(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Man, Daniel chapter 3 beginning verse number 1, the Bible reads, Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold whose height was three score 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, 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. Now Daniel chapter 3 is the famous story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego being delivered from the fiery furnace. And this chapter has a lot of great parallels with the end times and specifically with Revelation chapter 13 where the Antichrist and his false prophet end up setting up a great image. And whoever will not worship that image in Revelation chapter 13, the Bible says that they would be killed, that it would be against the law not to worship this image. And that's exactly what we see in Daniel chapter 3. Now the book of Daniel itself is a book that deals heavily with end times Bible prophecy and so that's why the first half of the book of Daniel has a lot of chapters in it that have stories like this of people defying rulers, telling them to worship Satan, or telling them to worship idolatry, or to eat the meat that sacrificed unto idols, or that they can't pray unto the Lord for a certain amount of time like in Daniel chapter 6. Why? Because this book is preparing us for the end times by showing us examples of godly men who stood up and would rather burn than bow. They're refusing to give in to what the government and what the devil is trying to force upon them because they know that the Lord demands that they worship him alone. The Bible says thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve. Now what's interesting in this passage is that all of the governors, captains, judges, treasurers, counselors, and sheriffs, all of these rulers are gathered together unto this dedication and it's demanded of them that they bow down and worship this great image. Let me tell you something. Even today, in 2018, the same kind of thing is going on where if you want to rise up high in various government bodies and if you want to become one of the top rulers in this country or that country, many times you have to worship Satan to get there. You have to sell your soul to the devil and that's what we see in this passage that Nebuchadnezzar, who represents in the story the devil, he wants to make sure that everybody who's running his kingdom is totally sold out to the devil. And that's exactly the way it is today. We have governments filled with what the Bible calls the rulers of the darkness of this world. The Bible says we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Otherwise, explain to me why so many of these important politicians have been out to the Bohemian Grove north of San Francisco, California, and bow down to a giant statue of an owl that's Molech and where they do a mock human sacrifice and many presidents and leaders have been there and politicians. It's like a rite of passage for them and that's why so many of our politicians, before they even get into those positions of power, they have to go through organizations like Skull and Bones at Yale University. Think about how George Bush and John Kerry both say that they were members of Skull and Bones and this is mainstream stuff. Don't try to say that this is some radical conspiracy theory. I was walking through the airport and Time magazine was covering secret societies and of course they were trying to gloss it over, it's just college kids having a good time. But when they explained the initiation procedures for what it takes to get into Skull and Bones, it's so demonic, it's so perverted, it's openly satanic, and yet our leaders have been through these organizations, whether it's Freemasonry, whether it's Skull and Bones, whatever other Illuminati type organizations, they have sold their souls and they go to the Bohemian Grove and worship the devil, literally. And if you don't believe these things, you're just naive. The information's everywhere and we can see it by their actions, how they're constantly going against the Lord and against his Christ. It's not hard to believe that there's spiritual wickedness in high places today. And it's not just other countries, it's the United States of America that has spiritual wickedness in high places. And so we see the same thing here, right? Making sure that all the leadership, the sheriffs, the deputies, that they all will worship this image that Nebuchadnezzar has set up. Now, the Bible says that the image was three score cubits tall. This is 90 feet. This is a very tall statue. It's huge. Now, it says that it's in the plains of Dura in the province of Babylon. And if you say the Book of Daniel, you notice that Babylon is a city, but Babylon is also a province, and Babylon is also a great empire. So that word is used in multiple ways. Sort of like New York is a city, but it's also a state, right? So Babylon's a city, but it's also an empire, and it's also a province within that empire. So they're out in the plain of Dura. They're out in their own little bohemian grove. You know, they're not even doing this in front of the general population. It's only the elites that have separated themselves out into this wilderness area of the plain of Dura and set up this great idolatry where they're all going to have a worship service to Satan, literally, and bow down to an idol. And it says in verse 2, then Nebuchadnezzar the king said to gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, 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, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces were gathered together under the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Then an herald cried aloud, to you it is 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, you fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. Now, again, this is a picture of what's going to happen in the end times with the Antichrist and the false prophet, and in Revelation 13, it teaches that everyone in the whole world is going to be commanded to worship that great image in the end times. So, because this pictures that, notice what it says in verse 4, to you it is commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages. Why? Because if they've gathered together all the governors and rulers of the provinces, then they have representatives from all the different nations that are within the realm. So that's why he says, to you it is given, O peoples, nations, and languages, because these people are coming from a diversity of areas. They're governors of all the different provinces that make up the empire of Babylon, and they're all there being asked to put aside their own religion, and to just worship this one image, so that they can all unite around this one false religion. And it says in verse 6, and who so falleth not down and worshipeth, shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning, fiery furnace. So the punishment for not worshiping this image is that you're going to the fiery furnace. Now, the devil is the great counterfeiter. He always tries to replicate what God does, but he twists it, he perverts it. So just as the Lord has his Christ, well, the devil has his Christ, the antichrist, right? And just as there are prophets of God, there are false prophets, ministers who are transformed into the ministers of light, but they're actually the devil's ministers. And the devil is constantly counterfeiting what God does. God has a mark that will go in the forehead of his people in the end times after the millennium. So then, of course, the devil has his mark of the beast, the name of the antichrist in the forehead. So everything he does is a counterfeit. Well, God has a great fiery furnace. It's called hell. And those who will not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior are destined to be cast into a furnace of fire. That's the exact wording that Christ used. They shall cast them into a furnace of fire. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. So the devil counterfeits that by setting up his furnace of fire, saying, well, you've got to worship me, or I'll put you in the fiery furnace. It says in verse 7, therefore, at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, saltimer, and all kinds of music, all the people, the nations and the languages, fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. And the same thing is going to happen in the end times. All the nations of the earth will worship the Antichrist, the Bible tells us. All nations of the earth shall worship him. Verse 8 says this. Wherefore, at that time, certain Chaldeans came near and accused the Jews. They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live forever. Thou, O king, has made a decree that every man that shall hear the sound of all these various musical instruments shall fall down and worship the golden image. And whoso falleth 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. Now, you may ask the question, well, what were the rest of the Jews doing? If there are certain Jews, and he lists these three, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, what about the rest of the Jews? Well, remember, the people that are gathered here are the rulers, the governors, they're the sheriffs. These are important officials. And we don't really know of any other Jews who had risen to that level within the Babylonian empire. We know that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had been promoted to that level because of the events of chapters one and two. So we saw how they got into these prominent positions of authority. And so they are the ones who are refusing to bow down. Now you say, what about Daniel? And a lot of people wondered, why is Daniel not mentioned in this story? You know, is Daniel bowing down? Obviously not. Because if we study the book of Daniel, from start to finish, Daniel is probably the most consistent character in the whole Bible. I mean, this is a guy who was instant, in season, out of season, who is just always steadfast, unmovable, and abounding in the work of the Lord. There's no way that Daniel is bound down to this image. That would be completely contrary to everything that the Bible teaches us about Daniel. And we can learn a great lesson from Daniel. Because Daniel served the Lord, according to the biblical record, what it even shows us of his life, we can document over 73 years of serving the Lord. And I'm sure he served the Lord even a little bit longer than that. But we know for sure that he served for at least 73 years just consistent. And you know what? Christianity is not measured in years. It's measured in decades. We need to be consistent. We need to stay with it. Don't be a Roman candle Christian that just kind of blah, blah, blah, blah, and then you're just gone. Where are you? Up in smoke. We never see you again. And believe me, there have been a lot of people like that that I've known in my life and that have passed through faith forward Baptist church. They show up. They're fired up. They talk a big talk. And then they're just gone. We need to be that guy that's here five years from now. Ten years from now. Twenty years from now. Consistently serving the Lord for decades. Being like a Daniel. So we know that Daniel was consistent. And it makes perfect sense that Daniel simply wasn't there because of the fact that Daniel is so high up in this kingdom. Somebody's got to run things while they're all out at the Bohemian Grove. Think about it. I mean, it's sort of like they don't want to put all the members of the royal family on the same airplane in case that plane crashes. So somebody has to stay behind and hold down the fort. And so Daniel is clearly just not there, which makes perfect sense. Because if every single sheriff is there, every single ruler is there, there have to be some people left behind running things. And so Daniel is there. And I believe that the reason God allowed this story to play out in that way is so that we could see Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego stand on their own without having to lean on Daniel. Because in chapters one and two, they have Daniel who's clearly leading them and guiding them and helping them. And they're following his leadership. But isn't it great to see these three guys that even when the leader's gone, they step up to the plate. They don't, well, you know, what's Daniel telling us we need to do? They don't have to look to Daniel to figure out what to do. They already know what to do. Why? Because they have their own personal walk with God. They have their own beliefs. They have their own doctrines that they've got from the Bible themselves. It's not just, oh, well, that's what Daniel said. No. They took what Daniel said and they've made it their own. And they've let it sink down into their own heart. And that's what every child needs to do that grows up in church. Because remember, these are children. And of course, they've grown up now. We don't know how old they are. But every child needs to come to a point where they stop just relying on the faith of their parents and just riding the coattails of their parents. But there has to come a point in every child's life where they began to take responsibility for their own spiritual walk with God. Because if it's all based on their parents' faith, then as soon as they get out of their parents' home, what do they have? No faith. They have nothing left. You young people. And I don't care how young you are. If you're old enough to understand the words that are coming out of my mouth right now. I don't care how young you are. Now is the time to seek the Lord. Even in the days of your youth. Now is the time to start reading the Bible when you're not being told to read the Bible. Just yourself, by yourself, totally unprovoked of anyone else. Just walk up and pull the Bible off the shelf and read it because you love the Lord. Because you love God. Because you want to learn the truth. Not because someone's telling you to do it or making you do it. You need to come to church and listen and let these things sink down into your ears and make them your own. Not just ride on the faith of Pastor Anderson or ride on the faith of Mom and Dad. You've got to be able to stand on your own two feet because Mom and Dad may not always be there. And Pastor Anderson may not always be there. You better have your own walk with God because God's always going to be there. Amen? And so that's what we see here with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These guys were great men of God on their own. They didn't have to have Daniel right there shepherding them even when Daniel's gone. And they do a great job in this chapter. They stand up strong in this chapter. It's very impressive. The Bible reads in verse number 13, The 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 you serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? Now if you be ready that at what time you hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbutt, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, you fall down and worship the image which I have made? Well, but if you worship not, you 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 hand? So you can see just the disdain that he has for the God of the ball. Who's your God? He has disdain for the God of the Bible and he is giving them a second chance. And he tells us, look, or not us, although I'm that into the story, I feel like I'm right there, it's us. But he tells Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego there, look, let me give you another chance. I like you guys. You've been great to work with. I don't want to throw you into a fiery furnace, so let me just make this really clear. All you have to do is just bow down and worship the devil. That's it. And you know, it's so funny how the world will come to us with these propositions that to them sound really reasonable. They sound really tolerant to them. But to us, they're just a deal breaker. They're just not going to happen. We're just not going to do it. You know, why don't you just back down on this one issue? Why don't you just back down on that... We can't. We don't know how. All we can do is what God told us to do. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered in verse 16 and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, and I love this statement, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. They're not saying, okay, let me get my thoughts together, I want to be sure I say this correctly, I want to be careful here. They just say, no, we're not careful. I mean, they're just going to tell them how it is, they don't have to think about it, they don't have to rehearse it. Why? Because it's coming from the heart. It's real. They're about to tell the truth. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth is about to speak here. And they said, we're not careful to answer thee concerning this matter. Now, if you remember in Daniel chapter 1, they were more careful how they answered the matter about the meat and drink. Why? Because that was less blatantly, obviously, satanic. That was something where they knew it was wrong, they understood that it was wrong, but the people around them may have not understood what the big deal was. And a lot of people in this world, they don't understand some of the rules that we follow as Christians, some of the thou-shouts and thou-shout-nots that we do. They might look at it as, you know, what's the big deal about watching this movie? Or what's the big deal about, you know, listening to this music? Or what's the big deal about wearing this clothing or that clothing? Or, you know, why wouldn't you go to the casino with us and play a few slot machines? You know, what's the big deal? So there are a lot of things where the world doesn't quite understand where we're coming from, because they don't know the Bible, they don't understand the scripture and what it teaches, so these things are unclear to them, even if they're clear to us. So we don't want to just bite somebody's head off when they try to ask us to do something that's wrong, if it's something that the world doesn't really understand is wrong. So we're going to be kind and answer them appropriately in that situation. But you know what, when somebody's just saying, hey, let's bow down and worship an idol, it's not that they don't understand what's wrong with that or why we can't do that. That's just something blatant and clear where they're telling us to do something wicked. I mean, if somebody's telling us, hey, commit murder, commit adultery, worship idolatry, these are blatant things that even unsaved people, even people who have no training in the Bible, know that these things are wicked. They know that these things violate our Christian faith. And in those situations where it's blatant, we need to just draw a hard line on those things and just say, no way. We're not going to sit there and beat around the bush about abortion. It's murder! It's murder, it's clear. Now, other issues, I'm not saying that they're not clear, but I'm saying that they're clear to us, and they may not be clear to the outside world. That's why Daniel and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in chapter 1 were tactful in how they approached the issue of food and drink. Okay, but what we eat and what we drink is a little different than bow down and worship another god. That's a huge difference. So that's the difference in attitude here where they're a little more careful. They didn't say, hey, we're never careful how we answer anybody. We just crack heads everywhere we go, and we're like a bowl and a china clock. That's what they said. They said, we're not careful to answer you concerning this matter. You know, when it comes to issues that are clear-cut, obvious issues, even the world knows that they're clear-cut. Even they know it's wicked. I guarantee you that a whole bunch of these other governors and sheriffs and everything, their own religion, whatever it was, violated them bowing down and worshiping that idol, but they did it anyway. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are not careful to answer on this matter. When it comes to the end times and when the anti-Christ is revealed, we're not going to be careful about how we stand up to that. It's going to be a hardcore stance that just says no and makes no bones about it. It's a little different than explaining your dietary or clothing or entertainment standards to someone. It's a big difference. So they said, we're not careful to answer you in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace. Now the reason that they bring that up, how he's able to deliver them, is because of the fact that Nebuchadnezzar started that because he said, well who's that God that's going to deliver you out of my hand? It's not that they just knew for sure that they're not going to be killed here. I mean, chances are they are going to be killed. I mean, if you were in this situation, if you're Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and you're being told, if you don't worship this image, you're going to be thrown in this fiery furnace, and you say, I'm not going to worship it, and then they tell you the same thing again, you're probably thinking to yourself, this is it. My life's about over. The reason they bring up the fact that God's able to deliver them is, number one, that it's true, and they believe that, but it's because Nebuchadnezzar had just said that God was not able. So they're contradicting him right away and saying, well wait a minute, you've said that God is not able to deliver, he actually is able to deliver. But just to show that they're not 100% convinced that they're going to be delivered, what do they say next? But if not, he says, he will deliver us out of thy hand, O king, but if not, in verse 18, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. So it's not that they just knew that they weren't going to be burned up, it's that they were even willing to die for what they believed. They would have rather burned than bowed. And they are saying, if not, we still won't do it. Even if God doesn't deliver us, we're ready to die for what we believe in. And you know what the Bible tells us in the New Testament? Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. We ought to be willing to die for what we believe. Now, most people in the Bible who took a stand for the Lord, they didn't die for what they believed in. Most of the time, God delivered them. Most of the time, God kept them safe. And it's the same way in today's world. If we take a stand, and we do what's right, and preach for what's right, and stand for what's right, most of the time, we are going to be delivered. And a lot of these people that are afraid of persecution, they're afraid of a phantom. They're afraid of a boogeyman. They're afraid of something that's not even there, because many times, the persecution doesn't even come to pass. Why? Because God delivers us. God provides a way of escape. God makes a way for us to continue serving him in freedom. But if not, we're ready to lay down our lives. And the Bible tells us that in the last days, some of you will be cast into prison. He didn't say all of you are going to prison. He talked about some that will be killed for the cause of Christ. He didn't say all of them are going to be killed for the cause of Christ. Why? Because most end up being delivered. Now you're going to go through hardships. You're going to go through persecutions, trials, afflictions, tribulations. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, the Bible says. But out of them all, the Lord delivers them. So most of the time, you're going to go through hard times, but in the end, you'll come out doing great. God protecting you. God blessing you. But if you are one of those who does end up going to prison, or does end up being killed for the cause of Christ, count it all joy. You know, that's a special honor too. Now, I don't know what God has in mind for my life. You don't know what God has in mind for your life. But we do know that he knows best. And he loves us, and he cares about us, and whatever happens according to his will, we're ready to accept it. So if we can be those that are blessed, and we live to a ripe old age, and see our great-great-grandchildren, or if we're even alive and remain under the coming of the Lord, great! But if we end up having to lay down our life, like Stephen did in the New Testament, even so, amen. We can't be one to stand in judgment of God in these matters. He decides our destiny, and we accept what's given to us. And in the end, we know we're going to be okay, because we're all going to heaven. So therefore, we have nothing to fear. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? So they said, if not, and I love the fact that they say, but if not, be an owner of thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou has set up. And I don't think that the if not there is doubting God's ability. It's just doubting whether it's God's will, because they don't know whether it's God's will that they die for Him and be a great testimony, or whether they survive and be a great testimony. Anytime you do what's right, you're a great testimony, whether in life or in death. Anytime you compromise and give in, you're a poor testimony, no matter what the outcome is. Verse 19, then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, he's furious, and the form of his visage was changed. Visage means face. So they can see the change in his face. First, he's given him the second chance, so he's speaking kindly to them. But as they answer him in this way, his face starts to change, and he starts getting angry. And it says, the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Therefore, he spake and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated. Now, the word want, w-o-n-t, it means that that's what it was designed for. That's what it was set up for. That was the appropriate temperature. So the temperature that it was set up for, Nebuchadnezzar says, let's go seven times hotter. Now, obviously, this is not good for the equipment, okay? And this is untested, untried. There's a warning label on the side of this furnace that says, hey, don't go above so many degrees. He said, hey, let's go seven times hotter. Now, this doesn't even make any sense because you could throw somebody in a campfire, and if you keep them in that fire, they're not going to survive, right? I mean, all you need is a bonfire. But he's just so mad. He just wants to make a point of saying, you know, let's make it seven times hotter than what it's supposed to be. 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 these men were bound in their coats, their hosen. Hosen is the old English word for pants. And in German today, it's still called die Hose. That's the word for pants. He said their hats and their other garments and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Now, why is that mentioned? What's mentioned is that they're thrown in quickly. They're not given a change of clothes. They're not put into an orange jumpsuit. They're just thrown in, I mean, even with their hat on. Nothing is changed about their outward clothing. They're just thrown in as is into the fiery furnace. Verse 22, therefore, because the king's commandment was urgent, right, get these guys in the furnace now. And the furnace exceeding hot, probably not seven times hotter, but that's what he told them to do. Probably wasn't even humanly possible to get it that hot. And the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. So what do we see here? God is allowing the mightiest warriors of Nebuchadnezzar to be wiped out. You know, that's part of the punishment for Nebuchadnezzar doing so wickedly is that some of his best guys get wiped out just because he got angry, lost his temper, and gave this stupid commandment about making it so much hotter when even the normal temperature fiery furnace would have roasted them just fine. You know, he wants to crank it up, and because of his wrath, he ended up wiping out some of his best soldiers. And I believe part of the reason why God allowed the story to play out this way is so that we could see that this is truly a miracle because the furnace was so hot that even the guys who threw them in got burned up. I remember when I was a teenager, they used to have this documentary program that would play on cable television. It was called Mysteries of the Bible. And I remember my dad and I were sitting on the couch watching this when I was a teenager, and my dad hated this show. He would yell at the TV and rant about how wicked it was. You know, so we're sitting and watching, and what they would do in this show is explain away the miracles of the Bible and explain how there's actually a scientific explanation for all these different miracles. And you know, Brother Garrett Kirschway, when he was in seminary, they taught him the same thing. They taught him, hey, you know, when Jesus walked on the water, it's a land bridge that he was walking on. And you know, they didn't cross the Red Sea, they crossed the Reed Sea. You know, and it was just kind of a really shallow water. And you know, I don't know why Pharaoh's armies drowned in three feet of water. But they're always trying to explain away the miracles of the Bible. And I remember watching a particular episode where they showed there was a cold spot in the furnace. And they had this computer-generated animation showing how this, you know, if you look at the way the Babylonians made their furnaces, you know, like as if they know everything about it, they're like, well, this is a Babylonian-style furnace. And they have all these arrows and showing the waves of the heat. And you know, this is the cold spot. If they could just get to that cold spot and kind of hang out there, they're going to be okay. Well, the guys who threw them in burned up. Not only that, they're wearing loose clothing, which always is going to catch on fire if you get anywhere near the fire. And not only that, it says that when they came out of the fiery furnace, they didn't even smell like smoke. How does the cold spot explain that cold spot? I mean, what nonsense. So it doesn't matter what the Bible says. If it says, hey, it's seven times hotter, the people who threw them in died. They're wearing outer loose garments. And they don't even smell like smoke. People are still going to find a way to twist what the Bible says. Wouldn't it make more sense to just say, we don't believe the Bible. We're calling God a liar. But instead they're like, well, it happened, but there's a scientific explanation for how it happened. It's nonsense. So the Bible says in verse 23, And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. So notice, they're not in that little cold spot. They're in the middle. They're in the midst of the thing, right? They're not off in some corner where they have shelter, which is not even worth bringing that up because it's so weird. But yet I just did bring it up. Verse 24, Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished. That means he was astonished. He's blown away. The king was 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. So here they are in the fire, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, totally unharmed, but the fire burns the ropes right off their hands. So they're not bound anymore. Now they're loose and they're walking around. They're moving in the midst of the fiery furnace and someone's with them. The fourth man in the fire there, it says the form of the fourth was like the Son of God. Now that's a pretty cool verse because the Old Testament doesn't talk a lot about the Son of God. Now it does talk about the Son of God. The Son of God is mentioned and prophesied, but not a lot. It's not as much as in the New Testament where that's a major, major theme. So these Old Testament references to the Son of God are precious. So of course the devil wants to take them away from us. That's why your modern versions of the Bible, and we shouldn't even call them versions, we should call them perversions. That's what they are. These modern corruptions of the Bible, they will change this to a son of the gods. So if you have the NIV or the ESV, they'll say, oh, the form of the fourth looks like a son of the gods. That's not the same thing at all. That's dramatically different. And a lot of people think that these new Bible versions are just a little easier to understand. They've just been updated. No, no, no, they corrupt the text. Now you say, why is this important? Why does it matter? Well, because of the fact that the doctrine of the Trinity is under attack in the end times, and the modern versions are constantly corrupting scripture in regard to the Trinity. That's why they removed 1 John 5-7, one of the most powerful verses in the Trinity. I mean, for there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. That verse is not in the NIV. That verse is not in the ESV. It's completely gone. Other important scriptures about the Trinity and the deity of Christ are corrupted, changed, modified. I don't have time to go through them all in this sermon. But I've done whole sermons on that. I did a sermon called Antichrist Bible Versions where I showed that. But right here in this passage, they're taking out the son of God from the Old Testament because one of the attacks on the Trinity is this oneness or modalist heresy, which teaches that in the Old Testament, he wasn't the son of God. Right? We that believe in the Trinity actually believe in the eternal sonship of Christ, that he's always been the son of God. He's the son of God now, and he always will be the son of God. So this is great where we see the son of God showing up in the Old Testament. So they take it out. Now you say, well, you know, Pastor Anderson, what does it say in the original? Well, here, let me show you. You speak Chaldean, right? You speak Aramaic, right? No, you don't? Okay. Well, here's the thing. We speak English. And so if we were to whip out the Aramaic or the Chaldean original of this passage, because this passage is not even written in Hebrew, it's written in Aramaic or Chaldean, obviously that's going to go over your head because of the fact that you don't know the language. It would just look as chicken scratch unto you if we were to show you the original. But you don't have to learn a foreign language to figure out that the King James is right here and that the modern versions are wrong. First of all, the proof that the King James is right is that traditional Bibles in multitudes of language have said the son of God. It's in modern times that they've all switched it over to a son of the gods. But right here in the passage, we can prove right here that the NIV and the ESV make no sense here, because jump down if you would to verse number 28. Then Nebuchadnezzar spake and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath 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 then at the end of verse 29, he says, Because there's no other god that can deliver after this sort. So he said in verse 25, the form of the fourth is like the son of God. Three verses later, what does he say? He says, The God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, singular, the God of Shadrach, sent his angel. So he's not saying, hey, he sent a son of the gods. The gods sent in one of their sons. Is that what it says? So if we actually look at the text itself and compare scripture with scripture, you don't even have to speak a foreign language to know that these other versions are wrong, because the King James is at least consistent with itself, where it says he's the son of God, and then it says God, and not just any god, the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, sent his angel. He sent, and often in the Old Testament, the angel of the Lord is an Old Testament appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ, because angel simply means messenger, the messenger of the Lord, the one that he sends. And so here in verse 28, we have the proof. And if you look up verse 28, in the ESV and the NIV, they still say, oh, the God of Shadrach sent his angel. So it's inconsistent within itself, whereas the King James is consistent. The form of the fourth is like the son of God. Why is that important? You see, why does it matter? I'll tell you why. This is a great picture of salvation from hell. You see, we have broken, not Nebuchadnezzar's laws, but all of us have broken God's laws, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And because we've broken God's laws, because we've sinned, we all deserve to go to hell, because remember, the devil is counterfeiting God's fiery furnace, the real furnace of fire, which is hell. So because we've broken God's laws, because we've sinned, we all deserve hell. How do we get saved from hell? Through the son of God. It's through Jesus. How were Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego saved from the fiery furnace? By the son of God. And how did the son of God save them? Did he save them just from staying up comfortable in heaven and just snap his fingers and allow them to be spared? No, he actually came down, and he actually went to the furnace of fire himself, that they might be saved from the furnace of fire. And you know what? That's exactly what Jesus Christ did, because he came to this earth, and he died for us, and he was buried, and three days later rose again, but while his body was buried, his soul descended into hell. That's why the Bible says in Acts 2 31, this spake he of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell. Neither did his flesh see corruption. He said, thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one, to see corruption. The Bible says in Matthew 12 40, as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Six feet under is not the heart of the earth. You know, the earth is about 8,000 miles in diameter. The heart of something is at its core. It's at its center. And the Bible tells that hell is in the lowest parts of the earth. It's in the heart of the earth, the nether parts of the earth. So, Jesus Christ's soul descended into the very furnace of fire itself, and then three days later, he arose victorious from the grave, and he said, I have the keys of hell and of death. I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell and of death. So, he actually went into the fiery furnace to save us from the fiery furnace. And there's a beautiful picture of that, unless you get one of these new Bibles that perverts this scripture, and doesn't even make sense, even with itself. Verse 26, 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 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. I mean, even a hair wasn't burnt. Neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them. Truly an amazing miracle. Now, at this point, while we're talking about people corrupting God's Word, and bringing out counterfeits of God's Word, let me tell you about another counterfeit of God's Word, which is the Apocrypha. Now, for those of you who don't know what the Apocrypha is, these are extra books of the Bible, or extra sections of the Bible, that have long been rejected, because their authenticity can't be shown to be true. And in fact, the word Apocrypha, it comes from Jerome, who was translating the Old Testament into Latin. He was living in Bethlehem in the 4th century AD, and he's translating the Old Testament into Latin. And when they want him to translate these certain portions of scripture, quote unquote, that we know as the Apocrypha, these fake books of the Old Testament, he said, well, I'm not going to translate these, because they're not found in the Hebrew. So there were no Hebrew originals for him to translate. So Apocrypha means hidden, because he's saying they haven't been preserved. Now, didn't God say that his Word would be preserved unto all generations? Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away. It's easier for heaven and earth to pass, than for one jot, or one tittle, to pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. So they have these translations of these supposed missing books of the Bible, but they didn't have any Hebrew originals at that time. So he said, well, we don't have the Hebrew originals, this stuff's not in the original Hebrew, I don't think that this stuff is really part of the Bible. So that's where that term Apocrypha comes from. So throughout history, Christians have rejected these Apocryphal books, and the Apocrypha has to do with the Old Testament, not the New Testament. These are scriptures from before the time of Christ. Now, the Jews rejected these scriptures as false. Christians throughout history have rejected these scriptures as false. Now, the Roman Catholic Church accepts the Apocrypha as God's Word. You want to know when they made that decree, though? That they said, hey, we're going to accept these as God's Word in the 16th century. See, a lot of people don't realize that, that it was the 16th century in the Counter-Reformation, when the Roman Catholic Church said, hey, you know, these Apocryphal books are scripture. Now, you know why they came out with that in the 16th century? As part of the Counter-Reformation, it's because of the fact that the Reformers, they all rejected the Apocrypha. So when they printed their Bibles, they rejected those books, and you say, oh, the King James has the Apocrypha in it. Okay, the King James has the Apocryphal books in a separate section between Old and New Testament, separated out, saying these are not in the Hebrew, and it says in their introductions derogatory things about the books. If you actually look at the replica, we have a replica back there, it'll even have derogatory comments saying, oh, this is a corrupt text right here, this verse here is corrupt, this contradicts the Bible, this guy's clearly trying to imitate King Solomon. Okay, and in fact, if you don't believe me, look up the 39 articles of the Church of England, when this King James was printed, right, because it was printed by the Church of England. One of the 39 articles of the Church of England is that no doctrine shall be based on any of these books, and it lists all the Apocryphal books, and it says no doctrine is to be based on these, we only have them just for historic value. Just because they're old books, so we could get moral and historic value from, well, what does the Bible say? The Bible says all Scripture is profitable for doctrine. So if you're saying, hey, don't get any doctrine out of this stuff, what are you saying? It's not Scripture. Okay, and that's the same thing in the Martin Luther Bible, the Martin Luther Bible rejected the Apocryphal books as, hey, these aren't Scripture, they're just for historical or moral value. Frankly, I don't even think they're worth that. I think they should all be thrown in the trash, and that they have no historical or moral value, because I think that they're written by complete liars and frauds, so why would I trust the history of people who've proven themselves to be liars and frauds? Look, if you do any reading in the Apocrypha, you'll notice right away that it's junk. It's garbage, and you know what, it just screams off the page at you, this is somebody trying to pretend to write a fake Bible. This is somebody trying to pretend to be a prophet of God, or trying to write Scriptures that sound like the Bible. It's not like when you pick up the Book of Mormon. It's trying hard to be the Bible, and it's falling way short. That's how it is when you read these Apocryphal books. They have no power. So the reason, you say, why are you bringing up the Apocrypha? The reason that I'm bringing up the Apocrypha is because there's a section of the Apocrypha, most of them are whole stand-alone books, but there's a section of the Apocrypha called the Song of the Three Holy Children. And this section, the Song of the Three Holy Children, are verses that modern Catholic Bibles will insert into Daniel chapter 3 that are not in the original. And so this is part of what's known as the Apocrypha. Well, this Song of the Three Holy Children is just a total knockoff, trying to sound like the Book of Psalms, or trying to sound like the Bible. There's nothing of value in it. It's total junk, and in fact, it totally interrupts the flow of the story. When you read Daniel chapter 3, it flows well, it makes sense. This being juxtaposed in, it doesn't even fit the character of the people in the story. It's completely out of place. You'd have to be crazy to think that this is actually part of Daniel chapter 3. But I'm just going to read for you a couple excerpts from this fake addition to Daniel 3, just to show you how fake it is. Listen to this. This is what supposedly Shadrach, I'm sorry, not Daniel. This is what supposedly Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are saying while they're in the fiery furnace. Okay. Neither is there at this time prince or prophet or leader or burnt offering or sacrifice or oblation or incense or place to sacrifice before thee and to find mercy. Nevertheless, in a contrite heart and a humble spirit, let us be accepted. Let me tell you something. That's false. How can I say, oh, there's no prophet of God right now. Hello, they're best buddies with one of the greatest prophets of all time, Daniel. I mean, Daniel has shown himself to be a prophet in chapter 1. He's shown himself to be a prophet in chapter 2. He's going to show himself to be a prophet in chapters 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. In fact, he was such a great prophet, even his own contemporaries knew of him. And he's even mentioned elsewhere in the Bible as being a great prophet of God by his own contemporaries, the book of Ezekiel. Oh, we don't have a prophet. I mean, whoever wrote this was so dumb that they put that in there. They put that mistake in there. And then it also talks about the cold spot in the furnace. Yeah. Yeah, the Apocrypha covers the cold spot. Listen to this. Here's from the Song of the Three Holy Children. It came to pass through the... let me start over. And it passed through and burnt those Chaldeans it found about the furnace. But the angel of the Lord came down into the oven, together with Azariah and his fellows, and smote the flame of the fire out of the oven, and made the midst of the furnace as it had been a moist, whistling wind. A moist, whistling wind, so that the fire touched them not at all, neither hurt nor troubled. So, according to this, it's a cold spot. And then it also talks about how flames... it's just embellishing the story. And the whole thing sounds dumb. But flames are coming out of the oven like 75 feet in all directions, according to this. Well, that's interesting because Nebuchadnezzar walks right up to the mouth of the furnace. So, I mean, even just in this one short section of the Apocrypha, you can find several contradictions that don't make sense. And it's only like 67 verses long, and I just had trouble even keeping my interest, because it's so badly written. And that's how all the Apocrypha is. You say, well, how do we know that the books of the Bible that we have, you know, how do we know we have everything? What about these other missing books? Try reading any of them, and immediately you'll understand why they're left out of your Bible. There's a reason why there's 66 books in your Bible, friend, because there's 66 books of pure greatness, of power, of mighty Word of God, that you can open it up and read it, and just the power is on every page. You read the Apocrypha, and it's like, come on, are you serious? Now, someone may say, well, you know, I didn't notice that. I can't tell the difference. Well, okay, get saved then. Because everybody who's saved has the Holy Spirit inside of them, and they know the voice of the shepherd, and they know the voice of strangers, and if your mind is so blinded where you can't tell the difference between God's Word, and the power of God's Word, and a cheap imitation, you know, it sounds like you're probably not even saved at that point. And so, don't be fooled by modern perversions of the Bible, like the ESV and the NIV, and don't be fooled by ancient perversions of the Bible, like the Apocrypha and Deuterocanonical books. But let me finish up here in Daniel chapter 3. It says in verse 28, 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. 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 is no other god that can deliver after this sort. Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon. So what's the result of these three men standing up for what they believed in? The result is that God's word goes out to all nations. Because Nebuchadnezzar makes a decree to all people, all nations, and all languages that glorifies God. Now isn't it great that this happened? Because that allowed people all over the world to hear about the true God. They got to hear about his power and his might, and they got to hear his word. Part of the book of Daniel, they got to hear that. Why? Because three men stood up for what was right, and they would rather burn the bad. If we're going to do great works for God, we don't necessarily have to die. We don't necessarily have to be burned up, but we have to be willing to die. And we have to be willing to be burned up. We have to do what? Yield our bodies. He said, these guys yielded their bodies. And you know what? As a result, the whole world heard the gospel. The whole world gets to hear about this. Well, in the New Testament we're told, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies. A living sacrifice unto God. Holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And that's what they did, and that's what God expects us to do in these last days. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for this great chapter in your word, Lord. We just pray that you would continue to teach us and continue to enlighten us as we study your word, Lord. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, please open our eyes and show us how we should live and how we should be prepared for whatever life brings our way. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.