Persuaded

Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this
he brought glory to God. He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises
(Romans 4:20-21).
When you read the account of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in Daniel 3, one thing is
apparent: they were fully persuaded. Nothing could make them bow to Nebuchadnezzar's statue -
no threats, no consequence, no punishment. They were fully persuaded of the promises of God and
in their obedience to him (Daniel 3:16-18).
Pressure
You might expect a fully persuaded attitude would cause breakthrough. Not necessarily. When
Nebuchadnezzar heard Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego's words of defiance, he did not back
down either. He turned up the pressure. Things got even hotter (Daniel 3:19).
Things may be heating up in your life - divorce, custody battles, sickness, mental illness. You took
a stand for God but things just got worse. You found yourself staring down a fire. A fire like none
you've seen. You thought God would save you from the fire. You prayed God would save you
from the fire. But it remains.
Don't despair. Because when the devil turns up the heat, God does too.
Promise
But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, And he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear
not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are mine. When you pass
through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When
you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you” (Isaiah 43:1-
2).
God isn't going to save you from the fire. He will bring you through it. When you walk through
the fire of cancer, sickness, divorce, financial ruin - you shall not be burned.
Nebuchadnezzar made the fire so hot it killed some of his strongest soldiers (Daniel 3:22). Fire is
deadly - for some. But you will not be truly burned. If you are fully persuaded of the promises of
God, you will not be destroyed.
You expected the miracle outside the fire. You thought God would save you before things went
that far. But for you, the miracle is in the fire.
Protection
When Nebuchadnezzar threw Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego into the fire, their chains broke,
Jesus walked with them, and they did not smell of smoke (Daniel 3:24-27).
When you walk through the fire, chains will break. Satan has used your situation to keep you living
a small and contained life. No longer! Chains break in the fire.
According to the promise of Isaiah 43, Jesus will walk with you in the fire. Whatever the trouble
or trial may be, you will have a tangible sense of his presence. Jesus reveals himself in the fire.
Watch for deeper revelation and worship experiences in your life.
Promotion
When Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego exited the fire, they received a promotion. King
Nebuchadnezzar saw the goodness and favour of God on their lives and promoted them in his
worldly kingdom (Daniel 3:30).
The fire may have been your greatest test, but on the other side you will see promotion. You will
experience spiritual promotion, for fire always refines. You may also encounter physical
promotion in your job and experience greater favor with those you know. Others will recognize
the goodness of God through your faith.
If the fires of life are threatening, take heart. The miracle of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego is
a miracle for you too. Be fully persuaded. Believe the promise, so when the pressure increases,
you receive protection and ultimately promotion.
Don't give up. Your miracle is in the fire.

Often when Bible teachers share this well-known Bible story, they say something like, “Put
yourself in the place of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego… Imagine you in their sandals… what
would you have done?” I believe if we are not careful this can cause us to miss an important point
of this passage. You see, we do not have to imagine ourselves in their place. The question is not,
“What would we have done?” The question is, “What do we do?” We are in the same place as
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. We all live in the midst of cultural pressures. Every day we
each face the same dilemma. Will we compromise our convictions? We will choose the path of
least-resistance? Will we fear man, not God?
1. Living with Cultural Pressures (1-15) a. Peer Pressure (1-7) b. Fear Pressure (8-15) As
Christians we must live in the cultural pressures (there is no getting around that fact), but we should
not give in to these pressures. We must not compromise our convictions. We must not only live
with cultural pressures, we must stand & speak in the public square. Though our faith in Christ is
personal, it is not private. Our faith is not something only to be expressed in church on Sunday.
Our faith reveals who we are… every day. Our faith colors & shapes what we do & say, how we
do & say it, and where we do & say it. We, like these three friends, must courageously stand even
as others around us bow to the cultural pressures. In his new book, Counter Culture, David Platt
writes: “[T]he most offensive and countercultural claim in Christianity is not what Christians
believe about homosexuality or abortion, marriage or religious liberty.... Instead, the most
offensive claim in Christianity is that God is the Creator, Owner, and Judge of every person on the
planet.” I think we do well to remember that being a Christian is not primarily about what we stand
against, but who we stand for. Do those around us know who we stand for? Do they see & hear
the saving & empowering grace of the gospel in us?
2. Living with Christian Perspective (16-18) There are two key aspects of biblical faith: Obedience
to God’s sovereign commands, and trust in God’s sovereign will. Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego knew that to bow before Nebuchadnezzar’s statue was in direct disobedience to the first
two commandments and they no doubt knew Job 13.15: “Though he slay me, I will hope in him.”
2 Standing with the heat of the fiery furnace in our faces tempts us to rationalize disobedience of
God’s sovereign commands and to trust God according to our own situational ethics rather than
His sovereign will. To know how to live with a Christian perspective, we must: 1) Know God
historically, presently & personally, 2) Know the Bible, and 3) Know who we are in Christ; not
who the world says you are or calls you to be, but who God calls you to be in Christ. These three
things give us confidence & certainty regardless of what we face. In verse 18 the three young men
are not backing off the confidence they expressed in verse 17. They know without a shadow of a
doubt that God can and will deliver them. But deliver them from what? Pressure? Persecution?
Pain & suffering? No, they have experienced some of those things already and they know that they
may very well experience suffering & even death. Deliverance does not mean removal of pressure
& persecution. Salvation in Christ does not mean freedom from suffering. “All who desire to live
a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3.12). Living from a Christian
perspective is how Paul could later write: “To live is Christ, to die is gain.” “God’s deliverance
may come in this life or in the life to come, but his grace is always operating to provide what is
best for our eternal good” (Gospel Transformation Bible). “Biblical faith has the assurance to say,
‘I know my God is able to deliver me.’ It has the confidence to say, ‘I believe that my God will
deliver me.’ But it also has the submission to say ‘But even if he does not, I will still trust him’”
(Rodney Stortz).
3. Living with Christ’s Protection (19-30) God never promises to keep His children out of the fiery
furnaces of life. He promises to be in the furnace with us. Our protection & strength is God’s
presence with us. The Lord is present believers in their distress, even as we walk through the valley
of the shadow of death (Psalm 23). “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name,
you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they
shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall
not consume you. 3 For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior” (Isaiah
43.1-3). In Hebrews 13.5-6 we are reminded that the Lord says: “I will never leave you nor forsake
you.” 6 So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to
me?’ There is the popular acronym, WWJD (What would Jesus do?). That is not a wrong question
to consider, but we should also know “What did Jesus do?” It is only because Jesus did what He
did that we are able to do what we should do. 3 “As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human
hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. 35 Then the
iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became
like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace
of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled
the whole earth…. 44: And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom
that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in
pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever” (Daniel 2.34-35,
44). The stone is the eternal Kingdom of Christ. The Lord is our Protector, Deliverer, King &
Savior. He is God in the fire. Lessons from Exile 1. God does not always remove His people from
pressures & persecution. 2. God is always present with His people through pressures &
persecution. 3. God not only wants public acknowledgment, He wants our personal allegiance. 4.
Only in Jesus Christ are we delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred to the kingdom
of God (Daniel 2.31-45; Colossians 1.11-14). “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness
and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the
forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1.13).