From His Heart

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Today on From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve. Learn to have a faith that is fireproof.

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Listen, I don't know what's going on in your life, but I know God is worthy to be praised and he's worthy to be trusted. And man, when the pressure comes, he'll give you strength. If you say God, I will not bow to those pressures. I'm going for you. I have decided to follow Jesus and there's no turning back. No turning back.

Will you trust him like that? Will you have that kind of faith? That's what it takes in order to have a faith that stands up to the fire. A fireproof faith. Come hell or high water. I'm following you, Lord Jesus, and I'm gonna be faithful until death. In Jesus name, He can heal every.

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Scar with real truth, real love, real hope. From his.

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Are you in a fiery furnace of peer pressure from your family, friends, and just society in general? If we're honest, we are weak in this area because we just want to be liked, don't we? To fit in or maybe just trying to get ahead?

This is From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve. And listen, if you're feeling pressures to conform to ungodly people around you, whether they be coworkers or even relatives, today you'll learn how to stand in the fire and not get burned. You'll learn to be fireproof because of your faithful obedience to God.

Today's message is Fireproof Part 2, and it's from Pastor Jeff's seven-lesson series, how to live the Christian Life in a non-Christian World. You can find out more about how to get this dynamic and timely series when you go online to From His Heart.

Now though, open your Bible to the Book of Daniel, chapter three. Here's Pastor Jeff to continue what we began last time in a lesson called Fireproof.

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Three guys we want to study today: great faith, incredible faith, with so much coming against them. Their names were Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They had faith to stand up to the King. They had faith even to say, "We're not going to bow. And if you throw us in the fiery furnace, then you throw us in the fiery furnace." They had faith that stood up to the fire. Their faith was fireproof.

Now here's our question for today: How can we have a faith like that? How can we follow in the footsteps of those three Hebrew guys? Step number one: first of all, you have to check your heart to make sure your faith is genuine. Second step: make up your mind that disobeying God is not an option. Now for you and me today, what do we need to do? We need to choose to obey, regardless of the pressures.

Regardless of the pressures, you're going to feel pressure to disobey God. You're going to feel pressure to go the way of the world because the world exerts pressure. Now, what are some of the pressures when you talk about pressures to go the way of the world? Pressure from your thoughts—internal pressure. Hey, there's pressure from within. They felt it. You feel it? I feel it. Pressure in your own thoughts.

Secondly, there's pressure from your peer group. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were part of a group of about 75 Hebrew boys their age that were taken to Babylon. All the other guys bowed, and so there was lots of pressure. Pressure from the peer group, pressure probably from the other Jews. As they were bowing down and saw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego standing up, they were like, "Get down! You guys need to get down! You're going to get in trouble. Big time trouble." Peer pressure.

Then there is the pressure of the superiors. Look what happens in their situation. It says in verse eight that they didn't bow for this reason: at that time, certain Chaldeans came forward and brought charges against the Jews. The Chaldeans were the ones that were really in charge of the wise men, but now they had gotten trumped by Daniel, and they had gotten leapfrogged by Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They were jealous of those guys, and so they were looking for an opportunity to get them in trouble.

They brought up to the king these charges against the Jews. It's interesting in the New American Standard where it says "brought charges," that literally means to eat the pieces of. It's to go after, like a ravenous animal going after and ripping the flesh. They were trying to tear the flesh off Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. In verse nine, it says they responded and said to King Nebuchadnezzar, "O king, live forever. You yourself, O king, have made a decree that every man who hears the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, and bagpipe, and all kinds of music is to fall down and worship the golden image. But whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire."

That's exactly what he said. In verse 12, it continues: "There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon." See, they're jealous. They're envious of that, namely Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. "These men, O king, have disregarded you. They do not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up." They were goading Nebuchadnezzar, who was an egomaniac. When he hears this, he gets upset.

In verse 13, it says, "Then Nebuchadnezzar, in rage and anger, gave orders to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego." These men were brought before the king. Nebuchadnezzar responded and said to them, "Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? Now, if you are ready at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, and bagpipe, and all kinds of music to fall down and worship the image that I have made, very well. But if you will not worship, you will immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire. And what God is there who can deliver you out of my hands?"

Okay, so you have the pressure from within, where you rationalize things. Then you have peer pressure because you're the only ones that aren't doing it. You're the only ones not raising your hand. That's the longest line. Then you have the king's pressure. The king is the most powerful man on the earth at that time. Babylon is the bad boys of the ancient Near East. Ain't nobody like Babylon, and nobody's like King Nebuchadnezzar.

He brings them right in front of himself and says, "I'm going to give you another chance. Bow down." Oh, pressure, pressure. Have you ever had that at work? Maybe your boss is asking you to cut corners, to cheat here or there, to do something that you know is wrong. Man, it's tough. There's pressure, and we have to choose to obey regardless of the pressure and choose to obey regardless of the consequences.

Can the consequences get any worse? You get thrown in a fiery furnace. You're not just going to die; it's going to be a horrible death. Being burned to death, that's a bad deal. You do what God says regardless of the consequences. That was the heart and attitude of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

So what are the steps? First, you check your heart to make sure your faith is genuine. Second, you make up your mind that disobeying God is not an option. And thirdly, you trust God. No matter what Nebuchadnezzar said to those guys, "What God is there who can deliver you out of my hands?" Nebuchadnezzar had a huge head, a huge ego, and he was a powerful guy.

In verse 16, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this. We don't need to think about this, Nebuchadnezzar. We don't need to say, 'Well, give us some time.' No." So we're not going to kick this around.

In verse 17, they said, "If it be so, our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if he does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."

You trust God no matter what. And you know some things. Number one, that God is able to deliver. God is able to deliver, Nebuchadnezzar. That's the whole thing. "What God is there who can deliver you from my hand?" And they quickly said, "Our God can deliver us from your hand. Our God is able in this situation."

Listen, in your situation, you may think, "Hey, there's no hope for me. There's no hope in my physical problem. There's no hope in my financial problem." Is there no God who can deliver? God can deliver. Jeremiah 17:32 says, "Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for me?"

Do you remember when the Lord told Abraham that Sarah was going to have a baby and she was 89 years old? She got that news, and when she heard it, she laughed. She was in the tent overhearing the Lord speak to Abraham, and she laughed and said, "I'm 89 years old. I mean, I went through menopause a long time ago. There ain't no way I'm going to have a baby." And the Lord said to her, "Is anything too difficult for the Lord?" You laughed.

You know what the name Isaac means? It means laughter. That's why they named him Isaac. She laughed. God is able. "Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for me?" In that same chapter, the scripture says this in verse 17: "Ah, Lord God, thou hast made the heavens and the earth by Thy great power and by Thine outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for you."

Nothing in your situation. Whatever it is, you just know God is able to deliver me. I don't care how bad it looks. I don't care what the doctor said. I don't care how bleak the circumstances are or how hopeless this looks. God is able, if God so chooses. So you know that he's able to deliver. They knew that.

But then, secondly, know that God is in control of the outcome. We don't control the outcome. God controls the outcome. We like to think that we control the outcome. We don't really control the outcome. God controls the outcome. We know that God can deliver, but God doesn't always deliver the way we want him to deliver. And that's just a fact.

You can argue with that if you want, but it's just the way it is. We're not God. His ways are higher than our ways. He does things that don't make sense to us. Verse 18 is one of the greatest verses of faith in all the Bible: "But even if he does not, we know that God is able to deliver. But even if he does not, let it be known to you, O King, that we're not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."

How many of us would have said that? I mean, I think most of us are like, "Yeah, I believe A, I know that God can do it, but I have a lot of trouble with B, that I just trust him with the outcome." I mean, that's a difficult one. "I'm still not going to bow even if he doesn't deliver." That was their heart.

When we pray about stuff, especially with physical healing, when we pray about that, man, I pray. If I'm sick, I pray and I ask God to heal me. If you call me to your bedside and you're dying and you say, "Pray for God to heal me," I pray for God to heal you. But know this: the outcome is the Lord's. He doesn't always do what we ask him to do because he says, "I have a better plan."

God is God. God does what he sees fit to do, and so know that he's in control of the outcome. You know your job. My job. Revelation 2:10 says, "Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life." That's our job, just to be faithful to God until we die, and he'll give us the crown of life.

I love this quote from Adrian Rogers: "Real faith is not just receiving from God the things you want, but accepting from God the things he gives." If it be so, our God whom we serve, he's able to deliver us. And if not, we're still going to trust him. We're still going to serve him. He's still God. He's still good. He's still in charge. We made up our mind, we're not going to bow to anyone but Yahweh God.

So know that God's in control. And know that God will never abandon his children. I love that. You know, here's the deal. When they said that to Nebuchadnezzar, man, he got so mad. Now, when you have the most powerful guy who's a psycho egomaniac, and he's angry at you, I mean, the smoke's coming out of his ears. You didn't talk to Nebuchadnezzar like that. He'd put you to death just at the drop of a hat.

Remember when he had his dream in chapter two, and the wise men said, "Tell us your dream," and he said, "No, you tell me the dream and the interpretation." They said, "Well, we need more time. How can we do that?" And he said, "You're going to die." He was putting all the wise men to death. Let's kill them all. I mean, he had that kind of hair-trigger temper.

And so here they are before the king. Now, they weren't arrogant; they weren't disrespectful. They just said, "We're not going to do it." And so he said, "Heat up the furnace seven times hotter." It says his facial expression changed. He was so mad, and the furnace was so hot that he had Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego tied up. The furnace was so hot that when they went to throw them in, the flames leaped up, and the poor guys that had to carry them to the opening of the furnace were consumed in the flames.

He threw them down in there, and then it says that Nebuchadnezzar looked into the furnace and said to all his little toadies, "Did we not throw three men in the fire?" They said, "Certainly, O King." He said, "But I see four men in the fire, loosed and walking around, and one is like the Son of God." Jesus was in the fiery furnace with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

Now, listen, I guarantee you, when they said, "Hey, you know, God, we're going to serve God, and he is able to deliver us," I know, because they're human beings, they're thinking, "Lord, delivering right now would be good, you know?" Because this isn't going to go well unless you intervene. But God didn't deliver them before the furnace; he delivered them in the furnace.

It was a greater miracle, just like it was with Lazarus. A greater miracle for him to die and be four days dead and then raise him up rather than to come in right before death and heal him. This is a greater miracle. This blew Nebuchadnezzar away. Wow. And you need to remember that in your fiery furnace, the Lord never leaves you. He doesn't forsake you. He's in there with you.

Psalm 23, a favorite Psalm for so many, says, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul. He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake."

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He, He, He.

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And he hits verse four. And he said, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for you are with me. Doesn't talk he anymore. It's just personal. God, you're with me. And your rod and your staff, they comfort me. There's a big change when you go through the shadow of death. The Lord is so close in those instances.

The Lord says, in Isaiah, chapter 43, I've redeemed you. Do not fear. And when you walk through the waters, I will be with you. And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, I'll be there with you. And the flame won't burn you, man. There's something about being in the fiery furnace. And some of you are in the fiery furnace, so to speak, in your life. The Lord says, that's when I can get so close to you and you can know that God will never abandon his children.

And then you know that God has a purpose in every fiery furnace. As you go through a fiery furnace, sometimes you think, well, is there any purpose for this? God has a purpose. He has a purpose. You say, what's the purpose? Well, first of all, he wants to set you free. To set you free. Interesting. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they were in all their regalia, which is because the scripture talks about they were wearing their trousers, their coats, their caps, and their other clothes. They had all this stuff on that they would wear, you know, as they served in the kingdom.

And they were tied up, and when they pulled them out of the fire, there is no smell of smoke. There's nothing singed on their body, not their clothes. The only thing that's missing messed up the ropes. That's the only thing that was consumed. They tied them up, but when they came out of the furnace, they weren't tied. That's why he said, I see four men loosed and walking around in the midst of the fire. The Lord uses those furnaces to set us free. He helps us see what's really important.

Man, when you go through a hard, hard time in life, you start to see what really matters in life. Because we can get so twisted with our value system and our priorities, man. You go through the fiery furnace and you start seeing what really matters and what really doesn't. And the Lord wants to use that to set you free. And he wants to glorify himself through you.

Says in verse 28, Nebuchadnezzar, when they pulled him out and they examined him, and there's no smell of even smoke upon them, it says Nebuchadnezzar responded and said, blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who put their trust in him, violating the king's command, and yielded up their bodies so as not to serve or worship any God except their own God.

Therefore, I make a decree that any people, nation, or tongue that speaks anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb and their houses reduced to a rubbish heap. Inasmuch as there is no other God who is able to deliver in this way. Wow. You know what he's saying? He's saying the words to that song. These are the days of Elijah. There's no God like Jehovah. That's what he's saying now.

He doesn't know until chapter four that there's no God but Jehovah. But now he's just saying, you know, when it comes to all these gods, because they worship Marduk in Babylon, hey, this God of the Hebrews, this Yahweh, he's above those. There's no other God that can deliver like Yahweh can deliver. And what a cool picture.

Daniel, Chapter three. It starts out, and it's Nebuchadnezzar's big day for everybody to worship the statue and in a way, to worship himself because he's the head of gold. And it ends up with Nebuchadnezzar himself blessing the God of heaven and praising the God of heaven and giving glory to the God of heaven. And God did that through three guys who wouldn't bend. They wouldn't bow, they wouldn't burn. They were protected by the fourth man in the fire.

Listen, I don't know what's going on in your life, but I know God is worthy to be praised and he's worthy to be trusted. And man, when the pressure comes, he'll give you strength. If you say God, I will not bow to those pressures. I'm going for you. I have decided to follow Jesus, and there's no turning back. No turning back. Will you trust him like that? Will you have that kind of faith come hell or high water? I'm following you, Lord Jesus, and I'm going to be faithful until death in Jesus name.

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You're listening to From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve and the message today, "Fireproof" from his series "Shine: How to Live the Christian Life in an Unchristian World." As we've seen today, the world is full of negative influences that are pulling many people away from God. The devil is really, really busy. The fiery darts are coming. But we can be completely fireproof and shine brightly in this dark world.

The series "Shine: How to Live the Christian Life in an Unchristian World" can help you do just that, and you can get it online at fromhisheart.org in the resource center there. Also this month, another series that can help you stay fireproof in this uncertain world is called "This Is War: Overcoming the World, the Flesh, and the Devil." We aired this series earlier this month and we're offering it this month as a gift to you to say thanks for your support of any amount. You can get yours on a USB flash drive, CDs, DVDs, or MP3 download—your choice.

Your support allows us to maintain our broadcast opportunities on hundreds of stations each day and also take advantage of new broadcast opportunities as they open up. We have a lot of stations that we would love to get on, so thank you for your help. To get "This Is War: Overcoming the World, the Flesh, and the Devil" for your gift today, call 866-40-BIBLE (866-40-BIBLE) or go to fromhisheart.org.

We also want to bless you one more time with an encouraging word of Scripture. Isaiah 40:31 says, "But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint."

Thank you for being here today. I'm Larry Nobles, trusting you'll join us tomorrow for the next lesson in the series "How to Live the Christian Life in an Unchristian World." The message is entitled "Humility or Humiliation." That's Wednesday when we'll again open up God's Word and share real truth, real love, and real hope. From His Heart.

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There is tremendous truth There is blessing, there is hope that you always dream of. He can hear every scar with truth, Real love, real from his heart.

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From his heart is the listener supported Broadcast Ministry of Dr. Jeff Shreve speaking the truth in love through a lost and a hurting world.

Remember that no matter what, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.

Find out more at From His Heart. Org.