Title: Even If You Don't, We Believe
To be sown on rocky ground is faith that hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, but it has no root in it and endures for a while. The people of Israel under the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes IV of the Seleucid dynasty of Syria, or us in the modern economic crisis and cultural turmoil, like the faith sown in a stone field, they betrayed their faith in God, betrayed God, and gave up It is easy to fall into the life of Therefore, through the martyr faith of these three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the text, our God allows us who are in the midst of extreme persecution and frustration to see light in darkness and to drink clear water from the flood and stand firm.
2. 起 / The splendid golden statue erected by King Nebuchadnezzar on the plain of Dura.
King Nebuchadnezzar erected a huge golden statue of 27 meters high and 3 meters wide on the plain of Dura. And he ordered all the people in the world to bow down to the golden image in unison to the performance of the court orchestra. He said that whoever does not bow down, regardless of the earth's height, will be thrown into a raging fire and burned to death. On the day of the inauguration ceremony of the golden statue, the whole world gathered on the plain of Dura. When the splendid and majestic music of the court band rang out, everyone knelt down and bowed down to the golden statue.
There is a saying, 群鷄一鶴 (military system one study). Among the flock of chickens, a crane stands up, and it is round and clearly visible. If everyone had their knees bent and they were standing tall, the figure would have been clear to everyone's eyes. However, in that Dura plain, there was not a military one study but a military three study. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are those people.
3. 承 / I would rather die standing than live on my knees!
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who stood outstretched without bowing, were immediately brought before King Nebuchadnezzar. The king saw that the three young men were not others, but Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, whom the king had always favored. The king asks, "Why didn't you bow down?" The three young men say that we kneel before idols, and we cannot bow down. The king will understand your position. However, in order to rule this great and huge Babylonian Empire, there must be some central point, so I am going to build this golden image and bow down to this golden image to achieve ideological unification of the Babylonian Empire. Understand that well, and bow down to the golden image for the unification of Babylon the Great! The king himself comforted and persuaded him, but the three young men bowed down to God only. It is said that you cannot bow down to the idol, the golden image. The king truly loved these three young men. Therefore, by persuading and threatening in one form or another, these three young men wished to live by bowing down to the golden image, even if it was just a formality. In response to the king's earnest persuasion, the three young men said, < King Nebuchadnezzar, why are we not afraid of being burned to death?
How can we not want to live? However, we cannot bow down to any god other than the God we believe in. If we keep the line of faith, the God we serve will save us from the blazing fire that burns us. Even if our God does not save us, we will not worship or bow down to the king's golden image. I'd rather die standing than living on my knees! > said.
4. 轉 / Even if you don't, you can't bow down to the golden image!
If love is deep, hate is also deep. The king is extremely angry with these three young men for refusing his earnest invitation, and he is a nobleman in the world. He said, "Hey, make the fire in the fire pit seven times hotter than usual and throw them in!" The three young men were thrown into the pit of fire.
I thought it was going to be like a dry crested bunch, but this expectation was completely wrong. The king looked into the fire and saw three men walking leisurely in the fire. And although they looked like some kind of human, they were obviously not human, but someone like the son of the gods was protecting them. The king was very surprised and called the three young men. It's called come out. When I saw the three young men coming out of the fire pit that had been heated seven times hotter than usual, there were no traces of charred fire, no traces of burning.
5. 結 / Praise Jehovah God for raising us from the pit of fire!
When King Nebuchadnezzar saw this marvelous sight, he said, "Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent his messenger, and trusted in him, and forsook himself, disobeying the king's command, and worshiping no other gods except his God. He saved those servants who did not bow down to him.” Hallelujah!
6. Closing story / What is the text talking about?
One, it is time to keep the tenets of faith. The flames of secularization are burning seven times hotter than before. There is a form of godliness, but the life in it is rapidly deteriorating. Due to economic pain and anxiety, it is said that eating and living comes first, not Holy Week. In this situation, we must nevertheless be prepared to keep the principle of faith that serving God comes first.
However, it must be the faith of even if it is not so. If we still keep the principle of faith in our hearts, we will have hope that God will release it. Who would say that such a simple wish is wrong? However, we must go one step further and firmly keep the faith of <Even if it is not so>. In other words, even if there is no response even though we have kept the discipline of faith in the midst of unspeakable pain and anxiety, nevertheless, I must keep this faith.
However, God's miraculous power begins to radiate wonderfully from the very faith of <Even if it is not so>. The Spirit of God, who in the beginning was operating above the waters, begins to operate through all of our being and all of our environment. Can you believe this? He who has ears, let him hear. Amen.