Go to 1 Peter chapter 3, 1 Peter chapter 3.
Think of other, while you're turning to 1 Peter chapter 3, let's just think of other
examples in the Bible of men who went through trials but they came out okay and God preserved
them and they didn't go to prison, they weren't killed.
What about Job?
Did Job suffer and go through trials?
Yeah, but the latter end of Job was more blessed than the beginning.
He lived to be an old, old man and he got to see his children and his children's children
under the third and fourth generation.
He was blessed, everything went great.
In the end, the latter end of Job was blessed.
Look at men in the Bible who served God, a lot of them ended up in John, the Apostle
John ended up in old age.
Now, there were some that are martyred, like John the Baptist or Stephen at a young age,
but if that's God's will, so be it, I mean that's God's will, if that's what God wants.
But let me tell you something, it's the minority and the reason that I bring up the fact that
that's the minority, is that here we are in America today, a bunch of pastors, scared
of our own shadow, and don't want to preach the Bible, because oh we're going to go to
prison and oh we're going to be killed.
You know, most of it is a phantom that's never even going to happen.
And even if it does happen, most of the time in the Bible, it's a temporary affliction.
You know, even when a guy like Paul is thrown into the prison, he gets out the next day
and he keeps on going.
Big deal.
Where did I turn?
1 Peter 3, look down at verse 13.
Watch this, "Who is he that will harm you if ye be followers of that which is good?"
So there's a protection there that's promised from God, isn't it?
Verse 13, "Who is he that will harm you if ye be followers of that which is good?
But, and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye, and be not afraid of their terror,
neither be trouble."
So he says, look, if you do what's right, God's going to protect you.
You're not going to be harmed.
But he says, but, if God does decide for you to be harmed, he says, you know what, don't
be afraid of that.
Be faithful unto death, and I'll give thee a crown of life.
Look at Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
They stood up for what was right.
They took a stand.
And you know what, they could have said, oh, I'm afraid, like Zedekiah, I'm afraid of going
into the fiery furnace.
So here's what I'm going to do.
I'm going to bow down before the image, but in my heart, I'm going to be bowing down to
the Lord.
I mean, you can see how he could easily justify that.
You know, everybody bows down to the golden image.
You can just tell yourself, "Well, okay, I'm going to bow down so I don't go in the furnace,
but I'm just going to worship the Lord in my heart."
Like in my heart, I'm going to be bowing down and saying, you know, "It's to Jehovah.
It's not unto this idol."
And they said to the king, "We're not going to do it," because they wanted to take a public
stand because they're a testimony unto a whole ... And you know what?
The whole world heard that story.
Think about it.
What if these three guys were just compromising their heart, bowed down, and just prayed to
the Lord in their heart?
Okay, what ended up happening is that a decree ended up going out to all nations that the
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego gods, the true God.
What's that worth?
When you take a stand and put your head on the chopping block and you're willing to go
into the fiery furnace, that the whole world will hear the gospel.
It's worth it.
Not only that, but we're still talking about the story today.
It's still an inspiration to us today.
But even just that generation, it went out into the 127 provinces of the realm that, hey,
nobody can speak ill of the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Look, three guys stood up, risked their lives, and then they secured freedom for the whole
realm where people were free to worship the true God of the Bible.