(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

All right, now this is a pretty familiar story. I'll go ahead and just quickly tell the story and then get into the message this morning. But basically Nebuchadnezzar builds this giant golden image, probably of himself, if we understand better the rest of the book. But he builds this giant golden image and he makes a commandment that all of his officials and all of his government rulers have to bow down and worship this image that he set up. And you notice the people that it lists there that came, the sheriffs, the treasurers, the captains, basically everyone who has a position of authority in his government are all gathered there and they have to bow down and worship this thing. Of course Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were there because they have been given positions of importance back in chapter one and in chapter two. And so he says when the music starts to play everybody has to bow down and worship this thing. And when the music plays of course everybody falls down and worships except just these three men only. Out of all the thousands of people that are there, three men are still just left standing there, not bowing down to the golden image. And so other people begin to get angry and they go and tattle on them to King Nebuchadnezzar and tell them, hey these three guys they won't worship your gods, they won't bow down to this thing, they're refusing to obey. And let's pick up the story in verse 14. It says Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods nor worship the golden image which I have set up? Now if you be ready that at what time you hear the sound of the corn and flute, harp, sack, butts, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, you fall down and worship the image which I have made? Well, but if you 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? Verse 16, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. 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. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods nor worship the golden image which thou have set up. So basically he starts out with this thing of, well, who is that god that shall deliver you out of my hands? He starts out by questioning whether God is able to deliver them. And so that's why they respond and they say, well, God is able to do it. I mean, if God wants to save us, he is able to do it and he shall deliver us out of thine hand basically if he wants to. But if it be so, he says, but if not, verse 18, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods nor worship the golden image which thou have set up. So basically what they're saying is, you know, God could save us from this thing if he wanted to, but even if he's not going to, even if he's not going to save us out of it, we will not worship this image that you set up. They're basically saying they would rather be thrown into the fiery furnace and just be burned up alive and just be killed than to bow down and worship that image. That's what they were saying. Now if you would, turn to Daniel chapter six. You're in Daniel chapter three. Go to Daniel chapter six. You'll see a similar story. In Daniel chapter six where, and I'm not going to go to the whole story for the sake of time, but King Darius had made a law against praying to any other god or except for him only. And it says in verse number 10, now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, basically this law had just been signed into law, that anyone who prays to any god or anyone except for praying to the king is going to be cast into the lion's den. It says when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house and his windows being opened in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his god as he did a four time. So we see the same type of thing here. First of all, we see of course a government that wants to be god and wants to be worshipped, whether it's Darius, whether it's Nebuchadnezzar, and they don't want anybody worshipping the true god. But we see here men who are refusing to bow down and worship a false god, and they're refusing to obey these wicked laws against serving god. Now the title of my sermon is this, it's better to burn than to bow. That's the title of my sermon this morning. Now the one thing I noticed also, and if you would turn to as I set this up, turn to 2 Kings 5. This is all by way of introduction, 2 Kings 5. Because you see it would have been easy for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to justify them, basically bowing down. Because what they could have said in their heart was, well, I'm going to get on my knees, I'm going to get on my face before this thing, but I'm not really worshipping it. You know, you can see people justifying that today, wouldn't you? Like, well, I'm going to get on my knees, when the music starts to play, I'm going to drop to my face, I'm going to drop to my knees, but on the inside I'm going to be actually praying to God. You know, I'm going to be worshipping God, I'm not going to be really worshipping this cold news. Now if they would have done that, everything would have been fine, right? Because nobody would have noticed. They would have just seen, okay, everybody's on their face, and everybody's doing what they're supposed to do. They wouldn't have known that in their heart, you know, they were really praying to God. A lot of people would say that. Daniel chapter 6, the same thing. Daniel could have just prayed silently in his heart, right? I mean, there's nothing in the Bible that says we have to pray out loud or that we have to get on our knees. Daniel could have just prayed silently in his heart or shut the door behind him and made sure nobody saw him praying. But you notice it tells us very clearly in Daniel chapter 6 that Daniel actually opened the windows of his house. He opened all of his windows, then he got on his knees like he always did, and prayed three times a day as he did a four time. Basically just making clear to everyone, I'm not going to stop praying. I'm not going to obey. I'm going to do what God has told me to do. Now look at 2 Kings chapter 5. The Bible says this. Let me tell you a story real quick. This is Naaman the Syrian. Naaman had come to Israel because he heard that Elisha the prophet was there, and he wanted to be healed of leprosy, and so of course Elisha tells him to dunk in the river seven times and so forth, and he's healed of his leprosy, and he's really thankful, and he's trying to offer Elisha money, and Elisha refused to take the money, and he's sending him away. And it says in verse 15 of 2 Kings chapter 5, and he returned to the man of God. He had all his company and came and stood before him and said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel. Now therefore I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant. This is where we're trying to offer him money. But he said, As the Lord liveth before my sand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it, but he refused. And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules burdened of earth? For thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods but unto the Lord. So he's basically saying, I want to take two mules burdened of the dearth of this land and bring it back to my country with me. I'm going to lay it down, and that's where I'm going to pray to God. I'm not going to worship any false gods. I'm done worshiping any false gods. But look what he says next in verse 18. In this thing the Lord pardoned thy servant, that when my master goeth into the house of Remond to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Remond, when I bow down myself in the house of Remond, the Lord pardoned thy servant in this thing. And he said, And he said, The day I am going peace, so he departed from him a little way. So this is Naaman basically saying, I'm not going to worship any other false gods. I'm only going to worship God from now on. But he said, But just pardon me on this one thing. When my boss goes to worship his false god, I have to go with him, and I have to bow down before Remond, and I have to get on my knees. But I'm only doing it because it's my job. So just cut me a little slack on it. That's the typical mentality that people have, don't they? Just, well, you don't understand my situation. I'm just going to have to go along with this in order to fit in, in order to not jeopardize my time. That's not the attitude that Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had. They were willing to publicly refuse to worship these false gods. Look at Esther chapter number 3. Esther chapter number 3. Book of Esther. You're in 2 Kings. Just go to the right in your Bible a little bit. Very short distance. You've got the Kings, the Chronicles, and then Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther. Go to Esther chapter 3. It says in Esther chapter 3 verse 1, After these things did King Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hamadath of the Achaigit, and advanced him, and set his seed above all the princes that were with him. And all the king's servants that were in the king's gate bowed and reverenced Haman. So this guy has made the second-in-command of the whole kingdom, and everybody has to bow down to him whenever he walks by. They bowed and reverenced Haman, for the king had no command in concerning him. But Mordecai, one man, bowed not, nor did him reverence. Then the king's servants, which were in the king's gate, said unto Mordecai, Why transgresses thou the king's command? Now it came to pass, when they spake daily unto him, and he hearkened not unto him, then they told Haman to see whether Mordecai's matters would stand. For he had told them that he was a Jew, and when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence, then Haman was full of wrath. You see, it's not enough for the people of this world to do wrong. It's not enough for them to commit sin and do wickedly. They must get you to participate with them. And we see here that even though everybody in the whole area is bowing down and worshiping Haman, everybody in the whole king's gate bows down to him. One man refuses to bow down to him. And this infuriates Haman, and he becomes obsessed with it. If you read the rest of the book of Esther, Haman becomes so obsessed with it, even when he gets all these riches and promotions, and he's the most powerful man outside the king, and he has ten sons, and he has prosperity and wealth, he says, But all of this availeth me nothing, as long as I see Mordecai the Jew standing in the gate refusing to bow down to me, it just ruins everything. I mean, isn't that insane? To just have all the money, all the power, everything that life has to offer, but it just makes you so mad that one person is refusing to bow down to you. But this is the way wicked people are. They want to be bowed down to. They want to be worshiped. Darius wanted to be worshiped. Nebuchadnezzar wanted to be worshiped. Haman wanted to be worshiped. And God's people refused to bow down. They refused to worship any other god. And they didn't just try to fit in and pretend that everything was okay. No, they took a stand for what was right. You see, we ought not try to fit in with the world around us today. The Bible says that when God saved us, it says that he saved us to purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. Did you hear that? A peculiar people. We're supposed to be different than the rest of the people in this world. We're not supposed to fit in. We're not supposed to be looked upon as going with the flow. We're supposed to be different. God calls us to be different than the world around us and to be a peculiar people. We ought not be ashamed of standing up for what's right. Romans 1 16, you'll have to turn there, the famous verse says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. For it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believe it, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. God's word is nothing to be ashamed of. Jesus said, whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and my words in this wicked and adulterous generation, of him also shall the son of man be ashamed when he cometh in his kingdom with power and glory. Hey, I don't want Jesus to be ashamed of me. I'm not going to be ashamed of him. Why would I be ashamed of the Bible? Why would I be ashamed of God's word in a wicked and adulterous generation that we live in? They ought to be ashamed. The world ought to be ashamed. Everybody who was bowing down those stupid golden statues, they should have been the ones that were ashamed. The people who didn't have the guts to not fall on their face and worship a man, Haman, just because somebody said you have to bow down to this guy and they're all groveling at his feet and falling down, they ought to have been the ones that have been ashamed. The ones who refused to pray when it was made illegal in Daniel chapter 6, they ought to have been ashamed. Daniel was not ashamed. Daniel was proud to open the window and let everybody know, hey, guess what? You can't tell me not to pray to God. You can't tell me not to worship God. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were proud to stand tall when thousands around them were on their faces, to be standing tall and refusing to obey the king's commandment because we ought to obey God rather than men. And it's in Daniel chapter 3, I love what they said, I'll read it for you. He said in verse 16, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. They basically are saying here, we don't have to sit here and think this over or be careful what we say here. They're saying, look, when it comes to something that's this blatant, you're calling upon us to worship an idol. You're calling upon us to fall on our faces before a molten image of gold. We're not careful to answer thee in this matter. We're not going to do it. They don't waste their breath on a big long explanation. They just say, look, you've said that God's not able to deliver us, well we think that he can deliver us. But even if he doesn't, we will not worship the golden image that you've set up. And we're not careful to answer thee concerning this matter. And people today, they're a little bit too careful sometimes. Be careful, watch out. Be careful spanking your children. No, I'm not going to hide them. And a lot of people will spank their children that they want to hide that. Are you listening to me? They want to hide it and say, well I don't want anybody to know because then the CPS is going to take my kids. You know what? I'm going to obey God and I'm going to do it openly. I don't know about you and you may be ashamed to try to hide what you do. I'm not trying to hide anything. I'm going to openly obey God. You know why? Because if you have somebody who obeys God but they do it secretly, you know what that does? That hurts everybody. Because you see when Elijah was on this earth, Elijah was the only man in the nation of Israel that stood up and stood tall and said, I only I am left a prophet of the Lord. Baal's prophets are 450. You've got these 450 false prophets that are worshiping Satan, that are worshiping Baal. And he said, I'm the only one left that's standing up for God. But then God told him, no there are actually 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to Baal. And here's the thing, Elijah didn't know that. Elijah thought he was the only one left. Why? Because he was the only one who was publicly left. And you see today there are a lot of preachers who believe exactly what I believe. There are a lot of preachers who believe exactly what you believe. There are a lot of believers and Christians who believe exactly what the Bible says, and they cross every T and dot every I. But you don't know it. You wouldn't know it because they're ashamed of it or they're trying to hide it or they're trying to play the careful route or the safe route. You know, we ought to take a stand and not be ashamed and stand tall. Jesus said, what I tell you in darkness, that's speaking in life. And what you hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. And if we would stand tall and preach the truth today and not be ashamed of it and take pride in being different and not try to fit in and be the same and be proud of how much we can fit in, you know, we'd be living in a different world today. But we've got too many Christians and too many preachers that are scared of their own shadow. And the Bible says, the wicked flee when no man pursue it. But the righteous are as bold as a lion. And we need some lion-like preachers and lion-like Christians today that will stand tall and say, I am on the Lord's side. I'll stand with the Bible. And if it's something unpopular that the Bible says, well, I'll stand tall and announce, yes, I agree with that. Yes, that's what I believe. You know, we see Peter, you know, when Jesus Christ is heading to the cross and he's been arrested, he's on trial. And you remember Peter is warming himself at the fire with those who are outside at the court. And somebody walks up to Peter and says, hey, aren't you one of his disciples too? And he says, no, no, I don't know what you're talking about. You know, somebody else walks up to him and says, yeah, you're a Galilean. You were with him. And he says, no, no, I don't know what you're talking about. I don't even know who Jesus is. Leave me alone. And then a third person walks up and says, hey, I was there in the garden. When Jesus was arrested and you were there and I saw you there. And he just, it says he began to curse and to swear saying, I know not the man. You know, blankety blank. I don't know him. Leave me alone. And of course, he went out after that. As soon as he'd done it, as soon as the words are out of his mouth and he heard the cock broke, it says he went out and wept bitterly because he realized what he'd done. You know, because he basically denied the Lord Jesus. And Peter was saved. Peter believed on Christ. But in a weak moment, in a moment of fear, in a moment of being literally ashamed of Jesus Christ, he denied Jesus. And I talked to people who were saved that I heard somebody tell me one time that somebody had said to them, oh, you know, you're not a Christian, are you? You know, somebody was just ripping on Christians onto somebody who was saved. And they said, you're not a Christian, are you? And they just said, oh, no, no, no. But they were a Christian. But they just said that because they had just finished ripping on Christians. They didn't want to be the laughing stock. They didn't want to be made fun of. They didn't want to be mocked. But you know what? We have to stand tall and stand up for what's right. Because you see, there should have been a lot more than three people left standing in Daniel chapter 3. Because I guarantee you that there weren't only three guys that were saved. Because if you look at the story, they brought a ton of people out of the land of Israel that they had been training and teaching the ways of the Chaldeans. And I guarantee you that all the rest of them were just on their faces. And some of them might have just been justifying it and saying, well, you know, on the inside I'm praying, you know, well, I spank my children, but I'm just going to hide it. You know, I thank God that my wife spanks my children in the grocery store. You know what I mean? Because I'm sick of everybody with their tail between their legs afraid to stand up for what's right. And then that's what happens when, what happens is evil can just take over and prevail. Because today we live in a time where those who are ungodly and wicked, they are proud of it. And they'll parade it. And they will just announce it to the world. They're not hiding. They're not hiding their ungodliness. You don't see the atheist today hiding his atheism. You don't see the drunk hiding the fact that he's a drunk. You don't see people that are promiscuous hiding the fact that they're promiscuous. You don't see people that are this or that or the other. What you see is Christians today trying to hide the fact that they're Christian or trying to hide what they believe in and the things they live on. And you see these phony and I'm so sick of it. I'm going to go off on a little rabbit trailer. But these political candidates, I get so sick of it. You know, this week it was all the debates and the candidates were getting into the presidential race. And all these candidates, they want to say that they're a Christian just to get voters. Like they use that. Oh, I'm a Christian and God bless you and Jesus says that. And then they use it. But then when somebody actually points out to them something that the Bible actually says, then they're like, oh, well, you know, I don't really believe that. You know, I don't really believe it. They don't want to take the flag for believing what the Bible actually says. They just want to use that brand name of Christianity because it's a brand name that they think is going to get them votes. And you know, that's why the Bible says, whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words of him shall the son of man be ashamed. He said, you know, don't just stand up for my name because everybody uses his name and drags it through the mud for whatever. But he said, don't be ashamed of my word. Don't be ashamed of what the Bible says. Stand up tall. Take a stand for it. It's better to burn than to bow. Now, what does it mean to bow down? Stop and think about that for a minute. What were these guys being asked to do? They were being asked to bow down to a golden image. Daniel was being asked to bow down to King Darius. Mordecai in Esther chapter 3 was being asked to bow down unto Haman. What is bowing down? Well, it's a sign of respect, right? I mean, bowing to someone else is doing obeisance. It's a sign of respect. So one of the things that it represents is being respectful or respecting. The other one is basically, it's a sign of submission. It's a sign of respect, submission, and thirdly, it's a sign of worship. Getting on your knees and getting on your face before somebody is worshiping them. All throughout the Bible it's defined as worshiping someone. And so those are the things that it represents. We ought not respect false religion. We ought not respect wicked people. We ought not do obeisance unto them, or bow down to them, or submit ourselves to them, or obey them and worship them. That's not what the Bible tells us to do. And that's how you can fit in with it, but that's not what the Bible tells us to do. Turn, if you would, to Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter number 11. And you see, the reason why Daniel chapter 3, when you see Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego having the ability to take their stand as they did and not bow down to the golden image, was that they believed that God was able to deliver them. Now they didn't necessarily believe that God was going to deliver them, because they spelled out, they said, God is able to deliver us. But if not, we still aren't going to worship the image. Now the reason that that's important is because if we know that God is able to deliver us, and He doesn't deliver us, well then that means He chose not to deliver us. That means He chose to allow us to go through whatever the trials and tribulations, and we can just say, you know what, God's will be done. You know, if it's God's will for us to suffer, if it's God's will for us to be punished for doing what's right, the Bible says we should rejoice, because great is our reward in heaven. And you know, people have died for the Lord Jesus Christ, they've died for the word of God, and that's a privilege to do that. And so the Bible tells us that basically if we're killed for the cause of Christ, or killed in a righteous cause, it's not by accident. God is able to deliver us. It just has to do with the fact that that's what God had planned. I mean you look at Stephen. Stephen was killed in Acts chapter 7, and you look at that and you say, why did God allow him to be killed? He was such a great man, he was just getting started. But God used Stephen's death to help the apostle Paul to get saved. He was there watching, and then shortly after he got saved, and then he basically, inspired by Stephen's example, did great things for God, probably greater than Stephen ever would have done. And so we don't always know what God is doing. Where did I have to turn to? Hebrews chapter 11. Yeah, look at Hebrews chapter 11. This is of course the great faith chapter, talking about all the great people of the Old Testament that have faith in God. And this is what it comes down to, faith in God. If God commands us to do something, we just do it. And we just have the faith to believe, well, either God's going to protect us, either God's going to deliver us from the consequences, either God's going to keep us from the fiery furnace, or else, if it's God's will that we go into the fiery furnace, you know what? God knows what he's doing. I mean, God is in charge. And so we'll just allow him to have his will be done. But look at Hebrews chapter 11. This is of course the faith chapter. Look what it says in verse 32. It says, and what shall I more say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and of Barak and of Samson and of Jephthah, of David also and Samuel and of the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousnesses, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. And so this is talking about men who had great victories. Through faith, God allowed them to defeat lions and defeat armies and quench the violence of fire. And Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would be in this category of quenching the violence of fire. Turn to flight the armies of the aliens. That's not talking about people at UFOs. It's just talking about people from other countries, okay? Aliens coming from another country. And it says women received their dead raised to life again. Look at verse 35. And others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Now you can quickly blow past that verse. Stop and think about what that verse is saying. That verse is saying that there were people who were actually tortured, and it says that they did not accept deliverance. That means that basically someone was torturing them and saying, hey, if you will deny Jesus Christ or if you'll deny God, we'll stop torturing you. Are you getting that? That's what it's saying. They have a chance to be delivered if they will renounce what they believe, if they will just go along with what's being said and stop fighting it and just bow down and worship what they're telling you to worship and renounce the Bible, renounce Jesus Christ. You know, you'll be delivered. But if not, you'll keep being tortured. Now, none of us have been really tortured. You know, and we don't even know what this is like. I mean, this is, and keep reading and it'll go on to get even more graphic here. It says that they might obtain a better resurrection. And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings. Scourgings is being beat with a whip. Yea, moreover, at bonds and imprisonment, they were stoned. And look at this, this one, the next one is not very pleasant. They were sawn asunder. That means sawn in half. Were tempted. Were slain with a sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute and afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains and in dens of caves of the earth. Look, people have been tortured for what they believe in. What kind of a person would torture someone for what they believe in? Well, people like Nebuchadnezzar, Haman, people like Darius. I mean, all throughout the Bible, we see people who want to force God's people to renounce what they believe in. And you see the same thing today. And there are places in the world today where people are being tortured. Literally today, people are in concentration camps and being tortured in other parts of the world because of what they believe in. Because they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Because they believe in the Bible. Because they live in, you know, communist China. Or because they live in one of these other countries that actually, literally tortures people for what they believe in. And the Bible says that many who were offered deliverance refused to be delivered. That they might obtain a better resurrection. Now look, it's not that they would lose their salvation. You can't lose your salvation. Once you're saved, once you believe on Christ, you have eternal life. So even if somebody got tortured and basically said something that, you know, okay, I don't believe the Bible. You know, obviously they're just lying anyway. I mean, they're still saved. You can't lose your salvation. Once you're saved. But you know what, they wanted basically the reward and the honor and the privilege of being a martyr for Jesus Christ and standing around. You know what, it is a sin to deny the Lord Jesus. I mean, Peter sinned. What do you know? God expects, you say, well does God really expect us to stand tall even in the face of a fiery furnace? Does God really expect us to stand up for what's right even in the mouth of the lion? Does God really expect us to break the law if it means to stand up for the word of God and the Lord Jesus Christ? Well look at Revelation chapter 2. Revelation chapter 2. Last book in the Bible is Revelation. You say, what level of commitment does God demand? What level of dedication does God expect from his people? And God tells us in Revelation chapter 2 what that is, verse 10. The Bible says this, fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. This isn't something we should be afraid of or worry about. If it happens, it happens. It doesn't happen to everybody. He says, fear none of these things which thou shalt suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison. Not everybody's going to be cast into prison. Not everybody's going to be tortured or put through these horrible things. It's a minority. He said, behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison that you may be tried, and ye shall have tribulation in ten days. Be thou faithful unto death. Did you get that? Be thou faithful unto death, and I'll give thee a crown of life. God demands us to never renounce God's word, to never bow down to the golden image, to never renounce what we believe in, the word of God, Jesus Christ. It has nothing to do with salvation. Once you believe on Jesus Christ, you're saved. Even if you're like that person I told you who said, no, I'm not a Christian. It doesn't change the fact that they're a Christian. If my son was ashamed of me, for example, because the Bible says when we're saved, we're God's children. Let's say my son were ashamed of me. What if my son was hanging around with his friends and they said, oh, can you believe that preacher over in Tempe, and he's this, and he's that, he did this, he said that. And they said to my son, can you believe that guy? What an idiot, huh? Now, what my son ought to say is, well, that's my dad. That's my son. And he's right. But what if he just said, yeah, yeah, that's right, guys, yeah, what an idiot, huh? Now, would I be ashamed of him? That's why I'd say Jesus will be ashamed of us if that's how we are. Well, I'd be angry. I'd be hurt. I'd be offended. You know, okay, I've done everything for you, son. I've raised you. I've taught you. And to be cool amongst your friends, you're going to basically just renounce that you know me or join in the mockery of me, your dad, your father. That would be horrible, wouldn't it? But see, that's exactly what God's saying to us. You know, we ought to stand tall, just like I want my children to be proud that they're my children. And I'm trying to hide, you know, I don't want them to grow up and change their name or something. You know, so their name isn't Anderson. You know, and just try to go in the witness protection program. You want them to be proud and say, hey, that's my dad. You know, proud to be a son. Well, you know what, we ought to be proud to be God's children, to be associated with the name of Jesus Christ. That ought to be a badge to wear, not something to hide or be afraid of. You know, you don't have to hide your Bible. No, bring your Bible to work with you. I always brought my Bible to work with me. And I'd read my Bible on the break and read my Bible at lunch and read my Bible in the truck. And you know, it gave me opportunities to give people the gospel too, by the way, and give people the same. You know, I wasn't ashamed of it. The Bible is in the lunch box. There's nothing embarrassing about this book right here. I'll carry it everywhere I go. I'll wear it as a badge. And you know, I took it to school with me. I took it to public school. Somebody told me, well, you're not even allowed to bring it to school. You know, one of the students, I said, no, I can bring it. I can bring this to school. I can bring the Bible. I would read the Bible. And then I remember one time a kid walked up to me and he said, what are you reading? And I said, you know, I'm reading the book of Job. And he said, well, what is the rationale behind reading the book of Job? And I said, well, I'm just reading the whole Bible. You know, so I read it. And then when I'm all done with it, I start reading it again. He's like, you're reading it wrong. I'm like, what? He's like, you're reading it wrong. I said, what do you mean? I'm like, I start at the beginning. I read it until I get to the end and I start over again. He's like, no, you're reading it wrong. You know, you got to get on a study guide and you got to get on a plan and somebody's got to explain it to you and you got to get a study lesson and a commentary. You know, and that's what they'll try to tell you, you know, that you can't understand the Bible for yourself by just reading it. Well, the Bible says, read it. And the Bible says, you need not that any man teach you. You know, the Holy Spirit will teach you the Bible. You just read it and bring it with you and don't be ashamed of it and bring it to work and bring it to school and announce proudly what you believe in and not try to hide it. We have too many Christians that are in the closet today, hiding the fact that they're saved and that they're a Christian. You know, we ought to be open about it and not ashamed. You know, if people can be open about the fact that they're a pervert and a sodomite, you know, why can't we be open about the fact that we are actually following the Bible, living a clean life and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? What is that to be ashamed of? Nothing. And so you see that people were tortured in Hebrews chapter 11, not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection. You know, that's a horrible thought, isn't it? It's a thought that's revolting to your mind, being tortured. And you know, that's why God tells us fear not. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Not everyone is going to go through that. We're all going to suffer persecution. The Bible says all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But not everybody's going to go through the same persecution. Some people's persecution may just be being mocked and ridiculed by their family or being an outcast at work or an outcast at school. But you see, the Bible tells us that God will not suffer us to be tempted above that we're able. He won't allow us to go through anything that we can't handle, is what the Bible says. And different people can handle different things. And that's why we know that if we're going through something, God expects us to be faithful to death because he knows that we can handle it. And so the more he puts us through, it just shows that he knows we can handle more. And again, that's the bags right there. And if we can't handle it, he's not going to put us through it. So you don't have to sit and worry about it and be scared, oh man, what am I going to do when they try to saw me and have, you know. Hopefully that never happens. And I'm not saying that that's going to happen. But I'm saying that whatever God allows to happen, we ought to stand tall and not live in fear. And that's what causes people to bow down to that golden image. They're scared. You know? And that's what causes them to quit praying when it's illegal like in Daniel 6 because they're scared of the consequences. They're scared of what's going to happen. They're scared of what people are going to think. If they preach right or if they stand up for what's right, if they do what's right, they're afraid of what people think. Now isn't that silly when you stop and think, and by the way, listen to me now. The world is a worse place than it was when this book was written. That's clear. The Bible tells us it's going to continually get worse. If people were being tortured then, they're going to be tortured now. And here's the thing. If you tortured somebody, don't you think that there's a lot of people who probably have been tortured who said, okay fine, I don't believe in the Bible. I don't believe in Jesus. Who really believed in him. Don't you think that there are a lot of people who did that? Probably most people couldn't handle the torture. They're going to give in to it. And that's the thing. It doesn't really change whether or not they believe it. They're still saved. Even if they were to doubt their belief, once you're saved, you can't lose your salvation. The Bible is clear. It's everlasting life. It's eternal life. But stop and think about it. That just shows right there that when you torture people, it doesn't mean that you're really getting the truth out of them. Because our government today thinks that we need to torture people. And whenever the Bible talks about torturing people, it's always bad people that are doing it. They're always torturing the good people. But today it's totally different. And it's funny to me how I talk to people who will tell you that, oh man, our government is so messed up. And they've got the finances all messed up. And I don't think anybody in this country thinks that the finances are in order. Everybody knows the finances are messed up. And people will say, oh man, the finances are so messed up. And you'll talk to these people, and mainly conservatives. You'll talk to conservatives or Republicans. And this is what they'll tell you. Man, the government just messes everything the government touches, they mess it up. And it costs three times as much as it should. And it costs $20,000 for a toilet seat. And they mess it up. And they waste money. And just anything that they touch, they're going to screw it up. And I agree with that. They will. But when it comes to torturing people, they're only torturing the right people. They're only torturing the people who need to be tortured. And I trust their judgment. It's funny how we don't do you trust them. I was arguing this with a Christian not too long ago. I was arguing with a fellow Christian who thought that our government should torture people. And I said, you know, adults are terrorists. You know, they're Muslim extremists. And I said to this person, I said, do you trust the government to handle the money? No, no, no, no. Do you trust the government to be faithful to the Constitution? No, no, no, no. Do you trust the government to do this, to do that, to manage schools or children? No, no, they mess up everything. But you trust them with the power to secretly torture someone. Because it's only somebody who's really bad and really guilty and really deserves it. And you know what, there's never been a nation in history that tortured people that didn't eventually torture their own people. Always. And this subject gets me angry. It gets me mad, you know, when people think that it's okay for our government to torture people. Because that's a really scary thing for our country. When we're going to go the route of the Communists and the Soviets and the Communist Chinese torturing people. That's what we've become as a nation. Even though our founding fathers put in the Constitution, cruel and unusual punishments shall not be inflicted. They want to do cruel and unusual punishments. Upon the right people. Well, I'm sorry, but it's not the right people. And pretty soon you'll be considered a terrorist just because they said you're a terrorist. Who defines that? Everybody's a terrorist these days. And so the bottom line is that torture is something that Christians have been faced with and will be faced with in the future. Prison is something that Christians in the past have been faced with and that Christians in the future will be faced with. All these things, these persecutions are what they're going to be faced with. And God is telling us here, we need to stand up for what we believe and not fear the consequences. Jesus said this in Matthew 10, 27, you don't have to turn there. Would I tell you in darkness? That speak ye in light. And what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body and ill. Go to John chapter 19. This is when Jesus Christ is on trial with Pontius Pilate. And he stands before Pilate and Pilate is trying to get him to answer questions and he's refusing to answer the questions. Look at John 19, 10. This is where Jesus is just kind of giving Pilate the silent treatment while he's on trial. It says in verse 10, then sayeth Pilate unto him, speakest thou not unto me? He's getting frustrated. Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee and have power to release thee? Jesus answered, thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above. Therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath greater sin. He flat out told him, he said, you have no power against me. I have the power to crucify you or release you. And he says, no, you have no power. The only power you have is what God is allowing you to have right now. You don't have any power against me. And you see, that's what the Bible tells us the same thing. No one has the power to destroy us. You know, and people, you know, we have the power to release you or to torture you or to kill, we can torture you. You know what? Sure, they can torture you. They can't kill your soul. They can destroy your body. They can demolish your body. But you know what? This body right here, this is just a temporary body. This is just, it's going to die someday. This body is going to be gone someday. And whether I live to be 120 and die of natural causes, or whether my body is destroyed prematurely by being sawn asunder, you can saw the body in half, but you can't destroy the soul. And you can't make somebody believe something that they don't believe. And you can't make somebody not believe in Jesus Christ. And you can't make somebody worship Satan. You can't do it. And so the world that's out there has no power against us but what God allows them to have. God could have allowed them to be burned up in the fiery furnace. But he performed a great miracle. And they came out of the fiery furnace unscathed, unharmed, not even smelling like smoke. And it was such a miracle that Nebuchadnezzar made a proclamation throughout the whole kingdom that said, anyone who persecutes these people for belief, and anybody who says anything negative about their God, I'm going to put him to death and make his house a dumb hill. Now stop and think about this. What if Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would have just said, you know what, I'm just going to pray to God in my heart while I bow down. I'm not really going to be worshiping Satan here. I'm just going to bow down and worship God in my heart. Well the Bible says to abstain from all appearance of evil. So we shouldn't even look like we're obeying what we're worshiping Satan. So that would have been wrong for them to do that. But let's say they would have done that for a moment. And they would have just said, you know what, I'm going to do what's right. But I've got to be careful here, because I don't want to go into that fiery furnace. So I've got to think about that. And so I'm not going to stand up, but I'm going to worship God in my heart, secretly as it were. Think about the consequences of that. If that were to happen, nobody would have gone into the fiery furnace. And that proclamation would have never gone out. How many people are being persecuted in that state? When the king made a proclamation throughout the whole world empire saying, hey, leave these people alone. Let them serve their God. And if you mess with them, you'll be put to death because you need to just leave them alone. Because their God is the most powerful God. That's great. That probably saved tons of people from going to jail. Tons of people from being killed. Tons of people from being harassed and persecuted. Because three men stood tall and stood up unashamedly for what's right. Who knows how many people they saved and how many people they helped. And how many people saw that miracle and it changed their life when they saw that miracle take place. But that miracle never would have taken place if they hadn't been thrown into the fiery furnace in the first place. You can't be delivered from the fiery furnace if you're never thrown into the fiery furnace. And so thank God that they stood up and did that. Same thing in Daniel 6. If Daniel would have just prayed silently in his heart, that law would have stayed in force. And then next month it would have been an even more restrictive persecution and a more restrictive one. But instead, at the end of it, Darius throws the people in the lions den who made the phony law in the first place. He throws them in and he says, hey, no one can persecute. And God used that again to protect a whole nation of people from being persecuted and being killed for the cause of Christ because of just a few people standing tall and standing up. And so what I'm trying to say this morning is that it's not enough to just say, well, you know, I'm going to do what's right. And I'm going to follow God's commandments and I'm going to do the right thing in my life. That's not enough. You have to do the right thing openly. You know, or else it's not doing anybody else any good if it's all in secret. And the Bible talks about in the time of Christ, there were a whole bunch of the chief rulers and Pharisees, the religious leaders, that believed on Jesus Christ. And the Bible is clear that a lot of the Pharisees, a lot of the rulers of the people believed in Jesus, but it says that they did not confess him openly for fear of the Jews because they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. They liked being popular. They liked having an important position. And the Bible said that anybody who confessed Jesus openly, the Jews would throw him out of the synagogue. They didn't want to be thrown out of the synagogue. They had places of prestige. And so yes, they were saved. Yes, they went to heaven. But they would not be open about that. They were hiding that. Well, here's what happened. Shortly thereafter, people are arguing about whether Jesus Christ was really who he said he was. And here's what they kept bringing up. None of the rulers of the Pharisees had believed on him. None of the chief priests had believed on him. None of the rulers believed on him. Was that really true? No. But they were able to make it seem as if, hey, you're alone. They were looking at somebody who believed in Christ saying, hey, you're all alone on this. Because guess what? None of the rulers believed him. It's only the ignorant masses that believe in Jesus Christ. It's only these people who don't know the Bible. They believe in Jesus. But they basically said to him, you know, none of the Pharisees believed him. None of the important people. None of the rulers believed him. And really, a lot of those people did believe in him. But they were hiding it. And then it made other people feel like they're all alone. When if those people would have stood up and said, hey, I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you know, Nicodemus, instead of just kind of beating around the bush like he did in, I think, whatever chapter it was in John, where he's kind of, oh, you know, are you sure, guys? They're like, shut up. If Nicodemus would have just openly said, hey, I believe in Jesus Christ, that could have caused a whole bunch of other people to say, well, me too. So do I. Well, I do too. And then it could have been like, oh, well, now a lot of the chief rulers and Pharisees are believing in him. Somebody's got to be the first one to break the ice and stand up. And then you'll see other people will rally. And they won't be afraid to stand up. When they see three other people standing up, then maybe they'll begin to stand up and refuse to make obeisance. But when they see God's people, and when they see the most righteous, famous people bowing down and making obeisance to the wicked, then they basically think, well, everybody's doing it. I'm all alone on this. And I'm sorry. I've seen too much of this in my life. I remember I've been in churches where they would bring ungodly politicians into the church and have them speak in church. And they would give them awards and accolades. And it didn't matter whether they were Republican or Democrat. It didn't matter whether they were Christian or non-Christian. It didn't matter whether they were for abortion or against abortion or for sodomy. It didn't matter. They would bring in wicked politicians and give them a hand. And they would give them awards and say, oh, we may not agree with them on everything, but we love them and we respect them. And they would bow down at these people's feet. And you know what? It's sending the wrong message to the world when they do that. You know, these people need to be called out and pointed out for what they are. They shouldn't be bowed down and worshiped in the house of God. God's house should be a holy place. It shouldn't be a place where we bring in unbelievers and worldly people and put them on a pedestal, no matter who they are. But especially when they're wicked people. And you know why they were doing it? And here's the thing. I went to Bible college, okay? And they taught us to do that. And you know why they taught us to do it? I mean, they literally, in a class, I was sitting in a class in Bible college, and they say, you need to have a day where you honor the police and the police chief and honor the fire department and the fire chief and honor the politicians, honor the mayor, you know, if you can get the senators and the congress and the governors. And it didn't matter, right or wrong. And they even told us, you have to bring in both sides, because they said it's illegal if you're just bringing in one side. So you've got to bring in the democrat, you know? You've got to bring in the republic. You've got to bring everybody in. And here's what they said. They said, well, because this way, when you go to get your building permits and everything, it's going to go more smoothly. They said, you know what? When you have problems with the police, because you're going to, you know, this way, the police chief knows you. And it's like, oh, yeah, big four, they're good. You know, they bought me a Sirloin steak, or you know, they bought me a play on that one time and gave me all these awards and paraded my doughnut-filled self across the platform and gave me a big trophy and told me I was wonderful. And I mean, they would push this to such an extent that I've literally, one time I was in church, and they brought in, was it the chief of police or the sheriff or whoever it was? They bring this guy in and they have him speak in a Baptist church for 15 minutes. He comes in on Sunday morning, and before the sermon, they have this guy come in, okay, and he was the chief of police for the city. And they gave him a big award, and he gets up there. And this is an independent, fundamental, King James always, Sirloin-y Baptist church. He gets up and he says, you know, I flipped, a couple years back, I was in a police chase, and he said, you know, my car flipped over. And he said, you know, I was in danger of a jeopardy of death, because I mean, his car actually flipped. And he said, you know, I flipped over, and he said, but I think I would have gone to heaven. You know, I hope I would have gone to heaven, because you know, I'm a good person. And he said, also, I think I would have gone to heaven, and he said, I pray this prayer every night. He pulls out a piece of paper, and he's got this Catholic prayer, and he pulls out and reads a Catholic prayer. And my wife could tell you she was there. He pulls out and says, I hope I would have gone to heaven, because I was a pretty good person, and I pray this every night. He pulls out and reads a Catholic prayer. And then he just keeps talking, and then everybody just gives him a hand, and give him an award. I mean, that's so wrong. I don't hope I'm going to heaven. I know I'm going to heaven. The Bible says these things are written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God. It doesn't say you hope so, because you chant some prayer every night, or you hope so, because you think you've lived a pretty good life. No, you're a sinner, just like I'm a sinner. You haven't lived a good life. There's none righteous. No, not one. But if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, I shall be saved. And this guy got up and preached a false gospel, read a Catholic prayer in a Baptist church, but hey, at least we're going to have less trouble with the police. At least that building permit is going to go through. Hey, that's garbage. And today we need to understand that it's better to burn than to bow. It's better to be thrown into that fiery furnace. You know why? Because if you bow down to Satan, life's not even worth living after that. Did you hear me? Life's not even worth living. So it's better to burn than to bow. And if I'm put with the choice of deny Jesus Christ or die, I have nothing more to live for at that point, if I'm just going to deny Jesus. If I'm put with the choice of don't spank your kids like the Bible commands you to, or we'll take them away from you, you might as well take them away from me because I can't raise them right unless I'm doing it in God's method. If I can't do it God's way, then have somebody else do it. Because as for me and my house, we'll serve the Lord. You say, don't you love your kids? That's why I obey God's spank them and treat them right. And I'd rather have the faith in God to say, you know what, God's going to protect them wherever they go. And God's going to make sure they turn out right wherever they go. I'm going to do what's right than to just do wrong. You know, or well, I'm going to do right by my kids, but to hell with everybody else. So I'm going to spank them in secret somewhere. No, I'll do it openly. I'll stand up right now and tell you what I believe and what I stand for, because I don't just care about myself, I care about you. I care about all Christians across America and across the world. And so I'm going to stand up for the truth for everyone. And I'm not going to sit there and say, well, you know, I got to save my skin and I got to save my throat here. So I'm going to go ahead and just pretend to worship Satan here and get on my face before the golden calf. No, because life's not worth living, my friend, if that's how you are. If you've sold out the Lord Jesus Christ, if you've sold out your children, if you've sold, I mean, look, it's not worth pastoring unless I can get up and preach the whole word of God. It's not worth it to me. I mean, as soon as I can't preach the whole Bible, it's time for me to quit being a pastor that day because it's not worth it. It's not even worth doing. You say, well, you're going to lose your position as pastor. I don't want my position as pastor if I can't preach the whole book. I don't want to be a parent if I can't raise children that are going to grow up and serve God and love God and do what's right. I don't want to live my life if I have to live a lie and live in secret and live pretending to be something that I'm not. Then I might as well just die and go to heaven because I don't want to live that kind of life. That's why it's better to burn than to bow. And yet today, we're not faced with a fiery furnace today. Has anybody been faced with something like this? Your boss at work came to you and said, now listen, if you don't work on Wednesday night, you're going to be cast alive into a fiery furnace. If you do not sell pornography, if you don't sell this porno DVD, you're going to be cast into a lion's den. And what God is he that's going to save you from that? No. So can't we take a little more of a stand in our lives? You know what I mean? And I've taken some stands in my life. I'm not always perfect. I've failed as well as everyone has failed. But there are times that I've taken a stand. I remember when I first got a job at a pizza place, they said we want to make you a supervisor. But in order to be a supervisor, I had to basically serve alcohol. And I told them, I said, I don't want to serve alcohol. I said, I'm not going to serve people alcohol. And they said, well, then you can't be a supervisor. And I said, well, I'm not going to be a supervisor because I'm not going to sit there and serve alcohol. I don't believe in drinking alcohol. I believe it's wrong. And I'm not going to sit there and hand it to people and bring it to them and whatever because I just don't want anything to do with it. And when I made that decision, it cost me money, right? Because I'm standing in my position. I wasn't able to be a supervisor. But guess what? Maybe that was just God's will because maybe if I were to become a supervisor, I would have stayed at that job longer. Well, God had other jobs that were better for me, making more than I would have made as a supervisor in that place. Because that's not exactly a six figure income, being a supervisor at that pizza place. And what I'm saying is, and I'm not doubting anybody who works at a pizza place. I love where I worked there for three years. But I'm telling you, yeah, I stood my ground and said, I'm not going to do something that's against my conscience. And you say, well, I don't agree with you on that thing about serving alcohol. It doesn't matter. That's what I believe. I'm not going to violate what I believe in. And I stood up for what I believed in. And it caused me to be mocked and ridiculed, yelled at a few times. Because things would be backed up. You didn't even get to go serve those, you didn't even bring those people their beer. I said, no. Go do it. No. And I remember my boss, he has yelled at me before, you're going to work on Wednesday night. And I'm supposed to be preaching or I'm supposed to be there. It's like, you're going to work. Shut up. And I just had to say, no. And it's not always easy, but it's not exactly faced up with the pirate furnace either. God wants us to stand up for what's right. And you know, I always tried to be nice. And the Bible showed us an example in Daniel, I don't have time for it, but in Daniel chapter 1, he showed us an example where they weren't asking them to actually bow down to Satan. It was a little milder. They were just asking them to eat some meat that had been sacrificed to idols and to drink wine. And basically what Daniel and them said, they didn't just scream, no. They basically, it says that they kindly requested, hey, you know, we'd rather not do this. It's against our beliefs. Now if somebody's telling you to get on your knees and worship Satan, then basically you just say, hey, we're not careful to answer these. Drop dead. But if somebody's asking you to do something else like, you know, serve booze or whatever, you know, then yeah, obviously I was kinder about it and said, hey, I can't do this. It's against my religion, whatever. And then, you know, God ended up blessing me in the long run. Okay? You know, I don't know, I don't know what it is that you're faced with in your life where people are trying to stop you from doing what's right. People are trying to intimidate you or whether somebody's trying to stop you from doing right or standing up for things of God. You know, let's just decide today, you know, this is what I believe. I'm going to stand up for it. I'm going to stand my ground for what's right. I'm not going to bow down and I'm actually going to be open about it. You know, not only am I going to preach the truth and believe the truth, but I'm going to be open about it. I'm not going to hide it. Hide it under a bushel, no. And so, let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you for the great example of men in the Bible that had much more courage or bravery or boldness than probably any of us have. They're actually faced with a burning, fiery furnace, but really, what other choice did they have than to worship a golden statue under Satan? And God, what life is even worth living if that's how we and timid you are that you're going to do that. Father, help us all to have boldness, dear God, and to stand up for what's right and do what's right. And Lord, if people could be sacrificed and tortured and sawn as thunder, help us to be willing to maybe spend a little extra gas money to get to church or maybe get up early enough to come to church or get up early enough to read our Bible. I mean, if people could be tortured, dear God, help us to just at least maybe, you know, do some soul winning when it's hot outside. You know, if other people were tortured, dear God, help us to be able to endure some afflictions for you. And in Jesus' name we pray, amen.