Tonight we are still looking at Daniel and his life.  Last Wednesday we talked about reputation and how easy it is to get a good or bad reputation.  Daniel and his friends got a reputation for doing good things by standing firm in their belief and eating  what they knew would make them strong and not eating the king's food.  Sunday we talked about how we can discern the truth and we studied in the Bible Daniel chapter 2.   Daniel was able to tell King Nebuchadnezzar his dream and what it meant.  Tonight we are studying Daniel chapter 3.  About 20 years have passed between Daniel chapter 2 and Daniel chapter 3.  In this chapter we are dealing with temptation. 
*What are some things you can be tempted by?
*Are we only tempted in the big things or can we also be tempted by the small things that no one will ever really notice?

Let's read Daniel 3:1.
This image that King Nebuchadnezzar had made was 90 feet high.  That is about 10 stories high. 
What do you think made the king commission this statue? (it had to be as a result from the dream that Daniel had interpreted.)  It said that he had the statue put in the plain of Dura  which meant that the statue could be seen a long way off since it was the talles thing around.

Read Daniel 3: 2-3
If you didn't know the rest of the story would you want to be invited?    Everyone who was anyone in the government was there except for Daniel.  Daniel was out of town on a business trip. This was definately the place to be if you were important or wanted to be important and I'm sure everyone had heard about this statue and they wanted to be a part of the dedication ceremony.

Read Daniel 3: 4-6
Do you think the people that came knew that this was not a normal dedication ceremony?  That is was actually a religious ceremony to worship King Nebuchadnezzar?   People were being forced to worship the king.  But since worship is really something we do in our heart they may have only been going through the motions.
King Nebuchadnezzar had a terrible punishment for anyone that did not bow down and worship his statue. 
*What do you think was the reason for the fiery furnance?  (I think it may have been a loyalty issue in the kingdom)  Maybe Daniel and his friends were winning converts for Jesus.
I also think maybe some of the "native" wise men were maybe jealous of Daniel and his friends.  They had been captured slaves and then they were promoted over some of them. 

Alot of times in the Bible we see conflicts between God and satan.  In our lesson Sunday we saw how God had triumphed because Daniel was able to tell the dream and interpret the dream.  The whole point of the dream was that God was in control. 

What was the point of the statue of King Nebuchadnezzar?  (That Nebuchadnezzar was in charge)

What do you think were some of the reasons that you think made everything turn around so badly?
(pride, arrogance)

Do you think this can happen in your life?  (With time we can forget God's lessons in our life and return to trusting in ourselves)

Read Daniel 3:7
Do you see where any of the people had a problem with worshipping the statue? 
I think peer pressure was probably involved here.   Do we ever compromise our beliefs?

Read Daniel 3: 8-12
Obviously the king had people watching to see who would not obey.  They were quick to mention the three friends of   Daniel.  Not only did they mention their names but they also called them Jews and mentioned their authority.   I think the men who turned in Daniel's friends saw that the real issue was not that they were not worshipping the statue but the loyalty they had to God.  I think these men did not like being under the authority of foreigners that worshipped God. 

Read Daniel 3: 13-18
We can see here where the king obviously had a problem with his anger.  We can also see where Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego made it very clear that they were only going to worship God regardless of the outcome.  How often do we pray to God and only want what we want, not God's will.

Read Daniel 3:19
This verse really shows us the king's anger.  He made the fire seven times hotter than usual. 

Read Daniel 3: 20 -23
What the three friends feared the most actually happened.  They were actually thrown into the fiery furnace. How do you think you would have felt if you were one of the friends being thrown into the furnance?  The fire was so hot that the men that threw Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego into the fire were consumed by the fire.

Read Daniel 3:24-27
Why do you think they saw 4 men walking around in the furnace?  Did you notice where Nebuchadezzar recognized one of them as the Son of God? 
God demonstrated with this that although He did allow them to be thrown in the fire He was with them and He prevented them from being harmed in the fire. 

Read Daniel 3: 28 - 30.


Have someone read Philippians 4:13  "I can do all things through Christ because He gives me strength. 
Show paper towel tube and a piece of typing paper.  Let's imagine that this tube is Jesus and we are the paper.  The paper is not very strong.  We're going to mold our life around Jesus.  (Wrap the paper around the tube and tape the paper together.)
Now I'm going to stand Jesus and us up on the table.  There we are, with our lives wrapped around Jesus.  Watch what happens as I stack these books on top.  You see, Jesus has the strength to stand up under the weight and stress of this life.  (Remove books)
Then Jesus says to us, "It's your turn to stand on your own.  Even when you can't see me, I am with you.  With my help, you can stand under great pressure." 
Remove the paper from the tube and stand it up and stack the books back on top of the paper.  We have strength we don't even know about when our lives are wrapped around Jesus.  It would be good if you all remember the verse "I can do all things through Christ because He gives me strength."  Philippians 4:13.