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00:03 Okay. Um, children, you may go to Sunday school.
00:08 You don't have to uh stay here and listen to me. All right. Um, let me introduce myself.
00:14 My name is Masimo. I'm I'm one of the pastors here in FBC. Um, and we have
00:20 been going through u a series in the book of Daniel. And um, last week we went through Daniel 4. And today we're
00:27 coming back to uh, Daniel 3. It's just we we had to switch up um a bit. So,
00:32 sorry for that if you guys were confused. How come we went to four and now to three? It's just that we had to do some speaker uh switches uh for that.
00:40 Um um before I start um I I want to put up a picture here. Um
00:45 um I recently graduated um from seminary. Um I I I didn't put it up to
00:52 um to get claps. Um um actually I I I didn't I didn't uh go through the
00:58 convocation aisle yet. That's happening in November. Uh I put this up to um uh remind myself to tell you guys a story
01:04 of one of the subjects I was learning in seminary. And one of the most difficult subjects that I had in seminary was
01:11 spiritual warfare in evangelism. It it was a really tough class. Um why
01:17 it was so difficult is because I had to go out and I had to share the gospel every week with somebody. And uh it was
01:24 a course over 10 days. Um broken over three weeks though. Um so five what like
01:31 three days um a week and we had to go out. We had to share the gospel and uh my lecturer um Chris Abner um he put out
01:39 this verse in the beginning of our class. He put out this verse. He said,
01:44 "Do not be afraid of what you're about to suffer. I tell you, devil will put
01:49 some of you in prison to test you and you will suffer persecution for 10 days.
01:55 Be faithful even to the point of death and I will give you life as your victor's crown. I mean, what a lecture,
02:04 right? 10 days course and he puts on this verse, you will suffer for 10 days.
02:09 Uh it was it was rather scary but but we we we we went through some spiritual warfare. And he says you know you can expect when you go out and share the
02:15 gospel and you do God's work you will have spiritual warfare. But the reason I put this verse up here today I think
02:22 because um it's truly a verse um that
02:27 explains the passage today. I think it captures the essence of what I'm going to speak
02:33 about today. Do not be afraid when you're about to suffer. How do we act in
02:39 the light of furnaces and fires and and suffering? And who do we put our trust in? And to what extent is our faith
02:47 going to go? So um I've changed the title of the message a couple of times and I've uh finally u went to very
02:54 generic one. Lessons passing through the furnace. Three things that or a couple of things that we can learn as we pass
03:00 through the furnace. And we're going to go through the story today in kind of um the plotline of things we can learn. um
03:07 before the furnace, things that we can learn in the furnace, and things that we
03:12 can learn after the furnace. But before we get into this, uh let me start with a word of prayer. Father Lord, we just
03:19 thank you so much that we able to be here. Father, right now, I ask for your grace um that you anoint my lips, that
03:26 you give me a calm heart, that you let me speak boldly your word. And father, I pray for all of us here, Lord, that you
03:34 speak to our hearts, that you transform our minds, and that you change our
03:39 lives. And I pray all this in Jesus name. Amen.
03:44 Um the story and we will start about um what happens before the furnace. The story goes in such a way. We only had an
03:51 an a small portion of the story read out to us. But what happened was there is this king Nebuchadnezzar and he um
03:59 created these idols of gold and he asked everybody to worship them. Um so it was
04:06 a a nation where they tolerated a different kind of religion. So everybody was free to worship their own god as
04:12 long as they also worshiped Nebuchadnezzar's idol. Now he said every
04:17 time the the music plays or um everybody has to fall down. But there were three guys uh the three Hebrew guys, the three
04:24 Jewish guys who who refused to bow down and worship the idol. Now it was very
04:32 easy for them at the beginning because nobody was there. Nobody noticed. So so they would they they could just not
04:37 worship. They didn't make a big deal about it. They didn't go about and say protest. They didn't protest. We need to
04:43 be able to wor not worship your God. No, they were quiet. But something happened. Um there were
04:48 people who were jealous of them and kind of told on them. And that's where the story picks up because they were jealous
04:55 of those three guys and u they said hey here are three guys who are not following your law king.
05:02 They're not worshiping the idols that you have made. you know, and and the reaction of them
05:08 is is very interesting because, you know, when when when when laws are made and and luckily we live in a country
05:13 where we are still able to worship our gods the way we want to, our God the way we want to. And um but when laws are made and they're far and distant, it
05:19 doesn't really touch us. But when something really gets personal, then our faith is tested, right? When something
05:25 affects us directly, when people tell on us, when when things get personal with us. And and these three guys, they had
05:31 the choice to to maybe um worship the idol or not worship the idol. And they
05:38 they could have thought of many different excuses why it would be okay suddenly to worship the idol. There
05:43 could be couple of excuses they could have given. They could have used situational ethics. You know, sometimes
05:48 we use situational ethics to uh justify us not obeying God's word. They could
05:54 have said, "Well, I believe that God is good and I I I don't believe that that God wants me to die."
06:02 So, in this situation, I think it should be okay if I just bow down in front of the idols and worship the idols because,
06:08 you know, in this situation, the ethics uh the morals, they change.
06:14 Now, they could have used something else. They could have used culture. They're saying, "Well, in this culture
06:20 that we are in, in this Babylonian culture, it's it's custom to worship different gods. They're not going to
06:25 understand us. They're not going to understand why we don't want to worship. They don't understand our law. So maybe
06:31 we can just, you know, bow down and worship this god because culture is different."
06:37 Or they could have used the excuse of forgiveness. Well, God is a good God. Now, God is going to forgive us, right?
06:43 I mean if you just bow down once or once in a while and and worship the idols and then then God is truly going to forgive
06:50 us or they can use silent protest say it is just my body that bows down but in my
06:58 heart I'm not worshiping those idols. They could have used any of those
07:04 excuses. You know we use those excuses a lot. you
07:09 know, for example, situational ethics. Maybe when it comes to, you know, when we get pulled over by the police,
07:16 saying, "In this situation, I think it's okay for me to bribe."
07:22 Or culture, you know, in in Malaysia, we we have a culture of of watching pirated DVDs. You
07:30 know, people are not going to understand why I want to buy an original. So, maybe in this culture, it's okay for me to not
07:36 worship in the right way. or forgiveness.
07:41 You know, when it comes to maybe watching pornography, we think, oh, maybe in this area, you know, God will
07:47 forgive me because he's a good God. Or situational ethics. Maybe maybe in our workplaces, we we see our bosses and
07:55 they are behaving in such a way in in in ways that do not honor God and we use
08:00 silent protest. you know, we we will not engage in bribery and you know, we won't do it
08:06 even though we see done somewhere else. So, we use a lot of these excuses a lot
08:12 of time when it comes to obeying God's laws. But those three, they did not use
08:18 any of those excuses. They they had strong faith. All right?
08:23 They believed in their God. And it's it's really a matter of faith, is it
08:28 not? The problem is that in the world that we live in right now, faith has been made
08:36 strange. We we do not have what we have, what we know as biblical faith anymore.
08:42 And maybe it's because of all the TV shows and that we watch. Maybe the voice, you know, when people just say,
08:47 you know, if I really believe, then this chair will turn for me. Oh, American
08:53 Idol even though it's over. You know, people say if I really have faith, if I if I really believe then this golden ticket to Hollywood will come for me.
09:01 No, we always believe that that that faith has been reduced to to something. We say if you have lots of it, the
09:06 desires of your heart will be given to you or you have the right quality of it,
09:12 then the desires of the heart will be given to you. See, it's been reduced to
09:17 something of quality and quantity. And I I would like to put forward a case that faith is not about quality and faith is
09:24 not about quantity. See many of us believe that if I can just muster up must up a lots of faith.
09:31 If I just have this this feeling and belief of faith in me right now then then God will surely deliver me and he
09:37 will give me the things that I want. You know it's it's it's more like
09:42 witchcraft. Know we think we take a a sprinkle of optimism. you know, God will
09:48 do this. And we take a a sprinkle of praise and a sprinkle of prayer and we put it into a a whole pot of human
09:55 desire and we'll we'll cook up this concoction which come up with a potion that will will make God do what we want
10:01 him to do. Or maybe we think it's it's it's it's quality. You know, if I if I just do the
10:08 things that God wants me to do, if my if my faith is righteous faith, you know, we we believe that we must have
10:13 righteous faith. faith that pleases God. If I if I want things that seem to be in
10:20 line with scripture, then God must surely deliver me. Right? If if I if if my faith rubs God
10:26 the right way, then this genie will deliver what I
10:31 want. Faith has been reduced to to quality and
10:37 and quantity. And that's not biblical faith. It's not about quality and it's
10:42 not about quantity. We we cannot control a sovereign God.
10:48 It's not a computer game where you sit down and you you level up, you know, this is, you know, good faith, this is
10:53 great faith, and then after you pray a lot, then you've got the God controlling faith.
10:58 You know, it it it doesn't work that way. We can't must up and and we can't we can't direct our faith because we
11:04 don't truly know what God's plans are. We don't have the insight. We don't know.
11:11 So then what is good faith? Well, faith is all about trusting in a sovereign
11:18 God. It's not trusting in an outcome. It's not believing that when I must have enough faith, things will happen my way
11:24 or when I or when I acquire lots of the faith, things will happen my way. It's
11:30 about putting your faith in a person. It's not trusting in an outcome. It's
11:37 trusting in a person who determines the outcome. I think Brian Chapel uh says it
11:43 best and I'll come over here and read it. And it says, "Biblical faith is not confidence in particular outcomes. It is
11:50 confidence in a sovereign God. We trust that he knows what we cannot discern, plans what we cannot anticipate, and
11:57 secures our eternity in ways beyond our fathoming. Our trust is not in the
12:02 quantity or quality of our beliefs. Our trust in God is not built on insight we
12:07 possess or wishes we manufacture. The Bible does not teach us to look inward to discern what we should be trusting.
12:15 Faith is not confidence in our belief but confidence in our God. Any other
12:21 perspective will ultimately harm our faith. How may it harm our faith? Well,
12:28 if we believe that if we muster up enough faith, God will give us the desire that we want, that means that
12:35 weeping, crying, being disappointed or angry is sin. Because it will just show
12:43 how lack what a lack of faith you have. Because if you truly had right faith,
12:49 God would have given you the desires and you wouldn't be crying and you wouldn't be upset and you wouldn't be angry. So
12:56 if you have any of those expressions in your life, it would show that you have sinned, you have not mustered up enough
13:02 faith or you have not mustered up the right quality of faith. You see, believing that if you must up
13:08 enough faith will will leave you disappointed because if things don't happen, it means
13:14 two things. Either your faith is not good enough or God is not good enough.
13:21 And when things happen your way, you probably believe that it's because of your faith.
13:27 and we diminish God's role in the area. See those three,
13:34 they believed in God. And how do we know that? What was their response? What did they say? It is surely our God is able
13:41 to deliver us. But even if he doesn't,
13:47 we will not worship your gods. But even if he doesn't,
13:54 a lot of people says, "Oh, faith, faith should have no butts. You must believe, you must be optimistic."
14:02 No, they said, "But even if it doesn't, we will trust him because their faith
14:07 was in a God, not in an outcome." And it reminds us of the words of Job
14:13 when he says, "Though you slay me, yet I will trust you.
14:21 So that's the first thing that we can learn from those three. What is real faith?
14:28 Real faith, strong faith is placing our trust in a sovereign God. Regardless of
14:35 the circumstances that we're in, regardless of the outcomes, we put it in a maker and a sovereign God who
14:42 determines the outcomes. What is it that we can learn from being
14:50 in the furnace? Well, in the furnace, an amazing thing
14:55 happened, right? What happened was they they refused to bow down and and they were bound up and they were thrown into
15:02 the fiery furnace. Actually, the text says that Nebuchadnezzar heats up the furnace seven times hotter. It means
15:08 just he made as hot as it could possibly be. And when it was as hot as it could possibly be, he he threw them in. and
15:14 and the people who were actually bringing uh the three into the furnace, they were burned up and they died just just because the furnace was so hot. And
15:22 an amazing thing happened in the furnace. God acted in the furnace. And
15:27 how did he act? But Nebuchadnezzar said this. He said, he was astonished and
15:32 rose up in haste and he declared to his counselors, "Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?" And he answered uh
15:39 and he answered and said to the king, "True, O king." He answered and said, "But I see four men unbound walking in
15:45 the midst of the fire, and they are not heard. And the appearance of the fourth is like the son of gods."
15:54 An amazing thing happened. God sends somebody. God sends somebody to be with them in
16:02 the furnace. Now, now the question is, who is that somebody? And immediately all of us want to say it's Jesus.
16:10 But the text says it's an angel and and there's all controversy. Who's that person? You know, who could a
16:15 person be? Ultimately, I think all can agree on one thing. It is God sending
16:21 his presence. That's what's important. It's it's God reliving the theme that
16:27 he's given us from the Old Testament that God is a God who's going to be with us.
16:34 God with us. He sends his messenger. He sends his presence to people who are in the fiery
16:41 furnaces in their lives. The ultimate embodiment of God's
16:48 presence, God with us is Emmanuel. Of course, it is Jesus Christ. You see, in
16:54 this in this text, we see the angel delivering those three and eventually
16:59 delivering them out of the furnace. Of course, we see Jesus coming into our
17:05 lives and delivering us from the furnace of hell.
17:11 And how was Jesus able to do that? How is Jesus able to deliver us from our
17:17 furnace? Because he himself, he himself went into a furnace.
17:24 He went onto the cross. It is through the cross that he delivers us from the furnace.
17:33 You see, he himself was on a cross. And an amazing thing is that when he was on the
17:39 cross, he cried out, "Oh Lord, oh Lord, why have you forsaken me?"
17:46 You see, he was forsaken so that we will not be.
17:54 All the forsaking that we deserve because we are sinful people was was was put onto Jesus.
18:01 So that now we will not be forsaken. So now we can have the presence of God
18:08 in our life because the presence of God was taken away from Jesus on the cross.
18:16 And of course we know that after he died the Holy Spirit came and now the Holy
18:21 Spirit is with us and dwells with us and ministers to us.
18:28 And that's the amazing thing that God meets us in the furnaces of our life that he comes to us and is with us. But
18:34 the great thing is that he's a God who understands cuz he himself was in trouble. He
18:40 himself was in suffering. He understands pain. He himself was man.
18:45 He's not a a high God who doesn't understand. know he's a high priest who can empathize with us,
18:52 who knows how to minister to us cuz he himself was in a furnace.
19:02 It's because of this that we can read scripture and just just it speaks to our
19:08 heart. You see, it says here in in 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, "We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed. Perplexed,
19:15 not even driven to despair, persecuted, but not forsaken, struck down, but not destroyed."
19:22 And the text continues to say, "Why? Why are we that way?" Because of the life and death of Jesus.
19:30 Because he ministers to us. He meets us in the furnace. And and many of you guys
19:36 can testify to that. that it was in the the troubled times in your life that you really experience the
19:44 presence of God. You know, every time we are we are in trouble, every time we in pain, what's the first thing we do? We
19:49 get on our knees and we pray. Prayer brings us into the presence of God. Now, Jesus can meet us there. And
19:56 if you're here today and you do not know Christ, let me let me encourage you. Let me tell you this. Even you can meet Jesus in the furnaces
20:03 of your life. You see, my whole family, we we all got
20:10 to know Christ in difficult times. Now, um um preachers are always up here
20:16 always talking about their kids. I always talk about my parents. Um uh my mom came the other day and she was like,
20:22 "M, please please get married and have kids and go talk about them."
20:28 Um but I, you know, um but they were they were very kind. and they they they let me speak about them and their
20:33 struggles and their pains and and just to edify uh the church. So I want to
20:38 talk about how how how my family how how different individuals uh in my family got to know Christ and trust me all of
20:44 them were in big furnishry fires. My mom, we were living in China and my
20:50 parents were having marital struggles. And it was in those moments, in those
20:56 fires where where her idols of marriage,
21:01 disappointment probably might had. And when she was going through those
21:07 pains, when those idols were were burned up,
21:12 when those ties that that that tied her to to worship that idol were removed, when she was finally free, when dead,
21:20 when she met Christ, when she looked into scriptures, when
21:25 she realized that her idol was not able to to satisfy, to deliver her the way it needs to, she was finally free to look
21:34 at Christ and he ministered to her in the midst of her fiery furnace.
21:42 My father the same way. It was different for him. For him it was
21:49 in the midst of financial loss. You see I I I grew up not rich. I grew up probably what people would call
21:54 wealthy. Um the difference of a financial loss that my family went through is something
21:59 like uh we had a 12-bedroom villa and driving a Jaguar in Germany
22:05 to a threebedroom um house here, terrace house that we are
22:10 renting and driving a secondhand proton. That's that's that's that's the loss
22:16 that my father went through in 30 to 40 years of working hard and being left with nothing.
22:24 It was in the middle of that loss, in the middle of that struggle, when the idols of career, tales of money and
22:32 wealth and and success were ripped away from him painfully
22:37 that he was able to look at Christ
22:42 and see that minister to him. See, Christ was able to meet him.
22:51 Same for me. You see, I I when I grew up, I thought I was invincible.
22:57 You know, I rich kid gets away with everything. Um did lots of nonsense. Never got
23:04 caught. I was able to maintain my grades somewhat. Right, Mom?
23:13 Somewhat maintain my grades, but I was able to to to to get away with with a lot of things. until I I lost my wife to
23:21 somebody else. I I lost my finance. I lost my car. I lost my job.
23:29 Eventually, I lost my health because of drug addiction. The only thing I gained was drug
23:35 addiction. You know, I I I I was in a fiery phase in my life where where I lost my
23:41 identity. I I I could not look in the mirror and and and I did not like the person I saw anymore. It was in that
23:48 fiery furnace that I met Christ.
23:55 I met Christ there because I I was no longer bound by my idols.
24:01 You know, I before I had a a profile to maintain. People had expectations of me. I had to act in a certain way. I had to
24:08 do certain things. But when I was broken, when I was down,
24:17 I was free to look up and I looked up and I met Christ
24:24 and he ministered to me. One famous preacher once says once said is you only
24:31 realize that Christ is all you need when Christ is all you have.
24:38 It's in the fiery furnaces of our life that we meet Christ, that you can meet
24:45 Christ. I think the words of King David echo to
24:51 me when it says, "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
24:56 I fear no evil, for you are with me."
25:01 God is a God that is with us. He ministers to us in the fiery situations
25:08 of our lives. What can we learn from after the
25:14 furnace? You see, Neb King Nebuchadnezzar was just so amazed um that he he saw the four men and and that
25:22 they were walking around in the in the fire that he called them out. He said, "Come out. Come out of the fire."
25:29 And then he called all all the witnesses to be there. All the ones who who saw that those tree were not worshiping. All
25:37 the ones who saw that they were put into the fire, he called them back and he called those three out of the fire and he said this. Nebuchadnezzar answered
25:43 and said, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Mach, and Abedneo who has sent
25:49 his angel and delivered his servants who trusted him and set aside the king's command and yielded up their bodies
25:56 rather than serve and worship any god except their own god.
26:03 You see, it was amazing whatever happened. The fact that that God ministered to them in the fire, the fact
26:09 that they were willing to give up their bodies, give testimony, give testimony to to the king and
26:16 saying, "Wow, this must be the most high God. This must be the real God. This is
26:21 only one God who can deliver in such a way."
26:27 See, God uses our fin fiery furnace experiences. He uses them for testimony.
26:34 We always put on the pulpit people who who have gone through struggles and see how how God can deliver. And he's truly
26:40 a God who can deliver. He always and it's always the amazing
26:47 thing when we see people who have who had struggles, who had pain, and they made Christ and then they were able to get through that situation.
26:55 Christ, God used the stories all the time. Actually, if you go through Hebrew 11, which is probably the the hallmark
27:01 of faith, right? All the the heroes of amazing stories of faith are mentioned
27:07 probably in Hebrews 11. And they're always stories of
27:13 deliverance. People who went through fiery furnace experiences and then came out of it.
27:21 Let let us read. It says here in Hebrews 11, by faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the but the
27:27 Egyptians when they attempted to do the same were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been
27:34 encircled for seven days. By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient because she had
27:40 given a friendly welcome to the spies. And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barack,
27:48 Samson, Jeeps, of Sa of David and Samuel and the prophets who through faith
27:53 conquered kingdoms and forced justice. Obtained promise, stopped the mouths of lions. That's Daniel. Quenched the power
28:00 of fire. That's today's story. Escaped the edge of the sword. Were made strong
28:06 out of weakness. Became mighty in war. Put foreign armies to flight. Women
28:12 received back their dead by resurrection. It is always through fiery furnace experiences.
28:21 But the truth is this. Those trees faith
28:28 what did it say? It says whether he delivers us
28:34 or not. And reality is
28:41 that some of us fall into the category of not.
28:47 Some of you might say, "M, well, I'm in this fiery furnace right now. I've been in this furnace for years and I'm still
28:53 in it and I have not been delivered. I don't have a testimony.
29:01 I'm still in it." And their faith allowed that, right? It
29:07 says whether he delivers us or not. Well, you must understand Hebrews 11 continues.
29:13 You see, Hebrews 11, the next verse reads this. Some were tortured, refusing
29:18 to accept release so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging and even
29:25 change and imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sworn in two. They were killed with the sword. They went
29:31 about in skins of sheeps and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated. of whom the world was not worthy.
29:41 The world was not worthy of their testimony. Wandering about in deserts and mountains
29:48 and in dens and in caves of the earth. And all these though commended through
29:54 their faith did not receive what was promised since God had provided
30:01 something better for us. You see, we always think of of
30:08 deliverance only getting through the fire as another deliverance. And that's deliverance not for testimony, but
30:15 deliverance for glory. Some of us are be taken to glory.
30:25 Some of us will pass away in the fire.
30:30 And that's a miracle, too. That's a miracle, too. that that God
30:35 through his finished work on the cross can deliver us immediately into his presence cuz that's where we are
30:41 ultimately wanting to be. Right?
30:46 God delivers us in two ways for testimony.
30:52 The other ways for glory.
30:59 You see, when Jesus died on on the cross, he he rose again for what purpose? For testimony,
31:07 and 50 days later, he he rose up into heavens for glory.
31:16 It reminds me of of of the words of of Paul who says, "To live is Christ
31:25 testimony. To die is gain
31:30 glory. So let me speak to some of you who who
31:37 might be in the fiery furnace of your life today.
31:42 The reality is that God is capable. He's able to deliver. God is good. He knows
31:47 best. So So let me preach scripture to you and let me tell you. So do not lose heart
31:54 as your life, your outer life is is is wasting away
31:60 as you're being destroyed. Do not lose heart.
32:06 Christ will meet you and he will renew you day after day
32:13 after day because these momentary light
32:19 afflictions they are producing they are creating
32:25 they making glory for us. We anticipating glory.
32:34 Peter in his book first Peter he says that we we must have joy when suffering
32:40 comes our way because glory is being prepared. So do not lose heart.
32:47 So so do not look at these these these momentary situations that we are in for
32:53 for whatever happens now the things which are seen they are they are transient they are momentary they don't last they will pass but the things which
32:59 are being prepared for you they are eternal. God is preparing you for eternity. He's
33:07 preparing you for glory. God is creating glory in the midst of
33:14 your affliction. Have faith. He will deliver you for testimony today
33:22 or glory forever.
33:28 You know all of us one day will pray a prayer that will not be answered.
33:33 One day all of us will have health issues and he will bring us in to glory.
33:43 Brian Chapel um tells a story of a of a tin miner who at a young age had an
33:52 accident and became an invalid. And as he saw as he was sitting in his
33:59 in his window looking out day after day,
34:04 he saw his co-workers capable working, prospering.
34:12 He looked out and he saw how they they started buying houses and he looked out the window. He started
34:18 them seeing them having children and grandchildren.
34:23 And what he saw in his own life, he saw his body withering away.
34:29 He saw his house crumbling away. He saw his life wasting away.
34:36 And when he was already bedridden, a a young man came to him and asked him, "Old man,
34:44 I heard you have faith in a God. I I heard you believe that that that God
34:50 is good. How can you believe that with all the things that happened in your life? How can you believe that God is
34:56 good, that God loves you? Don't you ever have doubt?
35:03 The old man said, "I do. In fact, many many times Satan sits on
35:11 the edge of the bed where you are sitting now and he points out the window and he
35:18 points to my my co-workers and he points to them and to those
35:24 people who are capable and working and and can do all the things which I cannot do and he points to them and says, "Does
35:30 Jesus love you?" And then he points at the houses that
35:35 they have and he asks again, "Does Jesus love you?"
35:43 Then he points at the grandchild of of one of my friends who has everything
35:50 I want, everything I don't have.
35:55 And he waits. He waits until the the tears drop from my cheek.
36:03 And he says, "Does Jesus love you?"
36:08 So the young man asked the tin miner, "What do you say to Satan when he speaks
36:14 to you in such a way? What what do you say to him?"
36:20 He says, "In that moment, I take Satan by his hand,
36:26 and in my mind, I lead him to a hill
36:31 called Calvary, and I two point.
36:37 I point at the bloody brows. I point at the nailpierced hands and the
36:43 nailpierced feet. I point at a side which is pierced by a
36:52 spear and I ask, "Doesn't Jesus love me?
37:01 Doesn't he love me?"
37:07 See, that man understands that God is good in spite of our circumstances.
37:14 He knows that Christ will meet you in the midst of your pain
37:20 and he's able to give testimony
37:26 even though he's not been delivered
37:32 in the plant. We are um preaching through the gospel of Mark
37:38 and it's very interesting when you read through the gospel of Mark constantly over and over people are
37:44 asking who's that man who's that Jesus and even though they recognize that this
37:50 is Christ in chapter 8 they the disciples still get it wrong they still understand what Jesus has come for what
37:56 his purpose is. only in chapter 15 finally when a
38:02 centurion a Roman soldier looks upon the cross and and the text is amazing what he says when he sees how Jesus died when
38:11 the centurion when the soldier saw how Jesus died he said this is truly the son
38:17 of god Nebuchadnezzar in the same way
38:24 asked who who is that god that's able to deliver he asked asked that question and the 3D
38:30 answered well we are not going to answer that but he answered himself later on in the text
38:35 he answered this is the God most high no other person is able to deliver in such
38:42 a way it is only our God is only Jesus Christ
38:48 that's able to deliver in such a way but you know what the crazy thing is the
38:54 the craziest thing about this whole passage that Nebuchadnezzar recognized
39:00 that this is the Godmost high. He recognized that this is the only God who
39:05 can deliver in such a way. But then he stopped there.
39:11 That's that's crazy. You see in in in a text it says this after this Nebuchadnezzar made a decree. He says,
39:17 "And any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shedrach, Meek, and Abedneo." He he
39:23 recognizes that he's the God most high. He recognizes that he is the only one
39:29 who can deliver in such a way. But he doesn't make it his God.
39:38 He doesn't make God his God. He stops there.
39:47 As I asked the worshiped team to come up,
39:53 let me ask you a question. When you hear the testimony of those
39:60 three today, when you hear that story, when you hear the testimony of of my
40:06 father, my mother, and me, when you hear the story of Jesus who who died on the
40:11 cross for you, when you see how God is able to deliver
40:17 in in the past, in the present, always in the same way
40:23 by by being God with us by taking us through the furnace.
40:31 How will you react? Will you acknowledge that he is the
40:37 Godmost high? That he's the only one that can deliver?
40:43 And will you stop there? Will you stop there?
40:52 What will you do? What will you do today?
40:58 Let me pray. Father Lord, we
41:05 come before you a broken people. Lord, we we all have furnaces and fires
41:12 in our lives, but you say, "Blessed are the poor in spirit.
41:17 Blessed are the meek. Blessed are those who who hunger and thirst for righteousness.
41:25 Father, we don't understand your plans. We don't understand your ways. We do not know your ways. We do not know your
41:30 plans, but we don't have hope, peace, and joy because we know your plans or because we
41:36 know your purposes. We have hope, peace, and joy because we know you,
41:43 our God with us, who is good
41:48 and who's able to deliver. Father, I pray
41:54 that we won't just stop at acknowledging you, but that we come to a life of faith.
42:04 Our prayer is in Jesus name. Amen.
