Verse by verse teaching - Daniel 3:22-23 "When You're Down and Bound"

If you take your Bibles, turn the book of Daniel chapter 3, Daniel chapter 3, we're going verse by verse through the book of Daniel. And we, God willing, are going to be expounding verses 22 and 23 this morning. Daniel chapter 3, verses 22 through 23. The title of the message this morning is When You're Down and Bound. And for you 80s and 70s folks, that's not eastbound and down. All right, don't get that confused. When you're bound and down. Now last week we learned that King Nebuchadnezzar sentencing Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego was part of a battle between two kings. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and the Lord God, the king of all creation. Nebuchadnezzar did not want God to win this battle, so what did he do? We learn that he summoned his strongest men. Fired up his hottest flame and prepared the most favorable circumstances for him to win this battle against the kingdom of heaven. We'll be studying again verses 22 through 23 this morning, but for context, we'll begin reading in Daniel 3:19. Says, then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and 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 or usually heated. And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast him into the burning fire. Fiery furnace. Verse 20, and he commanded the most mighty men that were his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their coats, their hoses, and in their hats, and in their other garments, and were cast in the midst of the burning fiery furnace. So using his most mighty men. The hottest flame, in the most favorable circumstances, these three godly men have now been cast into the burning fiery furnace. Let's move forward now to verse 22. We'll begin our exposition this morning and see the outcome. The Bible says in verse 22, therefore, Because the king's commandment was urgent. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your precious word and for these precious people here. What an encouragement it is. To have all these people here this morning. Thank you for people who care to learn your word. And I pray your Holy Spirit this morning will teach us your word. God, fill us with your Holy Spirit. Give us the understanding we need. And may we give you all the honor and glory in Jesus' name. Amen. Therefore, because the king's commandment was urgent. Now, the Chaldean word that's translated urgent here Is the same word that in Daniel chapter 2, verse 15, if you want to look back there real quick, in Daniel 2, 15 is translated hasty, hasty. In verse 2:15, it says, He answered and said to Ariok the king's captain, Why is the decree so hasty from the king? Then Ariok made the thing known to Daniel. So this verse can be translated: Therefore, because the king's commandment was hasty, you see, not just urgent, but hasty. The king made a hasty decision out of anger, and that decision had devastating consequences. I've never heard a person say, now tell me if you have, but I have never heard a person say, I make my best decisions when I'm angry. Anyone ever? I make my best decisions when I'm in a hurry. Man, I'm telling you, you get in a hurry, you're not going to make the best decisions. You're going to have decisions that you regret. Now, wise decisions. are made with careful consideration. Wise decisions are made with careful consideration. Jesus asked a question in Luke chapter 14, verses 28 through 32. He said, For which of you intending to build a tower Sitteth not down first. Now, if I could underscore this up here, and so no one gets left behind when we go through the scriptures, we always put them up here on the screen. But if you'll look here, this is the part I want you to see. Which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down what? Afterward? First. First. So keep that in mind as we read here. Sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it. Blessed haply, after he hath laid the foundation and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build and was not able to finish. Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first? and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. So in the text we just read, Jesus gave two examples of someone making a hasty decision. The man building the tower didn't count. And the king going to war didn't consult. The former was too eager, the latter was too angry. And had they counted and consulted, then they wouldn't have shamefully failed in their endeavors. But in both scenarios, once again, Jesus said there's something we must do before we can count or consult. And what was that? He said in Luke 14, 28, For which of you intending to build a tower sitteth not down first? And again, in verse 31, or what king going to make war against another king sitteth not down first? Wise decisions are made in careful consideration. But if you're going to be making a very important decision, do not make that decision in haste. If you've got an important decision that you're going to make in life, before you make any decision, sit down first. Pray about it, think about it, take time to reflect on it. I would rather take a little time in the beginning to seek God's will. That have a lot of time in the end to regret my decision. So, you always remember that. If you feel, and I'm telling you, that's what the devil will do. The devil will get you in circumstances or get your emotions worked up, and you'll be trying to make a decision, and you'll feel all frantic and feel like you've got to make a decision now. You don't have to. You don't have to. You just, you take time. You sit down first. Lord, help me to count up the cost. Help me to consider this. What is your will and this? What is a good decision for me going forward? Take time to get consultation and ask for advice. Anger and eagerness hasten the decision-making process. They hasten it, not allowing for careful consideration. So before we act, we first need to sit down. Nebuchadnezzar was a hothead. He was. He acted in haste. Before making war with God and God's people, he should have sat down first and thought his hasty decision through. Proverbs 25:8 says, Go not forth hastily to strive. Now, what did Nebuchadnezzar do? He was striving with God. He was striving with God's people, and he did it hastily. He was full of fury, and that fury, that outrage, hastened his decision. He says in Proverbs 25:8, Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof. You make a bad decision in the beginning, and now you don't know how to handle it in the end. When thy neighbor hath put thee to shame, Nebuchadnezzar strove in haste, and he was about to be put to shame. What's more, Once his order to kill these men was carried out, the fatal consequences could not be reversed. There was no consideration given to the outcome of his decision. The Bible says in Proverbs 14, 29 He that is slow of wrath is of great understanding. Boy, people used to brag about, I got a hot temper. You don't want to see me when I'm angry. There was one green guy that said that too a lot, but you don't want to see me when I'm angry. But there's nothing to brag about. He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding, but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly. Nebuchadnezzar had a hasty word that resulted in a hot flame. Verse Daniel 3. 22 again, therefore, because the king's commandment was urgent or hasty, and the furnace exceeding hot, So remember, Nebuchadnezzar wanted his furnace to be so hot that God couldn't rescue his people from it. We learned last week. that in his battle against God, Nebuchadnezzar heated that furnace up seven times hotter than it was normally heated. And I also told you last week that Nebuchadnezzar wanted to burn Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to dust. So God couldn't deliver them. Of course, we learned that was foolish because God made Adam out of dust. It's not going to hurt God at all. But you know, if you're going to cook something in the oven, how many of y'all ladies bake something in the oven for our church dinner today? What temperature was your set on, Mama? 425. Somebody else? What did you set yours on? Huh? 450? Anybody else? How y'all ever bake on 350? Sometimes. If you're going to barbecue, you may even get down to low 200s. But this was seven times hotter than it was normally heated. This is a death oven. This is a death oven. This was normally hot. Even if it was 300 degrees, seven times hotter would be 2100 degrees. All right? This was a hot oven. Now, a cremation oven, do you know what a cremation oven here in the United States operates off of? Between 1400 and 1800 degrees Fahrenheit. So this oven was at cremation level. He wanted to burn them to dust. He wanted there to be nothing left of these men but dust. He wanted there to be completely consumed in their ashes. This was Nebuchadnezzar's plan, but he failed to sit down first and count the cost of going to war with God. Remember, God made Adam from the dust of the earth. Nebuchadnezzar made the mistake of assuming that the oven he made was more powerful than God. But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they weren't afraid of the oven Nebuchadnezzar had made. You know why? Because they were trusting in the God who made Nebuchadnezzar. That's what we can always count on when the enemy is coming against us. In an attempt to burn God's people to dust, Nebuchadnezzar. Heated that oven seven times hotter than normal. And look back in your text in verse 22. The flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. It was supposed to slay Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. But instead, it takes up the men, it slays the men who took up, or that is, who transported. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. You know who those men were? The strongest, most mighty men in Nebuchadnezzar's army. Isn't that amazing? Here's a kingdom truth for you this morning. To wage war against God is to fight against yourself. To wage war against God is to fight against yourself. Nebuchadnezzar used an oven against God, and now God defeated Nebuchadnezzar with an oven. This is a picture of how God will destroy his enemies who sought to destroy him and the people that Jesus died for. Psalm 21, verses 8 through 11. Psalm 21, 8-11, if you're taking notes, says this to God Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies. Thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee. Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven. Isn't it beautiful how these Old Testament prophecies in Daniel are all casting a shadow Because remember, Nebuchadnezzar is the world leader. He is the ruler, the dictator of the fallen world empire. That was a picture of Satan, the God of this world, fighting against God and his people. One kingdom of this world. Up against the kingdom of our God and of His Christ. All right? And so as He tries to consume God's people in an oven, God consumes His people in the oven. It's a picture of things to come. Again, the psalmist says, Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies, thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee. Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger. The Lord shall swallow them up. His wrath, and the fire shall devour them. Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth. And their seed from among the children of men. Their seed from among the children of men. Remember what God told Satan? I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed in the end. The Antichrist, the beast, the God of this world, the man of sin, who thought. To destroy the seed of Christ in his attempt to fight against God will end up destroying his own seed. It says in verse 10, Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children of men, for they intended evil against thee. They imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform. The fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Look now in our text in Daniel 3:23. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down. Underscore the words, fell down. They fell down. You would think that God wouldn't have done that. You would think. That as they walked up there to put them in the oven and they're all bound and tied up, you would think That fire would destroy those three men, and then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, after the three mighty men were destroyed, or however many mighty men there were. You would think after they were destroyed, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would be free and say, Woohoo! God showed you, can't touch us. No. God let them fall in the oven. God let them fall in the oven. They fell down. Even While walking in the victory of Jesus Christ, even when you are filled with the Holy Spirit of God, God's people still sometimes fall down. They still fall down. I tell you what, when the Apostle Paul was put in prison, he fell down. When John the Apostle was put in prison, he fell down. When the apostles were slain, they fell down. When John the Baptist had his head cut off, he fell down. When Abel, the first martyr, first Christian martyr, was slain by his brother because of his faith in Christ, he fell down. You can walk in the victory of Jesus and still fall down. When we fall before our enemies, it's not a token of our defeat, though. It's a token of their defeat and our ultimate salvation from God. Write this down your margin, Philippians chapter 1, verses 28 through 29. Philippians chapter 1, verses 28 through 29. Paul says, And in nothing terrified by your adversaries. Listen, if you're a child of God, you have adversaries. The Bible says that we ought to walk circumspect. Why? Because our adversary, the devil. He goes about seeking whom he may devour. Every one of us, being children of God, we have adversaries that are out to get us. And they want us to fall. The Bible says, In nothing that we're to be terrified by our adversaries, which is to them an evident token of perdition. That is, of their destruction, but to you of salvation and that of God. For unto you It is given in the behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake. By the grace of God, He has given us the privilege of believing on His Son. By the grace of God, He has given us the privilege of suffering on account of our faith in His Son. So, Brother Richard, how is it a privilege for us to suffer due to our faith in Christ? Why does God allow his children to suffer? He doesn't just allow us to suffer. Do you know who put Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in that oven? God did. So, oh no, that was the men that threw them in there. Only because God permitted it. Only because God orchestrated it. Adrian Roger used to say there's not a blade of grass that blows in the wind without God's permission. God allowed that to happen. Who crucified Jesus? Was it the Romans? Was it the Jews? Who really sent Jesus to the cross? God the Father did. He said in the book of Hebrews, as we studied this morning, I come to do thy will, O God. Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, Father, If it's possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. Whose will was it that Jesus died on the cross? It was the will of God, and thank God it was. When Jesus went to the cross, God cast him into that oven. And it is given to us also not only to believe on Jesus, but also to suffer for his sake. Who suffered for hours? And why is that a blessing? Listen, Satan wants you to see Christians suffering. And think that we're losing. How many of y'all have ever suffered since you've been a child of God? Man, yes. And a lot of times, you know what, we've suffered because we have obeyed God's Word, and where had we disobeyed God's Word and taken the easy way out, or what at least seems like the easy way out at first, Maybe we could have avoided some of that suffering. There's no doubt in my mind that the Apostle Paul or John the Baptist or whoever said, Hey, man, I'm sorry for what I said. I won't teach in the name of Jesus anymore. King, I'm sorry for what I preached against you taking your brother's wife. You know, I just won't apologize, make a public announcement of all that. He may have kept his head. But it was not only given to them to believe on the Lord Jesus, but also to suffer for his sake. God wants you to see Christian suffering, and the devil wants you to see Christian suffering, but they want us to see Christian suffering in two different ways. Satan wants you to see Christian suffering and think we're losing. But God wants you to see Christian suffering and know we are winning. The Bible says they fell down. Look back in your text, bound. Bound, circle the word bound in your Bible, if you don't mind marking in your Bible. They didn't fall down free, they fell down bound. That means they entered the oven completely tied up in their circumstances. They didn't freely go into the oven. And none of us would see an oven that was, or a cremation oven, and say, well, you know what? That looks like a nice place to go for the day. Let's just go jump in that oven. No one's going to do that. No one's going to be so foolish to do that. They didn't freely go into the oven. They went in bound. They were bound. They were unable to escape the fiery consequences in their lives. But remember, Just because we are bound doesn't mean that our enemies are in control. And that's what God showed us here when the mightiest men were slain by the fire they hoped would slay Shadrach Media. Ishach and Abednego. They were slain even though they were bound. So when you are bound to your circumstances, just because you are bound. By the enemy does not mean the enemy is in control. When you are bound by the fiery trials that come into your life and you say, There's no way I can escape these fiery trials, there's been things that That I've gone through, and I'm sure that you've gone through, that were so traumatic, so difficult, so fiery, so oppressive. Sometimes you cry till you can't cry anymore. There's nothing else to come out. And there is no way That you can escape the circumstance you're going through. Y'all ever been through something like that before? There is no way you can escape the circumstance you're going through. In other words, you're bound to it. You can't escape, and God is forcing you to fall down into it. I tell you, I've fallen down bound many, many times. But you know who was in control all those times? God was. God was. And God is giving us this story here so that we can put ourselves in these situations when we are bound and we're facing a fiery furnace. That we can know that it is when our hands are tied that the hand of God is in control. Thank God he ties our hands. Do you know why? Because when I know my hands are tied, I know that it's not my responsibility to get myself out of that mess. I know that God has shackled me to those circumstances, and I say, God, I am not in control. And that means you are. I'm going to trust you in this fiery circumstance. That's how you have to face them. When a persecuted Christian is bound. Or when a Christian is being tried in his life and he's bound, it doesn't mean the enemy is in control. It means God is in control instead of us. God sometimes uses the enemy to bind us. That he may show us how free we really are in Jesus. I want to say that again. God sometimes uses the enemy to bind us. That he may show us how free we really are in Jesus Christ. Praise His name. God used a deadly storm. On the Sea of Galilee. Boy, those disciples were on that boat. Jesus was asleep on that boat, and that storm started coming, and the water started coming into that boat. And man, they were experienced on ships. Some of them were fishermen by trade. And they knew that water coming in, it was only a matter of time for that boat was going to go down. They said, Lord, don't you care that we perish? They tried fighting that storm. They tried, I'm sure, sailing, paddling. Shoveling water out of that boat, and they could not stop the storm. Do you know why? Because God had bound them to that storm. There wasn't a thing in the world they could do about it. Who started that storm? God did. Whose idea was it to get in the boat and go into on the Sea of Galilee? God's. And Jesus, the one that got on that boat, Brother Doug. It was all God's doing. God bound His precious people that He loved to the circumstance of a deadly storm. So that by being bound to it, they could see how free they were in Jesus. Could you imagine being on that boat? At that deadly storm coming up, and Jesus gets up. He's been sleeping on that boat, and he wipes his eyes. He says, Peace, be still. Man, I tell you what, they wouldn't take for that experience. They would never trade that storm in in the experience that they Had because of it for anything in this world. God used a deadly storm on the Sea of Galilee to show Jesus' disciples how peaceful things really were in Jesus. Those disciples would have never willingly gone into the storm, just like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would have never willingly fallen into the fire. But God binds us. To impossible situations that we may experience His unmistakable grace. They fell down bound. Look back in your text as we begin to close into the midst of the burning, fiery furnace. And that's never a fun place to be. But God put them in that burning fiery furnace because that was a place where they would experience the unmistakable grace of God. This fiery furnace is a picture of the fiery trials that we face in our walk with Jesus Christ as well. 1 Peter 4, verse 12, the Apostle Peter said, Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you. As though some strange thing happened unto you. That means when you go through a fiery trial, don't think, oh dear God, why is this happening to me? God's saying, What, you think you're exempt from this? You're not only by my grace given to believe on Jesus, but also to suffer for his sake. You think this is something strange or abnormal? That you're not supposed to suffer? Boy, I tell you what, these Pentecostal people. That says they can just speak and say, In the name of Jesus, devil, I bind you, and I do this, and something bad comes in their way, and they can just bind the devil and they'll not have to go through anything bad. That is so unbiblical. It is so unbiblical. I tell you what, the most I have ever learned about God, the grace of God. Has been when I'm in the burning fiery furnace. Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, our victory in Jesus doesn't exempt us from the fiery trials at the Hand of the enemy. The Gospel of John chapter 15, verse 20, Jesus said, Remember the word that I said unto you: the servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted me, They will also persecute you. If they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. So when you fall down into the furnace, And when you, by God's providence, are bound to a fiery trial, just remember that Jesus said. I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. Brother, that's what they're going to find out next week in next week's verses. I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. Remember how when you're in that situation, you remember how Jesus spoke peace in the disciples' storm? And you trust that the Jesus in the disciples' storm will be the Jesus in your flame. Ephesians chapter 6, verse 16 says, Above all, Taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. We have to have that shield of faith. That God bound us to these circumstances, and that God, by these circumstances, binding us in our fiery trial. Is going to show us how free we really are in Jesus and that we may experience His unmistakable grace. I'll close with a piece of poetry. that we've all heard before When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie. My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply. The flame will not hurt thee I only design Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine. Father, we thank you so much for your precious word. Thank you, Father, even though it is no fun falling into the fire. Oh Lord, we wouldn't trade for the fellowship in the fire. We wouldn't trade for all the wonderful grace that you've given us in Jesus. Given us, Lord, an evident token of our enemy's destruction, but of our salvation, and that from you. We thank you. And I pray your great blessing upon each person who came here today. May your words settle deep into their hearts, feed their souls, and bring you great honor and glory. In Jesus' name, amen.