A. Review of last week:
Part 1 was the Seduction of Pride – Daniel 1 and 2
In Daniel 1 we saw the story of one of the most prideful men in the Old Testament
Old Neb = Nebuchadnezzar
Neb had captured Israel and all the young princes including Daniel, Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego
Old Neb had trouble with a dream
Called for the wise men – none would or could tell him the dream. IMPOSSIBLE!
Daniel was faithful to God, would not defile himself with the King’s food and wine.
Was very wise because he was serving God and not men
Found favor with old neb.
B. When the wise men of Babylon said it’s impossible for any man to tell you the dream,
Daniel stepped up and said – THERE IS A GOD IN HEAVEN WHO CAN DO IT.
After prayer, praise to God and giving God the Credit.
Daniel tells OLD NEB the dream.
Thru these we revealed 3 types of pride:
Personal pride that we are walking close to God and giving him glory for all things – good
Personal pride which is really ego, regarding ourselves better than others – bad
Pride in what we have accomplished without recognizing God – not good either
We ended with Daniel telling OLD NEB about a statue that would be built with a gold head, feet of iron and clay.
C. Finally – Nebuchadnezzar Rewarded Daniel – Gave an edict to worship the true God
D. Glory was given to God and shared with others.
Notice that Daniel did not take all the glory to himself.
He asked that his friends have some of the responsibility and authority.
E. Big Idea of this: Pride is like a person with a bad cold
It just keeps coming back and getting worse until you finally give up and see the doctor.
Pride doesn’t just resist God — it resists every warning God sends,
until God Himself brings us low enough to look up.
He makes me lie down in green pastures
TODAY:
II. Daniel 3 – Old Neb’s PRIDE shows up again….BECAUSE PRIDE IS STUBBORN!
A. Context: Nebuchadnezzar is at the height of his power.
He has conquered nations, built the greatest and largest city in the ancient world,
and been personally warned by God through Daniel.
Yet he still falls for pride.
This chapter is his own testimony about how God dismantled his pride one stubborn layer at a time.
B. 3:1 King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue ninety feet tall and nine feet wide and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. 2 Then he sent messages to the high officers, officials, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the provincial officials to come to the dedication of the statue he had set up. 3 So all these officials came and stood before the statue King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
C. Now hold that picture in your mind — a ninety-foot statue.
That’s about as tall as a nine-story building.
If you have ever seen the Washington monument it has the same ratio. 10 to 1
You could see that thing from miles away, glinting in the desert sun.
Every time that music played, the whole kingdom was expected to hit the dirt.
At the top of the monument was a statue of Old Neb.
A head of gold.
Old Neb’s pride is just trying to draw attention to himself.
D. Folks, that’s not just a statue.
That’s pride wearing a costume.
I want us to look at what pride does when it gets full control,
And what faith does when it refuses to bow.
Because we’ve all got an area in our lives — some area like Dura, some pressure, some situation
where the music starts playing and everybody around us is bowing down.
The question this morning is: what will you do when you hear the band? Will you bow down?
E. You see – Pride Is Never Satisfied
Nebuchadnezzar already has everything — power, palace, army, slaves, women galore —
Yet he builds an even bigger monument
Pride always wants a bigger statue, no matter how much it already has
Pride always wants it’s own way.
III. The Statue Is a Response to God’s Word from Daniel. Old Neb is laughing at God
A. In Daniel 2: Nebuchadnezzar is the “head of gold,”
but the rest of the statue in that dream was silver, bronze, iron, clay — his kingdom would not last forever.
Nebuchadnezzar’s response: build his own statue, gold from head to toe.
Pride doesn’t like being told no, that its wrong – doesn’t like limits, doesn’t like being reminded of an ending.
Pride can tolerate anything except someone who won’t bow down like us
IV. Pride Always Builds a Furnace
A. Verse 6 — “Anyone who refuses to obey will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace”
Refusal to obey means sure death – unpleasant death
Furnace Threat is:
Manipulation of others – Control , Fear,
Sometimes we have furnaces like …Anger, Silence, Gossip, Rejection
V. BUT THEN – Three Men Who Wouldn’t Bend
(Daniel 3:8-15) 8 But some of the astrologers went to the king and informed on the Jews. 9 They said to King Neb, “Long live the king! 10 You issued a decree requiring all the people to bow down and worship the gold statue when they hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and other musical instruments. 11 That decree also states that those who refuse to obey must be thrown into a blazing furnace. 12 But there are some Jews—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—whom you have put in charge of the province of Babylon. They pay no attention to you, Your Majesty. They refuse to serve your gods and do not worship the gold statue you have set up.”
13 Then Neb flew into a rage and ordered that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought before him. When they were brought in, 14 Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you refuse to serve my gods or to worship the gold statue I have set up? 15 I will give you one more chance to bow down and worship the statue I have made when you hear the sound of the musical instruments. But if you refuse, you will be thrown immediately into the blazing furnace. And then what god will be able to rescue you from my power?”
The astrologers are jealous of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are reported for refusing to bow
Nebuchadnezzar gives them one final chance — bow or face the furnace
Verse 15: “What god will be able to rescue you from my power?” my hands.
VI. Their Answer (Daniel 3:16-18) “Our God is able…
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, “O Neb- , we do not need to defend ourselves before you. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. 18 But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.”
“We do not need to defend ourselves before you”
“The God whom we serve is able to save us… but even if he doesn’t…” – (our prayers are not always answered)
But God is still in control beyond what we see!
“We will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue”
The key phrase: “But even if he doesn’t” — faith is a commitment – regardless of outcome,
not dependent on a guaranteed rescue
VII. Faith makes its Decision Before The Furnace
A. This wasn’t decided in the heat of the moment at the plain of Dura, the fiery furnace
It was settled beforehand — around a dinner table, in prayer, long before the furnace was ever built
By the time the band played, their answer was already locked in
B. Illustration: Thermometer vs. Thermostat
Thermometer — reflects whatever temperature is in the room; no say in the matter
Thermostat — sets the temperature regardless of outside pressure
Everyone else at Dura: thermometers, matching the pressure in the air
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: they were thermostats —
Unmoved even when the furnace was heated seven times hotter (v. 19)
C. How Compromise Usually Happens….in our lives
It’s Rarely all at once — usually a gradual drift, like a thermometer rising with the room
Laughing along at an off-color joke, nodding along with gossip
The room’s temperature slowly becomes our temperature without a conscious decision
VIII. The Time to Decide how we will respond Is Now
Not when we are standing in front of the furnace with heat already on your face
Decide today, on ordinary ground — allowing integrity to work, being faithful in marriage, honest in business, …
B/C Your commitment to Christ is more important that the approval of others
Set your thermostat now — Babylon will come looking for your temperature eventually
When Joshua took the people of Israel into the promised land – he gathered them together.
This is what he said….
Joshua 24: 14 “So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone. 15 But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”
Settle it today so you’re standing firm, not scrambling, when the pressure comes.
Not when temptations come. They will come.
Not when you are under the attack of the devil, he will attack.
Be a Joshua today: But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”
IX. BECAUSE THERE IS A COST TO COMPROMISE
Whatever you compromise to keep – you will lose.
If you bow – you’ll burn.
c. If you stand firm and refuse to bow to your knee to outside pressures, or to the pressures of pride, you will not burn, because GOD HIMSELF will protect you!
The fourth man – whether Christ or an angel of God – will be with you in the fiery furnace of life!
X. The Furnace (Daniel 3:19-23)
19 Nebuchadnezzar was so furious with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that his face became distorted with rage. He commanded that the furnace be heated seven times hotter than usual. 20 Then he ordered some of the strongest men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. 21 So they tied them up and threw them into the furnace, fully dressed in their pants, turbans, robes, and other garments. 22 And because the king, in his anger, had demanded such a hot fire in the furnace, the flames killed the soldiers as they threw the three men in. 23 So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, securely tied, fell into the roaring flames.
Furnace was a round hole about 20’ deep in the ground. A place of punishment.
But it had a sloped side so they could get in and clean it out once in a while.
They had trees that burned hotter than any other – cedar trees burned hotter
So hot the soldiers throwing the men in are killed instantly
XI. The Fourth Man (Daniel 3:24-25)
24 But suddenly, Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in amazement and exclaimed to his advisers, “Didn’t we tie up three men and throw them into the furnace?” “Yes, Your Majesty, we certainly did,” they replied. 25 “Look!” Nebuchadnezzar shouted. “I see four men, unbound, walking around in the fire unharmed! And the fourth looks like a son of god!”
A. Nebuchadnezzar, alarmed, ASTONISHED – JUMPED UP IN AMAZEMENT!
Key truth: God did not keep them from the fire — He met them inside of it
OLD NEB was not Jewish, he was Chaldean. But he was King & God kept trying to get thru to him.
God doesn’t always remove the fire. Sometimes He just meets us inside the fire.
The only thing that God burned up was the ropes that were holding them back.
B. We often pray “keep me from the fire”; God’s promise is “I will be with you in the fire”
John 16:33b says…Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.
But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
XII. King Neb was being Humbled by God (Daniel 3:26-30)
26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came as close as he could to the door of the flaming furnace and shouted: “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!”
So, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego stepped out of the fire. 27 Then the high officers, officials, governors, and advisers crowded around them and saw that the fire had not touched them. Not a hair on their heads was singed, and their clothing was not scorched. They didn’t even smell of smoke!
28 Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! He sent his angel to rescue his servants who trusted in him. They defied the king’s command and were willing to die rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. 29 Therefore, I make this decree: If any people, whatever their race or nation or language, speak a word against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they will be torn limb from limb, and their houses will be turned into heaps of rubble. There is no other god who can rescue like this!”
30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to even higher positions in the province of Babylon.
People in the world are watching our faith.
ILLUS : Ms. Templeton at PO lives on 42
Our folks are doing amazing things in our community. Yes, in Jesus name!
And we give glory to God for what He can do through our church! LOOK AT VBS – 5 kids saved!
IV. Remember – God is looking for Unity, Not Uniformity
The three men never demanded the whole kingdom worship exactly as they did
They stood firm in their own conviction while everyone else did something different
That very difference is what God used to bring Himself glory
Unity with God doesn’t require everyone to look, think, or bow the same —
it requires knowing where you stand and standing there.
Paul said it like this – “Having done all to stand – stand therefore!”
God knows that whole world will not turn to Christ. We know it too.
But God calls for us to do what we can in unity to reach others for Jesus.
Our new building is an example of this. Building for God and for the future of His ministry here.
Closing Summary
Commit this week to being a thermostat, not a thermometer, in one specific relationship or situation where the pressure to conform is strongest.
Trust that God isn’t asking you to avoid the heat — He’s promising to walk through it with you.
-Pastor Scott Gabrielson
