LITURGICAL OPENING — PSALM 34:1-8
• I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
• My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.
• O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.
• I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
• They looked unto Him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.
• This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
• The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.
• O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
(Psalm 34:1-8)
GREETING
Good Morning ... and too, God be the Glory!
I greet you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ. And there is a Word from the LORD ...
So let us turn our hearts and our Bibles to the book of Daniel ... chapter 3, beginning at verse 10 ... and then to First Corinthians ... chapter 9, beginning at verse 24.
SCRIPTURE READING — DANIEL 3:10-18; 1 CORINTHIANS 9:24-25 (KJV)
(Dan 3:12) 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.
(3:15) If ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?
(3:16) Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
(3:17) 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.
(3:18) 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.
(1 Cor 9:24) Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
(9:25) And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
NEIGHBOR TURN
Turn to your neighbor and say ... Neighbor — BUT IF NOT ... I STILL WON'T BOW.
You may be seated ...
PRAYER
Father ... the task of teaching Your Word is once again in my keeping. I commit myself to do the very best that I can. Speak to me ... that I may speak for You. Right now, Lord ... remove self. Remove pride. Hide me behind Your cross. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight. This is my prayer. Amen.
INTRODUCTION
We have covered culture, communication, collaboration, and the peace only Christ provides. This week we come to the pillar that holds everything else up ... PERSEVERANCE.
The culture, the communication, and the collaboration will all be tested. And the question that determines whether your culture survives the test is the perseverance question: Will you hold when the fire comes?
And the fire WILL come. Not might come. The furnace will be heated seven times hotter than normal. And everybody around you will be watching to see ... will you bow?
Point 1 — The Pressure to Bow
Point 2 — The Posture of the Persevering
Point 3 — Run to Win
POINT 1 — THE PRESSURE TO BOW
Daniel 3:10-15
Nebuchadnezzar was the most powerful ruler on earth. When the music played ... every person in the province was expected to fall down and worship. On pain of death.
And the music plays. And everybody falls. And three men are still standing.
The Hebrew word for "worship" here is SEGID — seg-eed — to fall prostrate, to bow down in complete submission.
(Hebrew: segid — seg-eed — to bow down in complete submission, to prostrate oneself in worship)
The king is saying: SEGID. Submit. Comply. Surrender your identity, your convictions, your God ... to what the majority demands.
The pressure to bow today does not always come with a fiery furnace. Sometimes it comes with a budget cut. Sometimes it comes with a vote. Sometimes it comes with the threat of removal. Sometimes it comes with the whisper: "Why are you making this so difficult? Everybody else is going along with it."
The pressure to bow is real. And it is relentless. And only perseverance will hold you upright.
THAT is the pressure to bow. (Repeat)
POINT 2 — THE POSTURE OF THE PERSEVERING
Daniel 3:16-18 — "We are not careful to answer thee..."
Verse 16: "We are not careful to answer thee in this matter."
The Aramaic phrase for "not careful" means: we have no need to deliberate. We have already settled the issue before the public pressure came. The decision was made in the prayer closet ... not in the king's court.
(Aramaic: la hashcahin — we do not need to deliberate; expressing confident certainty requiring no extended consideration)
This is what separates the persevering from the quitting. The quitters make their decisions under pressure. The persevering have already made theirs before the pressure arrives.
Verse 17: "Our God whom we serve IS ABLE to deliver us." Not might be able. IS ABLE. Present tense. Settled conviction.
And then verse 18 — the most extraordinary verse in the passage ...
"BUT IF NOT ... be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods."
Three words that define perseverance. They are not doubting God. They are saying: even if God does not intervene in the way we expect ... WE WILL NOT BOW.
THAT is the posture of the persevering. (Repeat)
POINT 3 — RUN TO WIN
1 Corinthians 9:24-25
Paul gives us a second picture of perseverance using the language of athletics.
"So run, that ye may obtain."
The Greek word for "run" here is TRECHO — treh-kho — to run with exertion, to press forward, to make progress by effort.
(Greek: trecho — treh-kho — to run with exertion, to press forward toward a goal with sustained effort)
Paul is not talking about a casual jog. He is talking about running to WIN.
Verse 25 adds the ingredient that makes winning possible: "Every man that striveth for the mastery is TEMPERATE in all things."
The Greek word for "temperate" is EGKRATEUOMAI — eng-krat-yoo-om-ahee — self-controlled, disciplined, regulated from within.
(Greek: egkrateuomai — eng-krat-yoo-om-ahee — to exercise self-control, to be disciplined and regulated from the inside)
Perseverance is not just about refusing to quit. It is about running with discipline. Taking care of your spiritual life, your prayer life, your character ... so that when the furnace is heated seven times hotter ... you have something to stand on.
Nehemiah understood this. When the workers were exhausted and the enemies were threatening and half of his team wanted to quit ... Nehemiah said in chapter 4:14: "Remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses."
He did not say the work was easy. He said: REMEMBER THE LORD ... and keep building.
Run to win. Not just to finish. Not just to survive. TO WIN. (Repeat)
THE CLOSE
Somebody in here is tired. You have been in the fire for a long time. You have been standing when everybody else was bowing. You have been building when everybody else was backing up. And you are tired.
And the enemy is whispering: "Just bow. Just this once. It's not worth it. Nobody is watching."
I came to tell you ... SOMEBODY IS WATCHING.
The God who set a fourth man in the fire with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego ... He is watching. And He has not left you in the fire alone.
Because verse 25 of Daniel 3 says Nebuchadnezzar looked into the furnace and said: "Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? 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."
HE IS IN THE FIRE WITH YOU. (Repeat)
You persevered. And He showed up. You held the culture. You held the standard. You held the line. And He joined you in the furnace.
DON'T BOW.
DON'T QUIT.
BUT IF NOT — HOLD YOUR GROUND.
HE IS IN THE FIRE WITH YOU. (Repeat)
ALTAR CALL
Every head bowed ... every eye closed ...
The Bible says in Romans 10:9-10: "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
Come down this aisle ... give me your hand ... and give God your heart.
BENEDICTION
I want you to leave with this settled in your spirit: "I have made my decision before the pressure came. And my answer today is the same as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: But if not — I will not bow."
Now may the God of all grace ... who called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus ... make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, and settle you. Amen.
— Rev. Kelvin L. Parks, M.A. | C3PT Kingdom Culture Ministries | c3ptexecutivesolutions.com
