Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20020127.htm

DANIEL: HOPE FOR TODAY'S DISILLUSIONED YOUTH
Part IV: Uncompromised Living Amidst Compromising Pressures
(Daniel 3:1-30)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

Influential parties are compromising their stands -- should we?

(1) In the 1892 Supreme Court Decision of the Church of the Holy Trinity v. the United States, the court stated: "Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teaching of The Redeemer of mankind . . . our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian . . ." (The Rebirth of America, Arthur S. DeMoss Foundation, p. 21) (emphases ours)

Yet, justifying its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, the Court stated: "ancient religions did not bar abortion,'" so it " . . . reached back into paganism to find a basis for its moral judgment." (Ibid., p. 86).

Well, since our nation's highest Court has compromised its 1892 stand that America's laws and institutions are "emphatically Christian" to adopt pagan morals, must WE adopt pagan morals?

(2) Back at the Scopes Trial on evolution, conservative Christians all sided with pure creationism in opposition to evolution.

But that is changing: even Promise Keepers in which so many believers we know have participated has argued it is not important to distinguish whether or not God used evolution to create: in its magazine, New Man we read: "Remember, however, that the debate over how God created the world -- through millions of years of evolutionary work or through a few words spoken over a few days -- is not the central tenant of Christianity." (The Berean Call, March, 1997)

Yet, what Promise Keepers may view as not central to our faith, The American Atheist sure does: citing The Christian News, Nov. 11, 1996, p. 15, Dave Hunt reports this ATHEISTIC periodical declared: "But if death [of evolving prehumans] preceded man and was not a result of Adam's sin, then sin is fiction. If sin is fiction, then we have no need for a Savior . . . [E]volution destroys utterly and finally the very reason [for] Jesus' earthly life . . . then Christianity is nothing.'"

Well, should we FOLLOW Promise Keepers and ALLOW for the theistic evolution view to hold what The American Atheist feels lets us allow SIN to be fictitious and Christianity "nothing"?

If our government and even influential Evangelicals are compromising original Christian stands, are we sinfully proud or UNREALISTIC by NOT compromising them as well? WHY?

(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )

Need: "When not only secular leaders and peer groups, but EVEN INFLUENTIAL EVANGELICAL GROUPS only COMPROMISE their stand, is it STILL GOOD to STICK to God's Word? WHY?!"
  1. When Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were urged to disobey God's Word, the INFLUENCE to COMPROMISE was GREAT!
    1. Nebuchadnezzar built a gold image and told his subjects to bow and worship it to consolidate his realm, Dn. 3:1-6; B.K.C., O.T., p. 1337. (Daniel was apparently not affected by this decree, Ibid., p. 1339.)
    2. Yet, all Hebrews were forbidden to heed this order via Exodus 20:4-5.
    3. Well, the influence on the Hebrew captives Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to compromise heeding Exodus 20:4-5 was GREAT:
      1. First, there was the influence to conform to Nebuchadnezzar's own spiritual COMPROMISE on the matter of the gold image:
        1. The king had doubtlessly gained his idea of such an image from the dream Daniel interpreted in Daniel 2, Ibid., p. 1337.
        2. Well, in interpreting that dream, Daniel clarified the king's power came from the God of heaven, cf. Daniel 2:37-38.
        3. Thus, Nebuchadnezzar had acknowledged the headship of this God of heaven about Whom Daniel had testified, Daniel 2:47.
        4. Hence, for Nebuchadnezzar to use that dream's idea to create a NEW PAGAN DEITY in the gold image so he could use the worship of it to consolidate his reign was for him to compromise his former assent that the God of heaven had given him his power and would thus preserve it for him!
      2. Second, there was the peer pressure of the errant crowd: all of the colleagues of these three Hebrews worshipped the image, Dan. 3:7!
      3. Third, there probably existed the influence on these captives to conform to the COMPROMISE of Judah's OWN KING!
        1. According to Jeremiah 51:59, Judah's OWN king Zedekiah was called to Babylon for some unmentioned reason!
        2. W. Shea ("Daniel 3: Extra-Biblical Texts and the Convocation on the Plain of Dura," Andrews Univ. Sem. Stu. 20, Spring, 1982:29-52) writes of strong evidence that Nebuchadnezzar summoned such vassal kings in 594 B.C. to insure their loyalty after a failed coupe attempt on his reign, Ibid., p. 1203-1204.
        3. That being so, Zedekiah would have attended the Plain of Dura event and compromised Scripture to worship the gold image!
        4. This would have greatly pressured the Hebrew captives to heed their own KING'S example to compromise obeying Scripture!
  2. Yet, these three captives stood AGAINST ALL this INFLUENCE, risking terrible DEATH, to OBEY GOD'S WORD, Daniel 3:8-18:
    1. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who like Daniel had committed themselves to heed God's Word about not worshipping false gods, chose not to bow and worship Nebuchadnezzar's gold image, Daniel 3:12 with Exodus 20: 2-6.
    2. When jealous secular colleagues noted this civil disobedience, they reported them to Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel 3:8-12.
    3. Nebuchadnezzar was furious at what he perceived to be a threat to his realm by these Hebrews (in light of the late coupe attempt), so he demanded their submission at the threat of immediate death, 3:13-15!
    4. The Hebrews boldly but respectfully replied they would not comply with the king's order whether God saved them or not, Daniel 3:16-18!
  3. Accordingly, God REWARDED them with HONOR in THIS life (not to mention rewards in the life to come), Daniel 3:19-30!
    1. Nebuchadnezzar was beside himself with rage at their disobedience to him, and ordered Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego to be cast into the fiery furnace that was heated seven times hotter than usual, 3:19-20.
    2. Yet, though those who had cast them into the fire perished from the heat (3:22), once these three were in the fire, God protected them even from the smell of smoke by sending His Angel to help them, 3:23-27.
    3. Nebuchadnezzar then summoned the three out from the furnace and acknowledged their God as superior to all gods and elevated them in authority in the province of Babylon, Daniel 3:28-30.
Application: If facing strong INFLUENCE to COMPROMISE God's Word, we must ALWAYS opt to OBEY SCRIPTURE whether our PEER group or governmental ruler(s) or EVEN ALLEGED GODLY EXAMPLES err! Yet, to DO so, like Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego, we must (1) decide to heed God (Dan. 1:8, 11); for US, this involves (a) trusting Christ for salvation from sin (Acts 17:29-31) and (b) obeying His Word in life, 1 Jn. 2:3-6. (2) Once we are thus justified, we can rely on God's indwelling Holy Spirit for the COURAGE to STAND in full obedience to SCRIPTURE, 2 Tim. 1:6-7; Gal. 5:16-23.

Lesson: Regardless of the INFLUENTIAL pressure to conform, it is ALWAYS profitable NOT to COMPROMISE GOD'S WORD as GOD is GREATER THAN the INFLUENCE, and our final end depends on Him! >

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

 In response to the questions raised in our introduction, we say:

(1) We should hold to Christian morals and view abortion on demand as SIN instead of following the compromise of the U. S. Supreme Court in its shift from relying on Biblical Christian morals in its 1892 decision to use pagan ones in its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

(2) We should hold to pure creationism to defend the Christian faith instead of following the compromise of Promise Keepers in supporting theistic evolution that even atheists note subverts our faith.



The VALUE of not uncompromising our stands on God's Word is found in considering the contrasting RESULTS of the choice king Zedekiah [in our sermon] would have made to COMPROMISE versus the choice of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego not to do so:

(a) Zedekiah is presented in Jeremiah's prophecy as one who recognized Jeremiah was a prophet of God, but who lacked the faith in God to be willing to heed him, Z.P.E.B., vol. Five, p. 1048.

When the Babylonians were about to attack Jerusalem, Jeremiah warned Zedekiah to surrender to them and he would be well treated, Jeremiah 38:17. Yet, Jeremiah warned that failure to surrender would result in Zedekiah's capture and mistreatment, Jeremiah 38:18.

Zedekiah typically failed to trust God's protective power, and fearing the political backlash of Jews in the Babylonian Captivity were he to surrender, compromised by fleeing from Jerusalem. True to Jeremiah's word, he was captured, saw his sons executed, and was blinded and taken to Babylon, Jeremiah 38:19; 39:1-7.

(b) Conversely, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who stood their ground against Babylon's Nebuchadnezzar in obedience to God's Word lived to see Nebuchadnezzar ELEVATE them to prosperous positions of leadership in the province of Babylon!

Thus, Judah's COMPROMISING king ended up maimed and dishonored with no influence in Babylon where Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego ended up RULING the province of Babylon where Zedekiah was captive in infamy, and they PROSPERED in it all because they chose NOT to compromise obeying God's Word!