Rev. David Holwick G The Book of Daniel, #3
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
February 24, 2008
Daniel 3:5-18
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I. Stalin's great tower.
In 1931 Joseph Stalin, the absolute ruler of Communist Russia,
decided to construct a building that reflected his greatness.
The Palace of Soviets would be the tallest structure in the world,
25 feet taller than the Empire State Building.
The bottom would be a combination White House and Congress hall
and the top would hold a 6,000-ton statue of Lenin.
The prime location in downtown Moscow was occupied by a magnificent
old church but that was no problem.
They blew it up. It took one year to remove all the rubble.
Construction then began on the communist Palace.
#9362
A. Humans like to glorify themselves.
1) Massive buildings are still a favorite way to express this.
2) We want others to acknowledge our greatness, too.
B. God says he is the only one worthy of our worship.
1) Who is going to win?
II. Nebuchadnezzar's statue.
A. The dream had been of a statue with various qualities.
1) The head was gold, but the feet only a mixture of clay.
a) It is interpreted to be four empires.
2) A violent rock destroys the whole statue.
a) God's eternal kingdom replaces it.
B. This statue definitely reflects the dream.
1) Nebuchadnezzar is trying to surpass it.
2) Nebuchadnezzar is trying to resist its real message.
a) Notice that not just the head, but the whole statue
is gold.
1> The king wasn't going to accept feet of clay.
b) The dedication is conducted like a religious service.
1> He even provides a rock band.
3) Passage mentions statue 6 times, and king's name 7 times.
a) Even though the statue was probably an idol rather than
an image of the king, it reflects Nebuchadnezzar's
desire to be God.
a) German philosopher Nietzsche once said: "If there is a
God, how can I bear not to be that God?"
C. Chaldean officials set a trap. 3:8
1) Those who don't bow should die.
2) Jealousy may have been their main motivation.
III. Facing a fiery furnace.
A. The Jews don't rely on fancy words to escape the dilemma. 3:16
1) Like Jesus, they offer no defense.
a) They state their faith and leave it at that.
2) It would have been easy for them to compromise.
a) "Jeremiah told us to pray for our foreign country.
Bowing to this idol is just one aspect of that..."
b) Instead, they don't waver one bit.
B. Our God is able.
1) They had confidence in the power of their God.
a) They did not look at their circumstances, but at the
character of the God who controlled their lives.
b) It is not an issue of what we believe, but in whom
we place our trust.
2) Paul says God is able to do more than we ask or imagine.
a) We often shortchange God.
b) "The outcome for me will be what it is for everyone
else."
C. Even if he doesn't...
1) They were completely submissive to God's will.
a) No matter what that "will" might be.
b) They saw death as a distinct possibility, but death
might be God's will for them.
1> If it is his will, it is good and not a failure.
2) Their faith is not in their deliverance but in their God.
Russian Baptist leader Peter Yakovlevich Vins was
sent to prison for his faith in 1936.
When he wrote to his family, he asked them to pray
that Jesus would empower him so he could be a
faithful witness for his Lord.
Then he concluded with this statement:
"It is better to be with him in prison
than at liberty without him." #2915
3) We often believe as long as it "works."
a) Some only engage their faith when they are slipping
into a furnace.
1> "Prove you are my God, or else!"
b) Wisdom from Christian devotional writer Oswald Chambers:
"Faith for my deliverance is not faith in God.
Faith means, whether I am visibly delivered or not,
I will stick to my belief that God is love.
There are some things only learned in a fiery furnace."
#17416
IV. God comes through in a big way.
A. They are delivered.
1) Not so much from the flames, but IN them!
2) Their pagan guards are not so lucky.
B. God keeps them company.
1) The identity of the fourth character has gotten much
attention.
2) Some see it as God's angel.
3) Others think it is Jesus in his pre-Bethlehem state.
a) Since the Bible doesn't make it explicit, we cannot
be dogmatic about it.
b) The key point is that God stands by them, and even the
pagan king notices it.
V. Lessons to be learned.
A. Spiritual interest is not salvation.
1) Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges the greatness of Daniel's God.
a) He is impressed, but makes no deep spiritual change.
b) He is also impressed by the faithfulness of the Hebrews.
1> He focuses on them, and not on their God.
2> There is no hint that he himself trusts in God.
2) Only those who are born again belong to God.
a) Going to church, saying some prayers, and admiring
the Ten Commandments is not enough.
b) You must be fully committed to Christ.
B. All things work for good to those who love God.
1) God uses even fire as part of his purpose.
2) We don't like to suffer, but we learn the most in those
times. God is still God.
C. God promises to give us grace in our time of need. Heb 4:16
1) Grace can be deliverance, or dying well for God's glory.
2) Only in the moment of trial did it become clear how
God would show his faithfulness.
3) In the flames, God stood by them and gave them courage.
VI. God outlasts any statue.
A. Where is Stalin's tower today?
The builders discovered a slight problem - they were building
on swampland.
The unstable soil could not support such massive weight and at
a certain point the tall building was sure to topple over.
They all knew how Stalin viewed failure....
While they frantically tried to figure out what to do, the
Nazis invaded.
The steel superstructure was dismantled and used for military
defenses.
A big hole was left and it became something of an embarrassment,
so in 1958 they turned it into a swimming pool.
It was the largest outdoor swimming pool in the world, of
course.
Eventually even that was abandoned.
In 1995 a new building was erected there.
Then again, you might say it was an old building.
Because the Russian Orthodox Church spent millions to rebuild the
Cathedral of Christ the Savior that Stalin had dynamited.
It just goes to show you can fight God, but you can't win.
#9362
B. Before whom do YOU bow?
Dave Roever [pronounced Reever] grew up in Christian home, married
high school sweetheart, went to Bible college, and got drafted.
He decided to enlist in Navy, took SEAL training and was assigned
to river warfare.
His buddies were all corrupt and took shots for social disease,
but Dave remained faithful to his wife.
They called him "Preacher-Man."
While on a patrol one day he prepared to throw a phosphorus grenade
to clear a booby-trapped area.
It went off in his hand (a sniper may have shot his hand) and
burned up half his body.
The right side of his face was burned down to the skull, his chest
was blown off so he could see his heart beating.
He threw himself into the water only to see the phosphorus burning
intensely white even under water.
They pulled him back in the boat and medevaced him to a hospital.
Two weeks later they opened up his chest and he caught on fire
again from concealed phosphorus.
(The doctor's report testifies to this.)
He burned all the way through the gurney and fell on the floor.
Thirteen other patients were taken with him to an intensive care
unit in Houston, and twelve died there.
One wife came up to her wounded soldier, was disgusted and never
came back.
Dave's wife Brenda whispered, "I love you, Davey."
He regained sight in his right eye, had his face reconstructed,
wears a plastic ear and hairpiece, but can play the piano
dramatically.
Brenda gives this invitation:
"Everyone is going to serve a god.
You may not serve the same God I serve.
You may serve Buddha, or Allah, or the god of Mars -
he was the god of war and violence.
We act like the god we serve.
If you are a violent person, you're serving the god of Mars.
There's another god called Venus, the goddess of sex.
I want you to think about this:
When you are lying in a battlefield, legs and arms blown off,
lying there dying, Is your god big enough to pull you through?
If the god you serve cannot care for you,
I suggest you change gods now,
and serve the One who will take care of you,
who will pull you through in difficult circumstances."
#559
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
# 559 "Preacher-man: We Act Like the God We Serve," Reader's Digest,
November 15, 1991, and material gathered from Dave Roever's
"From Tragedy to Triumph" video tape.
# 2915 "Better To Be With Him In Prison Than At Liberty Without Him,"
Rev. ERic S. Ritz, Dynamic Preaching (www.sermons.com) Disk,
Summer 1992 "A", June/July 1992, Jul 7 92 bon.
# 9362 "Build All You Want, God Will Win," by David Holwick with
information drawn from "Church of Christ the Savior [Khram
Khrista Spasitelia]," edited by Kevin Moss at Middlebury College,
http://cr.middlebury.edu/public/russian/Bulgakov/public_html/xram.html
#17416 "Fiery Furnace Faith," Oswald Chambers, Rev. Brett Blair's
Illustrations by Email, www.sermonillustrations.com,
June 29, 2003.
These and 30,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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Mastering the Old Testament: Daniel
by Sinclair Ferguson
I. Continuation of conflict motif.
A. Same plot, different scene.
B. Will image that God has made (man) bow to one that man has made?
C. Resolution is through their faith. Heb 11:34.
1) In the end, they are promoted.
II. The statue.
A. Reflects the dream.
1) He is trying to surpass it.
2) He is trying to resist it.
a) (Wallace: all of gold, no weak feet)
b) Passage mentions statue 6 times, and his name 7 times.
1> His desire to be God. (Nietzsche)
B. Nebuchadnezzar's character.
1) He possesses immense power but misuses it.
a) 90ft gold statue. (plated?)
b) Religious atmosphere of dedication service (music).
c) Worship is man-centered, not God-centered.
1> Blasphemy can be disguised by religion.
2> Genuine worship must be more than beauty and sound.
A> The object of our worship is most important.
2) He experienced religious conviction without conversion.
a) His sinful heart was shaken but not renewed.
b) His sin goes to a new level.
1> Previously, he wanted to execute those he could
not trust.
2> Here, he is trying to execute those he can trust.
A> Worst persecutors are those touched by religion.
(Stalin)
c) The king's response is described in terms of how he
responded to Daniel rather than God.
III. Obeying God or men.
A. Chaldeans set a trap.
1) Jealousy may have been their main motivation.
B. The response of the Hebrews.
1) They had confidence in the power of God.
2) They were completely submissive to God's will.
a) No matter what that will might be.
b) Their faith is not in their deliverance but in their God.
1> Same as Job in 13:15.
3) Failure is not an option.
a) Death may be God's will, not a failure of faith.
b) True faith is a willingness to follow God's purpose.
IV. Fiery trial.
A. They are delivered from (or, in) the flames.
B. Miracles are not common in the Bible.
1) They group into specific periods.
a) Moses and the Exodus.
b) Elijah and Elisha.
c) Daniel.
d) Jesus and the apostles.
2) The paradigm miracle is Christ's resurrection.
C. The identity of the fourth character is uncertain.
D. Trials should not be a surprise to Christians.
V. Nebuchadnezzar's reaction.
A. He is impressed but makes no deep spiritual change.
1) He is also impressed by the faithfulness of the Hebrews.
2) He focuses on them, and not on their God.
a) There is no hint that he himself trusts in God.
B. Two lessons for Christians.
1) All things work for good to those who love God.
a) God uses even fire as part of his purpose.
2) God promises to give us grace in our time of need. Heb 4:16
a) Grace can be deliverance, or dying well for God's glory.
b) Only in the moment of trial did it become clear how
God would show his faithfulness.
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