Verse by verse teaching - Daniel 3:27 "An Open Show"

Daniel chapter 3, verse 27, the title of the message this morning is An Open Show, an open show. Let's read the verse together. Daniel 3, 27, 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 heads singed, neither were their coats changed. Nor the smell of fire had passed on them. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your precious word. God, I pray your Holy Spirit will feed us with your word this morning. Give us the understanding. Help our spirits to digest it and to put it to work, Lord. Father, just move in our lives and receive all honor and glory this morning. As you feed your precious flock. In Jesus' wonderful name. Amen. God willing, for those of you who are taking notes this morning, we're going to divide our exposition of this verse into four parts. The victory of the gospel, the visibility of the gospel. The authority of the gospel and the totality of the gospel. I'll repeat that again. The victory of the gospel, the visibility of the gospel, the authority of the gospel. The totality of the gospel. After having Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego cast into the burning fiery furnace. King Nebuchadnezzar saw Jesus in the furnace with those three godly men who refused to bow down to the idol that Nebuchadnezzar made. And remember, this whole ordeal. Was a contest between two kings: the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, and the king of kings, the Lord Jesus Christ. And after seeing how the fire he made could not destroy the people that Jesus loved The Bible says in Daniel 3, verse 26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Nebednego. Ye servants of the Most High God, come forth and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came forth of the midst of the fire. So these godly men came out of the fire, and you can only imagine, I'm sure, the spectacle they must have been. Several years ago, Tammy and I were in Freestone County, where I used to have that county assigned to me when I worked for the state, one of my counties. And the curator of a local museum there took Tammy and I into the old, old county jail. Back when the sheriff lived in the jail and his family and the wife cooked meals for the the inmates and everything, and they showed us around that jail. But then that curator took me and Tammy out back. And where the most fascinating thing was of all, and that was the trapdoor that they used to hang people on. When they'd build the hanging scaffold, and there was a metal trap door, and the people would stand there. When they pulled it, that chute would open up. And it's, I assume it's still there, but it was a few years ago. And I took a picture of it. I got it somewhere, but I took a picture of it. I just remember standing there and looking at that old trap door and musing upon those poor condemned souls that once stood on that platform waiting. For their condemnation and to open beneath them. And back in the day, people would gather to watch a hanging. And a condemned man is quite a spectacle for people to see. But how much more of a spectacle would it be to see a condemned man live after his execution? That's what we're looking at here in the book of Daniel. We're seeing condemned men live after the execution has been fully carried out. Do you understand the implication of that? Because Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego represent you and me and the Church of God. No doubt. People would be gathering around to see the wonder of a man living after he's been shot by a firing squad or hanging from a rope by his neck. But in those cases, it's still possible to botch an execution. But nobody can escape being thrown into a burning fiery furnace apart from an absolute intervention of God. And that's exactly what these people had seen. Everyone expected these men to be fully consumed, even to dust, by the intense Heat of that flame. Remember, the Bible tells us the strong men that threw them in the flame, just being on the outside of the door, it it killed them. Nebuchadnezzar and his political team, they walked. up to that furnace, not as close as those executioners did, and they looked in and they called those men out after they saw them and Jesus walking around unharmed in that flame. So when they came out, when Shadrach and Meshach and Abednego walked out of that flame, a crowd of political leaders who had come to celebrate their death were now gathering around them. Wondering and marveling at their life. And that brings us to the first part of our verse this morning, and that is the victory of the gospel. The Bible says in verse 27, and the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counselors. You see that? The princes. the governors, the captains, and the king's counselors, those are the political powers, the political rulers, that came against Jesus and his people. The princes, the governors, and the captains are the principalities and powers that withstood Christ, and the counselors are the false teachers that gave them the the words that they base their ungodly decisions on. Collectively, these princes, governors and captains and kings' counselors, they represent to us the opposing forces of Antichrist Which we, the children of God, wrestle with every day. The Bible says in Ephesians chapter 6, verse 12. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Because the rulers of the darkness of this world are spiritual wickedness in high places That affect and influence the princes, governors, and counselors, and all the like that were standing around marveling at Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. What these rulers of the darkness of this world thought would be a sure victory for their kingdom that day turned out to be a stunning defeat. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who once stood condemned before these rulers, now stood in glorious Triumphant victory over those who had thought to slay them, all because Jesus had delivered them. From that fire. That is the victory of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That was their victory in Jesus. That is our victory in Jesus as well. You cannot stand here And watch the victory of these men in the scriptures along with these counselors and rulers here in Babylon, and not. Realize that as they're looking at their victory, we're also seeing our victory. These men represent us. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 57 says, But thanks be to God which giveth Us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Hallelujah. This wasn't just Shadrach, Meshach, and Nebednego's savior in the fire. That was our Savior in the fire. This wasn't just their victory. This is our victory. Thanks be to God. Which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, in Bible prophecy, a beast represents an anti-Christian kingdom. A heathen kingdom, and that's what Babylon was. So the victory of Shadrach, Meshach, and Nebednego over the beast of Babylon. Represents our victory over the spiritual beast of Babylon. Make sense? And that's headed up by the devil. That's why, when you do the book of the Revelation, Revelation chapter 17, verse 5, says, And upon her forehead was written a name. Mystery Babylon the Great. This is after Babylon's long gone. Babylon's over with, folks. Babylon was conquered by one nation, which was conquered by another nation, which was conquered by another nation, and there's no world empire now. But the concept and the principles that we're learning about Babylon here in the book of Daniel represent that greater world force headed up by the devil. And it says, Upon her forehead was written a name, was a name written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. And speaking of our victory, Over this spiritual Babylon, which the church is going to face in its fullness right before Jesus comes. Speaking of our victory over the world, that spiritual Babylon, the Bible says in Revelation chapter 15, verse 2. It says, and I saw, as it were, a sea of glass mingled with fire in them that had gotten the victory over the beast. And over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name. Stand on the sea of glass having the harps of God. That's our victory, folks. That's our victory over the beast. over the anti-Christian government headed up by the principalities and the powers and the rulers of the darkness of this world against the spiritual wickedness in high places. We get victory over that Ungodly, devilish political machine and over his image. Over his image. Why? Because we have the image of God on our side, Jesus Christ. And over his mark, that's his seal. His seal, his mark is his seal. How do we get victory over that? Because we've been sealed by the Holy Spirit of God. Our kingdom beats his kingdom, our image, the Son of God. Beats his image, the antichristian son of God, the man of sin. Our Mark The seal of the Holy Spirit beats his mark, the seal of the 666, which brings us to the number of his name: 6, 6, 6. The six is the number of man. Three is the number of God. This is going to be man presenting himself as God. What is that? This is exactly the opposite of Jesus. Jesus was God. Who came as a man? This is going to be a man who pretends to be God. And our God, our seal, doesn't represent 666, it represents 777. And we get the victory over that beast in Jesus Christ. That is the victory of the gospel. Now, let's move forward in our text and let's see the next point. That's the visibility of the gospel. The visibility of the gospel, verse 27 says, and the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counselors, watch this now, being gathered together. Say that next word with me. Saw. They saw these men. Listen, Jesus didn't hide himself in that furnace. The victory of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, it wasn't a secret victory. It was an open And a public victory before all those people there in Babylon for their enemies to see and for the world to see. And this represents the open and public victory that Jesus provided for us. Jesus didn't hide himself in some remote wilderness when he came. He announced his coming in advance in the Old Testament, so everyone would know. He announced his arrival in the New Testament. I've come, the kingdom of God has come. He announced his death in his victorious resurrection before it ever happened. And then he died, and then he rose again open and publicly. For the rulers of this godless world to see their defeat and to see our triumphant victory that He won for us. Colossians 2, verse 15 says, And having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly triumphing over them in it when rehearsing the gospel to King Agrippa. The Apostle Paul said in Acts 26, verse 26, For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely. For I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him, for this thing was not done in a corner. Listen, the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, it wasn't done in some back alley somewhere. It wasn't like Joseph Smith's tablets where it was hidden up on some mountain and no one else can see it but Joseph Smith. You just got to take Joseph Smith's word for it. No, Jesus Christ, His crucifixion, His resurrection. It was done before all the world at that time in the Roman Empire. It was documented by people who had seen it. Look back with me, if you would, in Daniel chapter 3, verse 26. Daniel 3:27. The Bible says, being gathered together, they saw these men. Jesus came, died, rose again publicly, witnessed by thousands. Recorded by our witnesses for us to read about, whose testimonies, thank God, we still have today. And in this verse, we have seen the victory of the gospel, the visibility of the gospel. Now, let's move forward and see the authority of the gospel. The authority of the gospel. It says, look back in your text in verse 27. Upon whose bodies the fire had no what? Power. Now the word power here, the Chaldean word power, has the idea of ruling power. Authoritative power. It has the idea of ruling or mastery. It's the same word used earlier in Daniel chapter 2 that described how Nebuchadnezzar ruled over all the earth in that day. Look with me real quick in Daniel 2:38. Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2:38, and wheresoever the children of Men dwell, the beasts of the field, and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler. The same word translated power in chapter 3 hath made have given made thee Power or ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. The fiery furnace was given by the ruling power of King Nebuchadnezzar. But there was a greater king in that fire whose power overruled Nebuchadnezzar's power. That's the beauty of the gospel. It has power. It has ruling, authoritative power. And so the king in the fire. Overruled the king who put those men in the fire. That's the authority and power of the gospel. Remember, the Apostle Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power. Of God unto salvation, meaning it has the authority to overcome the condemnation of the children of men. The Bible says in Matthew chapter 28, verse 18. It says, And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, Talking about his disciples, all power. Is given unto me in heaven and in earth, thank God. Jesus has how much power? Most of it, a great deal of it. No, Jesus has all of it. That means if Jesus Christ is your Savior and you are believing the gospel. For your salvation, that means there is no power that can overcome the power you are trusting in. You have all power to cancel out all sin, to liberate you freely and wholly in Jesus Christ. All powers given unto him in heaven and earth, like Nebuchadnezzar. Satan sought to condemn us all by our fallen Adam. There's power in sin. Sin gives the holy power of condemnation. Grace gives the holy power of justification. There's power, and God's power to forgive. Is the only power. He's the only one that can say, Be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee. He's the only one that can do that. No one else has the power to do that. But Satan sought to condemn us by our fallen Adam. He sought to put us in that burning fiery furnace, you see. Satan has the power of death. Did you know that? The Bible says Satan has the power of death. Not that he has that ultimate power of death, but that he knows if he can get man to sin. This is what he knew in the Garden of Eden. If he could get man to rebel against God on earth as he had rebelled against God in heaven, then he knew That he could bring man under the power of God's righteous condemnation. And then he locking The offspring of Adam into sin would then have the power over them and would reign over them in the power of sin and death. So Satan has the power of death, but the power of Jesus' gospel overrules it. Hebrews chapter 2, verses 14 through 15. Hebrews 2, 14 through 15 says, For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He, that is Jesus, also Himself likewise took part of the same, that through death That is, through him dying, he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil. And deliver them, that's us, who through fear of death were all their lifetimes subject to bondage. That's power. The power of the gospel overcomes the power of death that the devil held. Revelation chapter 12, verse 10 says, And I heard a loud voice in heaven. I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God. Watch this now, and the power of his Christ. The devil has an antichrist, man of sin. God has Jesus Christ. One has the power of death, the other has the power that overcomes sin and death, and thus overcomes him. He says, and the power of his Christ. For the accuser of our brethren, that's the devil, is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. All right, we have seen the victory of the gospel. We have seen the visibility of the gospel. We have seen the blessed authority. Of the gospel. Now let's see the totality of the gospel. The totality of the gospel. The Bible says. Look back in your text in verse 27. Nor was a hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them. Man, that's the totality. Of our salvation and the powerful, victorious gospel of Jesus Christ. As deadly and hot as that fire was that they were condemned to endure. Remember, we were condemned to a deadly and hot fire, too, weren't we? The Bible says that God has prepared a lake of fire for the devil and his angels, and those that follow his leading in rebellion against God and his Christ are going to spend eternity there. So we also were condemned there, but as As terrible as that fire was, because Jesus was in that fire, the Bible says there was not a hair of their heads singed by that flame. Not only were they not singed in the least, but it says neither were their coats. Neither were their coats. So the hair is part of who they were. The coats is part of what they had on. So the Bible is distinguishing here. Not only was not even a single hair singed on their body, part of their body, but not even the coats that they wore, which was not part of their body. You see, the fire couldn't burn who they were in Jesus. Neither could the fire burn what they had in Jesus. You see how that works? That's what we say, that's the totality of the gospel. The fire couldn't burn who they were in Jesus. The fire could not burn what they had in Jesus. 1 Corinthians 3, verse 13 says, Every man's work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by what? Fire and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. You see, the Apostle Paul was explaining those Corinthians. He said, one day there's going to come a time when everyone's going to be tested by fire. All the works that they did in this world. They're all going to be piled up. You could just picture everything that you've done in this world is going to be collected. It's just going to be piled up here in a big old pile. If you just think of it like that. The things you've done in your flesh, the things you've done for vainglory to be seen of men, the things that you've did Because you truly, in your heart, were doing it by faith in God and for your love for Him. All of them are going to be here. The Bible says they're all going to be tested by fire. You see, what does that mean, tested by fire? It means this: if you have, the Bible talks about some of our works being similar to wood, hay, and stubble. You know what all this stuff does? It all burns up and goes away. But then it says: some of those things are going to be like gold, silver, and precious stones. Now, you can't set those on fire. Now, you can melt the metal and things like that, but they don't just burn up and go into smoke. And so the Bible says they'll be tested like that. The things that we did for Christ. Out of our heart by grace through faith in our service to God. The Bible says those will be like gold, silver, and precious stones. The things that we did in the flesh. Then those will be like the wood, hay, and the stubble. And so when they get tested by God's fire, the temporary that the wood, hay, and stubble burns up, they were temporary. The gold, silver, and precious stones, they remain. They're eternal. So, what we do for the Lord Jesus Christ in this world Those are our works that will abide with us forever. The Bible says, and I was telling Tammy the other day, I was telling Tammy, I said, you know, I said, when I'm working on those books in my study, you know what she'll do? She'll come in every now and now. She knows at certain times she doesn't knock on that door. She leaves me alone. But you know what? We got little coats. If I got the door cracked, she can come in. If that's shut, don't mess with me. So if she comes in and she puts something to drink down there, Or she comes in. Sometimes I'll be talking to someone on the phone about their salvation. And my wife will think Richard's voice is very messed up over time. He's got problems. He's got to keep it moist. And I know when Richard went in there, I didn't see him take anything drinking there. You know what will happen sometimes? I'll be talking to someone on the phone. about their salvation, my wife will slip right in, put a drink down there, slip back and close that door. You know what that is? Jesus said, if you give a cold cup of water to someone in the name of a prophet, you'll receive a prophet's reward. So when she's in there preparing food for me and I'm working on that book, you know what happens? She is receiving a prophet's reward. She puts a glass of water in there to help further the kingdom of God. She's going to receive the same reward that I receive. Now, on the other hand, If we get up here and we try to be seen of men doing something, we say, Here, let me just put this big old check here in the offering plate. Or let me just do this right here, and I want everyone to see me. Or we're doing something else that is ungodly and sinful. That's works too. Then those things are going to be burned up. We're not going to be rewarded for those things that will perish with the temporary world. They're temporary works that will perish with the temporary world. The works of the kingdom of God are eternal works which will endure past the temporary world into the eternal kingdom of God. So, temporary and eternal. So, when we're looking here at Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, we notice that What they were in Jesus would not burn. Why? They're eternal. Their coats, what they had in Jesus, will not burn. Why? It is eternal. And so the fire tests them, and the victorious, visible, authoritative, total salvation of Jesus Christ. Assures us that who we are and what we have in Jesus will endure forever. The fire didn't consume Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and it doesn't consume us. Because we shall live forever endure in Jesus Christ. Not even a hair of their head was singed because of our salvation in Jesus. We have a total victory. Over sin and death. Wouldn't it be it wouldn't be too bad if we could enter into heaven and say, Well, you know what? I got here with every hair but one. That's pretty good, Brother Doug. You know, it wouldn't be bad missing one hair in heaven, missing one hair for all eternity. But that's not how the gospel works. When God saves us, He saves us completely, He saves us eternally. He has a complete salvation. You see, for one hair of my head to be sins in the spiritual sins, that means there had to be one little One little thing Jesus left out on the cross. One little thing that He left out in His death, burial, and resurrection. But He did not leave anything out. The fire couldn't burn who they were in Jesus. The fire couldn't burn what they had in Jesus. You couldn't even smell smoke on them, the Bible says. Now, if you can't smell smoke on somebody, you know what that means? Now, can I give y'all a hint? I mean, let's just be open and honest here. And I love everybody. But listen, if you're a smoker, you're not hiding that smoke. People smell the smoke on you. We all know that. I can't even, back in the day, now it's not so bad now, but back in the day when cigarettes were allowed to be smoked in public places, you couldn't even drop your wife off. To go inside a convenience store and her not come in, and now your car smelled like smoke because it's all in her hair. Y'all remember those days? That's the way it was. Smoke attaches to your hair, attaches to your clothing, attaches to your breath. They were in there breathing in that flame, but when they came out, Couldn't even smell smoke on them. Why does the Bible tell us that? You see, if you drop your wife off at the convenience store, And your wife comes back out, she smells like smoke, and tell you you been in the convenience store. You get inside somebody's car. You've been smoking. Someone walk up to you, they're talking to you. They've been smoking. Because the smoke attaches and identifies, it associates you with that smoke. It associates you with the place where you had been or with the actions you have been doing. You walk into the convenience store, you come out, you're associated with the smoke, it associates you with the store. Well, I until you've been in there. But because there was no detection of the fire on them means there was no connection of the fire to them. You follow me? Because there was no detection of the fire on them, that means there was no connection of that fire to them. The salvation Of Jesus Christ had completely disassociated those three men from the condemnation they were sentenced to. Hallelujah! Church, the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ completely disassociates us from the condemnation that we were sentenced to in Adam. Complete disassociation. And I'd like to close this message with a poem that I wrote to sum up the message. Sentenced to die by the powers that be. Cast in the fire was a sinner like me. Bound hand and foot in the furnace I fell, Condemned by sin to a devil's hell. The fire was hot My death was sure, But every degree did Jesus endure, Neither smell of smoke nor singe of flame. For those who believe in Jesus' name. Father, we thank you for your precious word and for the powerful words of the book of Daniel. The words your Holy Spirit has given us to enlighten us and encourage us to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you for the powerful, victorious, visible, and total victory that we have in Jesus' name. Amen.