He's Still God
Daniel 3:17-18
1 Chronicles 16:25 (says) "For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised: he also is to be feared above all gods." - The Lord IS great and He IS worthy to be praised. But this does not just apply when things are good. Many times we are guilty of praising the Lord when things are going our way. Too often we are quick to blame Him when things are going wrong. He is worthy to be praised in the good times AND in the bad. He is worthy of praise on the mountaintop and in the valley. We are to praise Him in the midst of the storm and in times of peace.
Sometimes we pray and God answers those prayers the way that we would choose. Other times we pray and God answers but the answer is the opposite of what we would want. I am here to tell you that even in those times HE IS STILL GOD! When we join together and pray for a child that is in the hospital and God moves in a mighty way and that child receives a miracle and is healed it is easy to join together and praise the Lord. Then there are times when we join together and pray for a man who has been sick for years and in and out of the hospital for months and even with fervent prayer that man passes away. Does this mean that God did not hear our prayer? Did God let us down? Is God any less worthy of our praise? Absolutely not! God is sovereign and He knows what is best. Even in a situation like that... HE IS STILL GOD!
We are living in increasingly difficult days... especially for the born again Christian. We are headed for oppression, opposition and persecution like we have never seen before. Even though things may be bad and getting worse, we can face the future with hope. How can we have hope? Because no matter what we may face, nothing can change the fact that God is still God!
Troublesome times for God's people is nothing new. One of the most well known examples of God's people facing persecution is the story of the 3 Hebrew Children. I would like to look at this very familiar passage of scripture and preach on the fact that no matter what God's children may face... "He's Still God". The first thing that we will see from their story is that:
I. Though The Government Denies Him...He's Still God
King Nebuchadnezzar erected a gold statue in Babylon. He sent word to his subordinates to come to the dedication of this idol. The princes, governors, captains, judges, treasurers, counselors, sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces gathered together before the image of gold. It was demanded that when the music was played that all would bow and worship this 90ft statue. The King also warned that any who refused to bow and worship the idol would be bound and cast into a furnace of fire.
Nebuchadnezzar was not the first ruler to set up a false idol and he won't be the last. Our current government has not set up an image of gold, but there is an attempt by many of our leaders to deny God. Secularism, humanism, and atheism are on the rise in America. In recent decades our leaders have attempted to ban God from every area of our society. They have taken prayer and the bible out of our schools. They have banned the 10 Commandments from our courthouses. They have endorsed immorality. They have legalized the murder of babies in the mother's womb. They have attempted to redefine marriage. In almost every budget, every bill, every law that is passed the Legislative, judicial and executive branches of our government make it clear that God is not welcome in our country. (Let us not put all of the blame on the politicians, we are the one who keep electing them!)
When you look at where we are as a country it is apparent that we are headed for some dark days in America. Just look at the current frontrunners for the Democrat and Republican presidential nomination. If you expect either one of them to bring real positive change, if you expect either one of them to seek God's direction as they lead our country for the next 4 years I am afraid you are going to be very disappointed! But if you are truly born again there is no need to fear! We are citizens of another country! And our King cannot be defeated or dethroned!
Nebuchadnezzar denied the One True God and instituted false worship. But this did not change the fact that God was still God! Regardless of what the future hold for America...HE'S STILL GOD!!! It is easy (and justified) to complain about the fact that the government denies God, but it is not just those in high places who deny God.
I would also like to examine the fact that:
II. Though The World Rejects Him... He's Still God - v7 Therefore at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of musick, all the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
The King issued the decree and the people bowed and worshiped the image of gold. For many who were present it was no issue at all for them to obey the command. The pagans had no convictions they simply did what they were told with no fear of the consequences.
The majority of people in our day could care less that our culture is growing increasingly immoral. They do not care that Jesus is blasphemed and God is expelled from our society. They have no motivation to take a stand when our freedoms are taken away. They are quick to call us bigots and judgmental when we take a stand for Christ. They reject the Gospel and they reject Christ. As a result they will mock, scorn and persecute those who follow Him.
This was the case for the 3 Hebrew Children. Even though the majority of the people bowed and worshipped the idol, this did not change the fact that God was still God! And we can rest in the fact that even though the majority may reject Him, this does not change the fact that HE IS STILL GOD! In this vast multitude that worshipped the golden idol, there were only 3 who took a stand for God. Things are no different today. Though there may be many who profess to follow Christ, there are very few who will take a stand!
- This leads us to the third point I would like to consider:
III. Though His Followers May Forsake Him... He's Still God
Nebuchadnezzar had gone to Jerusalem and besieged it. He ordered his chief of staff, to bring some of the young men of Judah’s royal family and other noble families, to his palace as captives. Four of these men of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. They were renamed them with the Babylonian names Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Though we know four of the men who were captured and enslaved, it seems that there were others. It is very possible that in this crowd of people worshipping this idol that there were some who had previously professed to follow the True God. If this was the case, then there were some present who compromised their beliefs.
In our day their are constant attacks on Christ and there are many who profess to follow Him who remain silent. There are multitudes of people in churches as we speak who refuse to take a stand for what is right. There are countless others who have compromised and abandoned their beliefs and convictions.
Just a few weeks ago Georgia Governor Nathan Deal vetoed House Bill 757. This was a bill that shielded Pastors legal consequences when refusing to perform same sex marriages. It also protected churches and faith based organizations from having to hire church personnel or renting church property in any instance where such acts would be contrary to their religious beliefs. Coca Cola, Disney, Home Depot and other large corporations vowed that there would be severe financial consequences if this bill were passed. Deal, a professing Baptist compromised, he gave into the fear created by these corporations and he vetoed that bill. This is just one example of many, where professing Christians have surrendered to political pressure and forsaken their God.
Today the church is not much different than the world. People claim one thing and do another. And when Christ is attacked...they sit back and do nothing. Some bow and worship Christ on Sunday and then worship themselves, material goods and the world the rest of the week. My friend it doesn't work this way. You are either with Jesus or against Him. He said Himself - Luke 16:13 No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
You have a choice to make. Are you going to take a stand or will you bow and compromise? That is the choice that the 3 Hebrew Children had to make. And their choice was not an easy one. Keep in mind, we know this story from here looking back. We know how things turned out. These men had no idea what was coming their way. But they remained faithful in the face of intense persecution.
- We can be assured that when we face persecution we can be faithful and courageous. Verses 8-28 prove to us that:
IV. Though Troubles Come To Those Who Follow Him... He's Still God
After the proclamation was made that everyone was to bow, Shadrack, Meshach and Abednego refused to bow. Some of the people went to the King and informed him of this. Nebuchadnezzar became furious and demanded that these 3 Hebrews be brought before him. He asked them if what he had heard was true. Then he gave them another opportunity to compromise and fall in line with the others. But he warned them that if they refused they would be through into the fiery furnace. These men respectfully addressed their king. They told him that they would never bow and worship the golden image. Furthermore they proclaimed that their God (the only TRUE God) had the power to deliver them from the furnace.
Notice what they said in verse 17-18 - "If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up."
Did you catch what they said? They proclaimed that God had the power to deliver them, but even if He didn't they still would not bow. These men were not fair-weather followers. They didn't just follow God when things were easy and going their way. They were willing to follow God even if it cost them their life. But what I want you to take away from this is the confidence that they had in their God. They knew that no matter the outcome, GOD WAS STILL GOD!!
They had no knowledge of the future. They had not been promised that they would not suffer and die in the fire. They just trusted that God was sovereign and refused to bow to another! We know the outcome of this story. Through God's Word we are told that They indeed were cast into the fire. Nebuchadnezzar commanded that the furnace be heated 7 times hotter than usual. It was so hot that the men who cast them into the furnace were consumed by the flames. Nebuchadnezzar looked into the fire and saw the men were unharmed.
Look with me to verse - 24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. 25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
The men were released from the furnace and not a hair on their head was singed. Their clothes were not burnt. They didn't even smell like smoke. The only thing that had burned up was the ropes that had them bound. This is one of those stories in the Bible that is simply amazing. But can I tell you something? If these men had of died in the flames that day.... it still would not change the fact that God was still God!!
My friend nothing can change that fact! You may be facing a time of uncertainty. You may be in the midst of a fiery trial like you have never experienced before. You may encounter persecution that never expected. Regardless of your circumstances, HE'S STILL GOD!!
I am afraid that in our day we have a generation of weak, shallow water Christians. Those who can praise God in the good times but abandon Him when things are bad.
In times of adversity we often cling to the promise of Romans 8:28. That verse says "we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." - It doesn't day "all things work together the way we had planned." Nor does it say "all things work together the way we would like". It says "all things work together for good".
Sometimes we may not know what good is... but God always does! He is sovereign, He knows what is best and He is in control.
There are few people in history who have suffered as much as a man named Job. Job lost his livestock, his property, his material goods and worst of all his children. In this time of great tragedy Job said "the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." Job realized that no matter how bad things got, GOD WAS STILL GOD!! He didn't blame God, he didn't doubt God, he didn't forsake God... He trusted that God was God!
We can have that same hope and assurance today! When the doctor gives you bad news ...HE'S STILL GOD! When the bank account is empty...HE'S STILL GOD! When you have rebellious children...HE'S STILL GOD! When your marriage is falling apart ...HE'S STILL GOD! When you face unspeakable tragedies ....HE'S STILL GOD! When death has taken a loved one ...HE'S STILL GOD! Though we live in a world of uncertainty ...HE'S STILL GOD
I know that many of you are in the midst of the fire right now. Maybe you question of God is there and if He even cares for you. If so I would encourage you to remember what Peter said in 1 Peter 4:12 ¶Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: 13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
Always remember that He's Still God! Though The Government Denies Him... Though The World Rejects Him... Though His People Forsake Him...Though Trouble Comes To Those Who Follow Him....HE'S STILL GOD!
