CALHOUN COMMUNITY CHURCH

Whole Lotta Shakin Goin On
Learning to Be a Stand-up Person
(Daniel 3:1-15, LB)

Pastor Jerry Rice August 30, 2020

King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue ninety feet high and nine feet wide and set it up on the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon; then he sent messages to all the princes, governors, captains, judges, treasurers, counselors, sheriffs, and rulers of all the provinces of his empire, to come to the dedication of his statue. When they had all arrived and were standing before the monument, a herald shouted out, “O people of all nations and languages, this is the king’s command: “When the band strikes up, you are to fall flat on the ground to worship King Nebuchadnezzar’s gold statue; anyone who refuses to obey will immediately be thrown into a flaming furnace.”
So when the band began to play, everyone—whatever his nation, language, or religion—fell to the ground and worshiped the statue.
But some officials went to the king and accused some of the Jews of refusing to worship!
“O King, live for ever,” they said to him, “you made a law that everyone must fall down and worship the gold statue when the band begins to play, and that anyone who refuses will be thrown into a flaming furnace. But there are some Jews out there—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, whom you have put in charge of Babylonian affairs—who have defied you, refusing to serve your gods or to worship the gold statue you set up.”
Then Nebuchadnezzar, in a terrible rage, ordered Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to be brought in before him. “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,” he demanded, “that you are refusing to serve my gods or to worship the gold statue I set up? I’ll give you one more chance. When the music plays, if you fall down and worship the statue, all will be well. But if you refuse, you will be thrown into a flaming furnace within the hour. And what god can deliver you out of my hands then?”

Three Types of People in the World

 

1.______________________ – Ups!

King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue ninety feet high and nine feet wide and set it up on the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon”(Daniel 3:1, LB).

2.______________________ – Ups!

Some officials went to the king and accused some of the Jews of refusing to worship! “O King, live for ever”(Daniel 3:8, LB).

 

3.______________________ – Ups!

“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, whom you have put in charge of Babylonian affairs—who have defied you, refusing to serve your gods or to worship the gold statue you set up”(Daniel 3:12, LB).

 

Qualities of Stand-Up People

I. Stand-Up People put ___________________________ in God!

“Without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believer that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him”(Hebrews 11:6, KJV).

“O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not worried about what will happen to us. If we are thrown into the flaming furnace, our God is able to deliver us; and He will deliver us out of your hand”(Daniel 3:16-17, LB).

II. Stand-Up People never __________________________ alone!

“When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee”(Isaiah 43:2, BRG).

Nebuchadnezzar shouted, “I see four men, unbound, walking around in the fire, and they aren’t even hurt by the flames! And the fourth looks like a god”((Daniel 3:25, LB).

III. Stand-Up People bring ________________________ to God!

“Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because THERE IS NO OTHER GOD THAT CAN deliver after this sort”(Daniel 3:28-29, KJV).