Episode Transcript
Daniel chapter 3, God willing, we'll be expounding verses 24 and 25 this morning.
Daniel 3, verse 24 and 25.
The title of the message this morning is The Fourth Man.
The Fourth Man.
Now we've been studying King Nebuchadnezzar's contest with God.
Nebuchadnezzar demanded Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to worship the golden idol that he set up, but they refused to worship anyone but the one true God.
So as a result, Nebuchadnezzar defied God.
He defied their God.
He had these men cast into a burning, fiery furnace, and he boasted that their God could not save them from his hand.
We ended our study in verse 23 last week, which says, And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
And I want to call your attention to those key words in that text.
Three men fell down bound.
Three men fell down bound.
Now we'll look here in verse 24.
Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished.
And we'll stop there and pray.
Father, we thank you so much for your precious word.
Thank you for these people who are here today.
People, Lord, that we prayed for this morning before we came here.
And to see their faces is such an answer to my prayer, so precious.
And Lord, I pray for each and every one here today.
I pray for my wife, you'll comfort her and bring her back here safely.
And give us a safe trip to Indiana and be with the family.
And I pray, Lord, you'll feed us this morning, Father, with your precious word.
We ask it in Jesus' wonderful name.
May all eyes be on you now.
Amen.
Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished.
That word astonished.
Excuse me, that word is stonied.
I'm sorry, my voice gets weak, really, so I have to keep it moist.
That word is stunned.
Means to be de uh temporarily deprived of the power to act.
Temporarily deprived the power to act.
We don't use that word astonished too much, do we?
That's one of the nice things about the King James.
It takes some archaic words and dusts them off and brings them back and puts them in our vocabulary.
But astonished, today we would say maybe stunned to where something happens and you're like just kind of frozen.
You ever seen anyone frozen like that?
They get so petrified.
Petrified is another way we would explain it.
So stunned, we'd be like he was petrified, just still, stunned.
After these three men fell down bound into the fire, something happened that shook Nebuchadnezzar to his core, so much so that he was literally stunned.
It was a jaw-dropping moment that froze the king in his tracks.
You see, Nebuchadnezzar's contest with God didn't work out the way he thought it would.
He had God's people cast into the fire, and now he is shocked.
He is stunned by what happened next.
And Nebuchadnezzar was so confident before.
In Daniel chapter 3, verse 15, he boldly told Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, if ye 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 hands?
The world is always confident.
In the war that they wage against God.
And by the way, there is a war that is being waged against God in our nation today, in our world today.
Man, when you can't even pray in England without being arrested, when you can't preach the truth in Canada without being arrested, and you can't speak the truth in America without someone wanting to kill you.
There is a war being waged against God.
It is the same spirit of Antichrist that we see today that was alive and well back here in Daniel's day.
They speak boldly against God, so boldly, so confidently, that someone would think, well, they must really know what they're doing.
They must really know what they're talking about.
But let me assure you, you cannot fight against God and win.
For people who fight against God, you may begin confidently, and it may appear like they're winning today, but they'll be stunned by the outcome.
Remember King Nebuchadnezzar being the ruler of the world empire.
He is a microcosm.
He represents The world, the world's actions, the world's responses, the world's outcome.
I've heard so many people mock the name of God, and so have you.
I've heard them say, and so have you, that God is a fairy tale, that there is neither life nor judgment after we die.
And they say this so confidently, as if they have first-hand knowledge.
Of what happens after they die, but they don't.
Said, Brother Richard, you speak confidently about what happens after we die.
And you don't have first-hand knowledge.
No, but I get my information from someone who does.
I get my information from someone who did die, who was buried, who was raised from the dead, and from the God who knows the beginning from the end.
In 1 Kings 20, verse 11, the king of Syria was boasting about what he was going to do to the king of Israel.
In his land.
And the Bible says, And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself, as he that putteth it off.
Then they break that down some simple words.
Don't brag about winning a war you haven't fought yet, fella.
That's what he was telling them.
Don't you brag about winning a war you haven't fought yet.
It's easy to boast on this side of the grave about.
Your contests with God and about how God's a fairy tale, and how when you die, nothing happens, you just go back to the dirt.
It's easy to talk big and strong.
When you're alive and you're healthy and you're not standing before the God who created you, but let me assure you that confidence one day is going to melt away on your Deathbed, and you will be astounded when you open your eyes in hell.
Nebuchadnezzar was astounded, look back in your text, and rose up in haste.
Now, the Chaldean word here, we think of haste, we think of quickly, but that Chaldean word translated haste here, it has the idea of trembling and fear.
So at first, He's sitting here on his powerful throne, one of them at least.
And at first, he's like, ah.
And then he gets up and he's shaking like this.
He rises up trembling.
Nebuchadnezzar, the enemy of Christ, was astonished and trembling at what he saw, and that reminds me of another enemy of Christ.
Not in the Old Testament, but in the New Testament, who also was astounded and trembled at what he saw.
And by the way, they saw the same thing.
Before the Apostle Paul saw the resurrected Christ, he, like Nebuchadnezzar, was at war against him, persecuting the people of God, just like Nebuchadnezzar.
But one day Paul was confronted by the Son of God.
And he, like Nebuchadnezzar, was astonished and trembled.
In Acts chapter 9, verse 16, Acts chapter 9, verse 16.
Speaking of Paul, it says, and he trembling and astonished.
Isn't that something?
Isn't that amazing how they just go together?
Trembling and astonished.
By the way, astonished and astonied are very close together.
And here in the Greek, that word translated astonished, it literally means stunned.
So it's the same thing.
Said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?
And the Lord said unto him, Arise and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
O Paul, he was large and in charge.
When he was arresting all of these Christians and watching them be put to death.
But boy, when he saw Jesus for who he really was, he was trembling and astonished.
When Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus, he no longer saw him as the crucified public figure.
He saw him as a resurrected Son of God.
Paul's misperception of Jesus suddenly encountered the reality of Jesus.
Changing him from a persecuting Paul to a trembling Paul.
And this is why the devil works so.
Hard in our nation today, why he works so hard in the minds of our young people today.
To create a misperception of Jesus Christ in people's minds.
I never cease to be amazed.
And how the enemies of Christ always present themselves as the experts on Christ.
It's quite amazing.
When we proclaim the word of God and we stand against their sin, they immediately condemn our message and then they Appeal to Jesus Christ as their authority to condemn our message.
They say, well, that goes against Jesus' teachings.
They say Jesus taught tolerance.
Jesus taught us not to judge.
Jesus accepts everyone like they are.
And that is a devilish misperception of Jesus Christ that emboldens sinners to trample underfoot the blood of Christ and to consider it an unholy thing.
The reality of Jesus and his cross and his empty tomb is this: it teaches us: number one, God does not accept sin.
If God accepted sin, then Jesus, His Son, would have been the first one to have been excused from our sin.
But when our sin was put on Christ, God condemned him in our place.
Which shows not only does God not accept sin, Remember, Jesus said, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
He was separated from God, but God will condemn sinners.
And not only that, but Jesus himself is going to judge personally every sinner who doesn't repent and believe the gospel.
That's the reality of Jesus Christ.
The Bible says in the book of Acts chapter 17, verse 31, that God hath appointed a day in which In the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained, whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, and that He hath raised Him from the dead.
On that day, on Judgment Day, and there's a Judgment Day coming.
And on that day, listen, all the rainbow people in the world, they can have all the flags and rainbow paraphernalia they want to.
And don't be surprised by all these transgender shootings.
You look back in the history of the Bible, and they were violent then, too.
The angels had to stop them.
They were going to come in and assault the house there in Sodom and Gomorrah of Lot.
They're violent because they're full of the devil.
And on that day, on Judgment Day, the world's godless perception, misperception rather, of Christ.
Is going to meet the reality of Christ, and their persecuting will end, and their trembling will begin.
Nebuchadnezzar was a representation of the godless world.
He governed once again.
So he was astonished.
And then he stood in haste.
Look back in your text, and spake and said unto his Counselors.
Here he is now.
First, he's stunned.
Then he rises and he's shaking.
Then he looks over at his counselors and he speaks to them.
Boy, I tell you, his counselors aren't going to do him any good now.
Let me tell you that.
And see, they helped him get into this mess to begin with.
That reminds me of Leave It to Beaver.
Y'all remember Larry Mondello?
He would always talk Beaver into doing something he wasn't supposed to do.
Beaver would then do it, and then when Beaver got into trouble, Larry would be a lot of help.
His counselor would say, Boy, Beave, you sure messed up this time.
Or what are you going to do now?
No help whatsoever.
So he turns, he's looking to his counselors.
Let me tell you: here's a kingdom truth for you this morning.
The counselors of this world help us get into trouble, but they are worthless when we do.
The counsel that you'll receive from this world, there's plenty of help to get you into trouble, but there's going to be absolutely no help when you get into trouble.
There is only one counselor.
That you can look to, who will stand with you when you stand before God.
Because that's what's happening, by the way.
Because what Nebuchadnezzar saw is the same thing that the Apostle Paul saw when Paul was trembling and astonished.
Paul saw Jesus, Nebuchadnezzar saw Jesus.
And listen.
You we we always picture Jesus as long haired hippie, the blue eyes, walking around with this robe Got a little lamb in his hand, he's petting on.
Some little old child over here, and they're just walking around.
He just loves everybody.
Let me tell you.
Let me tell you what Jesus Christ is like.
He is God in the flesh, who came in the flesh.
He is holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty.
And when you see him like he is.
You'll tremble and be astounded.
Misperceptions of Jesus Christ.
When I stand before God, I want a counselor who can stand by me.
And you know what?
There's only one counselor who can do that.
And that's Jesus himself.
The Bible says in Isaiah chapter 9, verse 6: For unto us a child is born.
That's Jesus.
God, who was born in the flesh.
Unto us a Son is given.
That's the Son of God.
The child was born.
The Son was given.
The Son wasn't born.
The Son's always been here.
It's the child who was born.
The Son is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
He's the eternal God.
Unto us a child is born.
Unto us a son is given.
And the government shall be upon his shoulder.
Why?
Because he's king of kings and lord of lords.
He's going to take over one day, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor.
Oh, wow.
Jesus is our counselor.
This morning, if you believe on Him, He's your counselor.
This morning we looked at a verse in the Building on Jesus class.
Jesus said, Verily, verily, I say unto thee.
He that heareth my word, my word.
In other words, you take Jesus and you let him be your counselor.
He tells you about your sin.
He tells you about the salvation he came to provide.
He that heareth my word and believeth on what?
Him that sent me.
Now, you catching that?
When you hear Jesus' word, that means not just hearing it, but hearing it in the sense of accepting it.
Like someone telling a child, Do you hear me?
Right?
He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me.
How can you hear Jesus' word and then believe on the Father that sent him?
Because Jesus said, I and the Father are one.
When you believe Jesus' word, you're believing the Father's word.
If Jesus said, If you believe Him, then you've also believed me.
If you don't believe me, that means you don't believe Him.
And so Jesus, unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and his name, the son's name, shall be called wonderful counselor, a counselor that we can hear his Word.
He said, He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.
That's the counsel, Brother Doug, that I have based my soul's hope upon.
I've staked my soul's eternity upon the counsel of Jesus Christ.
And let me tell you how wonderful that is, because not only shall this name be.
Be called wonderful counselor, but the mighty God, the everlasting Father.
How about that?
So he that heareth my word.
And believeth on him that sent me.
Why?
Because Jesus being God is the Son.
Jesus being God is also the Father in the sense of the divinity of the Godhead.
I and my Father are one.
They're distinguishable, but they're inseparable.
And so if you have Jesus as your counselor, Then you have a counselor who will stand by you when you're standing before God.
Because He is the mighty God, the everlasting Father.
And therefore, if you put your faith in His counsel, Then he is the Prince of Peace.
But if you reject His counsel, then He's the judge who's going to judge the quick and the dead.
Because Jesus is both the wonderful counselor and the mighty God, you know that you're standing before God.
When you stand before God, you have a counselor who's standing by you.
Nebuchadnezzar spake unto his worthless counselors, and he asked them, Look back in your text.
He says, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?
Hey counselors, hey fellas, help me out.
I must be seeing things.
We did cast three men bound, shackled, into the furnace, right?
Look back in your text.
They answered and said unto the king, True, O king, that's right, king.
Three of them, and they were bound.
Yep, that's what we did, all right.
Three men bound, tied up in that fire.
Well, that's what I thought the king said.
But, verse 25, he answered and said, Lo, or look.
I see four men loose.
Oh man, I love this story.
I see four men loose.
There's a fourth man in that fire, and all of them are loose, he said with a trembling voice.
And the three we put in, they're not bound.
They're loose.
I don't know how many of you had the privilege of Listening to Charlie Kirk's widow speak last week.
How many of y'all got to hear her speech?
How many of y'all cried when you heard her speak?
I did too.
I did too.
She was a powerful witness for her husband and for her God.
When her husband was shot by the enemy of Christ, She was cast bound into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
God told Israel in Isaiah 48:10, He said, Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver.
I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.
When we suffer affliction for the name of Christ, when we suffer affliction as a child of God, it's like going through a burning fiery furnace.
It's hot.
It's uncomfortable.
The devil seeks to destroy us.
God seeks to refine us.
The enemy had cast Erechakirk into a furnace of affliction, but guess what?
There was the fourth man that was with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is with her.
And the fourth man that was with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, when you, the child of God, are put in your furnace of affliction.
That same man is there with you in that affliction.
Christian, rest assured, we never fall into the fiery furnace alone.
Man, I've been through some trying times in my life, and I bet you have too.
The Bible says in Isaiah chapter 43, you ready?
You want to hear the words of the fourth man in the fire this morning?
Do you want to hear what that fourth man in the fire has to say to you about that burning fiery furnace?
Isaiah 43, verses 1 and 2.
But now thus saith the Lord that created thee.
How about that?
I love hearing the counsel of the Lord that created me.
Oh, Jacob.
Oh, no, no, he's talking to Jacob, brother Richard.
He's not talking to us.
Oh, no, no.
The Bible says they that are of faith are the seed of Abraham.
Man, we are Jacob.
God can't talk to Jacob in the Old Testament without talking to Jacob in the New Testament.
But now, thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, fear not.
For I have redeemed thee.
Boy, isn't that good?
Fear not, for I have redeemed thee.
If you have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ.
Christ, and if you've put your faith in what He's done for you on the cross, you are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.
And for you, He says, no matter what furnace you fall into.
You get deprived of a loved one.
You get deprived of a loved one like my wife, whether through circumstance or through death.
You get cancer, you have family issues, you get persecuted by the enemy, or your husband gets shot.
If you've been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, his first words to you are this: Fear not.
Fear not.
He says, Fear not, why?
For I have redeemed thee.
I have called thee by thy name.
Thou art mine.
Man, you can't make Jesus your Savior without him making you his Son.
You can't.
He said, Thou art mine, and since you're his, look what he says in verse 2.
Go to verse 2 now, brother.
When thou passest through the waters, oh man, you see, we got two different illustrations here.
First is the waters.
First is the waters.
Those waters are talking about troubled high waters that go up over your head.
Waters that you can't swim through, but waters you have to pass through.
He says, when you pass through those troubled waters, Troubled.
The water's troubled.
You've seen a river where it's where you remember the what we had all those people get killed by the the waters there uh down uh w and uh What was that area?
Brother, huh?
Kerrville.
I want to say Kaleen.
I knew it was a K, but it wasn't Clean.
The Kerrville.
When you see that water come through in a torrent, When the water is not smooth and still, it's called troubled, troubled waters.
And so the idea is that you have to step into troubled waters.
And you would assume those troubled waters will take you, will destroy you, will destroy everything you work for.
That right now, see, Erica is stepped into troubled waters.
Well, look, what's going to happen to the ministry?
What's going to happen to this?
What's going to happen to the other?
You step into troubled waters.
But what does he say?
When you pass through the waters, now, not if you pass through the waters.
But when you pass through the waters, what does he say?
I will be with thee.
And through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee.
When thou walkest through the fire, look at this, thou shalt not be burned.
Neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
You won't be consumed.
You'll go through the water.
It'll be over your head.
You'll go through the fire.
It's going to be hot.
But I'm going to be right there with you all the way.
You know who that fourth man was in the fire?
The one who told his disciples, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.
He said, Behold, I am with thee always, even to the end of the world.
That's the same, that's the fourth man in the fire.
Like these three men, you are not alone, and you are not bound.
We may be bound to the furnace, but we're never bound in the furnace.
Because, regardless of our fiery circumstances, We've been given the spirit of liberty in Jesus Christ, for whom the Son sets free is free indeed, no matter what furnace or what troubled waters they go in.
Nebuchadnezzar said, I see four men loose.
Nobody was bound in their circumstances more than Lazarus.
White man was bound.
Lazarus was bound by death.
Lazarus was bound by a tomb.
Lazarus was bound By the grave clothes that he wore But Lazarus couldn't stay bound when Jesus showed up.
John chapter 11, verse 44.
The Bible says, And he that was dead came forth, bound.
Hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was bound about with a napkin.
And Jesus said unto them, Loose him and let him go.
You see, you can't be with Jesus and be bound.
Jesus came to set the captives free.
And so if he is in the fire with you, Then you're going to be walking around loose in that fire.
What gave Erica Kirk the liberty to serve God like never before is the fact that she's not in the furnace alone.
Because of Jesus Christ, she is down, or not down, and bound.
He said, Didn't we cast three men in the fire bound?
Yep, but they're up walking around loose.
So she's not down and bound.
She is loose, and look back in the text, walking in the midst of the fire.
You see how that works?
She's walking in the midst of the fire.
She's not down and bound.
You see, the devil, when you.
When you fall into a burning fiery furnace, the devil wants you to see things through his perspective, through the natural perspective of man.
He wants you to go into a burning fiery furnace.
He wants you to go into some really fiery, trying, dark time in your life.
And see you as down and bound.
Oh, God, help me.
Oh, Lord, woe isn't me.
Why did you let me get in here?
And he wants you to see yourself this way.
But in Christ Jesus, you're never bound.
You're seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
Far above every principality in power and might.
And you're not bound.
You see, when you see yourself in Christ and your circumstances, and you remember that God's redeemed you, God's called you, and God's with you.
He doesn't forsake you.
Remember what the devil tried to make Job think?
Job was in the fire.
Devil wanted to make Job think God had abandoned him.
No, no, no.
You're redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.
God hasn't abandoned you in the fire.
He's there with you in the fire.
And when you see yourself walking And loose and free in Jesus Christ, you'll be able to start walking in your fire rather than sitting in a fetal position like this where the devil wants you to be.
You can walk in your fire.
Praise God.
That's where that young lady was in that speech.
She was walking in the fire.
She said, I've already got plans for this.
We're going to get the ministry going.
We're going to do this.
And it was such a wonderful testimony.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego weren't succumbed by the fire.
They were walking in the fire.
Church, the fire doesn't stop our walk with Christ, it strengthens it.
Where I've learned the most in life is when I've suffered the most in life.
The flesh wants you to avoid the fire.
The devil wants you to fear the fire, but God wants you to walk in the fire.
In the freedom and fellowship of his son.
Nebuchadnezzar said, Despite what we've done to them, they are not alone, they are not bound.
And they're not stopped.
And lastly, he said, look back in your text, and they have no hurt.
And they have no hurt.
When speaking about the fiery trials that believers will go through, Jesus said in Luke chapter 21, verses 16 through 18.
He said, And ye shall be betrayed both by parents and brethren, and kinsfolks and friends, and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.
Well, it's pretty encouraging, isn't it?
The people you thought were closest to you, they're going to be the ones that will betray you, stab you in the back.
Some of you, because you're Christians, you'll actually be put to death.
He says, and ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.
People will hate you for what you believe.
They'll hate you and want to kill you.
That's the reality.
And we see that today, don't we?
He says, but even though they hate you, even though they put you to death and betray you, he says, but there shall not an hair of your head perish.
We say, wait, wait, wait, wait a second.
They put me to death, but not a single hair of my head perishes.
You see, even though those men would have been burned to ashes in that fiery flame.
Now they weren't.
They weren't burned to ashes, but even if they had been, because remember, they said, our God can deliver us, but if He don't, we're still not going to worship your idol.
So, even if God wouldn't have delivered them from that furnace, even if they would have been burnt to ashes, they still would have been free.
They still would have been walking with Jesus, and their work would have still continued.
Some of the greatest verses in the Bible were written from a prison cell.
Think, man, how can he be so powerful in prison?
It's because Paul and John, when they were in that fiery furnace of the prison cell, they were not bound.
They were not alone.
They were not stopped.
They were not hurt.
Like Lazarus, the apostles may have suffered and died at the hand of the enemy, but not a hair of their heads shall perish, for we shall not perish, Jesus said, but have everlasting life.
Nebuchadnezzar said, They are not bound, they are not hurt, they are not stopped.
They are not alone.
Look back in your text.
In the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
See, Nebuchadnezzar's misconception of Jesus saw the reality of Jesus.
He had asked these men, Who is that God that can deliver you from my hands?
And now he knows.
The Son of God is stronger than the enemy's word.
The Son of God is stronger than the enemy's flame.
The Son of God is stronger than the enemy's counsel against us.
It took the fiery trial of Nebuchadnezzar to see Jesus.
Isn't that wonderful?
That fiery trial.
And Jesus' servants going through that fiery trial caused another man to see Jesus.
The grace of God is best seen, church, in our afflictions.
The enemy strengthens our walk.
The flame brightens our view.
The shackles free our hands, and the Son of God is with us all the way.
Father, we thank you so much for your precious word.
What a wonderful, wonderful story that you've given us here in the book of Daniel.
God, thank you for your wonderful promise.
That you've redeemed us.
So we're yours.
So we don't need to fear.
Because when we pass through those troubled waters and that fiery furnace, you'll be with us all the way.
And may others see Jesus in us when we're in the flame.
Glorify your great name, whether it be by our life or by our death.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
