For example, we call football, baseball, basketball, and hockey players, sportsmen, but the only problem is that many of these fellows do not know the first thing about sportsmanship.
We are constantly hearing about the terrible role models they are to the youth of the world.
The decent people of this world should demand that they set better role models before the youth, or they will place PRINCIPLES above ENTERTAINMENT and start boycotting the games.
The world today needs some role models. We need some godly men and women that we can point to, with our children beside us, and say, “There goes a godly man, or a godly woman, and when you grow up I hope you will become just like them!”
During the day of Nebuchadnezzar they had some wonderful role models.
They had three men called, Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego. They were excellent role models for any young person to follow, THEN and NOW.
These THREE young men had THREE things that we do not see a lot of these days, they had COURAGE, CHARACTER and COMMITMENT.
When you really want to see what a man or woman is made of, examine them during the difficult times of life, and their life will reflect whether or not they are what they claim to be.
They faced overwhelming situations in life. But when they faced these overwhelming situations in their lives, they knew exactly what to do.
• They did not turn to the medicine cabinet to find the Prosac, they turned to God.
• If they had been like many today, they would have been walking around scratching their heads, and worrying out loud, saying, “WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO!”
They knew what to do when Nebuchadnezzar gave the order for them to bow to his god.
They said, "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, 0 king. But if not, be it known unto thee, 0 king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.”
Now you have to admire them for telling the King that they knew their God could deliver them, but you cannot help but cringe when they said, “BUT IF NOT, be it known unto thee, 0 king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.”
In other words, they were saying, “King, regardless of how this turns out, we are not going to bow to your gods!”
These young men spoke with such courage and conviction, you can’t help but admire the stand they took. They faced obstacles that placed their lives on the line.
Today, we can be thankful unto the Lord that we do not face such obstacles as they had to face. The obstacles we face seem very small when compared to what they had to face.
For example:
• Today, perhaps we may have to face the obstacle of an employer that is trying to force us to desecrate God’s day, by forcing us to work on Sunday, or lose our job.
• Today, we may face the obstacle of having to make a choice of lying and cheating on a job in order to gain a promotion, or being left at the same job level.
But in our society, we don’t know the first thing about sacrifice, when you compare what they went through with what we go through.
Now we can take the cop-out approach that many have chosen to take, and say, “God would not require me to do such a thing!” Really, where do you find that kind of teaching in the Bible?
Shadach, Meshack, and Abednego could have taken the attitude that God would not require them to have to take a stand that would have them cast into a fiery furnace. But instead, they recognized that there are times when God might require the ultimate sacrifice. We may have to lay our life down for Him.
Listen, dedicated men and women through the centuries could have escaped the horrible deaths they had to face, if they had only been willing to renounce what they believed. But they refused to BOW to the ungodly, and had to pay the ultimate price of serving the Lord.
WHAT A TREMENDOUS SACRIFICE MANY HAVE MADE FOR THE LORD!
Today people call it a sacrifice during the Lenten season:
• If they go a month without chewing gum
• If they go a month without drinking a Pepsi
• If they go a month without cursing
These things are what many today call a sacrifice.
We live in a society that does not know what a real sacrifice is. Everybody keeps asking what is wrong with the youth today.
Illus: One of the things that is wrong with the youth today, is that they grew up in a society in America where all they have ever known is PEACE and PROSPERITY. They do not know the first thing about sacrifice.
All they know is that they can have almost anything they want for the asking. The schools today do not teach them the sacrifice our forefathers made, that cost them their lives for our freedom.
Parents have not had the wisdom to teach them:
• They need to work for what they get
• They need to take care of what they have
• They need to respect what others have worked hard to get
We have raised a generation that could be classified as the throw-a-way generation! That is:
• If the boss tries to make you do your job, throw that job away and get yourself another one
• If you have a problem at the church, throw that church away and find yourself another one
• If you have a problem in your marriage, throw that marriage away and find someone else
We have raised a generation on hedonism. And the schools, colleges, and the churches, are catering to this need.
But what we need today in our society, is to raise some young men like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who knew a great deal about COURAGE, CHARACTER and COMMITMENT.
Since this is an age of compromise, you cannot help but admire these three men who were willing to die for what they believed in.
There used to be a television program called Mr. “T”. The star was a black fellow that had a Mohawk haircut, and was known for his toughness.
In our text, we can see three different kinds of Mr. “T's.” He became a role model for many of the children of this nation.
Let me show you, very quickly, three “Mr. T’s”. I hope no one will want to follow the first one. I hope everyone will follow the example of the second two.
I. THE FIRST MR. “T” IS MR. TATTLER
Look at Daniel 3:8-12, we read, “Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and accused the Jews. They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live for ever. Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image: And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.”
Notice, there were several “Mr. Tattlers”.
There is always a crowd of tattlers who are willing to go behind the back of the godly, and tattle, and distort the facts, and do everything they can to make the godly look bad.
That is exactly what these tattlers did. They went to the king, and said that some of the Jews had broken the king's law.
They were trying to make it look like it was a personal attack against the king. AND IT WORKED!
Look at verse 12, we read, “There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.”
WHY WOULD THEY DO SUCH A THING? It could have been because they were jealous of these three young men.
Generally, when people are trying to put someone down, it is because they are jealous of them. And when they tattle on the person they are jealous of, they make them look as bad as they can make them look.
They did their best to get the king upset with them. Notice, they said, these men, “O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.”
They are pushing all the hot buttons, trying to make the king angry at them, and hoping he would take action against them.
Some people DO NOT HAVE the courage to face people, so they go behind their backs and say things, trying to get others to do their dirty work for them.
They were probably hoping King Nebuchadnezzar would turn to them and say, “Since you fellows care so much about me and my kingdom, I will give you their jobs to rule in their place.”
We do not know for sure why these fellows went behind their backs, trying to get them in trouble, but you can almost rest assured it had something to do with the fact they were jealous of them.
As already stated, some folks have the idea that if they can make someone look bad, it makes them look good.
Illus: But some folks are so rotten to the core, that you could place them beside a pig and still they would not look good.
They did not have the courage to stand for what the God of heaven required, so these spineless rascals did what they were capable of doing, they tried to make the ones who had the courage look bad, so that perhaps they could get their positions.
These were the “Mr. Tattlers”, and I hope no one here would look up to these as role models to pattern their life after.
II. THE SECOND MR. “T” IS MR. TESTIFIER
Now we come to some role models to pattern your life after. The role models are these three young men that testified for what they believe in.
Look at verse 16, we read, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.”
These young men were not bashful about what they believed in. These three young men had COURAGE.
In other words, they were saying, “King Nebuchadnezzar, concerning the matter of our compromising to please you, that is not even up for discussion. That matter is settled with us.”
They knew what God’s Word said about bowing down to other gods, and as far as they were concerned, it was not up for debate.
If they were living in our age, they would be referred to as the “Religious Right”, or the “Fighting Fundamentalist” group that is out of step with society.
Listen, there is nothing wrong with being out of step with society. Why? Because the Bible teaches that the road to Hell is wide, and many there be that go that way.
All you have to do to be IN STEP with sinful society, is to be in opposition to everything this Bible teaches. God has always wanted young men like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, to take a stand for what the Word of God teaches.
There are things in this country that we are facing, such as HOMOSEXUALITY, ABORTION, ERA, EVOLUTION, and HEDONISM, and the Bible is clear that we must take a stand on these issues.
• Those who love God today, who take a stand against these gods that many in this society worship and serve, should not be bashful in the slightest about what the Word of God teaches.
• Once we take a stand against these things, and refuse to bow to their gods, we had better be prepared to take the heat.
For example, Dr. Laura Schlesinger, on her radio talk show, commented in a negative way about homosexuality, and they are promoting a national movement of opposition, doing everything they can to stop her from going on television, to keep her from saying any more about their perverted lifestyle.
They will do anything to make it as hot for us as they can, because they do not want anybody’s view point to be expressed but their own.
But God is looking for dedicated Christian men and women who will take a stand for what this Bible teaches. God is looking for some Mr. Testifiers, who will not be bashful in expressing what this Bible teaches.
Listen, if anyone ought to be ashamed, it is the Devil’s crowd, not God’s people who believe what God’s Word teaches.
III. THE THIRD “MR. T” IS MR. TURNABOUT
These three fellows who took a stand for the Lord, must have been thrilled. That is:
• Only a short time before this, they had to stand before King Nebuchadnezzar, and take a stand for God almighty.
• Only a short time before this, they were being plotted against by those who most likely were jealous of them.
• It looked like the God that they had placed their trust in was going to let them burn.
• But God USED THEM TO TURN EVERYTHING AROUND, and the people who tried to throw them in the fire, WERE THE ONES WHO GOT BURNED!
Look at verse 22, we read, “…The flames of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.”
• Later, Nebuchadnezzar lost his mind, and thought he was an animal.
Look at Daniel 4:33, “The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws.”
God did take care of them through the heat of the situation. Later, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego got a promotion. Look at verse 30, we read, “Then the King promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego…”
The ungodly can set out to destroy us, but if we stand for our Bible convictions, God can use us to turn things around. And they will be the ones who will get burned.
Conclusion:
Illus: A manager of a store was as crooked as a snake. He was ripping the store off for large sums of money by stealing merchandise. The assistant manager was a godly man, and he knew what was going on. The assistant manager went to him personally on several occasions, and tried to warn him. He continued to do what he was doing, and began to make things hot for the assistant manager, and threatened that he might lose his job. Men from corporate headquarters began to investigate, because the loss was becoming so great. The manager came to the assistant manager and wanted him to lie, and back his story that the merchandise missing was from shoplifters. But the assistant manager would not lie for him, and the manager lost his job and faced criminal charges. They took the assistant manager and placed him as the manager of the store, once they saw that he was an honest man.
God has a way of taking people and using them to turn things around.
Perhaps today you are facing something in your life. Someone is out to destroy you. Stand for what is right, and God will use you to turn things around.
When Nebuchadnezzar saw the integrity of these three men, we read in verse 30, “Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.”
WHEN DID GOD PROMOTE THEM? After God used them to TURN everything around, after they took a stand for what pleased the Lord.
Which Mr. “T” are you?
I. MR. TATTLER
II. MR. TESTIFIER
III. MR. TURNABOUT
