse 1-7 05:30 because there's so much happening 05:32 in this opening segment 05:33 of the chapter that is foundational 05:34 for understanding the rest. 05:36 And so the Bible says in Daniel 3:1, 05:39 it says, "Nebuchadnezzar, the king made an image of gold, 05:42 whose height was sixty cubits and its width six cubits. 05:47 He set it up in the plane of Dura, 05:49 in the province of Babylon. 05:51 And King Nebuchadnezzar sent word 05:53 to gather together the satraps, 05:55 and administrators, the governors, the counselors, 05:58 the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, 06:01 and all the officials of the provinces, 06:04 to come to the dedication of the image 06:06 which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up." 06:09 And it goes on to say in verse 3, 06:10 "So the satraps, the administrators, 06:12 the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, 06:14 the judges, the magistrates, and all the officials 06:17 of the provinces gathered together 06:18 for the dedication of the image 06:21 that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up, 06:23 and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 06:28 Then a herald cried aloud, 'To you it is commanded, 06:32 O peoples, nations, and languages, 06:34 that at the time you hear the sound of the horn, 06:37 flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, 06:39 in symphony with all kinds of music, 06:42 you shall fall down and worship the golden image 06:45 that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up, 06:47 and whoever does not fall down and worship 06:49 shall be cast immediately," notice, 06:53 "into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.' 06:56 " And then verse 7, "So at that time, 06:58 when the people heard the sound of the horn, flute, 07:00 harp, and lyre, in symphony with all kinds of music, 07:03 all the people, nations, and languages fell down 07:05 and worshiped the golden image 07:07 which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up." 07:10 And so it's... 07:12 I think it's vitally important that we first establish that 07:14 there is a clear connection and flow between 07:17 Daniel Chapter 2 and Daniel Chapter 3. 07:19 And so these are while obviously 07:21 the Bible is set up in chapters and verses, 07:23 many times we can have a kind of a disconnection 07:27 between these passages 07:29 that sometimes are very much linked together. 07:31 I found this particular quote 07:33 in Prophets and Kings, page 504, 07:35 which helps us further see this clearly. 07:36 It says, "The wise men of his realm, 07:39 taking advantage of this and his return to idolatry." 07:43 So speaking of the wise men of Babylon, 07:45 they took advantage of the king and his idolatry 07:48 that he had fallen back into, and notice what he says, 07:50 "They proposed that he makes an image 07:53 similar to the one seen in his dream," 07:57 that is from Daniel Chapter 2, 07:58 "and set it up where all might behold 08:00 the head of gold, which had been interpreted 08:03 as representing his kingdom." 08:06 And so, even furthermore, 08:08 when you go back to Daniel 2:44, 08:10 Pastor done a wonderful job 08:11 last week talking about that stone 08:14 because the stone represents Christ in His Kingdom, 08:16 which again, the words used there 08:18 in that particular chapter and in verse says that 08:20 Christ would set up His kingdom. 08:24 Now what is the one two words you see 08:27 often repeated in the seven verses 08:29 that I just read? 08:31 Set up. Yeah. 08:32 Except this time, it's not in connection 08:33 with what Christ is setting up, 08:35 but in direct rebellion, King Nebuchadnezzar it says, 08:38 more than a total of nine times 08:40 in verses 1, 2, 3, 7, which I read. 08:44 And, of course, you'll see this again 08:45 in verse 12, verse 14, 15, and 18, 08:47 where it says, "Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 08:49 Nebuchadnezzar had set up." 08:51 So you see that there's a clear connection 08:53 between what is happening in Daniel 2, 08:55 and then the response that King Nebuchadnezzar gives 08:58 in rebellion to what he saw 09:00 in Daniel Chapter 2 in this vision, 09:02 he's sending a clear message that the Lord, 09:04 even though you have said that my kingdom will not last, 09:07 I'm gonna show to you that my kingdom will last. 09:10 And so he erects this 90 foot image of gold 09:14 complete head to toe in gold. 09:16 And that brings me to my next point, 09:18 which is quite interesting. 09:20 And so we see that this image of gold, 09:23 it's an image, and we know that 09:24 in the Ten Commandments, what does God tell us? 09:26 "Thou shalt not bow down to any graven images," 09:29 which we know, this is not just an enforcement, 09:32 a civil governmental enforcement. 09:34 This is an enforcement of religion. 09:35 And so we see that church and state is coming together 09:38 in this particular instance, 09:40 and it's enforcing religious worship. 09:43 And so we see that in Daniel 3:14, 09:47 notice what it says here. 09:48 It says, "It is true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, 09:50 that you do not serve my gods 09:52 or worship the gold image which I," 09:55 there it is again, "have set up?" 09:56 So we know that 09:58 this is an enforcement of worship, 10:00 but I wanna go back 10:01 and just kind of highlight a few things 10:02 that I think is foundational to the understanding 10:04 of why it's so important that 10:06 we understand this in the context 10:08 of what is happening here in the story as well as 10:10 what will repeat itself on a global scale 10:12 in the last days. 10:14 Consider verse 1, as it says here, 10:16 "Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, 10:18 whose height was sixty cubits and its width six cubits. 10:23 He set it up in the plain of Dura, 10:24 in the province of Babylon." 10:26 Now I was studying and I ran through 10:29 a note by our good friend 10:30 and theologian Ranko Stefanovic in his book, 10:33 Revelation of Jesus Christ, page 417. 10:35 And notice what he says here. 10:37 He says, "Babylonian mathematics 10:39 was based on the sexagesimal system, 10:43 and which the basic counting units 10:45 were the numbers six and sixty." 10:49 Which is why you see sixty cubits, six wide? 10:53 "The sexagesimal system has been accepted universally 10:56 for the measurement of arcs and angles 10:58 and for divisions of time." 11:01 And so this sexagesimal system which is basically 11:04 it finds its foundation on the number six, 11:06 it was foundationed in Babylon. 11:08 Its origins go all the way back to Babylon. 11:10 Now if what the famous and popular ancient, 11:15 I guess you could say here, 11:16 historian Herodotus was correct. 11:19 Notice what he says here, 11:20 "The image that was again erected 11:23 which would be about 90 feet high 11:25 and about 9 feet wide, 11:28 would weigh in at 800 talents of gold." 11:31 Mercy. 11:33 "Which would be the equivalent of over 30 tons." 11:36 This thing was huge and big. Wow. 11:39 Okay, so in antiquity, this is historical, actually, 11:42 you can do some research and find this. 11:43 "In antiquity, gold was called the dew of the sun 11:46 because it was believed that it would have dripped down 11:49 from the sun onto the earth. 11:51 Gold was used to represent the sun god 11:53 because gold is the color of the sun." 11:57 And so when we consider all of this 11:59 as what is happening and you do your historical research, 12:01 you will find that based on this sexagesimal system, 12:05 which again finds its origin in Babylon, 12:08 the most sacred number... 12:09 And I get this, I don't have a lot of time 12:11 to unpack this, but the most sacred number 12:13 that represented all of their pagan gods, 12:15 and points back all the way to the sun god 12:18 of Marduk was the number 666, 12:22 which we see this come up in Revelation Chapter 13, 12:25 which is a parallel chapter 12:26 to what we're reading here in Daniel 3. 12:28 So if these three Hebrew children 12:30 would have bowed down to this image, 12:32 they would have violated God's Ten Commandments. 12:35 And furthermore, in bowing down to this image, 12:37 they would have been giving their allegiance 12:39 to Babylon's number one god Marduk, 12:42 which is the sun god. 12:44 And so we see here 12:46 through all of this, my friends, 12:47 we learned an awesome lesson, in the sense that, 12:50 you know, ultimately it was 12:51 the sinful pride and selfishness 12:52 that led the king to revert back to idolatry. 12:55 And ultimately unleashed an act of rebellion 12:57 against the one true God, of course, 12:59 and his actions and choices, 13:01 of course, affected everyone around them. 13:03 But praise the Lord as we're gonna see through 13:04 the rest of this story that there were three Hebrew boys 13:08 that were full of the Holy Spirit. 13:10 And they gave their hearts to the Lord 13:12 and they stood on the truth while everyone else was bowing. 13:14 They said, "We will not bow, 13:16 we will stand on the truth of God's Word." 13:18 And I think Jill's gonna take us 13:19 into the rest of this story. 13:20 Amen. 13:22 Thank you so much, Pastor Ryan, what a wonderful foundation. 13:24 And I could say set up, not the way you meant, 13:28 an image been set up, but it's a perfect set up 13:30 for what comes next I have The Call to Worship, 13:33 but I have renamed my day 13:35 on Monday to the attack from others 13:38 'cause that's really what's taken place 13:41 is this attack against 13:42 the three Hebrew worthies as we call them. 13:44 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, Daniel's friends. 13:48 So this is Monday's lesson. We're in Daniel 3:8-15. 13:53 But before we jump in and actually read that, 13:56 we have the structure of Daniel, 13:58 I know, Pastor John, you talked about that, 14:00 I think in the opening lesson that we had, 14:03 and maybe some others have referenced it since then. 14:05 But the structure of Daniel 14:07 is very fascinating to me, you know, 14:08 we have the Aramaic portion. 14:10 Right now we're in the Aramaic portion of Daniel. 14:13 We have Daniel Chapter 2, which is of course, 14:15 Nebuchadnezzar's dream, the image. 14:17 And that correlates with Daniel Chapter 7, 14:20 which is Daniel's dream of the four beasts. 14:22 And both of those dreams 14:24 represent the kingdoms of the world. 14:27 Then we have Daniel Chapter 3, 14:28 which is Daniel's three friends in the fiery furnace. 14:31 Three friends being tested, 14:33 and Daniel Chapter 6 where Daniel's faith is tested 14:37 when he's thrown in the lions' den. 14:40 And then, of course, 14:41 sandwiched in the middle is Daniel 4 and 5. 14:43 Daniel 4 is Nebuchadnezzar 14:44 being humbled by the divine sentence. 14:47 And Daniel 5, of course, 14:49 is Belshazzar being humbled by the divine sentence 14:52 by the judgment of God. 14:54 In Daniel 3, Daniel's three friends are tested. 14:56 Are they gonna be loyal to God, 14:58 amidst persecution from a pagan king, 15:01 from a gentile king. 15:02 And Daniel 6, Daniel himself is tested. 15:05 Will he be loyal to God, 15:07 not from persecution from the king 15:08 but from a pagan court. 15:11 And Daniel 3, we see that 15:12 Daniel's three friends remain loyal to God. 15:16 The king is exposed as arrogant, 15:19 but God delivers His people. 15:22 And Daniel 6, we see that Daniel remains faithful to God. 15:26 The king's counselors are exposed as being arrogant, 15:30 but God again delivers His servant. 15:34 So let's look at this attack from others. 15:36 We see the accusation, then we see the threat, 15:39 and then the king's ultimatum. 15:41 And that's where my portion ends. 15:43 So let's look at the accusation. 15:44 We're in verse 8. 15:46 "Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward 15:48 and accused the Jews." 15:51 Now in Aramaic that word accused means 15:53 to maliciously slander, 15:57 literally to eat the pieces of flesh 16:00 torn from someone's body. 16:02 So in other words, 16:04 they were going to chew them, him, 16:06 them up figuratively as it were and spit them out. 16:09 They accused the Jews. 16:11 Now the Chaldeans owe their lives to Daniel, right? 16:15 Because in Daniel Chapter 2 16:16 if he hadn't interpreted the king's dream, 16:18 they would have all been killed. 16:20 They owed their lives to them, 16:22 but yet, they saw Daniel's three friends 16:24 as outsiders and they didn't... 16:26 They were maybe jealous against them. 16:28 This is an attack against, 16:29 you could say the Jewish people, 16:31 attack against the religion 16:33 and most definitely against the Lord God. 16:36 So let's look at their threats. We're in verses 9-12. 16:39 "They spoke and said to King Nebuchadnezzar, 16:41 'O king, live forever! 16:42 You, O king, have made a decree that everyone 16:45 who hears the sound of the horn, 16:46 flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, 16:49 in symphony with all kinds of music, 16:51 shall fall down and worship the gold image, 16:53 and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast 16:56 into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. 16:58 There are certain Jews whom you have set 17:01 over the affairs of the province 17:02 of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, 17:06 these men, O king, 17:07 have not paid due regard to you. 17:09 They do not serve your gods 17:11 or worship the golden image which you have set up.' 17:14 " Now notice the threefold accusation 17:17 that the Chaldeans made against these three Hebrews. 17:21 First of all, they said, 17:22 these men disregard the king's authority. 17:26 Second, they said, 17:27 these men do not serve your gods. 17:30 And then third, they said, 17:31 these men refuse to bow down to the image, 17:36 as you have commanded. 17:38 As you mentioned, Ryan, and brought out so beautifully. 17:40 The issue in Daniel Chapter 3 is all about worship. 17:44 Worship actually is mentioned 11 times in this chapter. 17:50 The image of gold was in the plain of Dura. 17:53 And Dura means walled place. 17:56 It almost gives the impression of a vast sanctuary 18:00 where everyone had assembled together. 18:02 And here is an image that they're supposed to worship. 18:06 We have fire and a furnace set up there 18:09 which could almost evoke images of an altar 18:12 or a sacrifice that's going to be taking place. 18:15 Then there's music and we know that 18:17 oftentimes in a worship service, 18:19 music is part of worship. 18:21 Now there can be godly music and not so godly music. 18:25 Here they listed seven instruments, 18:29 some are Greek, some are Persian, 18:31 indicating that the instruments are coming 18:33 from around the world. 18:35 Three times the command is given to bow and worship 18:38 when the music is sounded. 18:40 Now there's also three references 18:42 within this chapter to all nations 18:44 and all people being gathered together. 18:48 And there's also reference 18:50 three different times to political leaders, 18:53 all the big shots being gathered here together. 18:57 So at this worship service, 18:59 you have a vast sanctuary people 19:01 from all over the world, including political leaders, 19:04 you have a false idol, you have a sacrifice, 19:07 or you could say an altar, you have music, 19:10 and you have the threat of force 19:13 by the political leadership to worship 19:16 or you're going to be destroyed. 19:18 We see the king's ultimatum, 19:20 Nebuchadnezzar in the next verses 13-15. 19:23 He flies into a rage. 19:26 And he brings the three Hebrews before him. 19:29 And he says, again, here's the decree, 19:31 when you hear all this music, bow down and worship. 19:33 I'm gonna give you another chance. 19:35 "But if you do not worship, 19:37 you should be cast immediately 19:38 into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. 19:41 And who is the god 19:42 who will deliver you from my hands?" 19:44 It reminds me of Pharaoh. 19:46 Remember, right before the children of Israel 19:48 were delivered, who is this God? 19:50 Well, Nebuchadnezzar said the same thing, 19:51 he was about ready to find out who this God is? 19:54 And that God can hear and God can deliver His people. 19:58 In my remaining time, I wanna make eight comparisons. 20:02 Ryan, you talked about the comparison between 20:04 Daniel Chapter 3 and Revelation Chapter 13. 20:08 So we're gonna make eight comparisons. 20:09 We won't look up the scriptures now, 20:11 but you can read it later, 20:12 Daniel 3 and Revelation Chapter 13. 20:16 Specifically, we're talking Revelation Chapter 13, 20:18 with the land beast who enforces worship 20:23 and this image is set up to worship the first beast, 20:27 the sea beast. 20:28 So this is when the political power 20:29 of the United States of America 20:31 that political power apostate Protestantism, 20:33 begins to force that worship to the Roman power. 20:37 So let's look at the similarities. 20:39 Similarity number one, 20:41 in Daniel the central issue was worship. 20:43 In Revelation 13, 20:45 the central issue will be worship. 20:48 Similarity number two, in Daniel the image was 20:52 90 foot statue on the plain of Dura, 20:55 there was an image. 20:56 In Revelation 13, there is another image. 20:59 This is called the image to the beast. 21:04 Third comparison. 21:05 In Daniel, the image didn't have any authority. 21:08 The image was imposing, but it didn't have authority. 21:11 The authority came from the king 21:13 who gave power to the image. 21:17 In Revelation, the image's authority 21:19 comes from the second beast. 21:22 And verse Revelation 13:15. 21:24 "He was granted power to give breath 21:27 to the image of the beast." 21:28 So the image doesn't have power, 21:29 but the beast, 21:31 the second power gave the image the power. 21:34 Fourth comparison. 21:35 In Daniel, we see fire 21:37 and the threat of the fiery furnace 21:38 and death if you don't worship. 21:41 In Revelation, we see fire again. 21:42 Here fire comes down from heaven, 21:44 and there's the threat of death if you don't worship. 21:48 Fifth comparison. 21:49 In Daniel, all the people of the world are involved. 21:52 We talked about all the peoples gather together. 21:55 In Revelation 13:12, 21:58 "The land beast exercises all the authority 22:00 of the first beast in his presence, 22:02 and causes the earth and those who dwell in it." 22:05 All the people of the earth 22:06 are supposed to worship the first beast. 22:09 Sixth comparison. 22:10 In Daniel, the political powers 22:12 of the world are forcing worship. 22:15 In Revelation, the political power 22:17 of the world again is forcing worship. 22:21 Number seven. 22:22 In Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar, we see in the next chapter 22:25 will be cut down from the throne, 22:28 then he will later be restored. 22:30 He had as it were a deadly wound 22:33 that was healed. 22:34 In Revelation, we see a beast 22:37 that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 22:41 Finally, last comparison number eight. 22:43 In Daniel, and Ryan already talked about this. 22:45 We've seen the significance of the numbers six, 22:49 the image was sixty cubits by six wide, cubits wide. 22:53 In Revelation, we see again, 22:54 the significance of the number six. 22:57 In fact, in Revelation 13:16, 22:59 "He causes all, small and great, 23:01 rich and poor, free and slave, 23:02 to receive the mark in the right hand 23:04 or on their foreheads." 23:06 You notice there are six groups of people mentioned there. 23:08 Small, great, rich, poor, free, and slave. 23:11 And then, of course, 23:13 there's the number of the beast 666. 23:15 So it's fascinating to me that we see in Daniel 3, 23:18 this whole issue of worship is almost a precursor 23:21 or an illustration of what will happen 23:24 in the end time with Babylon. 23:27 Nice, that was beautifully communicated, Jill, 23:29 thank you so much. 23:30 Well, we're gonna take a short break. 23:31 Don't go anywhere. 23:33 We'll be right back. Amen. 23:38 Ever wish you could watch a 3ABN Sabbath School Panel 23:41 again, or share it on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter? 23:45 Well, you can by visiting 3abnsabbathschoolpanel.com. 23:50 A clean design makes it easy 23:52 to find the program you're looking for. 23:54 There are also links to the Adult Bible Study Guide 23:58 so you can follow along. 23:59 Sharing is easy. 24:01 Just click share and choose your favorite social media. 24:04 Share a link, save a life for eternity. 24:10 Hello, and welcome back to 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 24:13 We're gonna pass it on to Pastor John Lomacang 24:15 for Tuesday's lesson. 24:17 Thank you, Ryan. 24:18 You know, Tuesday's lesson is entitled The Test of Fire. 24:22 And you really never know 24:24 what you're made of until your feet 24:26 are in the fire or fire is a threat. 24:29 You'll notice that the structure of this lesson 24:31 is one that establishes a comparison between 24:34 who the Hebrews are and what Babylon is all about? 24:38 Now we found out in future 24:40 or prior lessons that the patterns 24:43 in the Hebrew's lives were set from young. 24:46 And so being in a new environment, 24:48 it didn't really shake their faith 24:50 because they had already had, 24:52 as the Bible says they were trained up in the way 24:54 that they should go and now that they are older, 24:56 they're determined not to depart from it. 24:58 Exodus Chapter 20 is a foundation 25:00 of what they knew before they were led 25:02 into the captivity of Babylon. 25:04 Exodus 20:3. 25:06 And this was the foundation which they stood 25:09 which was not only truth, 25:11 obviously they stood on the Lord, 25:14 but it says, "You shall have no other gods before Me." 25:17 So when Nebuchadnezzar set up this image, 25:19 it was a no-brainer to them. 25:21 They knew from childhood that they would not worship 25:24 other gods. 25:25 He said in verse, the Lord said in verse 4, 25:27 "You shall not make for yourself a carved image," 25:31 or any graven image as the King James, 25:33 "any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, 25:35 or that is in the earth beneath, 25:37 or that is in the water under the earth." 25:39 Because they were really fish gods that existed also. 25:42 "You shall not bow down to them nor serve them." 25:46 And the reason is, "For I, the Lord your God, 25:48 I'm a jealous God," I'm not sharing you. 25:51 And I'm not, don't let anybody force you 25:54 to share your allegiance that belongs to Me with them. 25:58 So they had a stern allegiance to God 26:01 that was not going to be modified or shaken at all. 26:03 And then it says obviously, 26:05 "Visiting the iniquity of the Father," 26:06 I'm not gonna go that far, that far but, 26:09 one of the points I wanna make is partial allegiance 26:11 is paramount to no allegiance at all. 26:14 So to be partial in your application to God 26:18 when He says, "Love the Lord your God with how," much? 26:20 All your heart. "All your heart." 26:22 Deuteronomy 6:4-5 is an illustration 26:25 of this very point. 26:27 Verse 4, "Here, O Israel, the Lord our God, 26:32 the Lord is one! 26:34 You shall love the Lord your God 26:36 with all your heart, with all your soul, 26:40 and with all your might." 26:42 Now the three Hebrews were told to bow down, and this is... 26:45 I'll go in a different angle 26:46 than Jill and Pastor Ryan did so far. 26:49 They were told to bow down at the sound of music. 26:52 Let's look at verses 4 and 6 in Daniel 3. 26:56 "Then a herald cried aloud, 26:58 'To you it is commanded, O peoples, 27:00 nations, and languages, that at the time you hear 27:02 the sound of the horn, 27:03 flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, 27:06 in symphony with all kinds of music, 27:09 you shall fall down and worship the golden image 27:11 that the King Nebuchadnezzar has set up." 27:13 And by the way, I couldn't miss 27:14 that phrase set up, set up, set up, set up. 27:17 But this was a set up for take down. 27:20 They were setting themselves up for God to take them down. 27:23 And it says in verse 6, "And whoever does not fall down 27:27 and worship shall be cast immediately 27:30 into the midst of a burning fiery furnace." 27:32 Now it says, whosoever meaning, 27:34 the allegiance that Nebuchadnezzar expressed 27:36 to these three Hebrews, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah 27:39 or Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 27:40 He said, all bets are off 27:41 because this law applies to everyone including you, 27:45 in spite of the fact that you are not 27:47 a part of us naturally. 27:49 But what I've noticed is at the sound of music, 27:51 and I could not help as a person whose background 27:54 and life has a lot to do with music. 27:56 I couldn't help but to consider 27:58 music is used in the same way today. 28:00 That's right. 28:01 Music is a substitute for true worship. 28:03 That's right. 28:05 We live in a day and age 28:06 where Christian music is highly popular. 28:08 And you know 3ABN loves music, 28:10 we have all of our music projects. 28:12 But one commitment we have made 28:13 is to proclaim an undiluted three angels' messages. 28:17 Music is acceptable to God when the message following it 28:21 does not compromise God's Word. 28:23 But music is not acceptable to God 28:26 when it is preferred above God's Word 28:29 or it is a byproduct. 28:30 Some people say, I said to somebody 28:32 once who was talented with me on this issue 28:34 of why don't we have more music? 28:35 I said, "When Jesus was in the garden of temptation, 28:37 he didn't say it was sung. 28:39 He said it is written." That's right. 28:41 And the devil, you know, the devil was a chief musician. 28:44 So he didn't come to the Lord with song 28:46 in the Garden of Eden. 28:48 Eve wasn't tempted by a humming a tune. 28:50 He asked her, has God said. 28:52 And today we have to keep in mind, 28:54 music as wonderful as it is, 28:56 when it becomes a substitute for true worship, 28:58 it's false worship. 29:01 John 4:23-24. 29:04 Notice as you go there, 29:05 worship is the focus in Babylon. 29:08 The music is the tool he's using them 29:12 to offer false worship. 29:15 Unity is the goal and corrosion is the force. 29:18 John 4:23. 29:19 "But the hour is coming, and now is." 29:21 That is when that hour came for the Hebrews, 29:24 this is the hour that I have to show you that 29:26 true worship is my focus, not music. 29:28 And I wanna make a point to those of you 29:30 who are musicians because music can take you off 29:32 into this ethereal cloudy path of meandering Christianity 29:37 that has no foundation and is not acceptable to God. 29:40 The music in Babylon was not acceptable to God. 29:43 It didn't say whether it was religious music, 29:45 it didn't say whether it was contemporary 29:47 or traditional, 29:48 it didn't say it if we had a lot of rhythm, 29:50 it didn't say any of those things. 29:51 It just simply said, it was in the court of Babylon. 29:54 And today, a lot of the music that is even termed Christian 29:59 is leading people to the wrong altar, 30:01 to the Babylonian altar. 30:03 Notice what it says, 30:05 "The hour is coming, and now is, 30:06 when the true worshipers will worship the Father 30:08 in spirit and in truth, 30:10 for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 30:12 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him," 30:14 what's the next word? 30:16 "Must worship in spirit and truth." 30:19 Music ceases to be acceptable to God 30:21 when it leads you to bow to the wrong god. 30:26 You guys set up wonderfully, the sun god Marduk. 30:30 If they had bowed to that god 30:33 because of the chorus of effective music, 30:37 then it would not be acceptable to God. 30:39 That's right. 30:40 And music is not a substitute 30:41 or music doesn't make it acceptable. 30:43 You know, you find today 30:44 and I'd just be very candid about it 30:46 because I'm a musician and I sing, 30:48 but, you know, frankly, I am sickened 30:50 when Christians use music to say God's Word. 30:53 It doesn't really matter or well, 30:55 we love the Lord anyway. 30:56 That's a poor excuse for a false allegiance 31:00 to the true God. 31:01 And music also, that leads you to bow at the wrong altar, 31:06 ceases to be worshiped to the true God. 31:08 So the reason why they did not bow is 31:10 because they were at the wrong altar. 31:11 And as Jill did a brief study 31:13 on the origin of the instruments, 31:15 many of these instruments 31:17 were also used in Israel so it wasn't the instruments. 31:20 So some people now they argue, "Well, is it the drum, 31:22 is it the base, is it the keyboard, 31:23 is it the saxophone?" 31:24 It's not the instruments. 31:26 If the music leads you to bow to the wrong god 31:30 and lead you to the wrong altar, 31:32 it ceases to be worshiped to the true God. 31:34 That's a very important point. 31:36 What about the trials? 31:37 Well, Nebuchadnezzar thought if I heat the furnace up, 31:40 it's gonna make a difference. 31:42 1 Peter 4:12, says, "Beloved, 31:45 do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial 31:47 which is to try you, as though some strange thing 31:50 happened to you." 31:51 And I made a point in the very beginning. 31:53 You never know what kind of faith you have 31:55 until that faith is tried in the fire. 31:56 Yeah. Revelation 3:18. 31:59 This was an example, Jill as it were, 32:01 a reflection of the kind of faith 32:02 that they exhibited in the moment of trial. 32:06 "I counsel you to buy from Me," what? 32:08 "Gold." Gold. 32:09 The image was set up of gold. 32:11 At a golden moment, "Let the gold in your life 32:14 be seen above the golden image, 32:16 that you may be rich and white garment 32:18 that you may be clothed, 32:20 that the shame of your nakedness 32:21 may not be revealed." 32:22 If they bowed, their nakedness spiritually 32:25 would have been revealed. 32:27 In other words, you say you're religious, 32:28 but you're bowing at the wrong altar. 32:30 At a time that God is calling for allegiance, 32:32 your nakedness just appeared. 32:34 In other words, your religion has no clothing, 32:37 or no righteousness from God, that's covering it. 32:40 And finally, anoint your eyes with eye salve 32:42 that you may see. 32:44 They had clear eyesight at the moment 32:45 when everybody's eyesight was clouded by the music. 32:48 I'm gonna make a point here. 32:49 Music that's even religious clouds 32:53 the eyesight of religious people. 32:57 Today, we live in a Christian world 32:58 that's giving out awards and, you know, plaques, 33:01 you know, number one song of the year. 33:03 It could be the number one song of every year 33:05 if it does not lead you to worship God 33:07 in spirit and in truth. 33:09 Number one song is not the foundation 33:12 on which God is gonna reward us. 33:13 He's gonna reward us if we worship Him 33:15 in spirit and in truth. 33:17 So in the time I have left, let me give you these points 33:19 and I'll give you the scriptures later on. 33:21 Don't put the preservation 33:22 of position above allegiance to God. 33:25 Secondly, don't choose temporary prosperity 33:29 to avoid temporal persecution because it's temporal. 33:34 Thirdly, don't be envious of prosperity. 33:38 You know, Asaph in his psalm, he said, 33:39 "I was envious of the boastful 33:40 when I saw the prosperity of the wicked." 33:42 Babylon was a prosperous nation, 33:44 a golden kingdom. 33:46 At that moment, he said, 33:47 I could be a part of this golden kingdom, 33:49 or at this very odd and very trying moment, 33:52 I could show my allegiance to God. 33:55 Thirdly, don't trade your birthright 33:57 for temporary gratification. 33:59 Fourthly, choose the fear of God 34:02 over the friendship of man. 34:04 Number six, worship the only true God 34:07 that truly delivers. 34:08 Number seven, don't serve God because it is rewarding. 34:11 Serve Him because of who He is. 34:13 And finally, God will not withhold His blessing 34:16 to those who remain loyal. 34:18 Amen. Wow! Oh, that is fabulous. 34:20 Okay, mine is Wednesday, it is The Fourth Man. 34:24 It's supposed to begin with Daniel 3:19. 34:26 But I wanna back up to... 34:28 Let's look at verse 18 'cause the king has said, 34:32 "Hey, I'm gonna give you one more chance to bow down." 34:34 And Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in verse 16, 34:38 answered the king and say, "Nebuchadnezzar, 34:40 we have no need to answer you on this matter. 34:44 If this is the case, our God whom we serve 34:46 is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, 34:50 He will deliver us from your hand, O king. 34:53 But if not," now get this, "if not let it be known to you, 34:58 O king, that we do not serve your gods, 35:02 nor will we worship the golden image 35:06 which you have set up." 35:08 Even if God does not deliver. So now let's look, Daniel 3:19. 35:13 "Nebuchadnezzar is full of fury, 35:16 and the expression of his face changed toward Shadrach, 35:20 Meshach, and Abednego." 35:22 These guys were 10 times brighter 35:24 than everybody else. 35:25 He put them in high position, 35:27 but now they defied him to his face. 35:30 And, boy, he is filled with narcissistic pride. 35:34 I mean, that's all you can say. 35:35 "He spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace 35:38 seven times more than it was usually heated." 35:42 He was so upset, 35:44 he wanted to increase their torture. 35:45 Now seven times more is just an idiom. 35:48 It means as hot as it can get, okay? 35:52 So he wanted their torture to be awful. 35:57 The furnace was made of brick and stone. 36:00 And they built it on a mount, 36:01 and it had an opening at the top, 36:04 which served as an air shaft, 36:06 and it had an opening on this side. 36:09 So to heat it seven times hotter, 36:11 what they would do 36:12 is they go up the ramp to the top, 36:15 dump more shaft down the air shaft, 36:18 and then they go out and get more oil 36:20 from the open oil fields of Mesopotamia. 36:23 And they would dump that in there to heat it up. 36:25 So verse 20, "He commanded certain mighty men of valor 36:30 who were in his army to bind Shadrach, 36:33 Meshach, and Abednego, 36:35 and cast them into the burning fire." 36:40 These were military men of great strength. 36:43 And, boy, I mean, he chose them for the task 36:46 of binding and carrying them up. 36:50 So it says, "Then these men were bound in their coats, 36:53 their trousers, their turbans, and their other garments, 36:56 and they were cast 36:58 into the midst of the burning fire." 37:00 This was a fast and furious action, 37:01 they didn't take time to put on some kind of a robe on them, 37:06 they just bound them up. 37:08 "Therefore, because the king's command was urgent, 37:11 and the furnace exceedingly hot, 37:14 the flame of the fire kill those men who took up. 37:20 They'd gone up the ramp to the top 37:22 of the air shaft, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego." 37:27 So here are these guys go up the ramp 37:31 with these bounds Hebrew worthies, 37:34 they throw them in from the top of the air shaft. 37:37 And what happens is, the fire is so hot, 37:42 it incinerates them. 37:45 It incinerates them. 37:46 "All these three men Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, 37:49 fell down into the midst of the burning fire." 37:54 So just think, if this fire was so hot 37:56 that just the proximity to it at the air shaft 37:59 would incinerate the king's men. 38:01 This is one hot furnace. 38:05 Now, King Nebuchadnezzar has seen it himself 38:10 outside this furnace. 38:12 He's watching from the side opening, 38:15 as he wants to make sure that this is carried out 38:19 as he commanded. 38:20 So it says, verse 24, where Daniel 3:24, 38:26 "Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished, 38:30 he rose in haste and spoke, 38:33 saying to his counselors, 38:35 'Did we not cast three men 38:38 bound into the midst of the fire?' 38:41 And they answered and said to the king, 38:44 'True, O king.' 38:45 'Look!' he answered, 38:47 'I see four men loose," 38:51 in other words, they were no longer bound, 38:53 "walking in the midst of the fire, 38:55 and they are not hurt, 38:58 and the form of the fourth 39:02 is like the Son of God.' 39:06 " Now some translators will say, 39:10 like the son of the gods. 39:15 Either way it's actually a correct translation. 39:18 If you don't, 39:19 if you just pull it out of context, 39:21 we believe, because in verse 26, 39:25 Nebuchadnezzar is talking about 39:28 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, 39:30 being the servants of the Most High God, 39:33 never translate something 39:37 when it can go one way or the other. 39:39 You always have to look in context. 39:41 We believe 100% that Nebuchadnezzar 39:45 has seen Jesus Christ 39:48 in his pre-incarnate form. 39:52 And that's what most early Christians 39:54 did believe by the way. 39:55 So he is puzzled. 39:58 He knows they've thrown them in bound, now they're loose. 40:02 He threw in three. Now there's four. 40:05 And he identifies the presence of the fourth one, 40:10 as being the Son of God. 40:12 So now this is, by the way, the same Son of God, 40:17 the pre-incarnate Christ, who wrestled with heat. 40:21 He was appeared to Abraham 40:22 before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. 40:24 He wrestled with Jacob at the brook of Jabbok. 40:29 He revealed himself to Moses in the burning bush. 40:34 It was Jesus Christ coming to demonstrate 40:39 that God stands with His people when you're in trouble. 40:42 Amen. 40:44 So verse 26, says, 40:46 "Then Nebuchadnezzar went near 40:47 the mouth of the burning fiery furnace 40:50 and he spoke, saying, 40:51 'Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, 40:54 servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here.' 41:00 Then Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego 41:02 came from the midst of the fire. 41:04 And the satraps, 41:05 the administrators, the governors, 41:06 and the king's counselors gathered together," 41:08 and I know their eyes were this big around, 41:11 "and they saw these men 41:14 on whose bodies the fire had no power, 41:18 the hair of their head was not singed 41:22 nor were their garments affected, 41:24 the smell of fire was not on them." 41:29 You know, in the New Testament, 41:32 Book of Hebrews, so we call Hebrews Chapter 11, 41:36 the call of faith, if you will. 41:39 In 11:34, it talks about those who, 41:44 "Quenched the raging of fire." 41:46 Wow, this is something else, this was a miracle of faith, 41:49 was it not? 41:50 I mean, absolutely. 41:52 And it reminds me of Psalm 129:4, 41:54 this is, "The Lord is righteous, 41:56 He will cut us free from the cord that binds us." 42:00 So what happened is God showed His supernatural power, 42:03 their destiny was not in man's hands. 42:06 Their destiny was in God's hands. 42:09 That's right. There's, but I wanna say this. 42:12 Not all servants of the Lord 42:16 had a miracle deliverance. 42:19 Think about Isaiah, Zachariah, 42:22 John the Baptist, they all went to the... 42:25 All the apostles except for John were martyred. 42:30 And when we look throughout sacred history, 42:33 even today, we find faithful Christians 42:37 who go through fiery trials and they aren't delivered. 42:42 And you think, "Oh, why, Lord, why would you deliver Shadrach, 42:46 Meshach, and Abednego 42:48 and you're not delivering these people." 42:50 You know, if God miraculously delivered us 42:54 in every situation, we would need faith. 42:58 In fact, people would serve him 42:59 just out of selfish reasons, will they not? 43:01 That's true. 43:03 I mean, when you think about that, 43:04 God has your eternal interest in mind. 43:08 And everything that He allows to happen 43:10 is for your eternal benefit. 43:12 Sometimes temporary trials 43:15 are making eternal benefits for us. 43:19 So we've just got to be like Shadrach, 43:22 Meshach and Abednego. 43:24 And say, "I know my God can deliver me, 43:28 but even if He doesn't, 43:31 I'm not gonna bow my knee at the wrong altar." 43:34 I'm gonna be faithful. I know He loves me. 43:36 And we just have to hold on. 43:38 You know, in 1 Corinthians 15:26. 43:43 The Bible tells us that, 43:45 "The last enemy that will be destroyed is death." 43:51 And when we think about that, 43:54 your future is as a believer, 43:57 when Christ returns and you hear... 44:00 if you're in the grave and you hear His voice, 44:02 you get to come up, 44:03 you get to be co-heirs with Him, 44:04 live with Him eternally, face-to-face. 44:08 And there'll be no more death, 44:11 no more tears, and no more sorrow. 44:15 So just know that God is always with you. 44:19 And if God's with you, you don't need anybody else. 44:22 That's right. Amen. Praise the Lord. 44:24 I got excited about that one. 44:26 It's hard to keep quiet sometime isn't to see now, 44:29 I got the hand of God is working, 44:31 how He works with His people, 44:32 how much He cares for us, 44:34 and what each one of you presented, 44:35 praise God, it's been so good 44:37 because it just leads to Thursday's lesson, 44:39 we're gonna talk about The Secret of Such a Faith. 44:42 None of these things could have happened 44:43 unless there's faith that had been exercised. 44:46 And sometimes people will get a little confused 44:48 about faith and the operation of faith. 44:50 So I praise God that we have an opportunity 44:52 just to spend a few moments on it, 44:53 may be simple to some, 44:55 but I think it'd be a good study. 44:56 Our lesson said, 44:57 what is the secret of such a strong faith? 45:01 And so I want us to contemplate on that for just a few moments, 45:03 what is the secret? 45:04 So in order for us to develop such a face, 45:08 we need to understand what faith is. 45:10 To me that would be kind of go back to the beginning. 45:12 And you could spend an awful lot of time on that. 45:14 But we always go back to Hebrews 11. 45:17 You mentioned there in the past part, 45:18 but I'm gonna mention verse 1 45:20 because it just simply talked about 45:21 the definition of biblical definition of what faith is. 45:24 Hebrews 11:1 starts with, "Now faith is the substance..." 45:29 Because we're looking at why and how they could have 45:33 withstood the onslaught of what was taking place. 45:37 They were the, seemed be only ones 45:39 that the whole world as it were was against Him 45:41 like we're talking about, 45:42 we're here in the last days, it's going to happen, 45:44 and we need this kind of faith. 45:46 So it must be established of that kind of faith 45:49 and how it can be developed in each one of us. 45:51 If faith is the substance, or faith is the ground, 45:55 faith is the confidence, the Bible talks about, 45:58 "of things that are hoped for, 46:00 the evidence of things that are not seen." 46:03 Maybe elementary, 46:04 but this word faith is very, very powerful. 46:06 It's something that we need 46:08 to delve into a little bit more. 46:09 Romans 5:1, I jotted down, it says, 46:11 "Therefore, being justified by," what? 46:12 Faith. 46:14 "By faith, we have peace with God 46:16 through our Lord Jesus Christ." 46:18 So to be justified, 46:19 those who are justified by faith, 46:21 that's how it comes about that we have a peace, 46:24 a peace that passes all understanding 46:26 in the midst of a storm, or if we're gonna 46:27 get ready thrown into the fiery furnace. 46:30 If the death decree goes out, 46:31 we need to have this kind of a peace 46:34 that passes all understanding, 46:35 knowing that whatever 46:37 if God sees fit to work a miracle, 46:39 if He sees fit that we must go through it, 46:41 that He will enable us. 46:42 I know people say sometime, 46:44 "Well, I wanna be a martyr for God." 46:45 I'll say, "Well, not necessarily." 46:47 I don't necessarily wanna be, 46:48 but well, let's be honest about it. 46:50 But if God sees fit, and He chooses you, 46:53 He will enable you and give you what you need 46:56 during that time to rightly represent Him. 46:58 So it's clear that faith is then not the foundation 47:03 of our salvation. 47:04 Faith is what? 47:06 Not the foundation of our salvation, 47:10 for we are saved by, what? 47:11 Ephesians 2:8, "We're saved by grace through faith." 47:14 So faith then would be our eyes to see, 47:18 it would be our ears to hear, 47:21 it would be our feet then to walk, 47:24 this is faith. 47:25 So we see, so faith is the means 47:27 or faith is the what? 47:29 The vehicle. Yes. 47:31 It's not the end, a simple resting, 47:34 and believing, and trusting in God 47:37 what He says in His Word. 47:38 You know, how many... 47:39 We all say and when we do, do we really believe? 47:42 Well, oh, yes, yes, yes, we believe. 47:44 But do we really believe? 47:45 Do we really have full confidence in God 47:48 what He says in His Word? 47:50 Let me give you just some fruit for thought right here. 47:52 I thought about 47:53 what is the opposite maybe of faith? 47:56 If you just throw faith out, what are you gonna get? 47:58 The only known alternative to faith in God is fear, 48:03 and resentment, and despair. 48:06 Think about it. 48:08 Faith is wonderful, it's good, but the alternative to faith. 48:11 None of us want that fear. None of us want that despair. 48:14 None of us want the resentment. 48:16 We would say and that you might ask 48:17 the question very elementary, is faith necessary? 48:20 Does the Bible say that? 48:21 It is, Hebrews 11:6, "Without faith, it is," what? 48:24 The Bible said, 48:25 "It's impossible to please God." 48:26 Or it's impossible to measure up 48:29 to His requirements and He does have requirements. 48:33 It'd be impossible to measure up to those 48:35 because we are children of faith, are we not? 48:38 "And we walk by faith and not by my sight," 48:42 2 Corinthians 5:7. 48:44 And any act, anything that 48:46 we do at giving whatever it might be, 48:49 if it's not performed in faith, what does the Bible call it? 48:54 Romans 14:23, 48:55 "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin." 48:59 I mean, that's pretty heavy duty, 49:00 whatever is not of faith. 49:02 So is faith important? 49:03 It was certainly important in the life of the Hebrews, 49:05 what they were going through in Daniel 49:07 and those who are going to be, you know, alive 49:10 and well at the time of coming of Jesus, 49:12 what they're gonna go through, our faith must be strong, 49:14 maybe stronger than it is right now. 49:16 I believe it's gonna be a lot stronger. 49:17 That's right. 49:19 We're going to have to have that 49:20 latter rain experience for sure. 49:21 Bible said, and you will say, "Well, I need more faith." 49:24 I hear people all the time and I'm sure you do too. 49:26 My faith is just not what it needs to be. 49:28 And then the question we come back was, why not? 49:31 You know, if you want more faith, 49:32 Romans tells us that, doesn't Romans 10:17. 49:35 "Faith cometh by hearing, 49:37 and hearing by the Word of God." 49:39 So I say, "Oh, my, put yourself 49:41 where you can hear the Word of God, 49:43 or where you can read the Word of God." 49:45 You know, come to the services, right? 49:46 Come to where even songs are sung. 49:49 We know institutions where they're studying 49:53 the Word of God, 49:54 to where our faith can be increased 49:56 by just hearing it. 49:57 Hebrews 12:2 says, 49:59 "We see Jesus is the author and the..." 50:02 I love this passage. 50:03 "He's the author and the finisher of our faith." 50:06 So that seem He is the leader. 50:10 He is the organizer. 50:12 He's the originator of our, what? 50:15 Finisher. 50:16 That means perfection. 50:18 And if you go on to that, 50:19 you go on to Hebrews 11:6, says, 50:22 "Let us go on to perfection." 50:24 Perfection. 50:26 Notice that, Hebrews 11:6, last part, 50:27 "He is a rewarder of them who diligently seek Him." 50:32 So it's much more than just saying, 50:34 well, I hear people say, "Just believe, just believe." 50:37 It's much deeper than that. 50:38 And the Bible goes on and says, only believe. 50:40 Well, the devil's also believe and tremble. 50:42 So there's more and it follows up, 50:44 Jesus said, "He is a rewarder of them 50:46 that diligently seek Him." 50:49 That means those who respond to Him, 50:52 those that seek Him, 50:53 we notice, seek to understand God, 50:57 they seek to become like Him. 51:00 See, if you're looking and say, I wanna have more faith, 51:04 we need to seek to understand God more fully 51:07 and the love that He has for us. 51:09 And all these beautiful things 51:10 that's coming out in the Book of Daniel 51:12 here to where, to me it increases my faith. 51:15 My faith cometh by... We said hearing. 51:17 That's right. 51:18 And so we're hearing these things, 51:19 and my faith is increasing to say, 51:21 if God sees fit for me to go through the fiery furnace, 51:24 He's gonna be there with me. 51:25 You know, He might bring me to that point and may say, 51:27 "Well, we're gonna, you know, 51:28 not gonna have you do that or He might say, 51:30 you're gonna have to go through it, 51:31 but He will be with us." 51:32 Can we measure our faith? 51:34 Is it possible that we can measure our faith? 51:37 Well, what about the three Hebrews? 51:39 You know, it wasn't the quality of their relationship with God, 51:44 their absolute confidence in God. 51:47 You see, they were not trying to change 51:49 and I think we have to come to this, 51:51 not try to change God's will, but to conform to His will. 51:55 Not try to change God's mind 51:56 because He knows everything and what is best for us. 51:59 Jesus did that and gave us a good example 52:01 when He was in the garden, 52:04 you know not My will but Thine be done. 52:06 We need to pray that. 52:08 Now some people look at faith and they measure by 52:11 what they seem to get. 52:13 Our lesson gives us quickly illustrations 52:15 our lesson brings this out. 52:16 People judges their faith like this. 52:19 If for instance, that you go shopping at a mall, 52:22 you might read through, I thought it was interesting, 52:23 you go to the mall. 52:25 It's very busy, busy 52:26 and you pray for a parking place. 52:27 Oh, Lord, give me a parking space. 52:30 And make that parking space just really close-up there 52:32 because the weather's bad. 52:34 And I want the best one and I gets involved 52:37 and I need this. 52:38 And if I get this space upon arrival, I'll say, 52:41 God has heard and He's answering my prayers. 52:45 But if you don't get the parking spot, 52:46 how do you respond? 52:48 Then they'll say, all my prayers 52:49 and my faith is weak and I didn't get it. 52:51 Now I don't know what I'm going to do. 52:53 God's not listening to me. 52:54 This is faulty may I say 52:56 and this is a dangerous approach 52:58 and an attempt to work God. 53:01 You'll notice the three Hebrews says what, Daniel. 53:03 They did not try to work God, they let God work through them. 53:07 That's right. 53:09 That's what we need to learn to do. 53:10 We forget who God is? We forget that He's sovereign. 53:13 We forget that He's on top of everything. 53:16 The Bible says in Psalms 136:5, 53:18 "All wisdom talks about for by His wisdom, 53:21 He made the heavens and the earth." 53:24 We rely upon God, there's no doubt about it. 53:27 Faith and feelings are wide apart. 53:30 Those of you, bless your heart, 53:31 if you're living on feelings today, 53:33 you're in trouble. 53:35 Remember, faith and feelings are 53:37 as far away as you can possibly get. 53:39 And now you say, "Well, I got up 53:40 and I felt like I need to do something. 53:42 I was praying and I was crying out to God 53:44 in faith and it seems like nothing is going to happen." 53:48 Listen, whether you have feeling 53:49 or whether you don't have feeling, 53:50 when you pray in faith believing get up off 53:53 of your knees and get up and go 53:55 and live out that prayer as though 53:57 it is already actually, been already been answered. 54:00 That's right. That's what you do. 54:01 You get up and you, that's faith is to believe 54:03 that God's gonna do it 54:04 when everything's against you, right? 54:06 When the armies behind you, and the waters before you, 54:08 and the mountains are on each side, 54:09 what are we looking at? 54:11 That's right. 54:12 Go ahead and live it out 54:13 because God's going to be there with you. 54:15 If your hands get a little bit weak, 54:16 somebody's gonna be there to lift them up. 54:18 Isn't that what we should be doing? 54:19 Amen. Praying one for another. 54:21 Continue to live and act as though God 54:23 has answers those prayers. 54:25 You know, I'm feeling thankful that we have this example. 54:28 Be sure and read some more on study on this 54:30 and God will bless your heart. 54:31 Amen. Amen. Praise the Lord. 54:32 You know, as we're going through this study, 54:34 I just can't help but think to myself, 54:36 "What if these three brothers had not obeyed God? 54:42 What if they had actually bowed down to that image?" 54:44 You know, I was thinking Christ would not have been revealed. 54:46 Come on. 54:48 And He would not have been glorified. 54:49 And that's powerful. 54:50 It's a powerful lesson to us then, 54:52 you know, when we obey, 54:53 you know, we set up the reality 54:56 that Christ can be revealed through us 54:58 and, of course, glorified. 55:00 Let's go back through the panel 55:01 and let's give some final thoughts on this study. 55:03 Based off of your question, Ryan, I would say 55:05 what if they had not been delivered? 55:08 What if they had stood for right 55:10 and been cast into the fiery furnace 55:12 and they had lost their lives. 55:14 Christ would still be on the throne. 55:17 Amen. 55:18 An in charge and sovereign and He would still have walked 55:21 with them even in the midst of that difficulty. 55:25 I think of Isaiah 43. 55:26 "When you pass through the waters, 55:28 I will be with you, and through the rivers, 55:30 they will not overflow you." 55:32 So no matter 55:34 what you are going through today, 55:36 the Lord Jesus is walking right beside you. 55:38 That's right. 55:40 And I think Shelley asked a question earlier 55:42 about sometimes God chooses to deliver, 55:44 sometimes He chooses not to, 55:46 but I think in the time of trouble, 55:47 which we find in the time of trouble. 55:49 This was a time of trouble that exemplified 55:52 what the whole world is gonna go through, 55:54 at that hour Michael will stand up 55:55 and deliver His people. 55:57 That's right. 55:58 And there's another portion I want to bring out. 56:00 Psalm 34:15-17, 56:03 "The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, 56:05 His ears are open to their cry. 56:07 The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, 56:09 to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. 56:12 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, 56:14 and delivers them out of all of their troubles." 56:17 Amen. 56:18 You know, I had Isaiah 43:2 as well, 56:21 I just wanna finish it off. 56:22 It says, "When you pass the waters, 56:24 I will be with you, 56:25 through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. 56:27 When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, 56:30 nor shall the flame scorch you." 56:32 This is a covenant promise, but as we've seen, you know, 56:36 God was with Moses, they went through the waters 56:39 in the He parted the Red Sea. 56:41 He was with Joshua when they cover, 56:44 went through the Jordan River. 56:46 But when you think about Shadrach, and Meshach 56:50 and Abednego, 56:52 they were there in the fiery trial. 56:54 And you may find 56:56 a fiery trial going on right now. 56:58 Just remember 2 Corinthians 12:9, 57:00 "His grace is sufficient for you. 57:03 He will make His power perfect in your weakness." 57:06 Amen. 57:07 It's a quick one, Manuscript 42, 1901. 57:09 It says, "Faith can be maintained 57:11 only by bringing into the Christian religion 57:14 to the test of practice, 57:16 thus demonstrating its transforming power 57:19 to the faithfulness of promise." 57:21 The word makes the proud humble and the stubborn meek 57:25 and contrite and the disobedient obedient. 57:28 Amen. 57:30 Man, that is powerful, that is powerful. 57:31 I think Romans 6:16, 57:33 reminds us that we are servants to the person 57:36 or to whom we obey. 57:38 Amen. 57:39 And right there on the plain of Dura, 57:40 we saw the incredible example of these three men 57:42 who are willing to and in the face of adversity 57:45 against popularity, stand for Jesus, 57:47 stand for the truth. 57:49 And I just praise the Lord for this powerful study 57:51 on the Book of Daniel. 57:52 We hope that you join us next week 57:54 because next week's lesson, we're gonna jump into 57:56 Daniel Chapter 4, and we're gonna study 57:57 the conversion of Nebuchadnezzar. 57:59 Thank you for joining us. God bless you. 58:01 See you next week. |
Revised 2020-01-23