I will mobilize everything against them
Daniel 3:16-28 Shadrak, Meshak, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar, “We have no need to answer you about this matter. 17Since our God, whom we serve, does exist, he is able to save us from the blazing fiery furnace. So, he may save us from your hand, Your Majesty. 18But if he does not, you should know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods, and we will not worship the golden statue that you set up.”
19Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage, and the expression on his face changed against Shadrak, Meshak, and Abednego. He said to heat the furnace seven times hotter than it was usually heated. 20He ordered some men, who were soldiers from his army, to bind Shadrak, Meshak, and Abednego in order to throw them into the blazing fiery furnace. 21So these men were bound in their coats, their pants, their turbans, and their other clothing, and they were thrown into the middle of the blazing fiery furnace. 22Because the king's order was urgent and the furnace was extremely hot, those men who carried Shadrak, Meshak, and Abednego were killed by the intense heat of the fire. 23But these three men, Shadrak, Meshak, and Abednego, who had been tied up, fell into the blazing fiery furnace.
24Then King Nebuchadnezzar was startled and immediately stood up. He said to his advisors, “Didn't we throw three men, who had been tied up, into the middle of the fire?” They answered the king, “Certainly, Your Majesty.” 25He said, “Look! I see four men, who are untied and walking around in the middle of the fire, unharmed. What is more, the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.” 26Then Nebuchadnezzar approached the door of the blazing fiery furnace. He said, “Shadrak, Meshak, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out!” Then Shadrak, Meshak, and Abednego came out from the middle of the furnace. 27The satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the royal advisors gathered together and looked at these men. The fire had no power over their bodies. Not a hair on their head was singed, their robes were not damaged, and the smell of fire had not stuck to them. 28Nebuchadnezzar said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrak, Meshak, and Abednego, who sent his angel and saved his servants, who trusted in God and ignored the king's command. They gave up their bodies and did not pay homage or worship any god except their God.”
Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Amen. (Revelation 14:17)
“Do you recant?”
That was the question posed to Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms. The diet was an imperial assembly at the city of Worms, Germany. The diet (or meeting) was convened by Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor.
Luther was asked to retract or stand by his books, pamphlets, and other writings. Luther stood up before the king, court, and council and concluded with these now famous words: “Since your most serene majesty and your highnesses require of me a simple, clear, and direct answer, I will give one, and it is this: I cannot submit my faith either to the pope or to the council, because it is clear that they have fallen into error and even into inconsistency with themselves. If, then, I am not convinced by proof from Holy Scripture, or by cogent reasons, if I am not satisfied by the very text I have cited, and if my judgment is not in this way brought into subjection to God's word, I neither can nor will retract anything; for it cannot be either safe or honest for a Christian to speak against his conscience. Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen.”
You may have heard Luther’s words before. Perhaps you haven’t heard the emperor’s words in response: “A single friar who goes counter to all Christianity for a thousand years must be wrong. I have decided to mobilize everything against Luther: my kingdoms and dominions, my friends, my body, my blood, and my soul.”
“Will you bow down and worship the statue I made” (Daniel 3:15)?
That was the question posed to Shadrach, Meshak, and Abednego by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. The king had built a 90-foot golden statue and demanded that everyone bow down and worship it. Shadrach, Meshak, and Abednego stood out by standing up in the crowd. King Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage. He demanded that the furnace be heated seven times hotter than normal. Shadrach, Meshak, and Abednego were thrown into the blazing fiery furnace (Daniel 3:19-20). It was as if the Babylonian king was mobilizing everything against these three men.
“See how many charges your people are bringing against you. Aren’t you going to answer anything” (Mark 15:4)?
That was the question posed to Jesus by the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate. Jesus remained silent before the Jewish religious leaders. He wouldn’t answer Pilate’s questions. He wouldn’t perform miracles before King Herod.
Pilate sent Jesus over to Herod. Pilate and Herod hated each other, but they cooperated in Jesus’ trial. The Pharisees and Sadducees were bitter enemies, but they agreed on one thing – Jesus had to die. All the religious and political leaders were mobilizing everything against Jesus.
King David prophecies in his Messianic psalm: “The kings of the earth take a stand, and the rulers join together against the Lord and against his Anointed One” (Psalm 2:2). I mighty humbly add “the kings of the earth join together against the Lord and against his Anointed One … and against the Lord’s anointed ones.” That’s you and me who have been anointed by the Spirit’s baptismal waters. The one thing that the governments of the world can agree on is their hatred of Christ and Christ’s followers.
“Why are you so unloving?”
This is the question posed to you anytime you speak the truth into our culture. It can be the truth about marriage, sexuality, the unborn, the elderly, and so on. However and wherever you preach God’s truth, you will be labeled as unloving. Your social media account may be canceled, your business badgered, and your freedoms removed. The old evil foe of the devil, the world and its culture, the kings and governments of the world will mobilize everything against you.
The three men in Babylon, Luther in Worms, and Jesus in Jerusalem were all bold witnesses in the face of persecution. What about you? What do you do? How do you respond in the face of these enemies of the gospel mobilizing everything against you?
Let’s be honest. We often retreat from our boldness. We do not fight the good fight. We run away from God’s mighty fortress. Before the devil can mute us, we mute ourselves. We soften the hard edges of God’s Word to make it more palatable to sinners. We acquiesce to the culture. We imagine that if we remain quiet the world will ignore us. We pretend that if we keep our head down and our mouth shut, things will eventually get better on their own.
Admit it. We’re afraid. We’re afraid to be singled out. Afraid to be excluded. Afraid to be called names. Afraid we’ll have to find new friends. Afraid we’ll feel uncomfortable at family gatherings. Afraid we won’t be liked.
But if the Church wants to be liked … we have already lost! Jesus promises, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated me first” (John 15:18).
Satan hates you. The world hates you. Our culture hates you. The government hates you. Scripture makes that clear. And there’s nothing you can do to change it. So just accept it.
So, admit your fear. Acknowledge your meekness. Repent of your quietness. Confess your muteness.
Look to Jesus. He had a quiet strength to compensate for your weakness. He was bold before Pilate to cover your meekness. He remained purposefully quiet before the Jewish religious leaders to make amends for your timid quietness. He resisted the command to perform like a circus clown for King Herod’s amusement for the times we don’t resist the ridiculous decrees of our government.
Jesus also went to the cross to pay for your fear, meekness, weakness, quietness, and muteness. Everything Jesus did during his ministry, dying on the cross, rising from the grave, ascending into heaven, and now ruling all things at God’s right hand was for you. This should give you boldness, strength, and courage for your witness.
This gave Luther boldness. He didn’t know how his bold speech for God’s Word would turn out. Still, many years after the Diet of Worms, Luther told a friend about his appearance before the emperor, "I was fearless, I was afraid of nothing; God can make one so desperately bold.”
This gave the three men boldness. They didn’t know how their bold stance for the true God would turn out. But they boldly confessed, “Since our God, whom we serve, does exist, he is able to save us from the blazing fiery furnace. So, he may save us from your hand, Your Majesty. But if he does not, you should know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods, and we will not worship the golden statue that you set up” (Daniel 3:17, 18).
Jesus did know how it would turn out. He boldly and purposefully went to the cross. He allowed Satan to conspire with the Jews and Romans to put him to death. In this way, the Victim became the Victor. The One cursed to be crucified brought blessing upon humanity. The One who appeared as a criminal was crowned the King of kings. Christ’s death meant Satan’s defeat.
We don’t know how everything will turn out in this lifetime when the world, the culture, and the government mobilize everything against us. But that shouldn’t make us afraid. Because of Jesus we know how everything will turn out in the next life.
So be bold. Be courageous. Stand out by standing up and speaking up.
So now, what are you going to do? In your boldness, you stand outside the abortion clinic and pray. You go to the school board meeting to speak out on their woke policies. You refuse to go along with your company’s DEI initiatives. You and your spouse protest the sexually graphic children’s books introduced into your library. You stand with your daughters when they decline to play sports with a boy in girl’s clothing on the opposing team. You promote your local, state, and presidential candidates because you know that politics is nothing more than the application of God’s spiritual kingdom truths into God’s earthly kingdom activities.
Whew! You’re busy!
Besides, if we don't do it, we leave it to our kids and grandkids to do it.
Satan, the world, the culture, and the government will mobilize everything against you!
So what? What can they do to you?
They can take away your stuff. So what? All your stuff will eventually be burned up on the Last Day anyhow. All you need is the “everlasting gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth, to every nation, tribe, language, and people” (Revelation 14:6).
They can remove your freedoms. So what? You have already been set free from sin, death, and hell. All your other freedoms are skibidi. (If you don’t know what that means, ask a teenager.)
They can take away your food … or your house … or your family. So what? Jesus has promised you a seat at his eternal wedding feast. He has promised you a mansion in heaven. He has promised that you will see your Christian loved ones around God’s heavenly throne.
They can take away your life. So what? Then you get to live with Jesus. Christ died and rose from death for you. He now lives eternally. So, when you die, you can rise to live with him eternally.
This means those who hate you can mobilize whatever they want against you. They can’t do anything to you. Not really. They can’t make you recant. They can’t make you bow down and worship. They can’t make you speak or perform. They can’t make you afraid by calling you names or threatening your business or removing your freedoms. They can’t do anything to you. God has made sure of that.
So, be bold! Be courageous! Fight the good fight! Put on the gospel armor. Remain close to God’s mighty fortress. Speak the one little word of the name of Jesus to make Satan shudder and the demons cower. Be a powerful witness to the truth before kings, courts, and councils. The Holy Spirit will give you the right words at the right time.
Speak like Luther. Stand like Shadrach, Meshak, and Abednego. Live and die for Jesus who lived and died and rose for you. Amen.
Worship him who made the sky, the earth, the sea, and the springs of water. (Revelation 14:17) Amen.