We left with the Chaldeans
going to King Nebuchadnezzar
00:00:01.36\00:00:04.27
and telling him that
there were certain Jews
00:00:04.30\00:00:07.44
that did not go
along with his great image
00:00:07.54\00:00:12.47
that pictured that the
world was going to last forever
00:00:12.51\00:00:16.21
and it would be
a Babylonian world,
00:00:16.24\00:00:18.21
in contrast to Daniel's dream.
00:00:18.48\00:00:20.75
Daniel's dreams said no, there
will be a succession of kingdoms
00:00:20.85\00:00:23.62
ending with God's
kingdom, setting up His kingdom
00:00:23.65\00:00:26.82
that will last forever.
00:00:26.86\00:00:28.29
It's a fantastic dream; the
great stone cut without hands
00:00:28.99\00:00:32.26
and fills the whole earth.
00:00:32.29\00:00:33.83
I can just image those three
Hebrews there faithful to God.
00:00:34.00\00:00:37.50
We don't know where Daniel was.
00:00:37.53\00:00:38.93
He would have
certainly stood with them.
00:00:38.97\00:00:40.60
But he must have been off
on some journey or something.
00:00:40.77\00:00:43.64
We don't know.
00:00:43.67\00:00:45.01
But I can just image
they're all standing there,
00:00:45.41\00:00:48.78
and when the
music plays everybody
00:00:49.11\00:00:51.81
bows down to the image.
00:00:51.85\00:00:53.48
By the way, we're going to see
that at the end of time again.
00:00:53.52\00:00:56.25
There's going to be
a lot of peer pressure.
00:00:57.12\00:00:59.05
And there must have
been peer pressure out there.
00:00:59.39\00:01:01.79
They may have had talks with
each other before they went.
00:01:01.99\00:01:04.23
Maybe they talked to some
of their other Jewish friends
00:01:04.26\00:01:07.13
and said, "We don't know,
this is not going to be good,
00:01:07.16\00:01:10.63
but we're not going to stand up.
00:01:10.67\00:01:12.00
We don't know about you guys,
but we're not going to bow down
00:01:12.03\00:01:14.84
to this image.
00:01:14.87\00:01:16.37
We worship the God of
heaven and we serve Him."
00:01:16.74\00:01:20.28
And I can just see
their friends saying,
00:01:21.14\00:01:24.08
"Well you know, that will
get you in a lot of trouble.
00:01:24.11\00:01:26.21
Maybe not the kind
of trouble you want."
00:01:26.58\00:01:28.75
In fact, Nebuchadnezzar wanted
to make sure that everybody
00:01:29.28\00:01:31.55
went along and that
they got the message
00:01:31.59\00:01:33.46
so he brought a fiery furnace
out there and he declared that
00:01:33.49\00:01:37.09
anybody that didn't do
it, that didn't bow down,
00:01:37.13\00:01:39.86
was going to get tossed
into that fiery furnace.
00:01:39.89\00:01:42.26
So there they
were, the music plays.
00:01:44.33\00:01:46.17
Everybody, all of these
leaders from all over the world,
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they bow down
before the golden image.
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Except for three.
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Maybe somebody
peaked. I don't know.
00:01:56.58\00:01:58.91
They must have.
Somebody must have.
00:01:58.95\00:02:01.25
"Look."
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Maybe they were whispering,
but it wasn't long before
00:02:03.62\00:02:05.95
they had these three guys
in front of Nebuchadnezzar.
00:02:05.99\00:02:09.06
Now Nebuchadnezzar
wanted to be a nice guy here.
00:02:10.36\00:02:12.59
He usually sometimes
could get pretty angry.
00:02:12.63\00:02:15.30
But he liked
these young Jewish guys.
00:02:15.33\00:02:18.40
So he says to
them in so many words,
00:02:18.80\00:02:21.84
"Look, guys, I'll
give you another chance."
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Now it seemed nice, but I love
the response of these young men.
00:02:26.24\00:02:30.61
I'm putting this in my words.
00:02:30.65\00:02:32.18
Paraphrasing it.
00:02:32.45\00:02:34.02
Because they looked at
the king and they said,
00:02:34.62\00:02:36.52
"We don't need another chance.
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We don't need to
go through this again.
00:02:38.89\00:02:40.96
We don't need another chance."
00:02:40.99\00:02:42.32
Because they were
saying nothing is changing.
00:02:42.36\00:02:45.03
Let me tell you this.
Their mind was made up.
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Is your mind made up?
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Is your mind changeable?
00:02:53.23\00:02:54.57
Do you blow back
and forth in the wind
00:02:54.60\00:02:56.20
between your loyalty to
the Lord Jesus and Scripture?
00:02:56.24\00:03:00.08
Or maybe you just
haven't made up your mind.
00:03:00.28\00:03:01.81
Maybe you feel
pulled by the world one way
00:03:01.84\00:03:04.05
and blown by the
peer pressure another way.
00:03:04.71\00:03:07.32
And then you feel
the longings of Christ,
00:03:07.42\00:03:09.58
or you say, "I know it's good.
00:03:09.62\00:03:10.95
I know I need
to do this, but..."
00:03:10.99\00:03:13.05
They didn't have that.
They made up their mind.
00:03:16.36\00:03:18.66
By the way, before Jesus
comes, there's going to be
00:03:18.86\00:03:21.16
a whole generation of
people that are going to
00:03:21.20\00:03:22.73
make up their mind.
00:03:22.76\00:03:25.13
They're going to
make up their mind
00:03:25.63\00:03:27.34
that Jesus is
everything to them.
00:03:27.80\00:03:30.74
And they're not going to change.
00:03:30.91\00:03:32.57
They're not going to
be blown by the wind.
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These young men looked at, they
looked at King Nebuchadnezzar
00:03:34.58\00:03:37.51
and said, "We don't
need another chance."
00:03:37.55\00:03:39.51
And then they said something
that really defines faith.
00:03:40.02\00:03:43.35
They said, they
looked at that fiery furnace.
00:03:43.49\00:03:45.79
It was sitting
there and smoking.
00:03:45.82\00:03:47.82
And they said,
"Our God can deliver us
00:03:48.09\00:03:50.46
from that fiery furnace."
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That's faith.
00:03:52.13\00:03:53.46
Faith believes that
God can do anything.
00:03:53.50\00:03:57.37
He can do the impossible.
00:03:57.97\00:04:00.10
But then they said something
else that also defines faith.
00:04:02.34\00:04:05.37
"But if He doesn't..."
00:04:05.47\00:04:07.01
In other words, "If
God doesn't deliver us,
00:04:07.04\00:04:10.01
we're still not
going to worship your gods.
00:04:10.05\00:04:12.91
We know that God loves us
even if He doesn't rescue us
00:04:13.35\00:04:18.95
from the burning fiery furnace."
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Faith believes that
God can do the impossible,
00:04:22.12\00:04:25.26
but faith also
believes that God still loves me
00:04:25.29\00:04:29.00
even in the midst of
difficulty and fiery furnaces.
00:04:29.03\00:04:32.67
Well in typical fashion,
Nebuchadnezzar went into a rage.
00:04:33.03\00:04:36.87
Heated the thing
seven times hotter.
00:04:36.91\00:04:39.41
And has these three young
men tied up and thrown in.
00:04:39.51\00:04:44.11
It was so hot that even
the men, the strong soldiers,
00:04:44.15\00:04:49.15
who threw them in died before
they could get back fast enough.
00:04:49.18\00:04:53.42
So here they are, all
looking at this fiery furnace.
00:04:54.29\00:05:00.40
And King Nebuchadnezzar
and these Chaldeans
00:05:01.56\00:05:05.53
who reported to
him these certain Jews,
00:05:05.57\00:05:09.74
all feeling
quite self-satisfied.
00:05:10.77\00:05:12.94
They had taken
care of the problem.
00:05:12.97\00:05:14.51
Sent a message to everybody.
00:05:14.61\00:05:16.75
And then they were stunned.
00:05:18.31\00:05:21.05
Shocked.
00:05:21.82\00:05:23.45
These men stood up
00:05:24.79\00:05:28.32
and were walking around
in the burning fiery furnace.
00:05:29.22\00:05:35.20
They could hardly
believe their eyes.
00:05:36.30\00:05:38.47
Nebuchadnezzar says, "Didn't
we throw three men in there?"
00:05:38.57\00:05:42.87
And then here was the
other stunning amazing thing.
00:05:42.90\00:05:48.21
"Didn't we throw
three men in there?
00:05:48.31\00:05:51.45
Three?
00:05:52.01\00:05:53.35
But I see four.
00:05:54.62\00:05:57.95
And the fourth man
looks like the Son of God."
00:05:59.05\00:06:07.26
When John sees Jesus,
in the book of Revelation,
00:06:08.56\00:06:11.00
he says His face
shines brighter than the sun.
00:06:11.03\00:06:15.00
And even though it doesn't
say that in the book of Daniel,
00:06:15.20\00:06:17.24
I think that Jesus'
face was shining brighter,
00:06:17.27\00:06:20.81
this fourth Man who is
the incomparable Jesus,
00:06:20.84\00:06:24.78
the unchangeable Jesus,
00:06:25.51\00:06:28.25
the invincible Jesus.
00:06:28.65\00:06:30.49
He's standing there
and His face is brighter
00:06:31.02\00:06:34.09
than the fiery furnace
heated seven times hotter.
00:06:34.12\00:06:38.63
Listen, when you're in trouble,
when you're in difficulty,
00:06:40.80\00:06:44.43
you need the fourth Man.
00:06:44.73\00:06:46.43
The fourth Man can do anything.
00:06:46.60\00:06:49.00
And those four men,
those three men walked out
00:06:49.04\00:06:52.64
of that burning fiery furnace
without even the smell of smoke.
00:06:52.67\00:06:58.25
But now I want to fast forward.
00:06:59.38\00:07:00.85
I want to fast
forward to the time of Babylon
00:07:00.95\00:07:04.39
talked about in
the book of Revelation.
00:07:04.82\00:07:06.86
In fact, John's
Jesus, or Jesus through John,
00:07:06.89\00:07:10.23
uses Nebuchadnezzar's
Babylon as a picture
00:07:10.86\00:07:15.80
in a symbol form of
the Babylon that's coming.
00:07:15.83\00:07:20.14
There is another Babylon
coming in the end of time.
00:07:20.77\00:07:25.47
In fact, it's going
to have a fiery furnace.
00:07:26.34\00:07:29.41
And that fiery furnace is
called, the mark of the beast.
00:07:29.44\00:07:33.82
In fact, in Revelation
13, using the picture of the
00:07:34.92\00:07:39.55
image to the beast, which is
really another parallel to this
00:07:39.59\00:07:42.92
great symbolic
Babylon, it says he brings
00:07:42.96\00:07:46.96
fire down from heaven.
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This Babylon in Revelation, this
Babylon is pictured in two ways.
00:07:49.63\00:07:54.50
It's pictured as an adulteress.
00:07:55.04\00:07:58.57
Meaning that she had not
been faithful to the one that
00:07:59.41\00:08:03.58
she was suppose
to be married to.
00:08:03.61\00:08:07.05
And she had made
adulteries with a lot of
00:08:07.28\00:08:10.15
people she shouldn't have.
00:08:10.19\00:08:11.52
And I'm not going to
get into that right now.
00:08:11.55\00:08:13.25
We'll get into that later.
00:08:13.29\00:08:14.72
And she's also
pictured as a great city.
00:08:15.29\00:08:18.29
But she has something in mind.
00:08:19.23\00:08:21.20
And we're going to
find that in the Scripture
00:08:21.33\00:08:23.60
in Revelation 18:7.
00:08:23.63\00:08:27.40
She says this
testimony about herself.
00:08:27.44\00:08:30.37
This is her boast.
00:08:30.41\00:08:32.34
And it sounds like what
Nebuchadnezzar was trying to do
00:08:32.37\00:08:37.18
with that great image of gold.
00:08:37.28\00:08:40.28
And here is what she says.
00:08:40.62\00:08:42.95
She says, "I sit as a queen.
00:08:43.75\00:08:47.36
I am no widow, and I
will not see sorrow."
00:08:47.66\00:08:53.70
In other words,
she's saying her Babylon,
00:08:53.80\00:08:56.73
like Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon,
is going to last forever.
00:08:56.77\00:09:01.77
It's going to last forever.
00:09:02.24\00:09:03.81
She's not going to see problems.
00:09:03.84\00:09:05.27
She's not going to see sorrow.
00:09:05.31\00:09:06.78
She's not going
to have any problems.
00:09:06.81\00:09:08.31
Everything is going
to go great for her.
00:09:08.34\00:09:10.88
But of course, when
things go great for her,
00:09:11.91\00:09:14.58
it comes at a cost
to God's certain people.
00:09:14.62\00:09:19.12
Just like it came to a
cost to Daniel's three friends,
00:09:19.15\00:09:22.39
Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abed-Nego.
00:09:22.42\00:09:24.33
They were thrown
in that fiery furnace
00:09:24.49\00:09:26.93
in order to make way
for the king's great vision
00:09:26.96\00:09:30.90
of a Babylon
that would never end.
00:09:30.93\00:09:33.57
And this Babylon in the
New Testament is no different.
00:09:33.80\00:09:37.97
If you get in her way, she
has a fiery furnace for you.
00:09:38.54\00:09:43.35
It's called, the
mark of the beast.
00:09:43.38\00:09:47.28
And she's not been faithful.
00:09:48.75\00:09:50.49
Now, you know, she's
not been faithful to Jesus.
00:09:50.52\00:09:55.26
She's really a religious power.
00:09:55.46\00:09:58.59
But I want to come
back to that point again.
00:09:59.16\00:10:01.43
The point is, it's
not whose name you take.
00:10:01.86\00:10:05.27
I mean, you could take
your husband's name all day
00:10:05.43\00:10:08.10
and say, "I am Mrs.
So and so," all day long.
00:10:08.14\00:10:10.97
You can do that.
00:10:11.01\00:10:12.34
But if you're not faithful,
if you're not faithful...
00:10:12.37\00:10:16.54
And that's what happens
with this lady, this Babylon.
00:10:16.75\00:10:20.42
She is endeavoring
to set up something,
00:10:20.82\00:10:25.09
but she's not
doing it with Jesus.
00:10:25.29\00:10:27.66
She's not doing it with Jesus.
00:10:27.69\00:10:29.82
She's doing it
on her own account.
00:10:29.86\00:10:33.80
She's got her own
alliances, if you please.
00:10:33.83\00:10:37.93
And so that's why she says,
"I've got this thing set up.
00:10:38.60\00:10:41.50
It's not going to end.
00:10:41.54\00:10:42.87
I'm not going
to have any sorrow.
00:10:42.90\00:10:44.47
Everything is going to go."
00:10:44.51\00:10:45.84
She expects to reign forever.
00:10:45.87\00:10:48.34
But you know,
there is an intervention.
00:10:48.38\00:10:51.25
An intervention
by the God of heaven.
00:10:51.28\00:10:53.95
And the God of heaven
sends seven terrible plagues
00:10:53.98\00:10:58.45
in the end of time
that interrupts Babylon.
00:10:58.49\00:11:00.46
But that's another
subject for another time.
00:11:00.49\00:11:03.16
I want to come
back to this Babylon.
00:11:03.19\00:11:04.83
She's going to have
great complete control,
00:11:04.86\00:11:07.00
complete information.
00:11:07.03\00:11:08.53
She's a control
freak on steroids.
00:11:08.63\00:11:11.40
She wants to control the world.
00:11:11.43\00:11:13.57
Your life. Everybody's life.
00:11:15.14\00:11:18.84
She not only wants
wealth, she wants power.
00:11:19.71\00:11:23.55
Power that does not
belong to earthly beings.
00:11:24.38\00:11:27.45
Power that belongs
only to the Lord Jesus.
00:11:27.62\00:11:30.39
But that fourth Man, that
fourth Man that stood in that
00:11:31.15\00:11:34.49
fiery furnace with Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abed-Nego,
00:11:34.52\00:11:37.56
He's going to show up
again at the end of the world.
00:11:37.59\00:11:40.06
And let me tell you,
we're headed for trouble.
00:11:40.10\00:11:43.37
And you're going to
need that fourth Man.
00:11:43.40\00:11:46.10
You're going to really need Him.
00:11:46.20\00:11:48.24
And He's going to intervene
to save His faithful children.
00:11:48.27\00:11:52.07
It doesn't matter
what Babylon invokes,
00:11:52.11\00:11:54.58
no matter what she enforces,
00:11:55.14\00:11:57.18
she's going to have to
contend with the fourth Man
00:11:57.28\00:12:00.78
just like Nebuchadnezzar of
old Babylon had to contend with.
00:12:00.82\00:12:05.19
Don't you want the
fourth Man on your side?
00:12:05.39\00:12:07.76
You know, there's a lot of
peer pressure in the world.
00:12:07.79\00:12:09.66
And there's going to
be a lot of peer pressure
00:12:09.69\00:12:11.03
to go along with Babylon.
00:12:11.06\00:12:12.39
There's going to be a
lot of Christians that say,
00:12:12.46\00:12:13.80
"Well you know, we've
got to think about life.
00:12:13.83\00:12:15.90
We've got to have life."
And all those kind of things.
00:12:15.93\00:12:18.10
But I want to tell you that
you better put your dependence
00:12:18.13\00:12:20.94
on that fourth Man
who is none other than
00:12:20.97\00:12:23.44
the incomparable Jesus.
00:12:23.47\00:12:25.51
The incomparable Jesus.
00:12:25.61\00:12:27.44
The invincible Jesus.
00:12:27.74\00:12:29.71
The invincible Jesus that
is unconquerable, unstoppable,
00:12:29.74\00:12:33.62
and unbeatable.
00:12:33.65\00:12:34.98
Jesus, the incomparable Jesus
that's matchless, peerless,
00:12:35.05\00:12:40.19
unequaled,
unmatched, unsurpassable.
00:12:40.29\00:12:44.09
This is the fourth Man.
00:12:44.33\00:12:46.43
This is the fourth Man
that you need on your side
00:12:46.46\00:12:49.46
in the end of time.
00:12:49.50\00:12:50.83
This is the fourth Man
that you need beside you
00:12:50.87\00:12:53.44
every day of your life.
00:12:53.47\00:12:55.40
This is the fourth Man
who really, truly loves you,
00:12:55.50\00:12:59.17
because He gave His life
for you on Calvary's cross.
00:12:59.21\00:13:02.44
This fourth Man that
stood in that fiery furnace
00:13:02.48\00:13:05.61
is ready to stand in the
middle of your fiery furnaces,
00:13:05.65\00:13:08.78
fiery furnaces
that would consume you.
00:13:08.88\00:13:11.59
But because He's
matchless, He's invincible,
00:13:11.69\00:13:15.09
He's incomparable, He
can bring you through.
00:13:15.19\00:13:21.23