Genuine Faith

Sometimes Christians look at Shadrach, Meshach and Abednigo and Daniel and question their own ability to withstand the trials that these three went through successfully. Christians often see these men as heroes that are super human. They are indeed heroes of our faith, but I say to you that they are heroes because of their faith and the object of their faith. And if you are a believer in the God of the Bible, you have in you the very same faith in the very same God. What we see in these men is the character and actions that real faith, genuine faith produces in all of God's people.

Hebrews 12:1-3 (NASB)

1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Genuine Faith Produces Uncompromising Commitment To God

Daniel 3:1-7 (NASB)

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.

Daniel 3:12 (NASB)

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."

Genuine Faith Produces Unconditional Trust In God

Daniel 3:13-18 (NASB)

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 do not worship, you will 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 replied 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."

verse 16 - They told the king, "We don't need a second chance. We've already decided that we will not bow to your gods. Our God will deliver us and even if he does not, we trust our God."

We look at this and we wonder if we could have such resolve. But this is not something that just suddenly showed up in their lives. This unconditional trust had been forged in their lives over time because their faith was real it was genuine. They had been walking with God through a love faith relationship over the course of their lives. We saw evidence of this genuine faith at work in their lives last week when we looked at chapter 2.

These men were seekers. They had a lifestyle of seeking after God.

Daniel 2:17-18 (NASB)

17 Then Daniel went to his house and informed his friends, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, about the matter,

18 so that they might request compassion from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his friends would not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

Later the testimony of Daniel in chapter 9.

Daniel 9:3-4 (NASB)

3 So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.

4 I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed and said, "Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments,

People of faith are people who seek after God.

Hebrews 11:6 (NASB)

6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

Jeremiah 29:13 (NASB77)

13 'And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

If you are a person who has placed your faith in Jesus Christ it will be evident in your day to day life as you seek after God. Then when the big tests come your faith will be evident in an unconditional trust. You too will say, "God can deliver me, but even if he does not, I will trust Him.

Job 13:15 (NASB)

15 "Though He slay me, I will hope in Him.

Over and again we see it happen in God's people. They develop an unconditional trust in Him.

(ILL)It Is Well

When peace like a river attendeth my way

When sorrow like sea billows flow

What ever my lot Thou hast taught me to say

It is Well It is Well with my soul

(ILL) Like A River Glorious

Every joy or trial falleth from above,

Traced upon our dial by the Sun of Love;

We may trust Him fully all for us to do.

They who trust Him wholly find Him wholly true

In his book "The Case For Faith", Lee Stobel tells the story of Charles Templeton who was a professing Christian and he was even in the ministry, but then because of suffering and evil that existed in the world around him he turned and ended up denying Christ and even denied the existence of God. His faith was not geniune. It was not real , true faith.

True faith says, what ever happens God is still God and I will trust him.

Application

Can you say with these men of faith , "What ever happens I will trust God.

What if God does not answer your prayer?

What if your circumstance does not improve?

What if everything that can go wrong does go wrong in your life. Will you still trust God?

Will you be like Job and say, "Though He slay me, I will hope in God."

That's what real , genuine hope produces.

Genuine faith produces uncompromising love and commitment to God, unconditional trust and it produces uncommon results.

Genuine Faith Produces Uncommon Results

Daniel 3:24-30 (NASB)

24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded and stood up in haste; he said to his high officials, "Was it not three men we cast bound into the midst of the fire?" They replied to the king, "Certainly, O king."

25 He said, "Look! I see four men loosed and walking about in the midst of the fire without harm, 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, Meshach 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 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 on the bodies of these men nor was the hair of their head singed, nor were their trousers damaged, nor had the smell of fire even come upon them.

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 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.

Genuine faith moves God's people into the realm of the miraculous. Because genuine faith has as its object the living God.

What made the difference for the three jewish boys was not so much what they did when they were thrown into the fire but rather it was the object of their faith. What mattered in this situation was the God that was with them in the midst of the fire.

Genuine faith produces uncommon results because genuine faith has as its object Almighty God.

Mark 11:22-24 (NASB)

22 And Jesus answered* saying to them, "Have faith in God.

23 "Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him.

24 "Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.

God could have saved them any number of ways. Nebucanezer could have just forgotten or changed his mind. They could have just given up when all the people started dying trying to put them in the fire. But what we see is that they ended up being put into the fire - but God went with them.

You may go through the "fire" at some point, but Christian what makes a difference for you is that your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is going through the fire with you.

That means there will be uncommon results. You will walk into the realm of the miraculous because God is the object of your faith.