We pray, amen.
Men, this morning, I'm preaching on this famous subject
of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
and I'm preaching on the subject
of being faithful unto death.
You know, the Bible tells us in the New Testament
in Revelation chapter two, it says,
be thou faithful unto death,
and I will give thee a crown of life.
So in the New Testament, the Bible makes it clear
that God expects this level of commitment,
this level of devotion from us,
that we would be faithful unto Christ, even unto death,
that we would be willing to die for the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's what the Bible teaches
in both Old Testament and New Testament.
Now, in Daniel chapter three,
we have an example of a situation
where these guys are facing death by taking a stand
and not bowing down to and worshiping a false god.
Obviously, there's a lot of imagery here
or symbolism of the end times,
because someday in the end times,
there's going to be the Antichrist,
and there's going to be an image set up,
and people are gonna be forced to worship this image,
and people who will not worship the image of the Antichrist
will be put to death,
and so this is obviously foreshadowing
and prefiguring that,
but even in our day, 2022, just going through our lives,
we need to have this in our mind,
even though we're not in the tribulation right now,
we're not facing serious persecution
in the United States right now,
we should always have this in mind
that God expects us to be faithful unto death.
Now, look what the Bible says
in Daniel chapter three, verse eight.
Wherefore at that time,
certain Chaldeans came and accused the Jews.
They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar,
O king, live forever.
Thou, O king, hast made a decree
that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet,
flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer,
and all kinds of music,
shall fall down and worship the golden image,
and who shall fall not down and worshipeth,
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.
Then they brought these men before the king,
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?
So Nebuchadnezzar's enraged, he's infuriated, he's angry.
How dare they not obey his command?
How dare they refuse to worship?
And he tells them, he says, look, you know,
if you're willing to change here,
and I'm gonna start the music up again,
and when the music starts,
if you're willing to bow down and worship this image,
then okay, we'll just let it go.
Let's just forget the whole thing, right?
So they're clearly being given the opportunity here
to save their lives and to not die,
to not be thrown into a burning, fiery furnace.
He gives them that opportunity.
But he says, if ye worship not,
halfway through there in verse 15,
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?
So this seems like certain death.
They're in a giant crowd.
It's not like they can run away and escape.
Thousands of people there, all the military is there,
all the leaders are there, tons of people are there,
and this is the most powerful army in the world,
the most powerful nation in the world,
and these three guys are face-to-face
with the ruler himself, Nebuchadnezzar,
and they're being told, if you don't do this,
you're going into that fiery furnace,
and God's not gonna save you.
You're gonna be thrown in the same hour.
You're not gonna be able to appeal this or get out of it.
You're going the same hour into the fiery furnace.
And it says in verse 16, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar,
we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
Now, what does that mean, we're not careful?
Care in the Bible usually means worry or concern
or something like that.
So the Bible's saying, we're not really worried
about how we're gonna answer you right now.
We're not trying to figure out, okay, how should I put this?
How can I put this in a way that's not gonna offend you?
They're just like, look, this is so clear-cut,
this is so cut and dried
that we're not even having to think about this.
It's not like you're giving us an option,
there is no option, we're just not gonna do it.
And you see, there are a few things we can learn from this.
First of all, if we're gonna die on a hill,
we better make sure it's the right hill to die on.
Some people, they wanna die on the wrong hill, okay?
And people always get offended when I say stuff like this
and people always don't like to hear this, but it's true.
You know, you say, well, I'm willing to die for,
and maybe you're willing to die for a lot of stuff.
I'm only willing to die for Christ,
I'm only willing to die for the Lord,
I'm not really willing to die for other stuff.
So if they come to my house to confiscate my guns,
I'm just gonna be like, here, okay?
Now look, and I know that makes people mad
and people can call me names and call me whatever they want,
you know, I'm just telling the truth
because I'm not willing to die for that.
Maybe you are, I'm not.
I'm not willing to die for the second amendment.
I'm not willing to die not to be vaccinated.
And you can call me a FEMA pass,
you can call me whatever you want.
I'm just telling the truth.
I'm not willing to die on every hill, okay?
If somebody put a gun to my head and said,
smoke this cigarette, I'll say, give me two of them.
Because you're stressing me out right now.
No, I'm just kidding.
You know what?
I'm not willing to die on that hill because you know what?
If I'm gonna die for something,
it needs to be something that's clear cut,
something that the Bible clearly says,
thus sayeth the Lord.
You see what I'm saying?
I mean, giving your life is pretty serious.
And so if I'm gonna give my life for something,
I wanna know that I'm giving my life for the right thing.
If somebody put a gun to my head and said,
deny the Lord Jesus Christ, I'd say, pull the trigger.
Pull the trigger.
And I wouldn't even be careful to answer.
I wouldn't have to think about it.
It wouldn't even be an option.
It wouldn't even be something to think about.
It would just be like, no, I'm not gonna do it.
If somebody put a gun to my head and said,
hey, take back your teachings on the homos.
I'd be like, pull the trigger.
Because I know what the Bible says.
I know that I'm right.
The Bible's clear.
Those are clear cut biblical issues.
I'm not gonna take back the truth that I've preached.
I'm not gonna take back the gospel that I've preached.
I'm not gonna deny the Lord Jesus Christ.
If somebody put a gun to my head and told me
to commit murder or to commit adultery, I'd say, no,
pull the trigger.
Because these are clear cut things that are for sure
things that God has said, don't do it.
Not just they're bad for your health,
not just they're stupid, but that they're just wrong.
If something's just sin, it's just wrong,
it's just idolatry, worshiping false gods,
committing murder, or taking back something
in the word of God, or denying God's word,
or denying Jesus Christ, I'm willing to die
before I would ever do those things.
But I wanna make sure that we die on the right hill.
And look, I'm willing to fight for freedom.
I'm willing to stand up for freedom.
But I'm not willing to die for freedom.
I'm only willing to die for Jesus,
because I'm not as into politics as you are.
I don't really care as much about it as you are,
because this world is not my home.
I'm just passing through, and so I'm more into
spreading the gospel, preaching the word of God,
and standing on the rock of my salvation
as opposed to just, you know,
the US Constitution or something.
You know, I'm glad other people have died
for the US Constitution.
I'm glad that other people have died for my freedom.
I'm very thankful for that.
But you know what?
I'm only willing to die for Jesus.
Not gonna join the military.
I'm not gonna go fight in a foreign war.
I'm not gonna fight a war here.
I'm not gonna fight a war anywhere,
because I don't wrestle with flesh and blood.
I wrestle against principalities and powers,
and against spiritual wickedness in high places,
against the rulers of the darkness of this world.
God has called me to fight a battle
whose weapons are not carnal, but spiritual weapons
to fight the battle for the souls of man.
And that's a more noble calling, I believe.
And you don't have to agree with me,
but I'm just being honest with you.
And you know what?
If you wanna die on some other hill, go ahead.
But just make sure that you pick a hill
that's worth dying on.
And here, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
they have a clear-cut decision before them.
Worship the Antichrist or stand for the Lord.
And obviously, this is no decision for them.
They're not careful to answer, because number one,
they've chosen the right hill to die on,
and they know that they are making the right decision.
It's so clear-cut, okay?
And then number two, when it is something clear-cut,
we shouldn't even have to think about it.
The answer should just be, I'm willing to die for the Lord.
We should be faithful unto death, even the death of the,
you know, Jesus Christ was obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross, right?
So if Jesus was obedient unto death,
and he left an example that we should follow in his steps,
we should also be faithful unto death,
the Bible says in Revelation chapter two.
So they said, we're not careful to answer the
concerning this matter.
We're not thinking about how we're gonna phrase this.
We don't really care how this comes across,
because what you're asking us to do is so wicked,
it's so wrong, we know that this is God's will
that we take the stand.
And so they said, you know, we're not careful to answer
the concerning this matter.
If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us
from the burning fire he burns.
And this is in response to him saying,
well, who's that God that shall save you out of my hand?
You know, Nebuchadnezzar is acting like God
doesn't have the ability to protect them here.
And so they say, well, our God whom we serve
actually is able to deliver us, number one.
And he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
And so they believe also that he's actually
going to deliver them.
Not only that he's able to deliver them,
but that he's also going to do it.
But I love verse 18, but if not,
because you know, they believe that he's gonna deliver them,
but they don't really know for sure that he's going
to deliver them.
But if not, and they're not doubting God's ability there,
they're just doubting whether God's going to do it.
Because there's a difference between God being able
to deliver you and God actually delivering you.
Sometimes God chooses to let people die for him
if it ultimately fulfills his will and glorifies him.
That happens like with Stephen in the New Testament.
But they said, but if not, meaning if he doesn't deliver us
out of thy hand, O king, be it known unto thee
that we will not serve thy gods nor worship the golden image
which thou has set up.
We're not gonna do it.
And if it means us dying in that fiery furnace,
then so be it.
This is like what Esther said, if I perish, I perish.
You know, we're willing to die right now.
We would rather burn than bow is what they're saying.
It's not that God's ability is in question,
but it's just that we don't know whether God's going
to deliver or not in a particular situation.
Now, here's the thing about this is that if we study
our Bible, Genesis to Revelation, what we'll find is
that the vast majority of the time, God's people
are delivered and do not end up dying for him.
And so when I say that we should be willing to die
for the Lord Jesus Christ and that we should be faithful
unto death, chances are no one in this auditorium
is probably ever going to die for Jesus Christ, okay?
The chances are quite slim because the vast majority
of the time, God's people are delivered out of these type
of temptations.
But we should always be willing to die for Christ.
And often, if you're willing to die for Christ,
and if you put yourself out there, and if you do like
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, God will deliver you.
He'll find some way to deliver you.
And sometimes it's at the very last minute
that you would be spared.
And it's just a test of your faith.
And you pass the test by saying, all right, let's go.
I'm heading for the chopping block.
I'm not gonna deny Christ.
And then you think you're gonna die,
but then God could save you.
Because as you study throughout the Bible,
God's people are usually spared.
They rarely end up being martyred.
The vast majority of the time, God delivers them.
But some of them end up dying for the Lord, don't they?
It's not most, it's rare, but it happens.
This is why the Bible says in Revelation chapter number two,
fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer.
Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison
that you may be tried, and you shall have
tribulation 10 days, be thou faithful unto death,
and I'll give thee a crown of life.
So notice the Bible says, first of all,
that the devil shall cast some of you into prison.
Does it say the devil's gonna cast all of you into prison?
Does it say the devil's gonna cast most of you into prison?
No, it says the devil shall cast
some of you into prison.
And so most of God's people are gonna be spared
even from prison, even in the end times,
even in the book of Revelation.
But yet, some will go to prison,
and some will even be killed for the cause of Christ.
Of course, we know a little later in the book of Revelation
there are gonna be all these martyrs
that have been beheaded for the cause of Christ.
And so of course, that is a thing.
But yet, what about all the people
that weren't beheaded, right?
There are a lot of people who've been spared.
And so another important point to make here
is that a lot of people are scared of something
that isn't even actually going to happen.
So you've got Christians today that are cowards,
they're afraid to speak up and stand for the word of God
and preach the truth because they're afraid
of going to prison or they're afraid of being killed.
But in reality, the vast majority wouldn't even go to prison
and wouldn't even be killed no matter what they said.
You see what I'm saying?
So they're afraid of a boogeyman.
They're afraid of something that isn't even real.
And if they are one of the few
that ends up going to prison, it's a blessing.
It's God's will.
You have to accept whatever God gives you.
It's an honor to suffer for the Lord Jesus Christ.
And if you're killed for the cause of Christ,
hey, that is a debt that glorifies God,
and you would be given great honor in heaven
if that's your lot in life.
But again, it's such a minority.
It's so sad today how pastors won't preach hard
because they're afraid of the persecution,
when in reality, the persecution
usually doesn't even materialize,
or it's so minor it's not even worth talking about, okay?
And yet, what are they afraid of, right?
They're scared that this or that's gonna happen.
First of all, even if it happens, so be it, amen.
Throw us in the fiery furnace.
But the vast majority of the time,
it doesn't even happen.
And case in point, spoiler alert,
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego aren't gonna die
in the fiery furnace.
But they were willing to, weren't they?
If we're willing to, God will often spare us anyway.
We just have to be willing to go through stuff,
willing to go to prison, willing to be killed,
and a lot of times it's not even gonna happen.
What a deal.
What a cool deal.
You get the credit for being willing
to go into the fiery furnace,
and you don't even really have to burn.
I mean, it's really the best of both worlds.
But yet so many pastors are not taking advantage
of this deal.
So many Christians are not taking advantage of this deal
that if they stand for Christ,
everything's gonna be okay anyway.
But in the event that it's not, if not, verse 18,
but if not, if we do go to prison,
if we do go to the fiery furnace, if we are killed,
be it known unto thee, O king,
that we will not serve thy gods,
nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
It's just there's no room for compromise here.
We're just not gonna do it.
There was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury,
and the form of his visage was changed
against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, visages his face.
So they can just see on his face that he was already mad.
Now things have really changed.
Now he's just enraged, he's infuriated.
Therefore he spake and commanded
that they should heat the furnace one seven times more
than it was want to be heated.
Now that word want, W-O-N-T, that's an old word
that means like suitable or appropriate
or something like that.
So basically it's seven times hotter
than it's supposed to be heated,
would be how we would say that in our monobenacular.
So he just cranks this thing up super hot,
which really is, it's kind of dumb anyway
because it's like, if it's fire, make it hotter.
It's like if you're a human
and you're getting thrown into the fire,
at some point the temperature probably stops mattering.
You know, like this wasn't a 1,000 degree fire,
this was 1,100 degrees, it's like okay.
To me, going into 1,000 degrees versus 2,000 degrees,
the 2,000 degrees doesn't really sound scarier.
They both sound equally scary.
In fact, if it was even hotter, I'd probably think,
well, that's better because it'll probably be over sooner
because I'll probably just cook so much,
I'll be done sooner, the button will pop out sooner, okay?
But it's like, turn it up seven times hotter.
You know, and it's like the world thinks
that they can scare us into denying our faith,
into, you know, turning on Christ.
But here's the thing, this is what's so funny
about this verse, don't miss this.
Turn it up seven times hotter, don't miss this.
All that the world can do to us is kill us, right?
And so it's like, well, kill them harder.
But it's like, you know, but here's the thing,
to live is Christ and to die is gain.
To die is gain.
Oh death, where is thy sting?
Oh grave, where is thy victory?
And so we don't fear death because to be absent
from the body is to be present with the Lord.
And so he says, turn it up seven times hotter.
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.
And again, this isn't really scary
because, you know, what do I care who's tying the knot?
Some wimpy guy or some buff dude?
Like, does it really change anything?
You know what I mean?
And that's the whole point here is that whatever it is,
all they can do is kill the body.
And the Bible says, fear not them which kill the body,
but are not able to kill the soul,
but rather fear him which is able to destroy
both soul and body in hell.
And so all man can do is kill the body.
Our flesh, our body, it's temporary anyway.
My body's gonna get old and decay
and be gone anyway.
And so if someone can destroy this body,
they can't destroy the soul.
They can't destroy the spirit.
And so, command mighty men to bind them
and put them into the seven times hotter firing furnace.
And of course, this ends up backfiring.
Let's read this.
It says, then these men were bound in their coats,
their hosen, hosen is an old word for pants.
That's still what they're called in Germany today.
You speak Germany, you say hose for pants and their hats
and their other garments and were cast into the midst
of the burning fire 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 what we see here is that God ends up using this
to punish the persecutors as opposed to God's people.
I mean, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are fine,
but the guys who throw them in the fiery furnace
end up burning up.
This is kind of similar to Daniel chapter six,
because in Daniel chapter six
with Daniel in the lion's den,
if you remember the people who lied about Daniel
and got him in trouble in the first place,
they end up getting thrown into the den of lions.
Because the Bible says, he that killeth with the sword
must be killed with the sword.
He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity.
God has a way of making sure
that people reap what they've sown.
And so the persecutors, the people who are throwing them in,
they're the ones who end up getting destroyed ultimately,
and God's people are spared.
And so the fire slew those men.
So there's two reasons why this verse is here.
I'm sure there are many more.
But number one is to show us
how God brings people's wickedness upon their own heads
and people reap what they sow,
that the people throwing them in burn up.
But then secondly, just so that we don't think
that there's a way to survive this thing.
And I kid you not, I remember when I was a teenager,
there was this documentary on the History Channel
showing you how they could have survived the fiery furnace
without a miracle.
And I mean, it's like who, ah!
Like who would even spend time making such a thing?
They made a little computer-generated animation
showing how it could work.
Yeah, like a scientist.
They have experts and they showed this
how to get a cool spot in the furnace.
This is the way the archeology shows the furnaces were.
And the way it's shaped,
you could get in this one spot and be okay.
And I mean, they're putting time
into making this documentary
and making a computer generation and talking to experts.
It's so absurd, it's so stupid,
because even the guys who threw them in died
just from getting that close to the furnace.
The heat killed them.
So how do you get to that cool spot without getting smoked?
Not that there is a cool spot,
but even if there were, you'd die on the way there.
Okay, but then number two, it says
that they didn't even smell like smoke
when they came out of the fire.
Not a hair on their head was even singed.
Even in the cool spot, you're gonna be sweating
and smoky and you're gonna have all the hair burned off.
The cool spot, what nonsense.
But this is the kind of junk that worldly scholars
you know, do to deconstruct the Bible and try to prove.
I mean, why don't they just say, we don't believe the story,
we don't believe the Bible.
But instead they're like, oh, well, no,
I mean, this stuff happened, it just,
there's an explanation.
You know, Jesus walking on the water
was a secret underwater land bridge or something.
You know, the parting of the Red Sea was just,
you know, the wind, and there was a whole episode
about that too, by the way, on the same program
about how like, you know, the Red Sea parted
some other time, just because it was super windy
or something, because they say it wasn't the Red Sea,
it was the Reed Sea.
And so, you know, it was just like,
kind of like a couple feet of water or something.
But then I want to know how did Pharaoh
and all of his army drown in a couple feet of water.
Okay, you know, it's like, oh, help.
That's a bigger miracle.
So even if, okay, it's the Reed Sea,
the miracle is that they all drowned in 18 inches of water.
Okay, but it says here that the fire slew those men
that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
and these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
fell down bound in the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
So your computer animation better show that
as the cool spot, the middle,
because that's where they're at,
and they're on the ground in the middle.
Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished.
So that means he's confused, he's perplexed,
he's astonished, he's kind of blown away by this
all of a sudden.
They fall down, they're tied up, they're bound,
and they're on the ground, right?
They fall down, they're thrown in,
and so when you're tied up and you're thrown in,
you fall down, right?
Assuming that probably their ankles
and their hands are tied.
So they're thrown in, they're on the ground,
and all of a sudden Nebuchadnezzar is astonished
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?
They answered and said 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.
And so not only did their hairs not even get singed
and they didn't even smell like smoke,
but actually the ropes burned off of them.
So the ropes burned, but they did not burn.
They're just immune somehow,
and they're there with Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
You say, well, I don't know if that's Jesus.
Well, it's the Son of God, my friend.
And you have to understand that Jesus Christ
has always existed.
Jesus Christ is God, and so he's eternally coexistent
with God.
In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God,
the Word was God, the Word was made flesh
and dwelled among us.
And so this is one of multiple Old Testament appearances
of Jesus Christ.
Of course, if you're not reading a King James Bible,
if you're reading the NIV, it says the fourth
is like a son of the gods, which by the way,
I made a video a while back, I don't know,
that was about 35 channels ago on YouTube,
but I made a video a while back where I demonstrated
that even from Zondervan, which by the way,
Zondervan is the publisher of the NIV,
even from Zondervan's own book on the Aramaic language,
okay, you know, basic Aramaic textbook published
by Zondervan, the NIV's translation is impossible
even based on their own Aramaic book, okay.
And I went in and proved and showed why the King James
is correct here when it says the Son of God,
not a son of the gods, okay.
So the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
Jesus is in the midst of the fire with them.
And this is a picture of the fact that when we do go
through persecution, trials and afflictions,
Christ is with us.
He's in that trial with us.
He's in that tribulation with us.
He goes through those persecutions with us.
He's not just a far off, distantly not caring,
but he is right there with us in the midst
of a fiery furnace protecting us and keeping us safe
through those trials.
The Bible is not teaching that you're never gonna go
through persecution or trials.
It's just that he'll protect you and he'll be with you
as you go through them.
And so, you know, we are gonna go through stuff.
The Bible says all that will live godly in Christ Jesus
shall suffer persecution.
But Christ is gonna be with us, he's gonna protect us.
And you know, I've been through persecution over the years,
but here's the thing, when I think back at the persecutions
that I've gone through over the last 17 years of pastoring,
it's almost embarrassing to even bring it up
because they're so minor, they're such a joke.
Like if I think about all the persecution,
if you took all the persecution I've ever been through
in my entire life, and I've preached pretty hard,
I've caused some people's visage to change.
Okay, I've infuriated some people,
I've infuriated some leaders.
I've been, you know, arrested for my preaching,
I've dealt with, not in the United States, thank God,
because we have freedom of speech, amen.
But I've been arrested in other countries for my preaching,
I've been deported, banned,
I've had our local politicians speak out against me
and do press conferences against me,
congressmen and people here locally.
But you know what, if I took all the persecution
that I've ever gone through personally in my life,
to me, none of it's even worth talking about.
And so if somebody said to me,
hey, have you really been persecuted
for the cause of Christ?
I'd be like, barely.
I mean, I don't wanna say no,
because then it'd seem like I'm not living godly
in Christ Jesus or something.
So I don't wanna say no, but it kind of,
it almost feels like no.
You know what I mean?
And you say, well Pastor Anderson,
you've been through some stuff.
Yeah, but it's so minor compared to
what other people have gone through
and what people in the Bible have gone through.
So yeah, have I gone through persecution?
Yeah, but it's so minor,
it's barely even worth mentioning,
it's barely even worth talking about,
because it's like, yeah, okay,
I went into a fiery furnace,
but it didn't even burn me at all.
Right?
I mean, there are people who've been killed
for the cause of Christ,
there have been people who've gone to prison
for the cause of Christ,
there have been people who've been beaten and whipped
and sawn asunder for the cause of Christ.
And yeah, okay, I've been in a fiery furnace before,
but it didn't even burn me.
It didn't, not even my hair was burned.
My bonds were burned off.
It's like, I think about any persecution I've gone through,
and it was so minor,
that it's barely even worth talking about.
And it's not for want of trying.
Because I've preached hard, I've put myself out there,
I've taken it to the enemy, and yet, here I am,
without a hair of my head having perished.
Right, look at that full head of hair right there, okay?
Not a hair of my head has perished.
Okay, and that goes to show you
that a lot of people that are constantly fearful of things,
they're scared of their own shadow.
Now here's the thing, some of my friends that are pastors,
they've gone through worse persecution than me.
I would say Pastor Jimenez, Pastor Shelley,
and who else has, Pastor Mejia,
I mean those guys like for sure, just at least those three,
and some of my other friends have probably been
through worse stuff than me too.
Like those three for sure have been
through worse persecutions than I have.
But even their persecutions,
which have been much more serious than mine,
they're constantly getting sued,
they're constantly having a brick through the window,
and they have people call them out in public,
and things like that.
Even the things that they've gone through
that were worse than what I've gone through,
being protested at their services for years on end,
and so forth.
You know, we're not ready to add a chapter
to the book of Fox's Book of Martyrs yet.
We're not gonna add a chapter
to Fox's Book of Martyrs for lawsuits.
You know, we're not gonna add a chapter
to Fox's Book of Martyrs for a brick through the window,
or people yelling at you in public,
or getting PayPal canceled, or YouTube canceled,
or your Twitter, or Facebook, or whatever.
Folks, the stuff that we go through
is not on the level of what could happen,
and so we should just be praising and thanking God
how he's delivered us so much,
but yet you have Christians today that are so weak
and so anemic in their faith that they'll literally,
they'll drive up to the church building,
and there's a couple of queers out there protesting,
and they'll just turn around the car and go home
because they can't face it.
They can't face some little Twinkie in the parking lot
holding a sign.
They can't walk past some androgynous,
lesbian-looking freak.
They can't just walk by a couple of weirdo libtards
in the parking lot and just walk into the church
and sit in a padded pew,
but they're like, I'm willing to die for Jesus.
Please.
You're weak.
I mean, come on.
Be willing to go through some stuff,
and you know, when the Bible says be faithful unto death,
here's the key word there, unto,
and you know what that means?
It doesn't just mean be faithful
so you'll die when the time comes.
No, no, no, you're supposed to be faithful
unto and up to death,
meaning not just faithful unto death,
but being faithful up to every point
up to and including death.
Does everybody see what I'm saying?
You know, when the Bible says Jesus was obedient unto death,
it's not saying that that's the one time he was obedient.
You know, he's obedient to the Father constantly
and up to and including being willing to die on the cross.
Okay.
He was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
And so we as Christians
shouldn't just be willing to die for Christ.
We need to be willing to live for Christ as well.
And you know, it's easy to say like,
well, you know, I'd be willing to die for Jesus.
If you know, if we were taken over by some evil,
atheistic, communistic dictatorship,
and they were just rounding up Christians, you know,
I'd be willing to give my life for Christ.
I'll never deny you.
That reminds me of what Peter, you know, said,
I'll never deny you, Lord.
And then he denies them three times before the day's over.
So it's easy to say like, Peter, I'll never deny you, Lord.
But then when the time comes, all of a sudden, you know,
you get scared and the spirit is willing,
but the flesh is weak.
Could have been easy for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
to just bow down to the stupid thing
and just curse it in their heart.
And I guarantee you that there were other saved,
I don't want to say Christians
because that'd be anachronistic,
but I guarantee you there were other saved children of God,
saints of God that were there with Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego that are, they just bowed down to the thing.
You say, well, how do you know that?
Well, because I see tons of saved preachers right now
bowing down on so many issues that they're afraid
to talk about, afraid to preach the word of God,
afraid to stand up for what's right.
It's human nature.
It doesn't mean that they're not saved.
It just means that the spirit is willing,
but the flesh is weak.
Now make no mistake about it, in the actual end times,
people who receive the mark of the beast are not saved.
No saved person will take the mark of the beast.
You say, well, how does that work?
Well, there'll probably be some way to make sure
that no one who's actually saved gets the mark of the beast.
And again, watch our film, After the Tribulation,
where we explain that, the theory on that.
But the bottom line is that everybody
who takes the mark of the beast is going to hell.
The Bible's clear on that.
But we do see Christians constantly compromising
on smaller issues, don't we, all the time.
And I've even personally known Christians
who actually denied Jesus, where they said
they got embarrassed, they were at a party,
and somebody's like, you're not a Christian, are you?
And they're like, oh no, not me.
And then they felt terrible about it
because they actually were a Christian.
But they just got peer pressured,
and they just, in a moment of weakness,
said that it doesn't make them unsaved,
just like Peter was obviously still saved.
But it was wrong of them to do that.
And so it's easy to talk a big talk about dying for Jesus,
but we need to be faithful up to and including death,
meaning that if you're willing to die for Christ,
then I guess you'd be willing to lose your job for Christ.
I guess you'd be willing to lose your house for Christ, right?
Well, I'll die for him, but I won't lose my home.
That doesn't really make sense, does it?
You know, I'd be willing to die for him,
but if I'm named in a lawsuit, I'm out.
And yet there have been people that have left,
not our church, because we haven't been sued, miraculously.
But, you know, our friends' churches,
there have been people who have left the church
because of lawsuits, because they're scared
of getting named in a lawsuit because of that appendix
in Fox's Book of Martyrs about people who got sued
for the cause of Christ.
But it's like, if you're not willing
to sacrifice anything now,
why would you be willing to die for Jesus?
If you're not even willing to make sacrifices now.
And so Jesus Christ is there with them through the trials,
through the persecutions.
You're gonna go through stuff
if you're a saved Christian who's living for God,
but Christ is gonna see you through.
I've been through some stuff, but I was like,
Shadrach and Abednego, where not even a hair of my head
was even singed, and sticks and stones may break my bones,
but words will never hurt me,
and I don't even smell like smoke.
And it's 2022 America,
and I don't even smell like smoke right now, okay?
And so it says in verse 26,
Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth
of the burning fiery furnace and spake and said,
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
ye servants of the Most High God,
come forth and come hither.
Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came forth
of the midst of the fire,
and the princes, governors, and captains,
and the king's counselors being gathered together,
saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power,
nor was an 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 had 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.
And again, notice the language there, yielded their bodies.
Isn't that exactly what the Bible says
for us to do in the New Testament,
that we should present our bodies, to yield our bodies,
to present our bodies, a living sacrifice unto God.
Holy, acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service.
We owe Christ everything,
and it is not unreasonable for him to expect us
even to be willing to sacrifice our bodies,
sacrifice our lives,
because really, if we give our life for Christ,
you know, that's really all we're yielding is just the body.
What did Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego yield?
Did they yield their souls?
Did they yield the spirit?
Did they give up their salvation?
Did they give up their home in heaven?
No, what are they giving up?
A body, that's it, they yielded their bodies, that's it.
And God says, you know what,
you should be willing to yield your body.
You should be willing to present your body,
a living sacrifice unto God.
And here's the thing,
notice it's a living sacrifice,
because usually we don't get smoked.
It's very rare that someone actually dies for Christ.
Usually it's a living sacrifice
where we're just willing to die.
We're willing to go to prison.
We're willing to go through persecution
as evidenced by the fact that we do God's will,
that we speak God's word, that we stand for what's right,
that we serve him and love him
and live godly in Christ Jesus.
That's what matters,
that we're doing the good deeds that get you persecuted.
And then when the persecution comes, 99% Jesus shows up
and you don't even smell like smoke and it's all good.
And then the 1% of the time that he doesn't show up
and you die for Christ,
hey, that's just a great honor and glory
and there's no shame in that.
And I guarantee you that if we went to heaven
and find all the people who've been killed for the Lord,
killed for the word of God, killed for Jesus,
do you think a single one of them regrets it?
Do you think any of them is like,
well, I mean, the rewards are cool,
but I miss out on some stuff, kind of hurt, you know?
Do you think that any of them regrets it?
A single one?
No, so therefore we shouldn't think like,
oh, well, that's messed up
that God let that guy die for him.
You know, if you're one of those Stevens of this world
who dies for Christ, then so be it, amen.
And you know, people have often made comments to me like,
oh man, you know, you're gonna be the first one smoke,
Pastor Anderson, when the tribulation comes, you know,
you're gonna be the first one dead.
I don't believe that for one second.
Now maybe, but just cause my name Steven
doesn't mean I'm gonna be the first martyr in America here.
Look, I don't believe that for one second.
I believe 99%, I'm not gonna be killed
for the cause of Christ.
And in fact, if the tribulation even happens
in our lifetime, which is a big if,
if it even happens in our lifetime,
I believe that I'll make it all the way through
to the other side, even without stopping preaching,
I will not stop preaching,
because I promise you right now,
I'm not gonna go hide in a bunker.
I will not hide in a bunker.
I will not go in the woods and just, you know,
I will not go into a countdown until the end.
I will keep winning souls and preaching to the bitter end.
And I believe I'll survive the whole thing.
You say, well, how could you?
I don't know, how do you survive getting thrown
in a fiery furnace?
How do you get, how do you survive getting thrown
into a den of hungry lions?
I believe that I'll survive without hiding.
That's what I'm, but if I do get killed
for the cause of Christ at some point in my life,
hey, amen, if I go to prison, so be it.
I don't wanna go to prison.
I don't wanna be killed for Christ.
But if I do, amen, because if that's God's will,
who am I to argue with God's will?
I am willing to go through those things
if that's what it takes, if that's what's necessary.
And I've proved that over the years by preaching hard
and preaching things that were unpopular
and preaching things where even I got investigated
in things by authorities.
But at the end of the day, thankfully,
the first amendment's holding strong in this country.
And we don't know if it's always gonna be there.
But thank God it's there right now.
And maybe we should use it while it's there
so we don't lose the thing.
And so it says here that he came near to them
and said, come forth, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
came forth out of the midst of the fire.
Verse 27, they saw that the smell of fire
hadn't even passed on them.
Verse 28, the Nebuchadnezzar spake and said,
blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
who had 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.
Now, let me point out a couple things here
because some people have foolishly pointed
to the word angel here in verse 28 and said,
well, see, it's not Jesus is his angel.
Okay, well, you're just showing your ignorance
because Jesus is the Lord's angel.
Jesus is the angel of the Lord.
Jesus is the Lord's messenger.
The word angel means messenger.
And actually, the Bible calls Jesus the Lord's messenger
in the book of Malachi.
It talks about Jesus the Lord's messenger
going into the temple and it basically prophesies
when he's gonna flip over the tables and do all that.
Okay, so often in the Old Testament,
when we see an Old Testament appearance of Jesus,
it calls Jesus the angel of the Lord,
which makes sense because Jesus is the word of God, right?
So he's the messenger of the Lord in that sense.
Now, this does not take away from his deity
because Jesus is God.
He's not a created being.
He's not an angel like Michael or Gabriel,
but here's what you have to understand.
Humans are called in the Bible angels as well sometimes
because if they're a messenger, angel simply means messenger.
In fact, evangelist, notice the angel in there,
evangelist, right?
The ev at the beginning means good.
The angel means messenger, okay?
And the good message is the good tidings is the gospel.
So an evangelist is a preacher of the gospel.
It's someone who brings the gospel,
who brings glad tidings, who brings the good news
because gospel means good news, okay?
So Jesus is called in other places, the angel of the Lord.
So that's no issue.
When Jacob wrestles with the angel of the Lord
in the book of Genesis, I believe chapter 32,
he says, I've seen the face of God.
He names the place Pennywell and says,
I saw God face to face.
And that's another Old Testament appearance of Jesus.
Or when Joshua meets the captain of the Lord's host
and he tells Joshua to put off your shoes
from off your feet for the place where on the stand
is holy ground.
Same thing he told him at the burning bush
because it's the angel of the Lord.
Because it's the Lord, okay?
So this does not prove anything, number one, okay?
By saying, oh, he sent his angel.
That just means he sent his messenger,
which in this case was the son of God.
But number two, if they say, oh, well, see, it's an angel.
Well, how is an angel a son of the gods?
Is that what angels are?
Sons of the gods?
No, they're not.
Because first of all, angels don't have sons.
They don't marry, they're not given in marriage.
Angels don't reproduce, my friend.
And by the way, the Bible says in Hebrews
that no angel has ever been called at any time a son of God.
So don't give me this garbage that the sons of God
in the Old Testament are angels,
because I'll just take you to Hebrews chapter one verse five
where it says, under which the angel said he at any time,
thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee.
And again, I'll be to him a father
and he should be to me a son.
Sorry, I don't read the NIV,
which changes sons of God to angels.
Okay, so a son of the gods,
angels aren't sons of the gods either, okay?
Angels are either created beings like Cherubim and Seraphim,
or they are human beings acting as messengers,
but they are not sons of gods.
Because first of all, there's only one God.
Let's start there.
There's only one God.
And when the Bible talks about gods, lowercase G,
they're false gods 100% of the time.
And false gods, lowercase G gods,
you know what they really are?
They're demons is what they are.
They're fallen angels or demons,
and they don't have sons,
and they're not sons of other demons, okay?
So, you know, no, just no, okay?
It's Jesus, the son of God is the angel of the Lord
that appeared in Daniel 3.25.
And so it says here that he 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,
nation and language which speak anything amiss
against the god of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
shall be cut in pieces,
and their houses shall be made a dung hill
because there's no other god
that can deliver after this sort.
What a great testimony that they had
by standing up for what's right.
Let's look at one last verse, and I'll let you go.
Hebrews chapter 11, quickly go to Hebrews chapter 11.
We are to be faithful unto death, okay?
Ask yourself, how much in a given week do you do for Christ?
How much time do you spend reading your Bible?
How much time do you spend praying?
How many times do you come to church?
You know, how often do you come to church?
How often do you go solvening?
You know, do you witness to people in your life
and give them the gospel?
You know, what do you do for Christ?
Do you do anything for Christ?
Or if God expects to be faithful unto death,
don't you think he probably expects us
to make some sacrifices along the way too?
Or do we just go through life
making no sacrifice of our time,
no sacrifice of friends, no sacrifice of energy or effort,
and then just give one sacrifice in the tiny chance
that we end up having to die for Christ and we do it?
Is that what he's saying?
Look, because otherwise, if that's what he's saying,
then this sermon wouldn't even apply to most people.
Because like I said, chances are no one in this room,
just statistically living in America,
chances are no one in this room
is probably ever gonna have a gun put to their head
and be told, hey, deny Christ or die.
The chances are slim.
So is this sermon a meaningless sermon?
Why am I even preaching about it then
if it's such a rare chance?
Well, number one, because maybe it'll happen.
So you need this sermon to prepare you.
But number two, because the whole point
of the sermon this morning
is to put your life in perspective
and to put things in perspective that hey, wait a minute,
if God wants me to be faithful unto death,
maybe I should be faithful to church,
maybe I should be faithful to soul-willing,
maybe I should be faithful to read my Bible,
maybe I should be faithful to pray
if he wants to be faithful unto death.
And then you look at your own lackadaisical attitude
toward the things of God,
your own meager commitment to the things of God
and say, hey, maybe I should step up my game a little bit
because I'm not exactly in martyrdom territory
with my commitment to the Lord.
Look what the Bible says in Hebrews chapter 11.
It says, we'll start reading halfway through verse 35,
others were tortured, not accepting deliverance,
that they might obtain a better resurrection
and others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings,
yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment,
they were stoned, they were sawn asunder,
that means sawn in half,
they were tempted, were slain with the sword,
they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins,
being destitute, afflicted, tormented,
of whom the world was not worthy,
they wandered in deserts and in mountains
and in dens and caves of the earth.
That's what some people have gone through
for the cause of Christ.
Now, doesn't that kind of put things in perspective,
our light affliction?
Even my pastor friends who've been persecuted
much harder than I have,
none of them has been sawn asunder,
none of them has been stoned,
none of them has been killed by the sword,
none of them has been scourged,
none of them has been put on a criminal trial.
And so I would say we're super blessed,
we're like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
where God has delivered us through a lot of fiery furnaces
and so why not be willing to go in the next fiery furnace
if God delivered us out of the last one,
he's probably gonna deliver us again.
But if not, we're still not going to stop
preaching the gospel and standing up for the word of God.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for your word, Lord.
I pray that every single person here would examine themselves
in light of scripture and think about
how committed they are to the gospel, Lord.
And I pray that every single person here would be inspired
by those who were sawn asunder and beaten
and others like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
who are at least willing to be burned.
Lord, help us all to be inspired
to just do a better job of serving you
even in our peaceful and safe circumstances here in the US.
Lord, we thank you so much for saving us, Lord,
but also thank you for being with us
and protecting us through our lifetimes.
And in Jesus' name we pray, amen.