Here's Pastor Alan Wright with Today's Blessing: A Biblical Faith-Filled Vision. for your life. There are awe-inspiring eighty-foot fin whales in the northeastern waters of Canada, but most, like me, have never seen them. They swim in the deep, full of majesty, occasionally surfacing and spouting, and maybe rolling, but I'd never seen one until August of twenty nineteen. Two hours north of Quebec City, on a chilly, calm morning, our boat approached the deeps, when suddenly the guide blared, Look, off the right side, that's a fin whale Then another Finn and a white beluga and a Minky and Even a wave of a fin whale's tail.
Glory. and it always had been there. unseen until the guide got us there. and pointed. There's awe-inspiring grace.
in the everyday waters of your life.
So I bless your spiritual eyes. to see what Jesus sees and notice all he points to. There's glory in the deeps. may you catch a glimpse Today. Pastor, author, and Bible teacher Alan Wright.
Whatever you can fill in the blank and say, if blank, If I only had like Then I'd be fulfilled, and I would feel secure in this work. Whatever you put in there. is likely an idol that's been set up in The heart. That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light.
I'm Daniel Britt. Excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series, No Worries, as presented at Ronalda Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It can be yours for your donation this month to Allen Reich Ministries. As you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer.
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More on all of this later in the program. But now. Let's get started with today's teaching. Here is Alan Wright. Are you ready for some good news?
Though you may walk through the searing heat of adversity. No worries. There's another. In the fire. We're in a series called No Worries.
Emphasis on no worries. This is what the scripture actually calls us to a life free from. worry and today we're going to look at one of the most marvelous stories in all the Old Testament. that is set in a time of exile for the people of God at sixth centuries before Christ and the people have been overrun by Babylon. The empire has deported them under the leadership of their king.
King Nebuchadnezzar. And so people like Daniel and his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are in exile in Babylon. And there we see these three young men put into a fiery furnace. And we're going to discover the power of recognizing God's presence with you in the midst of every circumstance. But what we're going to see today is actually a deeper dive than we've had before.
And you can't miss it when you read this story: that before it's about the presence of God. The story is about... The refusal of these men to bow down to an idol. We're in Daniel chapter 3 at verse 1, and I'm going to give you some excerpts of this if you want to follow along. In Daniel chapter 3, starting at verse 1, King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold whose height was 60 cubits and its breadth 60 cubits.
six cubits. That's 90 feet high and nine feet wide. And he set it up in the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. And the herald proclaimed aloud, You're commanded, O peoples, nations, languages, that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you're to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace.
Well, then they learn, verse 12, of these. Jewish man. that refuse to do so. There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and these men, O king, pay no attention to you. They do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.
And so Nebuchadnezzar comes to them, verse 15: If you are ready, when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music to fall down and worship the image that I've made, well and good. But if you do not worship, You shall be immediately cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the God who will deliver you out of my hands?
Well, that's the question of the story, isn't it? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace. And he will. Deliver us out of your hand, O king.
But if not, Be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.
So Verse 19, he ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. And in verse 22, because the king's order was so urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Backfired on him. And in verse 24, King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished, rose up in haste, and declared to his counselors, Did we not cast three men bound into the fire? And they answered and said to the king, True, O king.
And he answered and said, But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt. And the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods. And in verse 27, the hair of their heads was not singed. Their cloaks were not harmed. and no smell of fire had come upon them.
I once preached a message on that text called smoking or non-smoking. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There was a little boy who was afraid To go into the basement at his house.
And his mother wanted him to get over it.
So she said, honey, would you go down to the basement and please get the broom for me? And he said, mommy, I don't like to go in the basement. I'm scared. She said, No, honey, there's nothing to be scared of down there. It's just another room in our house, and there's nothing down there to hurt you.
He said, please, mommy, I don't want to.
So she tried a different tag. She said, honey, She said, Listen, Jesus is everywhere, and he's with you. In fact, Jesus is in the basement. He said, Jesus is in the basement, really? She said, Yes.
So the little boy walked over to the door that goes down the stairs to the basement, cracked it open, said, Jesus. If you're down there, would you hand me a broom? Yeah. It's one of those things to say God is with you sounds like the right thing to say. But when you're in a scary time, How do you really count on that?
And in a sense, that's what this story is about. But as we'll see, It's a story as much about how Idols are born, and how they come down, and how that relates to our worries. And I hope to show you In the end. how the removal of our idols His most beautiful way that you can become more intensely aware of the presence of God in your own life. In order to get at all of this, I think we start with this, the birthplace of idolatry.
Idols are not just these things we make with our hands. Three sailors had a weekend off and they were on leave and Had a couple of wild nights Friday and Saturday night at Port and Did about everything you could imagine. They felt so guilty about all their sin that they found a little church in the port city and they went to church on Sunday morning. And lo, and behold, the minister preached on the Ten Commandments and went right through all the Ten Commandments. And after church, the sailors were walking away.
They were quiet for a long while until finally one of them spoke up and said, Well, At least we didn't make any graven images this weekend. But in fact of the matter, idolatry, the second of the Ten Commandments, is actually maybe our greatest problem. It is misunderstood if you think of idolatry only of little statues and things that you make with your hands, like in the ancient world or in Hinduism or Buddhism today. In Ezekiel 14, 3, we read, Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts. Idolatry is much more about what's going on in your heart than it is just the construct of some piece of pottery or sculpture.
And what happened to Nebuchadnezzar was he set up this idol. Because there was a big idol in his heart. To really understand chapter 3 and what we've read about today, if we had time, we would read all of chapter 2. But let me tell you the story. What happened is there's this king, Nebuchadnezzar, who rules over the empire of Babylon.
And the Babylonian Empire has overrun the southern kingdom of Judah and sacked Jerusalem. And their philosophy politically was to take and deport all those people. And so they took them to Babylon where they're living as exiles, just as the prophets had foretold. And while there, Nebuchadnezzar's strategy was to take the best and the brightest of all of these Jewish exiles and use them in his court. And so Daniel had been promoted because he was so gifted.
And there are others like Meshach and Shadrach and Abednego that were, they're in exile, but they're being used in matters of royal affairs.
Well, Nebuchadnezzar is arguably the most powerful man in the known world at that time, but as we read about in chapter 2, we had a troubling dream, a nightmare. And the nightmare was so troubling to him that he called all of his wise men and soothsayers, and he said, I need somebody to tell me what this dream means. And so the soothsayers came to him and said, Yes, Your Royal Highness, we will be happy to. We're skilled in dream interpretation, and we'll be happy to tell you the meaning of your dream.
So tell us, what is your dream? And he said, no, no. He said, I can't trust that you can tell me the meaning of the dream unless you can tell me the actual dream. He said, I want you to tell me the dream and its interpretation or else all you're going to be killed. And they said, oh king, he said, how are we supposed to do that?
He said, only the gods could have such an information as that. And so he prepares to kill all of his wise men. And Daniel steps forth. Because Daniel and his friends are also going to be killed, because now they're even though Jewish, they're considered to be part of these wise men. and uh Nebuchadnezzar's court.
And he says, let me have an audience with the king. And he trusts that God is going to show him the dream and its interpretation. And he prays such, and he comes and he meets before Nebuchadnezzar. And he says, I can't. I can't see into these things and I can't interpret them.
But my God can't. And he tells Nebuchadnezzar, here was your dream. You had a dream of a giant statue whose head was of gold. Who's breastplate and chest was Of silver, whose midriff was of bronze, whose legs were of iron. and whose feet were a mixture of iron and clay.
And in your dream, a rock that was not cut by human hands. came and struck those feet of clay. and the entire statue toppled And as it did, It became like chaff in the summer wind and blew away like dust. Of course. Nebuchadnezzar is As you can imagine, trembling and awe.
that this person has seen his dream. And Daniel says, here's what it means. It says, you and your kingdom. are the golden head, And God has Allowed you to rule in this position, but there will be a lesser kingdom that will come and follow you. and will overthrow your kingdom.
And then there will be another kingdom lesser than that that will come. And then there'll be a another kingdom that's like iron that is strong. But then there will come A kingdom that's not cut by human hands. And it will be God's kingdom. and it'll crush all of the others.
And that rock, he said, that came and struck them, grows big like a giant mountain, and fills all the earth. Such will be he said. The final kingdom. Uh That's Alan Wright. And we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series.
This month's featured resource from Pastor Alan is the untroubled heart. a powerful digital bundle, including audio messages and a digital study guide. In this series, Pastor Alan unpacks Jesus' promise from John 14, 27. I leave you peace. My peace I give you.
I do not give it to you as the world does.
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That's eight seven seven? Five four four. The majority of the 1980s. Or come to our website. pastorallen.org Uh Today's teaching now continues.
Here once again. is Alan Wright. And what's so interesting about it, of course, is that historians look and go: well, the Babylonian. Empire. gave in to the Medo Persian Empire that followed it, and then the Greek Empire and then the strong Roman Empire.
And in that Roman Empire, of uh it's time. A stone that was cut not by human hands, the rock Upon which all of our faith is built came, and Jesus inaugurated his kingdom. and it turned all other kingdoms by comparison to dust. and has taken over the world and will reign forever.
Well Nebuchadnezzar was at first in absolute awe of this and promoted Daniel. And Daniel said, I'd like to also promote my three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and put them over various precincts in the governance. And so they did. But not long after that was when Nebuchadnezzar decided to erect this giant 90-foot golden statue. And Why did he, having started by saying, well, Nebuchadnezzar saying to Daniel, your God must be the true God, and worship him?
And promoting Daniel. Why then does he erect this huge golden statue because he's afraid? This is the birthplace of all idols. Fear, angst, the uncertainty. Because the fact that he believed Daniel made him aware that his Babylonian empire was going to come to an end.
And it was almost as if what he did was he said: if my empire is symbolized by gold, I'm going to make this manifestation of my dream a reality, but I'm going to make it all gold. Almost as if he could control it by saying it's going to be Babylonian Empire all the way down to the feet. You see, our idols are our attempts to deal with our uncertainty, our angst about the future, our weighty realization of our own mortality, all of this. Tim Keller said, power is often born of fear and in turn gives birth to more fear. A lot of people who have ruled throughout history were fearful people, but once they were in power, they became even more fearful.
20th century theologian Reinhorn Niebuhr said that man is insecure and he seeks to overcome his insecurity by what he called a will to power. He pretends that he's not limited.
So, Nebuchadnezzar builds this huge idol made of gold, or maybe at least gold. plated and um It was as if to say I can make other people bow down and I will prove the dream wrong. That's the way idols work. Idols will reveal your greatest fears. Again, tell our idols.
give us a sense of being in control. And we can locate them by looking at our nightmares. What do we fear the most? What, if we lost it, would make life. not worth living.
And so he makes this huge 90-foot statue, this idol, and attaches all this fanfare to it. But it's like the whole narrative is mocking the idol. Because just look at this for fun. As you go through the story, a phrase keeps recurring, and that is that Nebuchadnezzar had set it up. Look at verse 2, the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
Verse 3, the provinces gathered for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Verse 5, they are all to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. And at verse 7, all the people of the nation language fell down and worshiped the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Verse 12, they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.
Even Nebuchadnezzar said, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? And they said at verse 18, we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up. It's like eight times. He set it up. He set it up.
He just made it himself and he propped it up. He propped it up. He propped it up. Why did this? It's funny because it's like saying, you yourself made it and propped it up, and now you want everybody to worship it.
It's making fun of idols. That's generally the prophetic position of the scripture: to make fun of idols. Because they have no breath in them. They have no life. That's the folly of idolatry.
It's interesting, the idols are not really, as a lot of people think, a replacement to God, but an addition. You know, it's an interesting story, just briefly mention it, that is one of the earliest and most famous scenes of idolatry. When Moses had gone up to the mountain to get the Ten Commandments, he was gone longer than the people expected, and they started getting nervous. And so they made this golden calf. In Exodus chapter 32, they received the gold from the hand, fashioned it with a graving tool, made a golden calf, and said, These are your gods, O Israel.
So they make this golden calf. But look at what Aaron says at the next verse. When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And so he built an altar before the golden calf. And Aaron, the brother of Moses, made a proclamation and said, Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.
They were going to have a big worship festival to Yahweh, but they were also going to have this altar to the golden calf.
So our idols don't necessarily replace God, but they're like things that get set up in our heart that are in addition to God. Um They are as if to say I'm getting sort of nervous And so I need some other things to prop up. That make me feel a little bit more in charge. And whatever you can fill in the blank and say, if blank. If I only had Like Then I'd be fulfilled and I would feel secure in this world.
Whatever you put in there. is likely an idol that's been set up in The heart. And idols are not necessarily these physical surface things, money and prestige and all that. Oftentimes there's something deeper beneath it. You know, I think one of the idols that has mostly been destroyed in my life.
And I'm very thankful for that. It's come by the grace of God. But an example of this was in my earlier years. I had a uh too much of a need for others' approval.
Now listen, idols are not usually Something that comes from a bad thing, there usually something comes from a good thing. Right. I mean, money's not a bad thing. Money's a good thing. You can use it for wonderful things.
But it can become an idol if it becomes like an ultimate thing. And the favor of people is a good thing. We've blessed our kids every day of their life that they would grow in wisdom, stature, and favor. with God and with people. To enjoy the favor of people and God opens doors and enjoy that kind of friendship, that's a wonderful thing.
But it's quite another to start looking to it and saying, well, I need to have others' approval or else I'm not going to be okay. And I don't know, maybe it just came from the brokenness of my childhood and broken family. I just had seeds of wounds and wrong beliefs that got planted there about rejection or whatever it might have been.
So I think for a lot of years, even into my early adulthood, that I had erected like an idol of approval. And the problem Once you do this, Is that, and what we'll see is the idol itself. You think, if only I have everybody's approval, then I'll feel secure and life will feel worthwhile and I'll be fulfilled. The problem is, not only does it not solve your worries. But it adds to them.
Because what happens is, as soon as you make an idol and you put it up on the shelf, Of your heart, and you say, unless I have this, then I can't be fulfilled. What happens as soon as somebody doesn't approve of you? What happens if somebody does reject you?
Well, now the idol that you've set up mocks you in return. Look at you. You worry about it all the more. Alan Wright, and today's teaching, another in the fire. It's from the series No Worries.
And Alan is back in the studio sharing a part in good news thought for the day here in just a moment. This month's featured resource from Pastor Alan is the Untroubled Heart, a powerful digital bundle including audio messages and a digital study guide with practical insight and biblical encouragement. You'll discover how to quiet anxious thoughts and rest in Christ's peace that endures. When you give today to support Alan Wright Ministries, we'll send you the Untroubled Heart digital bundle as our thanks. Call us at 877-452-0.
Five four four. 4860. That's 877. Five four four four four four four four four four four four four. 4860.
or come to our website. PastorAllen.org. Alan, as we're back here in the studio, we're putting a bookmark here, Another in the Fire, in the series, No Worries.
So, what's your parting good news thought for the person listening right now?
Well, here's the good news, and we're going to learn more about this tomorrow. But if an idol That we Set up in our lives turns around and shames us, as we've been describing. If the idol that we set up to relieve our worry instead makes us worry. The good news is that if I set it up, I can take it down. Yeah.
And so the idol starts acting like it has this huge amount of power over you. as I'll be sharing more about. what I used to have an idol, I think, of others' approval.
Well, it can get bigger and bigger in your mind. and you just find yourself working harder and harder for others approval until the day you go wait a minute Yeah. No, I don't have to have that. I'm already approved in God. And so then you have the full right and authority to.
Take down those idols and smash them. And so I think that's really good news, Daniel, because what it means is we're never helpless. When it comes to the idols in our lives, you can take them down. Today's good news message is a listener-supported production. of Alan Wright Ministries.
