1
No Compromise
Daniel 3
Please stand and open up your Bibles to Daniel
3:1-18 (READ/Pray). I have entitled this message:
No Compromise:
Last year we did a summer sermon series entitled: “What is
the Church?” And the 5th and last message in that series
was: The Counterfeit Church [2 Tim. 3]. And out of that
sermon I was deeply encouraged by your response. In fact,
I remember reading certain comments about the sermon
posted on social media. And one of those comments
beautifully summarized the sermon in a way that I had not
considered – and that is “No compromise”. From that post
came the idea for the church theme for 2016 – “No
Compromise”. And the text that I believe conveys this
commitment to no compromise when it comes to our
relationship to the Lord is Daniel 3.
This morning I want to give us: 4 Explicit Commands in
Scripture we must not compromise on in order to remain
faithful in our devotion to the Lord in 2016. These 4
Explicit Commands are all given in the passage that is
before us.
(Theme) The book of Daniel teaches us how to live a life
under the conviction that our God is sovereign over all
things. There are attitudes and behaviors that should
accompany one who holds to the doctrine of God’s
sovereign rule over all authorities and matters in life.
Daniel and the Hebrew boys (teenagers) demonstrate for us
what these attitudes and behaviors are: boldness;
uncompromising fidelity to the commandments of
Scripture; steadfastness in one’s allegiance to God despite
opposition; confidence that God is in control, even in
circumstances that are detrimental to one’s well-being;
2
assurance that one’s life is never in the power of our
enemies but in God’s hands alone. Therefore, one’s
decision on what to do when confronted will not be dictated
by threats. Though every office or position of human
authority may be greater than us but never greater than our
God. And our obedience should never be determined by
lesser authorities but the greatest One. As Sovereign God,
His aim is always to magnify His name in and through the
lives of His people for their good, never for the good or
praise of their enemies. And therefore in light of this truth:
The 1st Explicit Command we must not compromise on is –
Do not Love the World: (vv. 1-7)
1) Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, the
height of which was sixty cubits and its width six cubits; he
set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. (2)
Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent word to assemble the
satraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the
treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and all the rulers of
the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that
Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. (3) Then the satraps,
the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the
treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and all the rulers of
the provinces were assembled for the dedication of the image
that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood
before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. (4) Then
the herald loudly proclaimed: “To you the command is given,
O peoples, nations and men of every language, (5) that at the
moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon,
psaltery, bagpipe, and all kinds of music, you are to fall down
and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king
has set up. (6) “But whoever does not fall down and worship
shall immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of
blazing fire.” (7) Therefore at that time, when all the peoples
heard the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery,
bagpipe, and all kinds of music, all the peoples, nations, and
men of every language fell down and worshiped the golden
image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
3
3:1 – “the height of which was sixty cubits” - rising to the
height of 90 feet (roughly the size of a nine-story building)
and expanding to a width of 9 feet. The statue was
enormous… Ninety feet includes the height of a base upon
which the image rested. Yet the position of the chapter in
the book, the probability that the king received the idea for
the image from the dream in chap. 2, and the likelihood that
the image was constructed to test the loyalty of the king’s
officials to his new administration all appear to support a
time nearer the beginning of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign. The
image was in the likeness of one of Babylon’s gods,
probably the principal god, Marduk. [The New American
Commentary]
(3:1) – the plain of Dura a few miles south of Babylon.
3:2-3 – seven different classes of officials are named, and it
may be assumed that they are listed in order of importance.
[The New American Commentary]
3:5 – dancing to the music of the world
3:6-7 – the world will threaten you with what you value the
most if you don’t comply with their rules - your life (Rev.
12:11), livelihood.
The concert of the culture is the fads and trends that are
imposed upon you by the majority. And for the religious
community this demand for conformity is usually given in
religious overtones: reach the world for Jesus; become all
things to all men; loving sinners mean that we don’t offend
anyone; Christian love means that we don’t impose our
beliefs upon others; tolerance.
But the culture will impose or enforce conformity by
threatening to take away the things that we value the most
in life [luxuries (positions of honor); livelihood; freedoms];
the culture intimidates by “the fear of man” (Prov. 29:25) –
afraid of what people think; afraid of being ostracized;
4
afraid of not fitting in; not wanting to be condemned by the
opinions of man.
Not wanting that sense of importance before men to be
removed. Listen, God stood with the 3 Hebrew boys not
with the Babylonian nation; “whoever wishes to be a friend
of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (Jas. 4:4).
When you bow to the demands of the world you declare
that the world as your god. When you bow to the idols of
education, career, sex, money or human approval, you are
declaring these things have the ultimate allegiance over
your life. You bow in fear to these things because you
believe these things control your destiny, not God;
But there is something about music that is hypnotic – it is
able to entice the emotions with sound in order to incline
the will to respond in expression while bypassing the mind
[not cognizant of what you are actually dancing too; the
lyrics under normal circumstances if read on read you
would not agree it but the beat sounds so good what they
lyrics are actually saying doesn’t matter but at the same
time, the fact that you are being moved by the rhythm
proves that you are complying with the song]:
The Greatest Love of All - I found the greatest love of all; Inside
of me; The greatest love of all; Is easy to achieve; Learning to
love yourself; It is the greatest love of all – self-worship
I remember writing a story for my English class in 7th grade and
I titled after one of Prince’s songs. My dad read it and said,
“Boy, do you know what this word means?” And he made me
get a dictionary and look up the word.
Now I don’t have rhythm, Athena knows that, I try to tell
her that I could dance back in the day and that salvation
removed my skills but she doesn’t believe it –
5
The Hebrews boys knew the lyrics before the music played
and therefore they did not allow themselves to be caught
up. The beat as the young people say is “bangin”.
Quote: Bryan Chapell – “What’s the only reason why sin
has power in your life? Because you love it”) The Hebrew
boys did not love the music of the world.
Scrip. Ref: 1 John 2:15 – Do not love [present imperative – love
of sacrifice] the world [the world’s value system is idolatrous],
nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of
the Father [the love for the Father] is not in him.
The 2nd Explicit Command in Scripture we must not
compromise on is to – Love the Lord with all your heart
(vv. 8-18):
(8) For this reason at that time certain Chaldeans came
forward and brought charges against the Jews. (9) They
responded and said to Nebuchadnezzar the king: “O king,
live forever! (10) “You yourself, O king, have made a decree
that every man who hears the sound of the horn, flute, lyre,
trigon, psaltery, and bagpipe, and all kinds of music, is to fall
down and worship the golden image. (11) “But whoever does
not fall down and worship shall be cast into the midst of a
furnace of blazing fire. (12) “There are certain Jews whom
you have appointed over the administration of the province
of Babylon, namely Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego.
These men, O king, have disregarded you; they do not serve
your gods or worship the golden image which you have set
up.” (13) Then Nebuchadnezzar in rage and anger gave
orders to bring Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego; then
these men were brought before the king. (14)
Nebuchadnezzar responded and said to them, “Is it true,
Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, that you do not serve
my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? (15)
“Now if you are ready, at the moment you hear the sound of
the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, and bagpipe, and all
kinds of music, to fall down and worship the image that I
have made, very well. But if you will not worship, you will
6
immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing
fire; and what god is there who can deliver you out of my
hands? (16) Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego answered
and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to
give you an answer concerning this matter. (17) “If it be so,
our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the
furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your
hand, O king. (18) “But even if He does not, let it be known
to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or
worship the golden image that you have set up.”
3:13-14 – (13) “Then Nebuchadnezzar in rage and anger”
(14) – “you do not serve my gods or worship the golden
image that I have set up?” He asks a question but gives no
opportunity to respond because he is not seeking an
explanation but compliance. Listen, when you love the
Lord with all your heart the world will perceived that love
as an act of disrespect against their values. Now in v. 12, is
the first time that the 3 Hebrew boys were addressed by
their Chaldean names. But the Hebrew boys loved the Lord
- you may be able to replace our names but not our God.
3:15b – “and what god is there who can deliver you out of
my hands?” this statement is meant to put fear in the
Hebrew boys but Nebuchadnezzar did not realize that he
was issuing a challenge against the Most High God
Himself. See, Nebuchadnezzar believed that since his
nation had taken the southern kingdom into captivity that
this was proof that his god was greater than the God of
Israel, but little did he know that God actually gave him the
power to defeat His people so that He may demonstrate His
glory before the nations.
3:16 – “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an
answer concerning this matter” – In other words, we
understand the consequences for our stance and we are
willing to accept whatever happens because we know that
our lives are in the Lord’s hands.
7
We don’t feel that we need to give you an explanation will
be satisfactory to a king whose heart is harden to the true
God. We don’t need to explain or defend our actions
against slander or ridicule. A married man or woman don’t
have to sit around explaining to someone trying to seduce
them why they should not be involved with each other.
Covenant loyalty to my wife demands that I give no reason
for why I am loyal to someone who wants me to break that
covenant.
If you have to re-think or re-consider what to do when you
already know what is right. You are tempting yourself to
compromise. When challenged or threatened to
compromise your love to Christ, the issue is never that you
are being misunderstood or there is a failure on your part to
make yourself clear the issue is always spiritual. The world
hates who you stand for and will seek to get rid of you
because your convictions are convicting them of their error
– light exposes the darkness and sense sinners love
darkness they will seek to do all to get rid of the light.
3:17- 18 – (17) “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able
to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will
deliver us out of your hand, O king. (18) But even if He
does not, let it known to you, O king, that we are not going
to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you
have set up”.
These Hebrew boys knew their Bibles that to bow before
this statue was to violate the first two commandments.
What you do with the first two commandments determines
if the rest of the commandments will be obeyed. It is
structured in such a way that disobedience to the first two
automatically leads to the violation of the rest. In other
words, if you keep from taking God’s name in vain, if you
keep the Sabbath, if you obey your parents, if you do not
commit adultery, if you keep yourself from stealing and
8
lying and coveting, you would still be in violation of the 10
commandments because the motivation behind it would be
idolatrous – you don’t violate it not because you love God
but because of a self-serving purpose. Idolatry is the sin of
spiritual adultery. When God is forsaken as the object of
our affections we exchange submission to His authority for
that which opposes His authority. Once God is rejected as
the supreme object of our worship and adoration the
motivation to obey the other 8 commandments will no
longer be God-centered. To reject God leads to defection
from His Word.
These are teenagers speaking like this (15/16 year olds).
Courage is a virtue that is not age appropriate – as if the
longer you live the more mature you become in being
courageous. There were older Jews who had bowed to the
idol. Courage is the outworking of love and faith in the
Lord. The culture won’t understand why we live the way
we live because it doesn’t know our God in a saving
relationship. I suppose it would be possible to bend the
knee in pretense before the idol while praying to the true
God in your life. But, none of those rationalistic reasons to
compromise are expressions of the greatest commandment
to love the Lord your God, but mainly that you love
yourself more than you love your God. By not bowing to
idols as commanded in Exodus 20:3-4, you are
demonstrating the love of fidelity towards the Lord. And
when you do that the Lord promises to show (v. 6) lovingkindness (grace, love, mercy and compassion) to thousands,
to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
Scrip. Ref: Deut. 6:5 – And you shall love the Lord your
God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all
your might.
1 John 4:19 – We love, because He first loved us.
9
The 3rd Explicit Command in Scripture we must not
compromise on is to – Be willing to Suffer for
righteousness (vv. 19-27): READ
(19) Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with wrath, and his
facial expression was altered toward Shadrach, Meshach and
Abed-nego. He answered by giving orders to heat the furnace
seven times more than it was usually heated. (20) And he
commanded certain valiant warriors who were in his army to
tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, in order to cast
them into the furnace of blazing fire. (21) Then these men
were tied up in their trousers, their coats, their caps and
their other clothes, and were cast into the midst of the
furnace of blazing fire. (22) For this reason, because the
king’s command was urgent and the furnace had been made
extremely hot, the flame of the fire slew those men who
carried up Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. (23) But
these three men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, fell into
the midst of the furnace of blazing fire still tied up. (24) Then
Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded and stood up in
haste; responded and said to his high officials, “Was it not
three men we cast bound into the midst of the fire?” They
answered and said to the king, “Certainly, O king.” (25) He
answered and said, “Look! I see four men loosed and
walking about in the midst of the fire without harm [there is
no injury in them], and the appearance of the fourth is like a
son of the gods!” (26) Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to
the door of the furnace of blazing fire; he responded and
said, “Shadrach, Meschach and Abed-nego, come out, you
servants of the Most High God, and come here!” Then
Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego came out of the midst of
the fire. (27) And the satraps, the prefects, the governors and
the king’s high officials gathered around and saw in regard
to these men that the fire had no effect [lit. power] on the
bodies of these men nor were their trousers damaged [lit.
changed], nor had the smell of fire even come upon them.
10
3:23 – Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego “fell into” (lit.,
“fell down to the middle of”) the furnace, language that
suggests they were thrown in through an opening at the top.
It would seem that Mespotamian smelting furnaces tended
to be like an old fashioned glass milk bottle in shape. The
temperatures in these kilns could reach as high as 1000
degrees centigrade (about 1800 degrees Fahrenheit). [The
New American Commentary]
3:25 – He answered and said, “Look! I see four men loosed
and walking about in the midst of the fire without harm
[there is no injury in them], and the appearance of the
fourth is like a son of the gods!”
“I see four men loosed” – [When You Suffer Don’t Forget
to Count your Company] - only the ropes burned away. The
fire had no harm on them but it did burn the ropes. Almost
as if to say that God has a way of unloosing what was
meant to keep you down in your trial. In other words, He
can put you into the trial without the trial itself restricting
your worship to Him. We don’t like trials but the burden of
them are lighten when we consider Who is in the trial with
us. The fire did not destroy them because of the One who
was with them in the fire.
Isa. 43:1b-2 – (1) “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have
called you by name; you are Mine! [You protect what is precious
to you] (2) “When you pass through the waters, I will be with
you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When
you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the
flame burn you. (3) “For I am the Lord your God, The Holy One
of Israel, your Savior” [there are certain benefits that come with
belonging to the Lord]
Psa. 23:4 – Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow
of death, I fear no evil; for You are with me; Thy rod and Thy
staff, they comfort me.
11
Psa. 46:1 – God is our refuge and strength, A very present help
in trouble
God is to us a refuge and strength – question – when does
His strength and protection become available? A very
present help in trouble. How do I access His strength and
protection? Listen, He imposes His strength and protection
upon you at the moment that the trouble comes – The
Hebrew boys had no idea what God was going to do “But
even if He does not” (18){deliver}; they couldn’t claim
deliverance; they couldn’t speak or declare “no weapon
formed against me shall prosper”; they realized that God is
free to do as He pleases when it comes to the outcome of
their lives. When they were thrown into the furnace they
expected to die but God showed up – in order to need
God’s protection and strength assumes that there will be
danger and times of weakness in your life – But listen, God
doesn’t remove the danger nor does He grant the strength
prior to the trouble – He weakens you at the thought of not
knowing what the outcome will be so that you may look to
Him for strength in the face of uncertainty. He allows the
danger to remain so that you may experience His protection
in the midst – the fire and the heat was present but it had no
effect upon the Hebrew boys because the Lord was with
them. How can you know that God is able to protect unless
He allows danger? He can deliver and He does [they came
out] but He can also protect, sustain and He strengthen in
the midst of danger [that’s why they were able to remain in
the furnace] – In fact, Nebuchadnezzar had to request for
them to come out of the furnace. Why does He allows
adversity and persecution? In order to that He may show up
on your behalf – when certain things that we treasure are
threaten, when confident in self is useless, when the stakes
are high, when the odds are against you, when you are
powerless in light intimidating opposition, then we look,
12
seek, ask and hope in supernatural, divine intervention. We
are made more aware of our need for Him.
The presence of God is the protection, provision and power
of God – in other words, since He is with us, He will take
care of us – God is not a divine bystander in the life of His
people; He is not merely observing you; He is involved in
your life circumstances; His presence communicates that
He is doing something for His glory and your good; The
omnipresence of God means that our refuge travels with us
[everywhere you go He is] - in a foreign nation, away from
the temple of God, yet God is with His own as a refuge;
shield; strong tower; fortress and strength. This truth
provides the courage for us to stand and not compromise.
(3:25) “a son of the gods” - “Elohim” – (God) when
denoting the true God , the plural form being an attempt to
express the divine fullness and majesty… Most likely the
fourth man in the fire was the angel of the Lord, God
Himself in the person of His Son Jesus Christ [The New
American Commentary]
3:27 - “the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men” God is able to bring you through a fiery trial and out of it
without the trial having any adverse effect upon your soul.
In fact, you become better for it as oppose to becoming
worse as a result of it. God brought your trials, He allowed
you to experience some disturbing moments in your life
this past year but that hasn’t stop you from coming to
corporate worship each Sunday, it hasn’t stop you from
reading your Bibles; it hasn’t hinder you from praising His
name, it hasn’t removed your desire to thank Him but if
anything it has caused you to love Him more and to testify
of His goodness.
Quote: John Wesley – My life is immortal until my work
on earth is done.
13
Scrip. Ref: 1 Pet. 4:15-16 – By no means let any of suffer
[present imperative] as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or
a troublesome meddler [lit. one who oversees others’
affairs] (16) but if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not
feel ashamed, but in that name let him glorify God
If you value what people think of you more than what
God’s will is for you, you will compromise or defect to the
side of the world. No one wants to suffer, no one wants to
experience pain, no one wants to feel un-successful in life
but God uses to suffering to differentiate between His
people and the world. It’s hard to choose suffering after just
coming out of a difficult situation but it’s only hard when
you are not convinced that God wants you to suffer for His
will and that He will bless you for it.
The 4th Explicit Command in Scripture we must not
compromise on is to – Let Your Light Shine Before Men
(vv. 28-30)
(28) Nebuchadnezzar responded and said, “Blessed be the
God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, who has sent His
angel and delivered His servants who put their trust in Him,
violating [lit. and changed the king’s word] the king’s
command, and yielded up their bodies so as not to serve or
worship any god except their own God. (29) “Therefore, I
make a decree that any people, nation or tongue that speaks
anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach
and Abed-nego shall be torn limb from limb and their houses
reduced to a rubbish heap, inasmuch as there is no other god
who is able to deliver in this way”. (30) Then the king caused
Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego to prosper in the
province of Babylon.
(28) Your trials are not just for you [for your personal
growth; to strengthen your faith], it is for God to reach lost
people around you and to encourage the saint among you,
that our God is the Most High God, there is nothing greater
than Him – Nebuchadnezzar learned that his god is weaker
14
than our God; that his power was granted to him by our
God; that God’s creation [fire itself] must bow to His
control. Also, our willingness to suffer even death for
Christ, than to compromise His truth will cause even our
enemies to praise His name.
(30) Then the king caused Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to prosper in the province of Babylon.
Let me put it like this, whenever you compromise, you
forfeit the opportunity for God to give you a raise. In other
words, He will exalt you. God opposes the proud, but He
gives grace to the humble. “Humble yourselves under the
mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper
time” – 1 Peter 5:6; Matt. 23:12 – Jesus said, “And
whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever
humbles himself shall be exalted.” If you really believe in
the sovereignty of God, then you will live your life
completely depended upon One who controls your life.
Believing in God’s Sovereignty and living a disobedient
life is a contradiction. To truly believe in God’s sovereignty
is to submit to His Lordship.
Scrip. Ref: Matt. 5:16 – “Let your light [light of obedience]
shine before men in such a way that they may see your good
works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven – you glorify
God by your witness
Conclusion:
Dudley Tyng served as his father’s assistant at
Philadelphia’s Church of the Epiphany and was elected its
pastor when his father retired in 1854. He was only 29
when he succeeded his father at the large Episcopal church,
and at first it seemed a great fit. But the honeymoon ended
when Dudley began vigorously preaching against slavery.
Loud complaints rose from the more conservative
members, resulting in Dudley’s resignation in 1856.
15
He and his followers organized the Church of the Covenant
elsewhere in the city, and his reputation grew. He began
noontime Bible studies at the YMCA, and his ministry
reached far beyond his own church walls. Dudley had a
burden for leading husbands and fathers to Christ, and he
helped organize a great rally to reach them. On Tuesday,
March 30, 1858, 5,000 men gathered. Dudley looked over
the sea of faces and declared, “I would rather this right arm
were amputated at the trunk than that I should come short
of my duty to you in delivering God’s message.” Over a
thousand men were converted that day.
Two weeks later Dudley was visiting in the countryside,
watching the corn-thrasher in the barn. Dudley’s hand
moved too close to the machine and his sleeve was snared.
His arm was ripped from its socket, the main artery
severed. Four days later his right arm was amputated close
to the shoulder. When it appeared his was dying, Dudley
told his aged father: “Stand up for Jesus, father; and tell my
brethren of the ministry to stand up for Jesus”.
Rev. George Duffield of Philadelphia’s Temple
Presbyterian Church was deeply stirred by Dudley’s
funeral, and the following Sunday he preached from
Ephesians 6 about standing firm for Christ. He read a poem
he had written, inspired by Dudley’s words: Stand up, stand
up for Jesus,/Ye soldiers of the cross;/ Lift high His royal
banner/It must not suffer loss.
The editor of a hymnal heard the poem, found appropriate
music, and published it. Stand up, Stand Up for Jesus soon
became one of America’s favorite hymns, extending
Dudley’s dying words to millions.