Daniel and His Friends — Daniel 2-4

0:00 What's behind me? Ezra. Okay. Good. That's a...

0:08 That was a side study we did in Ezra. Ezra preached in front of the people. Okay. What do you see now? Good.

0:21 We're on track. Okay. So far we've looked at Daniel and his times, that was last night, and then this morning we looked at Daniel and his change, the Babylonians efforts to change Daniel and his friends. This afternoon we looked at Daniel and his purpose and then tonight we're going to look at Daniel and his friends. That's tonight.

0:57 We're actually going to just look at his friends. I'm figuring this stuff out. I get carried away thirty minutes in and I'm going wait I need to study for the message instead of trying to figure out how to do the graphics real fancy. So we'll look at Daniel and his friends tonight. Let's look at chapter three and we'll just read that together.

1:23 We'll consider some thoughts. How many of you have heard a message about Daniel's friends before? Yep, you're gonna hear another one. Alright, so this will a fresh one maybe. I don't know how new it'll be, but it'll be at least one you've heard today.

1:46 Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold whose height was threescore cubits and the breadth thereof six cubits. He set it up in the Plain Of Dura in the province of Babylon. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors and the captains and the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. Then the princes, the governors, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces were gathered together to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up, and they stood before the image Nebuchadnezzar had set up. If you wanna stop for a second, this is pretty much every ruler of any stature in the world.

2:46 It's not like today where we have multiple nations. Babylon was it. And so anything other than Babylon proper would have been just a province or a territory that was governed by the sovereign state of Babylon. Verse four, then Harold cried aloud to you and his commanded, O people, nations, and languages, that at what time you hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbutt, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. And whoso falleth not down and worshipeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

3:39 Therefore at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, the flute, harp, sacklet, psaltery, and all kinds of music, and all the people, the nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near and accused the Jews. He spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, oh king, live forever. Thou king hast made a decree that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, the harp, the sack, but the sultry, the dulcimer, and all kinds of music shall fall down and worship the golden image. You're gonna have a test tonight after this on what the instruments were, so pay attention.

4:22 We'll only say them about seven times. And who so falleth not down in worship, but that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, these men, o king, have not regarded thee. They serve not thy gods nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and they brought these men before the king.

5:32 Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego answered and said to the king, Oh Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace. And he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, we will not serve thy gods nor worship the golden image which thou has set up. Then Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, excuse me, then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

6:16 Therefore he spake and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was won't to be heated. And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their coats, their hose, and their hats, and other garments and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore, because the king's commandment was urgent and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

7:08 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied and rose up in haste and spake and said unto his counselors, did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? And they answered unto the king, true, O king. He answered and said, lo, 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. Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spake and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, you servants of the most high God, come forth, come hither.

8:00 Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came forth of the midst of the fire, And the princes, governors, captains, the king's counselors, being gathered together, saw these men upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was a hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them. Then Nebuchadnezzar spake and said, blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who has sent his angel and delivered his servants that trusted in him and have changed the king's word and yielded their bodies that they might not serve nor worship any god except their own god. Therefore, I make a decree that every people and nation would speak anything amiss against the god of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be cut in pieces and their houses shall be made a dunghill because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort. Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon. Let's pray.

9:16 We thank you, our father, tonight for the opportunity to preach. We pray, father, that you would give us grace as we look at this wonderful story, this magnificent story of the three men who stood, the three men who survived such a tremendous trial. We pray our Father that we would yield from this message comfort and strength ourselves in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. And now the story is of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

10:14 Belteshazzar. But we never see him... Well, we see him called that a couple of times, but mostly it's Daniel. Daniel, God is my judge. Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, does anybody remember their Hebrew names?

10:33 Mishael. Mishael? Hananiah. Hananiah? Azariah.

10:38 What does Azariah mean? God helps. God helps. That's right. What does Mishael mean?

10:50 Who is like God? What does Hananiah mean? Has favored me or God has shown me grace. Interesting, we don't remember those names, but we do remember the names they were given by the Babylonians. I don't think we should read a great deal into that.

11:20 Some people have, but Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego lived with their names changed. But it was not their names per se that gave them character. It was their actions that gave them character. We remember them. In fact, if you remember the story of Joseph, Joseph's name was changed in the book of Genesis.

11:46 Pharaoh called him Zaphath Panea when he made him ruler of the world. And no one ever objected to that fact that Joseph's name was changed. And so the change of names to a pagan name is not a detrimental thing because Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego will truly show their godly character despite what the Babylonians tried to impose upon them. I've been called a lot in my life, right? I've been called a lot of things we say, right?

12:23 But it's not what people call me, it's what the Lord calls me. The Lord calls me his son. I'm a saint of God bound for heaven. Now it's interesting in the story here, you'll notice that I've got a little star there because nineteen years have passed since this story or since the the captivity began. This is nineteen years later.

12:50 Now that's not without significance as to what's going on in our story. In our... One of our other charts, we see this timetable of Nebuchadnezzar becoming king of Babylon and taking over the nation of Israel in six zero five BC. That's what we learned last night in Daniel and his times. But interestingly, if you look at this calendar, nineteen years later, the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and the temple.

13:31 If you look back at the other chart we just had, you'll notice that that was 585. That's a year after the temple was destroyed in Jerusalem. Now I want you to do something with me to set the historical context here. I want you to turn to the book of second Chronicles chapter 36. Second Chronicles chapter 36.

14:10 In second Chronicles chapter 36, we get the account of the end of the monarchy in Israel. There will never again be a king over the nation of Israel. Zedekiah will be the last king in Israel. In the book of second Chronicles chapter 36 verses five through seven, it says this, Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign. He reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.

14:41 He did that which was evil in the sight of the lord. Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, bound him in fetters to carry him to Babylon. Verse seven, Nebuchadnezzar also carried the vessels of the house of the Lord to Babylon and put them in the temple in his temple at Babylon. Those two verses... Note this if you like to study the Bible and you study history.

15:03 That is in six zero five BC. That is when Daniel and his companions were taken away. That was Nebuchadnezzar's first invasion, 06/2005. But then you'll notice as the chapter progresses, Nebuchadnezzar in verses 17 through 21 does something different. It says, these men's...

15:32 Oh, let's see. Yeah. Second... Excuse me. Second Chronicles 36 for 17 through 21.

15:38 Therefore, he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, that's Nebuchadnezzar, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man or him that stooped for age. He gave all of them into his hand and all the vessels of the house of god, great and small, the treasures of the house of the lord, the treasures of the king and his princes, and all these he brought to Babylon, and they burnt the house of god, and they broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and they burnt all the palaces with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels, And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon, where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia. That occurs in five eighty six BC. Now, else had occurred in those years between 06/2005 and 586. Jehoiakim the king had become a puppet to Nebuchadnezzar.

16:45 He ultimately died after eleven years and his son Jehoiachin was installed, Jehoiachin. Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin away and he installed another man named Zedekiah. So Nebuchadnezzar had now come in full control of the nation of Israel. In fact, the nation of Israel, he was beginning to treat like puppets. If you remember in 06/2005, Nebuchadnezzar had had a dream about the statue.

17:18 And Daniel told him, Nebuchadnezzar, you're the head of gold. And Nebuchadnezzar never forgot that. And during the next nineteen years, he showed himself to be a very powerful man. And ultimately, he went into Jerusalem and he stomped the city down. And I'm sure Nebuchadnezzar thought to himself perhaps, you know, I did something to Israel that pharaoh never could do.

17:49 He tried to hold him captive for four hundred years, and they escaped him and they made him look silly and they destroyed him at the Red Sea. I did something that Sennacherib, king of Assyria could never do. He tried to attack Israel with an army of 185,001 night God sent His angel and demolished Sennacherib king of Assyria's army. And Nebuchadnezzar is probably thinking, I've done something no other king could ever do. And so he got a little bit cocky.

18:26 So mister Nebuchadnezzar, while he remembered... Oops. Well, we've got the green version now. Is that me, or is that... It's the plug.

18:44 Did I step on it? Well, we'll just have to go green. We're into that. Right? The There we go.

19:22 It's gonna fall to the Persians. Another king... Kingdom inferior to you will arise. There'll be the Medes and Persians. Then another kingdom inferior to them will arise.

19:34 That'll be the Greeks. And then another kingdom less less lesser than that, the Romans will arise. And what Nebuchadnezzar had forgotten was there was this stone, the Bible says, that was cut out without hands, that they came in and demolished the whole thing. Demolished the rule of the Gentiles. We know who that stone is, right?

20:00 That stone's the Lord Jesus Christ. And he'll set up his kingdom forever. Nebuchadnezzar forgot all that because he thought nobody's like me. So he decided he would build a statue which was made of the same material as the head. And there we have mister Nebuchadnezzar at the zenith of his power.

20:26 I think it was a man named Lord Acton. Lord Acton was an influential man on the United States government in its earliest days, and he made a statement. It says something like this, power corrupts and absolute power does what? Corrupts absolutely. And so men who enjoy power without understanding the source of the power will ultimately falter.

20:58 Nebuchadnezzar himself and his kingdom would ultimately falter. Now again, we said we remember these guys by their names. The world designates on us its rules, and sometimes it's out of our control. But what counts is our actions. This is the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

21:23 I wanna give you several points here and then we'll go home. Okay? They all start with p. The first one is the power of persuasion. The power of persuasion.

21:36 Now says here in verse one that this image was made of gold. Now gold is... Well, gold then was kind of like gold is now. It was the standard, right? Anybody here buy gold?

21:54 You don't have to raise your hand. Wait, go ahead and raise your hand. You buy gold? You collect gold coins. My dad used to collect gold coins.

22:03 I'm constantly hearing these commercials nowadays, you know, on the radio and they're going, you know, the economy is going to fall next week. You know, the economy is doomed. You better buy gold. You know, Chinese are buying up all the gold. We gotta get some gold, gold, gold.

22:17 Gold has always been a precious, in fact considered the standard precious metal. I think there are some metals, some of you guys that know this stuff, there are some metals worth more. More precious, more costly, but nothing like gold. Gold is very persuasive. Money is very persuasive.

22:39 Money talks. The statue was 90 feet high. That's what three score cubits. A cubit, you guys may know, a cubit is something akin to the elbow to the top of the middle finger. I think the standard measurement people say is like 18 inches.

23:02 So three score 60 cubits would be about 90 feet high. And then the breadth thereof, six cubits, so nine feet wide, big, big statue and he sets it up. Now, says here that it's an image. And boy, we love our images, don't we? Image means everything, right?

23:25 In our society. Imagine they were probably, if it was in our day, they'd be selling Nebuchadnezzar gold statue shirts, right? No? How about make Nebuchadnezzar great again hats? Ah, manga.

23:48 It's all about image. All about image. This was a big deal. It was a big promotion. The power of persuasion.

23:59 Verse two, it tells us here that all the politicians came, everybody that counted, everybody that was in power. You know, we gotta go to Nebuchadnezzar's statue next week. It'll do us good. It'll be popular with the people. So, the governors come.

24:17 The princes come. The captains come. The and oh by the way, you better come. Because if you fall out of disfavor with Nebuchadnezzar, you're history. So all the political rulers came, all the treasurers, anybody that had money, all the sheriffs, and all the rulers, and they came.

24:43 Well, this was a show of solidarity. They came together, it says here, and they were gathered together to the dedication of the image. As they stood there and they showed their solidarity. You know, you guys follow... Anybody follow politics?

25:00 You see the... Maybe some of you did. Did you guys see the no kings thing last weekend? And and a lot of the... Don't raise your hand if you were there.

25:11 A lot of people are going, this is what democracy looks like. I can imagine them saying that. This is what democracy looks like. We're all together and we're worshiping the image of Nebuchadnezzar. Lot of power, lot of influence.

25:29 And then of course, the media pipes in. Verse four, a herald cries aloud, to you and his command and all people and nations. Yeah, you gotta get the media in there. The public announcement, the persuaders, let me report on the story. All you nations, all you languages, languages, all all you you people, people, when you hear the sound of music, and oh, by the way, talk about the power of persuasion.

25:58 How about music? Music and its power to persuade. Now, this was wonderful music. How many of you are persuaded by music? Don't lie.

26:11 Yeah, it's wonderful. I love to hear good music. I love to hear all kinds of music. I love all kinds of music. But before I got saved, let me challenge some of you again.

26:24 Do you guys know about a week ago, a guy named Ace Fraley died? Anybody know that? You know who Ace Fraley is? Look at Andy over there. He's an Ace Fraley guy.

26:36 You know who Ace Fraley was? He was the guitar player for KISS. You guys remember KISS? I grew up watching. I grew up following KISS.

26:45 I was a heavy metal hard rocker. And I would go to concerts and I would stand literally this close to those guys and Kiss when they played. They would blow up bombs and shoot fire out at you and explode stuff. And we'd go out of that concert and we couldn't hear each other talk. But we kept going back because of the persuasion and the power and control of music.

27:13 So there you have it. All the stuff in culture. Now this power of persuasion in verse six, they were told, don't you be different. Don't you not do this because if you do, there will be consequences for you, a burning fiery furnace. In verse seven, it tells us here that when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, the flute, the harp, the sack, the psaltery, and all kinds of music, all the people and the nations fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

27:54 Now on its face, doesn't that kind of sound silly? How many of you guys would do that? How many of guys would go to a 90 foot statue, music playing, na na na na na na na, everybody fall down and worship. You're not gonna do that, right? Well, the book of Revelation, in a coming day, the Bible tells us an image called the beast will arise and everyone will fall down and worship the beast.

28:25 Do not put it past humanity to be persuaded to do a whole lot of stuff. Now folks, don't know where you guys stood during the COVID virus. I don't want to bring that back up because everybody... I get the shot? Do I not get the shot?

28:44 Do I wear a mask? Do I not wear a mask? Do I stop meeting? Do I meet? I know all that stuff happened.

28:51 A lot of people divided over that. But what COVID should have taught us as a Christian is that people will line up very fast. They'll get in line very fast when they're put in fear, when they're subjected to the unknown. COVID, if anything for the Christian should have been a time of great discernment. Now I see.

29:44 During the period of exile, you'll see the word Jew used in Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, especially the book of Esther. Mordecai the Jew, remember him? He refused to bow. And he told them the reason he didn't bow was because he was a Jew. Jew could often, as it is now, be used as a derogatory term.

30:07 And so these cultured Chaldeans come along and they tell Nebuchadnezzar, Hey, king, live forever. You've made a decree. And everyone that hears the sound of the music... By the way, this band here with the cornet, the flute, the harp, the sack, but the psaltery, the dulcimer. What a diverse band.

30:29 In fact, the word psaltery is interesting word. It's actually a Greek instrument. Now, this is long before the Greek Empire. And some people had questioned the legitimacy of Daniel because the word psaltery is a Greek word. But it just goes to show us that this was such a wide variety of cultural music that it persuaded all sorts of people.

30:55 Now these men remind Nebuchadnezzar that whoso falls not down in worships, he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. Verse 12, there are certain Jews whom you have set over the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego. These men, oh king, have not regarded you. Now if you remember in chapter two, we didn't cover this, but when Daniel interpreted Nebuchadnezzar's dream, Nebuchadnezzar promoted Daniel. And in the promotion of Daniel, in fact, just flip back to chapter two at the very end, when Daniel gets promoted, verse 48 it says, then the king made Daniel a great man, gave him many gifts, made him ruler over the province of Babylon, the chief governors over all the wise men of Babylon.

31:45 Verse 49, then Daniel requested of the king and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon. But Daniel sat in the gate of the king. These guys were probably jealous as all get out. They were very envious of the fact that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had been so favorable. And I would I would submit to you this, They were probably very jealous and envious at the fact that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were honorable men.

32:21 You see ungodly people will always envy godly people. We believe that. It happened in the case of Saul and David. In fact, it happened in the case of the Lord Jesus when the rulers brought Jesus to Pilate. The scripture says, Pilate knew that for envy they had delivered him.

32:46 Oftentimes, people who are non believers will be envious of people who are because they see the joy and they see the moral virtue of their lives. And they're envious and they're malicious because they realize they don't have what that person has. And yet you and me are never told to retaliate. The Bible says when Jesus was reviled, he didn't revile back. He knew they hated him.

33:19 They hated him without a cause. And Jesus loved him. And you and me are called upon to love those who hate us. The price of standing can be great. We are not to hate back against this world.

34:01 They're... They've been they've been in this position now for about nineteen years, and so he knows them well. And he says, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, is this true? And it seems to be that he reasons with them. Are you not worshiping?

34:19 Verse 15 he explains, he says, If you will do this, it'll be fine. But if you don't, why, hey, you're gonna get thrown into a fiery furnace. I think Nebuchadnezzar probably knew or thought, Surely these guys will reason. Well, they didn't reason like Nebuchadnezzar would have them reason. In fact, they gave an answer.

34:49 They gave an answer. The Bible says in first Peter three fifteen, that we are first of all to sanctify the Lord God in our hearts. And when we sanctify the Lord, when we set Jesus Christ apart in our hearts, and he is preeminent in all that we do, and he is the full focus of the purpose, remember, the purpose of our lives. My purpose is Jesus Christ. I am crucified with Christ.

35:19 Nevertheless, I live yet not I, but Christ lives in me. And the life that I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. For me, Paul says, to live is Christ. And because they had done that, they said this, verse 16. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, oh Nebuchadnezzar, we're not careful, we're not hesitant to answer this.

35:48 If so, our God we serve as able to deliver us from the fine... Excuse me. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he'll deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, O king, know this, that we'll not serve your gods nor worship the golden image which you've set up. And so in their answer, it said that God was able.

36:17 God is able in any direction my life goes. God is able to deliver me from any trial. God is able to deliver me from struggles that I may have. God is able to deliver me from temptations I may have. God is able to deliver me from addictions like pornography and drugs that I may have.

36:48 God is able to deliver me from harbored bitterness and unforgiveness I may have. God is able to deliver me from anger and malice that I might have towards someone else. God is able to deliver me from a marriage that is struggling to deliver both my partner and me and bring us together. God is able to deliver me from a soured relationship and bring it about to his good. God is able to deliver me in any circumstance in life.

37:33 Verse 19, the furnace, it says, is heated seven times hotter than it should be. Nebuchadnezzar's furious. He was a furious man. Nebuchadnezzar could show rage and fury. And in his rage and fury, he could conquer anyone.

37:51 He had done so. He had demonstrated his ability, not only as a king, but as a military ruler, to rule the world. And you'll stand against me? Heated up seven times hotter. Now I was talking to Dave about this.

38:09 We struggle with... We're trying to figure out what temperatures... Well, he knows because he deals with metal forging. So to soften metal, I think you said about 2,000 degrees. So to completely melt metal you got to go 400 or 500 degrees hotter.

38:31 It's very hot. The Babylonians were known back in the book of Genesis for their brick ovens. We use ovens for a great deal in the world to incinerate things, to melt things. We don't know the exact temperature but whatever the temperature was, it says here, when these men brought them... Verse 22, when they brought them to the furnace, it was so hot that it killed the man who dropped the man right on the spot.

39:04 That's pretty hot. It's like the oven at home. You heat it to 400 degrees to make some biscuits. You go open it and it goes whoosh. It's kind of like that times, you know, a lot.

39:17 Now we don't know seven times hotter. That's pretty hot if you're saying seven times 2,000. We think seven times. According to Albert Barnes, he said the word seven here is probably a perfect number which means to the maximum heat you could get it. Very hot.

39:38 And so the price of standing was a murderous, vicious, horrible death of burning. I don't know. I don't don't get to choose how I would I'm gonna die. But I have things if I could check off a list of ways I don't wanna die. Fire's gonna be pretty high on the list.

40:05 I wouldn't wanna burn to death. I don't wanna drown. In fact, I really just kinda wanna go in my sleep without a lot of turmoil. But that's the price of standing. Now the next thing is the protection of the sovereign.

40:44 Who's got an ESV? What does the ESV say? Astonished. Yeah, close enough. I would say that's probably what a stonied means.

40:56 Right? But when I think of a stonied, I can't get this idea of becoming a stone out of my mind. He's probably like, What is going on here? And he says, Didn't we throw in four or three men? And they answered, True, O king.

41:18 Verse 25, he says, lo, I see four men walking loose in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt. In the form of the fourth is like the son of God. Now, I believe this is the son of God. How many of you believe this is the son of God? Raise your hand if you believe this is the Son of God, Jesus Christ whom we know.

41:51 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. I live by faith of the Son of God. They took up stones to stone him when he called himself the Son of God. Now I like the fact that it says, he's like the son of God. I'm not picking on your translation, but your translations probably say, a son of the gods.

42:25 Is he a son of the gods? Or is he the son of god? He's the son of god. You just said it. You're on the hook.

42:34 I looked at... I looked there and there's one there. He's the sovereign son of god. He's unique. He's not one of Marduk's boys.

42:50 He's not one of Tammuz's little kids, one of the sons of Tammuz, the Babylonian god. No. He's the son of God. That's who it is. He has sovereignly protected these men in a hot, flaming, fiery furnace.

43:07 Distinctive. That's who he is. He's like the son of God. And he's not only that, he's the son of God most high. The word most high God in verse 26 is the word El Elyon.

43:21 It's a word often used for Gentiles conception of God who is most high. Melchizedek was a priest of God most high. Nebuchadnezzar will in chapter four learn that it is the most high that rules in the heavens and he sets down who he will and and raises up who he will. He is the son of god most high. Even even the Bible says, the devils believe and tremble.

43:57 When the when Jesus was walking in the gospel account and one was one was possessed by a devil. The demons asked him. They said, what have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou son of god most high. The devils recognize him. As son of god most high.

44:20 He is our sovereign lord and he is able and he sits on the throne now at god's right hand and we believe him. He is indeed the preeminent son of God most high. And then our final point tonight, folks, is what will we do with this son of God most high who is able to deliver us? Well, verse 28, Nebuchadnezzar makes a wonderful confession. Then Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said, blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel and delivered the servants that trusted in him and have changed the king's word.

45:46 And then opening chapter 12 says this, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice to this God who is holy. That is your reasonable service, presenting our bodies. Nebuchadnezzar saw that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were willing to sacrifice all that they had to serve this God who is the son of God most high. Are you persuaded by peer pressure in your life to bow to something? Are you being pressured against your will to do something you know is contrary to God?

46:36 Does your conscience tell you that you are subtly bowing to something? That whether you realize it or not, you have submitted yourself to something that is not according to the will of God. And three, can you stand and answer for it? Can you answer for God? Can you stand against all the pressure, all the persuasion, all the terror despite the cost?

47:08 May the Lord bless us as we go forward. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the word. Thank you for your help to preach it. Thank you for these young men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

47:21 What an example they give us, father, of those who stood, stood against all odds and were not even hesitant to answer about it. Oh God, that we would be people like that in our day, that we would not stutter and stammer, that we could tell the world I'm not gonna hesitate what I'm going to tell you. I will stand for Jesus Christ. I will not bow to the things that you bow to. Oh, help us in our day.

47:54 We pray all this in Jesus Christ's name. Amen.