Rulers and people in authority like to play about with power!

Nebuchadnezzar had the idea of creating the most beautiful and grandest of idolatrous images.

He was so carried away with its magnificence that he sent a decree to all the people over whom he had command, - he ordered them to fall down and worship his special creation; if they did not … he would burn them!

This command was straightforward, no right of appeal and to the point, - he set out to create a society that would worship this image he had built.

In this land of Babylon the same mistake as Gen. 11:1-10 was being made all over again, - they were intent on establishing a society completely devoid of God.

When the time came for worship of this image the majority of people had no problem falling down and paying homage.

It didn’t cause them any soul-searching or crises of conscience, after all, ‘one god is very much like the next’.

	This week (7th-11th October 2002) has been designated Psychic week on Britain's Good Morning TV (GMTV).
	During each weekday afternoon there is a Psychic show on ITV.
	In the Church of Scotland St. Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh a section has been set aside so that adherents of all faiths can join for prayer.
	The multi-faith agenda is flourishing and dictating the religious landscape.

As in the days of Nebuchadnezzar the majority of people are all too ready to accept anything that is being set before them, as Paul puts it, Rom. 1:21-23 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, …

So these people had no problem at all bowing down on their faces before the image Nebuchadnezzar had made.

But what about the people of God? Did they disobey the commandment given through Moses?

Ex. 20:3  Thou shalt have no other gods before me. … 5  Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them.

Here is what we discover was their reaction …

Obviously the king’s spies were out and very quickly they discovered all those who were disobedient to the command of the king, … and it was good that the Jews stood out (v.8b).

As the Book of Esther indicates they lived in their own community and they chose not to obey this dictate of Nebuchadnezzar.

In particular, three men who had been selected in the process of chapter one, - Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, - were to be picked out to be burned.

This was an orchestrated attempt by the enemy to silence the people of God, - not only on this occasion, but as far as future generations were concerned also,

Nebuchadnezzar didn’t want to burn them all because he liked to boast of the numbers under his control, … but if he burned a few the rest of the nation would get the message!

From the perspective of the plan of the devil: if he could get Nebuchadnezzar to eradicate the identity of the Hebrew people he would also succeed in destroying the ancestral lineage that would ultimately result in the birth of the Messiah.

In other words, get rid of the Jews and you also get rid of any promised Messiah!

So, once again, this was an important stage for the children of Israel to be at, - it was either ‘make or break’!

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were brought before this most powerful of kings and the ultimatum was repeated,

v.14  Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? 15  Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?

… v.15 who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?

Standing there, surrounded by all the king’s courtiers and nobles, these three young men stood with all the confidence Martin Luther stood with as he declared, “Here I stand! I can do no other”.

They weren’t for shifting. They weren’t for compromise. They weren’t frantically searching for the most ‘pragmatic’ approach. They simply and faithfully affirmed,

v.17 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.

Can you see them standing their and the blood rushing through the face of Nebuchadnezzar?! He’s fuming!! (v.19)

But, with a quiet yet determined confidence these three men had placed all their trust in the Almighty Sovereign God.

Their future was in the hands – not of a king Nebuchadnezzar, no matter how powerful he thought he was, - but they believed their future was in the hands of the God in Whom they totally relied.

How would you have stood there? Shaking with fear? Ready to give the king an answer he wanted to hear? Go away and have a think about it?

I’m not suggesting you will ever have to face such a scenario as these three faced (… and perhaps you might have to, I don’t know); but what is your approach when the opportunity arises that you are called upon to stand up for God?

Do you stand up for Him? … regardless of the circumstances? … regardless of whether or not you are standing on your own?

If you were ‘pulled in’ this very moment and had to appear before a tribunal would you stand for Christ?

In many countries today, - as I have already mentioned, -and in many fellowships worldwide, this is not a hypothetical question … but it is reality for many of our brothers and sisters in Christ are suffering and dying because of their love of Him.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were standing firm because of their reliance upon God.

In matters of deep importance, the Christian should have two watchwords, “No Surrender! “Not an inch”.

The least compromise on the fundamentals with the enemy brings confusion and ultimate defeat.

Give him an inch and he’ll not just be satisfied with taking a mile … he’ll want the whole road!

The second part of v.18 is very important … especially that which is at the conclusion of the verse, - the full stop!

These three weren’t even thinking about compromise,

It was only a matter of bowing the head … and then getting on with your daily business.             … But No! there was more to it than that … and the devil doesn’t let you off that easy!

	They would have had to stop worshipping God,
	They would have had to worship this God of Nebuchadnezzar’s, which would only be the floodgate opening so that they would be worshipping other gods,
	They would have had to set time aside for this worship … and everybody would see them and their witness and identity would have been destroyed.
	But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego didn’t even give it a moment’s thought, v.18 we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

“Regardless of what you threaten us with we are rejecting your command!”

Is this too hard a line to take in these days of accommodation? Should we not set aside our differences in order for unity to take place? Here’s how we should be asking:

	What does the Bible teach us we ought to do?
	What did Jesus do when He was standing alone in front of Caiaphas, Herod, and Pilate?
	How did the men of the Bible confront the spirit of the age?
	What did the forefathers of our faith do when confronted with opposition?

… Surely they stood upon the truth of Scripture regardless of liked it or who didn’t, Jude 3, ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

We never hear about these three again after this chapter but how the Bible records their faithfulness!

If you can, read about the Christians in the early Church who suffered persecution for the faith, read about John Wycliffe and the Reformers, read Foxes Book Of Martyrs, read about Samuel Rutherford and the Covenanters, read about Richard Wurmbrand and those tortured for Christ in the former Soviet Union, read about those whom God has saved out of Islam and who went through such tremendous persecution.

… And thank God for the freedom we have in this country to come along to a church meeting without any fear of arrest.

How long will God along it to continue like that?

	Walking out to the car yesterday morning with my collar on, a young boy was walking on the footpath on the other side of the road; he just couldn’t help put pass an expletive in my direction!
	We have had church windows broken; we’re apprpaching the time of year again when we’ve to watch out for our cars in case they get broken into … sitting outside the church.

The Bible speaks about times of great tribulation prior to the coming of Christ, - they will increase.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are the examples to study for how they relied upon God and for how they rejected the commands of society that threatened their faith in Him.

Gen. 3. In the Garden of Eden that was what happened when Adam and Eve listened to the words of the serpent and they were led to set to the one side the stipulations of God. As a consequence they were expelled from the Garden (3:24).

Gen. 4:17. A city was built by Cain, - imagine how godless that city must have been! (v.18ff.) … the city of Cain. It would have been completely and absolutely devoid of any worship that Cain’s brother Abel would ever have offered to God.

This city of Enoch was the centre for all who rejected God (notice that no other city is mentioned in this chapter … before or after).

Gen. 9:18-25 gives the account of the drunken Noah asleep in his tent and his son Ham went in and carried out homosexual acts with his father. When Noah awoke he cursed his son, v.25.

Then in ch. 10:6ff. you find Ham’s genealogy; note v.10, Babel.

Now go to ch. 11 where you will find the name of this city and its origin.

	11:2 tells us they all moved east, and they settled in the plain in Shinar.
	There they decided (v.4), let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name.
	They were going to build the fanciest, most beautiful city and tower that the then-world had ever seen … and God didn’t feature!

In Exodus we see the progression of this whole mentality, 1:11b they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses. And through our history books we all know about the tremendous beauty, power and influence of ancient Egypt … how they were so taken up with their own agenda and they formulated the gods that would not conflict with that agenda.

And then, skipping a few centuries, we come to the time of Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon, to Darius and the Medes and Persians, to Philip and Alexander of Greece, to the Caesars of Rome, to Constantine, to the Napoleons of France, to the Hitler of Germany, to the world’s greatest empires through to the present day – the United Nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the Arab League – all seeking world domination … you see, it is so sinfully natural to pursue opportunities where man is the ultimate ruler and God is irrelevant.

Did you read in the newspapers and listen to the news on Tuesday? … how that former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing, the present head of a forum plotting the future shape of an enlarged EU of up to 30 members, has set out ideas for a European constitution, and one of the names suggested for this body of nations is the “United States of Europe”.

… And immediately our Prime Minister stood up and rejected it, - and we are told the previous day he had a falling out with the present French President,

	… our Prime Minister is 100% pro-European integrationist. (I wonder if the ‘falling-out’ had been negotiated and orchestrated and timed to fit the political announcement).
	Notice no other country raised its voice in opposition to any notion of such a U.S.E. - many hailed it as the natural development of what has been going on for many years.

Look at what we’ve got at present: in the European Union we have a European Parliament, Common Fisheries Policy, Common Agricultural policy, there is a widespread common currency and banking system, there is a common Human Rights policy that all countries have to sign up to, there is talk of an army made up from all the nations within the EU.

Here is what the European Commission President Romano Prodi said recently, “The reunification of Europe is close”.

Here is another quote from Paul-Henri Spaak, a former Belgian Prime Minister and President of the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe, 1949-51,

“We do not want another committee. We have too many already. What we want is a man of sufficient stature to hold the allegiance of all the people, and to lift us out of the economic morass in which we are sinking. Send us such a man, be he god or the devil [italics mine, D.G.], we will receive him.”

You see, it is the natural outcome to expect that a nation, - whether you call it the U.S.E. or the EU, - to put someone into the position of being its overall leader.

Don’t you find it interesting that man’s agenda down through history has never changed!

We’ll come back to thinking about these things at a later date, but I mention them now to show you something of what was happening in the days of Daniel the prophet.

World domination was Nebuchadnezzar’s dream; he wanted to be the ruler of everything and everyone; it was a dream that didn’t begin with him and certainly didn’t end with him … but look at the consequences for God’s people …

Well dare Daniel and the people of Judah to worship Jehovah!

This was a command that came ‘from the top’ – from the king, and not just any king … but King Nebuchadnezzar.

The command came, – in simple and uncomplicated language, - that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up: 6 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

You see, this wasn’t the way the Jews worshipped, for they had to obey the commandment God gave through Moses, Ex. 20: 3  Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4  Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5  Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them. The very reason they were in Babylon was because they hadn’t been faithful to that commandment!

By the time of the captivity in Babylon the Jews had learned the lessons the hard way, - they didn’t have their temple (that was in ruins back in Jerusalem), but they had their synagogues where they met to read the Law, to pray and to worship God.

And it didn’t matter that their worship was contrary to the spirit of the age, - they had to worship God the way He had prescribed it to be done!

The worship of God excludes man-made attempts, - God is to be worshipped God’s way or not at all, - and God’s way leaves no room for seeking unity with the world’s efforts at religion.

We see in our own day how ecumenical and inter-faith religion is simply another department that governments use during those times it considers appropriate … and that was what was happening here in Daniel’s day.

The way of Nebuchadnezzar has never been completely set to the one side for I believe that it has always existed when man has tried to do without God and I believe it will increasingly make itself known in the agendas of many governments, because for true worship to have God’s stamp of approval that worship must truly be contrary to the spirit of the age … as we see here in the Scriptures. … And it naturally follows that ...

The devil can no more put up with God than God can with the devil! … and God’s people ought to have no truck with the enemy.

Some time later when the Israelites had returned to Jerusalem, we read Ezra 4: 4:1  Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the LORD God of Israel; 2  Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither. 3  But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the LORD God of Israel.

It’s a different agenda altogether. The Word of God says, II Cor. 6:17 come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.

The enemy hates any talk about God, - that’s why he has substituted the one true God with so many religions and dreams after power and prosperity.

The enemy hates God’s people studying His Word because …

… So then the enemy tries to cut God’s Word up and cast doubt upon it.

The enemy hates any talk about redemption, and grace and salvation through Christ.

The enemy sows seeds of confusion because he hates the truth of God because the true born-again, elect people of God are simply contrary to the spirit of the age… and Daniel 3:6 teaches us that too.

… And how the enemy labours hard to get in among the people of God and disrupt the fellowship, for the Word of God instructs us to endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Yes, the existence of the people of God and the true worship of the people of God are contrary to the spirit of the age.

It was forbidden, - no negotiation, no setting up a committee to discuss it, no attempts at mediation … simply whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

I can assure you that there are many men and women, - even in so-called evangelical quarters, - in the ministry who ‘have fallen down and worshipped the image of our times’ … because, you see, it’s far easier to do that than to take on the opposition of the enemy.

You take your stand upon Bible principles, - for example, on the total inerrancy and inspiration of Scripture, salvation is by faith through grace alone, there is a Heaven to gain and a Hell to shun, - and you will quickly find out that you will be left standing with very few of a similar mind to yourself … because the witness of God’s people is contrary to the spirit of the age … and it always has been!

Exactly 485 years ago today (31^st October, 1517) a Roman priest walked along a street in the German city of Wittenburg to the Castle Church and there he hammered upon its doors his 95 Theses.

He didn’t know it but that one man was fulfilling the plan of God drawn up in eternity that would see the commencement of the Protestant Reformation.

John Tetzel, a Dominican monk from Leipzig, swore to himself, “I will have Luther burned and his ashes scattered on the water!”

And when Martin Luther stood before the Diet of Worms on April 16^th 1521 he had to appear before the Emperor twice; each time he was clearly told to take back his teachings.

He told them, “These are the articles on which I must stand and God willing, shall stand even to my death. I do not know how to change or to surrender anything in them.”

And Luther didn’t see any proof against his theses that would make him recant: “Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason - I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other - my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen.”

Martin Luther had tried to purify his own soul by going through all the idolatrous superstitions of Rome but to no avail … until one day he read in God’s Word what would release him from the grip of Satan, “The just shall live by faith!”

And when Luther stood up against the rotten-to-the-core modern-day edifice of the tower of Babel he was imprisoned, stripped, humiliated but it was for the cause of Christ and he wouldn’t fall  down and worship the spirit of the age.

There joined him on the continent Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin, Philip Melanchton and many others.

On our shores there were men like John Knox, Samuel Rutherford, the Bonars, the Puritans, the Covenanters, - their witness was contrary to the spirit of the age.

In London C.H. Spurgeon went through a period known as the Downgrade Controversy when he was basically exiled from the Baptist Union … simply because the Word of God that He was so faithfully and earnestly preaching was contrary to the spirit of the age. … … and that was what the people of Israel were guilty of in Daniel’s day too!

Can you accommodate the spirit of the age and still be in perfect harmony with the Spirit of God? No, I don’t believe you can. Because of sin they have become so diametrically opposed.

I know of Christians who are naturally awkward (‘thrawing’) and they would make little attempt to accommodate anything and they take pleasure in disagreeing with everyone else … but this is different. This is being set apart for the sake and cause of Christ.

 Of course, there are some things on the periphery we must agree to differ on, but on the fundamentals of our faith there can be no compromise … but it is not a matter of God’s people being ‘awkward’ for wanting to retain laws in our Parliaments that have their source in God’s Word, - it’s not the faithful church that has strayed away … it’s the world, it’s the spirit of the age.

Daniel, Shadrach, Meschech, Abednego wouldn’t bow down before the image of Nebuchadnezzar because they belonged to the people of God, and, as the people of God,

	Their worship was contrary to the spirit of the age
	Their existence was contrary to the spirit of the age
	Their witness was contrary to the spirit of the age

Remember how Elijah hiding in the cave called out to God, I Kgs. 19:10 I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. … and God’s reply, v.11 Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: 12  And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

We might only be a small number … but we are part of a great multitude that no one can number … a people whose worship is contrary to the spirit of the age, whose existence is contrary to the spirit of the age, and whose witness is contrary to the spirit of the age.

Every other occasion when Nebuchadnezzar used this form of punishment those condemned to die died! … cast into a fiery furnace … bound … death was absolutely inevitable!

There was absolutely no way escape could be considered … and what kind of a man could sit on his throne and watch such a thing happen? … Nebuchadnezzar could. I’m sure he had done it many times.

	He was waiting to see their clothes catch fire and burn into their skin,
	He was waiting to hear their cries of absolute agony as the pain of the fire burned through their bodies … but the yells and the shouts didn’t come …

As he watched through the window, - the stoke-hole - in the furnace the surprise was so evident on his face.

In the flames he saw not three men … but four. It was so much of a shock that he got up off his throne in such a hurry to find out how many people had actually been thrown into the furnace.

Three he was told; yes, three, - Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego … “But how is it I can see four men in the fire?!”

The king’s confusion, - and he was right to be confused. But what a difference … in the furnace …