Into The Fire | Week 3 | Sermon

The big idea

Choose obedience even if — obeying God whenever He asks, regardless of what it costs or whether the outcome you want ever comes.

Obedience to God will sometimes cost us loneliness, disappointed people, and real loss, but it is never obedience without purpose. Through Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace, we see that God may free us from our circumstances or free us through them, but either way He shows up in the fire and secures something eternal that is far greater than what obedience costs us now.

Point 1 of 4

Pastor Hunter walks through Daniel 3, noting that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego stood alone among roughly 300,000 people, without Daniel present, and without any of their fellow Israelites joining them. He ties this to Joshua's charge to be strong and courageous because God is with him wherever he goes, and reminds listeners that the Holy Spirit's presence means believers are never truly alone even when it feels that way.

Point 2 of 4

He shows that living obediently while others live for themselves creates unavoidable tension, using Nebuchadnezzar's fury at the three men's refusal to bow. He highlights their reply in verse 16-18 — that they don't need to defend themselves and will not serve the king's gods even if God doesn't save them — calling it some of the most courageous faith in Scripture.

Point 3 of 4

Pastor Hunter traces how the three men were bound and thrown into a furnace heated seven times hotter, yet Jesus (the fourth man Nebuchadnezzar saw) met them inside the fire rather than sparing them from it. He explains that Jesus will either free us from our circumstances or free us through them, because He is more concerned with our eternal freedom than our temporary comfort, pointing to John 16:33 as the promise that trials will come but Jesus has overcome the world.

Point 4 of 4

He notes that when Nebuchadnezzar looked into the furnace, he wasn't looking at the three men but at the fourth, and that their willingness to be lonely, disappoint people, and pay a cost let others see Jesus. Nebuchadnezzar ultimately declares there is no other God who can rescue like this, which Pastor Hunter says is the point of every furnace season believers walk through.

Take it into your week

Pastor Hunter's charge is to choose obedience even if — even if it costs you loneliness, disappointment, or the outcome you wanted.