Faith In The Midst Of The Fire

• Everybody else is doing it … I’ll just go along with the crowd.

• It won’t hurt if I do it just this 1 time.

• What harm will it do … as long as it doesn’t hurt anybody else.

• I’ll do it in secret … no one will know.

• God put me in this position … surely He doesn’t want me to lose it … evil men will take my place.

• How can I be a witness if I turn everybody against me?

• I’ll do it now … and ask forgiveness later.

• I’ll go through the motions, but not really worship God in my heart … God knows my heart.

• When in Rome, do as the Romans.

Have you ever used any of these excuses … to COMPROMISE your faith?

What about:

You and I are pressured every day to COMPROMISE our faith … to make up EXCUSES for not obeying God … to JUSTIFY our disobedience to God.

Everybody is watching these 3 Hebrews … Everybody is watching YOU!

9.- CONFORM – 3:19-23 – They did “fall down” (3:23) … BUT … not before the golden image.

They could have CONFORMED to everybody around them … and do what everybody else was doing. What does the Bible tell us about this?

Romans 12:1-2 – all turn.

The Bible tells us that we ARE to CONFORM … BUT … not to the world…but to the image of God’s Son

Romans 8:29 – “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

The world is trying to shape you into its image … shape you into its mold.

We aren’t to be shaped by OUTSIDE forces … BUT … by the INSIDE force of the Holy Spirit.

Question: Which force will win?

The force that has the most pressure … the greater force.

The more of Christ you allow to control your life, the greater the force to CONFORM to Him.

10.- COMPANIONSHIP - 3:24-25 – Jesus, God the Son, was with them in the fiery furnace.

God didn’t protect them FROM the fire … He protected them IN the fire.

God’s not always going to protect you from trials, troubles and tribulations.

1 Peter 4:12-13 – all turn.

If we are faithful to Him IN the fiery trial, it will be worth it someday when we see Him face to face.

It may not be pleasant in the fiery furnace that we are in, but we can be assured that Jesus is there with us, “walking in the midst of the fire” (3:25).

11.- COMFORTABLE - 3:26-28 – They didn’t even smell like smoke! They probably didn’t want to leave!

Why were these 3 Hebrews COMFORTABLE in the fire? BECAUSE … they were walking with Jesus!

He’s always there to give you COMFORT, strength, hope, and peace in life’s fiery trials.

12.- CREDIT - 3:28-30 – NOTICE who Nebuchadnezzar gives CREDIT to … the God of the 3 Hebrews.

The King promoted them…God honored their faithfulness to Him.

God gets the CREDIT … God gets the glory, when you’re faithful to Him.

Nebuchadnezzar stood in awe at the power and glory of God.

As you walk through the fires, you never know who is looking at you and seeing how you react.

God may have you going through the fire so that others can see Him in the midst of it and give Him the credit

Nebuchednezzar in vs 29 “There is no other god who can rescue like this”