Sermon Notes - Daniel 3 - No Matter the Outcome - Sunday PM - Littleby Baptist Church - October 6, 2024

 1.        I look forward to Reading the book of Daniel each year.

2.        It is arguably my favorite book in the OT.

3.        It shares with us the faith of 4 men in trying times.

4.        A little bit of background before we get to our text this evening.

5.        King Nebuchadnezzar ruled over most of the known world in his day.

a.        This feed his ego.

b.       He thought very highly of himself.

c.        He captured Judah.

d.       Took its treasures.

e.        Carried off many of its people.

6.        That’s when we first learn about Daniel and his friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

a.        They did what they could to honor God and were blessed.

7.        Nebuchadnezzar has a dream that he did not understand, and it seemed to scare him.

a.        He expected his wisemen to do the impossible.

b.       Tell him the dream and then interpret it.

c.        None of them could do it.

d.       So, he sentenced them all to death.

e.        Daniel stepped out in faith and asked the captain of the guard for a bit of time so that he could give the king the interpretation.

f.          Then Daniel and his friends turned to God in prayer.

8.        God gave Daniel the dream and the interpretation.

a.        Daniel shared them with the king and made sure to let the king know, that it was not Daniel who revealed it but that it all came from God.

b.       It seems for a moment that the king might get it, when he states…

c.        Daniel 2:47

d.       But it was a shallow belief at best.

e.        But through all of this Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are promoted to manage Babylon.

9.        Now we come to the 3^rd chapter of Daniel.

a.        The king in all his earthly wisdom built a ninety-foot-tall gold statue.

b.       He called all of his leaders together.

c.        And had it proclaimed that when the music played that they all were to bow down and worship the gold statue.

d.       They had to do as the king said or else, they were going to be thrown into a fiery furnace.

e.        The people who were there did just what the king said and worshiped as he commanded.

10.   Let’s pick up at verse 8.

11.   Daniel 3:8-12

a.        The Chaldeans are saying the guys, the Jews, that you Mr. king promoted over us are ignoring your command.

b.       The Chaldeans were jealous and were using this situation to their advantage.

c.        They were using the pride of a king to get their way.

d.       They were counting on his anger to get their way.

12.   Daniel 3:13-14

a.        The king is asking them some direct questions.

b.       They may be thinking of how to answer him.

c.        I suspect they were remembering the Word of God.

d.       Exodus 20:3-6

e.        Either way it seems the king in his haste and anger did not give the guys a chance to respond.

13.   Daniel 3:15

a.        Here is your last chance to do what I have told you to do.

b.       No one can rescue you from my power as king.

c.        I wonder what the king thought when the guys did not move.

14.   Daniel 3:16

a.        If the king was one of those guys who turned red when his blood pressure increased?

b.       I bet he was getting redder by the second.  

c.        Many people likely feared for their lives at that comment.

d.       The guys continued.

15.   Daniel 3:17

a.        If the God we serve exists… the ‘if’ gets me here.

b.       The guys may be showing some doubt.

c.        They are facing death.

d.       They know God has blessed them abundantly.

e.        But this is the first life and death event we are seeing.

f.          Probably causing them to swallow hard.

g.        But it looks like they get past the doubt real quick.

h.        Re-read the verse…

i.          He Can!

j.          Our God Can rescue us.

k.        They are basically saying that He is greater than the fiery furnace.

l.          That God is greater than the threats from the king.

m.     That God is greater than the king himself.

16.   The king’s anger was likely continuing to boil.

17.   Daniel 3:18

a.        When we lump verses 17 & 18 together. (read them together)

b.       Our God has the power to save us.

c.        He is more powerful than anything.

d.       But if He does not rescue us, we are going to honor Him and Him alone.

e.        This statue is nothing.

f.          It is a fake little g god.

g.        They were choosing to honor God and Him alone.

h.        No threat was going to cause them to turn their back on the One True God.

i.          They were going to worship God and God alone, no matter the outcome.

18.    Deuteronomy 6:13-14

a.        Fear God and do not follow other gods.

b.       We need to fear the Lord, as in revere and honor Him.

c.        We are to worship Him and Him alone.

d.       We have to make sure we do not allow other gods interfere with our reverence, honor, and worship of the One True God.

e.        Those gods today can be a lot of different things.

f.          They may be sports, jobs, politics, movies, games, really anything that we allow to get between us and our God.

g.        We need to remain focused on our God.

h.        Our worship is to be for Him and Him alone.

19.   One of the key things to remember out of these verses is:

20.   Regardless of the outcome.

a.        It won’t always be pretty.

b.       Daniel’s friends did not know what the outcome was going to be.

c.        They expected they could die.

d.       Especially as they saw the king get angry.

e.        When we stand on God’s truth.

f.          When we cut things out of our lives.

g.        When we push against the world.

h.        It is not always pretty.

i.          It is not always pleasant.

21.   The guys had had seen God work.

a.        They had twenty years to study the Old Testament Scriptures.

b.       They probably knew them better than most.

c.        They took a stand.

d.       How about us?

e.        What do we need to do?

f.          How do we grow in knowledge?

g.        How do we prepare to take a stand when faced with a challenge such as this?

22.   2 Peter 3:17-18

a.        We grow in knowledge by learning His Word.

b.       We grow as followers of Christ by living His Word.

c.        It won’t change the direction of the world.

d.       It may not change the opinions of others.

e.        But growing in knowledge of God and His Word will help us to stand on Solid Ground.

f.          It will help each of us to be grounded in The Truth when challenged by errors of the lawless people around us.

g.        We need to be in God’s Word and to hear Godly teaching so that we can stand on His Truth.

23.   Let’s read how things played out for Daniel’s friends.

24.   Daniel 3:19-30

a.        Their faithfulness was rewarded.

b.       Our faithfulness will be rewarded.

c.        Now, I want to be clear.

d.       Our reward may not be on this side of eternity.

e.        We may face hardship and persecution while we walk this earth.  

f.          But if Jesus is your Lord and Savior, it is on the other side.

25.   We will face struggles.

a.        Our faith will be challenged.

b.       But if we stay focused on our Jesus, our reward is eternal.

c.        We will be with Him forever.

26.   Trust in Jesus no matter the hill.

27.   Trust in Him no matter the outcome.