TEXT: DANIEL 3:1-30
TITLE: FAITH TO PROCLAIM IMPOSSIBLE THINGS
INTRODUCTION
A. What’s in a name? That king changed these young men’s names
1. Daniel = God is my judge Belteshazar = Lady protect the king
2. Hananiah = The Lord is gracious Shadrach = I am fearful of the God
3. Mishael = Who is what God is Meshach = I am of little account
4. Azariah = The Lord has helped me Abed-Nego = Servant of Nebo [god]
B. What is your name?
PROCLAMATION COMPLICATION
A. Internal Challenge
1. Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah were envied and despised
2. I am a sometimes envied and despised
B. External Challenge
1. The image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up
a. It was made of gold
b. It was 100 feet high by 10 feet wide
c. It 'twas setup in the plain of Dura
2. All of the “powerful people” bowed down to worship the image
3. We sometimes feel intimidated by what others have, and what others do
C. Eternal Challenge
1. “…and who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?”
a. They knew their God
b. They knew that the King would come to know their God
2. People will seek to diminish my God
a. Do I know my God
b. Do I know that my enemy will come to know my God
HANANIAH, MISHAEL AND AZARIAH’S PROCLAMATION
A. “ If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king.”
B. What has God given me to proclaim?
GOD IS FAITHFUL…
A. God showed up
1. King, “I see four men, unbound, walking in the middle of the fire.”
2. God will show up in the middle of the fire that I face
B. God got in between
1. “The fire had no power on their bodies; the hair of their head was not singed; their garments were not harmed, they did not smell of fire.”
2. “I do not look like what I have been through.”
C. God elevated
1. “The king promoted Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah to a higher position.”
2. God will elevate me beyond my imagination
CHALLENGE FOR THE WEEK:
THAT I WILL EXERCISE THE FAITH TO PROCLAIM GOD’S PRONOUNCEMENTS
