Fireproof Part 2

Jonathan Evans: If you're doing the best that you can as a godly parent, there comes a place where the kids are going to have to make their own choice about their own faith. I tell my kids all the time, on judgment day, that's a day daddy can't help you. You're going to be there by yourself, I'm going to be over here by myself, and we're just going to get whatever it is. Because you cannot ride the coattails of daddy's faith with Christ. Eventually, you're going to have to have your own. And daddy's not going to be able to help you when you go before the judgment seat of Christ. It says some of us will be saved yet through fire.
Guest (Male): You're listening to The Faith Walk with Jonathan Evans. In a moment, Jonathan will continue today's message, but first, to thank you for your support of this ministry, Jonathan has two gifts for you. The first is the audio series that you're currently hearing called All Eyes on Jesus, helping you refocus on the one who changes everything. The second part of this gift is a book by Dr. Tony Evans called The Power of Jesus' Names. Discover how the names of Jesus reveal his character, his purpose, and his power in your life today. How can knowing him more deeply transform your faith? I'll tell you more about these later in today's program, or you can call right now at 1-800-800-3222 or visit tonyevans.org to learn more. Now, here's Jonathan with part two of his message, Fireproof.
Jonathan Evans: Proverbs 23:7. "So a man thinks within his heart, so he will be." Not so he might be. You meditate on that word, your feet start doing it. And then you look in the mirror one day, adults, and you say, "Who am I?" Didn't we? How did I even get here? I used to look at people like they was crazy and now I'm the crazy one. It just rolled around long enough. Let me help you understand something. Me and my kids can't be friends all the time. Because this is the part of the sermon, because I'm trying to tell you how they stood, this is the part of the sermon that the kids are like, "Stop preaching. They're going to make me change." I already know. You give them new ideas. They already took my phone, now you're going to take my music. What can I do? I already know. We can't always be friends, because if we was always friends, that means we would be on the same maturity level. I'm trying to get you to grow up and not live your life looking back on a pile of regrets. I'm trying to get you to grow up and be rooted in God. And while you won't be perfect, I say it all the time, chasing after it, you'll at least catch excellence. I'm trying to get my kids to not think their homeland is the problem and the foreign land is home. It's not home. We're trying to come up in a world that's going to kick you out and it ain't even going to tell you when. And so we can't be friends all the time. It's like, "I want to dress like this, I want to listen to this." No. "But why not everybody else?" You ain't everybody else' kid. I don't care. Now, disclaimer. Just because you're godly parents does not automatically mean you will have godly kids. We are called to do our best, root them in the word and prayer. But God is the only one who can save, and God is the only one who can dispense this level of grace and mercy to round up kids. God was a perfect Father. He created perfect people and he had a perfect environment, and Adam and Eve still messed it up. That doesn't mean he's a bad Father, that means those kids made a bad choice. But what we are called to do is do what we are called to do. Be royal, noble families for the kingdom, teaching our kids the best we can. From the sermon that's preached, just go home and just go over it again with your kids. And they're going to do, this is what we did when we was growing up. My dad, Tony Evans, you all think we was sitting around the table like this, "Teach us, Father." Man, we wasn't acting like that. We were acting a fool at the table. He's like, "John John, sit down." I'm throwing food, I'm under the table. It was a madhouse. It was real. We went out, we made mistakes, he had to come in, help us and all those kind of things. We was college kids, we was acting like we was college kids, we wasn't perfect and all that kind of thing. But grace and mercy rounded us out because the word didn't return void. If you're doing the best that you can as a godly parent, there comes a place where the kids are going to have to make their own choice about their own faith. I tell my kids all the time, on judgment day, that's a day daddy can't help you. You're going to be there by yourself, I'm going to be over here by myself, and we're just going to get whatever it is. Because you cannot ride the coattails of daddy's faith with Christ. Eventually, you're going to have to have your own. And daddy's not going to be able to help you when you go before the judgment seat of Christ. It says some of us will be saved yet through fire. And I can't help on that day. All I can do is have your parents teach you. All I can do is from the stage tell you these three Hebrew boys were fireproof because they were already on fire. And so parents, we do our best. But if you are bowing down to the same image, stop it. Because that means you're not doing your best and you're not operating like a king's parent, royal and noble, making sure your kids know what time it is and where their home is at. They understood and they knew and they stood up. While the music plays, no. While all their peers bow down, nah. While the culture said do this, mm-mm. While the king said, "I will set you on fire if you don't." So. So they didn't do it, and the king gave them a second chance. You'll see that in Daniel 3:15. The king said, "Okay, now when all this music play, I'm going to need you all to bow down, or I'm going to set you on fire." Now we be acting like Bible stories, but these were real people. They're 15. They're 15. Let me tell you the response of 15-year-olds when Nebuchadnezzar said, "If you don't do it, I'm going to kill you." Verse 16. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, "Oh Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter." Now let your kids talk to you like that, you'd be like... Rebellious, faithful teenagers. They stood up there and said, "Oh Nebby. Nebby, bro, come on, man. Let me help you understand something. We don't even have to respond to you." Now, you know now if somebody was threatening us with a fiery furnace or "bow down to this image," most of us in the house would be like, "Yeah." You mean to tell me that there was more maturity in 15-year-olds than all the adults in the culture? He threatened them with fire. And they said, "Oh Nebby, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter." Verse 17. "If it be so, if you're going to throw us in the fire, 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, oh king." Okay, let me tell you Nebuchadnezzar's fatal mistake. It's at the end of verse 15, before the Hebrew boys responded. At the end of verse 15, Nebuchadnezzar says, "You will be cast into the midst of the blazing fire, and what God is there that can deliver you from my hands?" God said, "Huh?" You all remember the Titanic? "Even God can't sink this ship." What God is there that can deliver you out of my hands? When people think they have power over you but they just don't know who your God is. Our God whom we serve. Okay, 15 years old. Our God whom we serve. Let me say that one more time. Our God whom we serve. Not our God who we read a verse of the day to keep the devil away. Not our God who we pray to once a week or who we just come to church to just because it's our religious activity. It's actually our God whom we serve as servants of a king. In other words, they thought it to be as treason. They were thinking on a whole another level. They were servants of the King. They thought it to be as treason for them to go against their God and bow down to the images that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. So they said, "Our God whom we serve." The question is, are you in church or do you serve God?
Guest (Male): More of the Faith Walk with Pastor Jonathan Evans in a moment. When life leaves you feeling spiritually dry, pressured by culture, or unsure of your purpose, All Eyes on Jesus will help you refocus on the one who changes everything. Today, with a gift to support the ministry of the Urban Alternative, Jonathan wants to give you a copy of his eight-part audio series, All Eyes on Jesus. What could happen if you fixed your eyes on Jesus in every area of your life? Also included with your gift is a book by Dr. Tony Evans, The Power of Jesus' Names. Discover how the names of Jesus reveal his character, his purpose, and his power in your life today. Both the book, The Power of Jesus' Names, and the eight-part audio series, All Eyes on Jesus, are a gift for you to thank you to show our appreciation for your continued support. It is listeners like you who make this program possible. Our 24-hour resource request line is open at 1-800-800-3222. Let one of our team members help you, 1-800-800-3222, or get all the details at tonyevans.org to learn more. How can knowing him more deeply transform your faith? Now, let's get back to Jonathan with the rest of today's message.
Jonathan Evans: For them to go against their God and bow down to the images that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. So they said, "Our God whom we serve." The question is, are you in church or do you serve God? Because a lot of people are in here but they ain't in here. We got some new phones and we plugged the phones in. They new, you plug them in, bink. You know what I'm saying? So we plugged them in. Now, on one of the kids' phones, it wasn't working when they plugged it in. And I said, "Why ain't it working?" We trying to figure it out. And I said, "Well, check the socket. Make sure the plug is plugged in all the way." So the kids was like, "It's plugged in. You see it, it's already plugged in." And I said, "Well, just check it and make sure it's plugged in all the way, because you know it's in there but it ain't in there." And one of them said, "It's plugged..." I said, "Oh, don't clap. Keep your hands to your side. You all get a picture of my house. I'll be like..." So I said, "Man, just go check it." So they went and pushed it and it said, bink. It wasn't plugged in. Because a lot of people don't walk with power because they're in here but they're not in here. These three Hebrew boys stood up, man. If young people stood up in the culture, they would mess the whole culture up. But they're so busy trying to fit in and not be seen. God wants you to be seen. He wants you to stand and everybody will eventually be forced to respect you. Because they're like, "Well, we can't change them. We're going to have to just either join them or leave them." They got choices to make. Okay, "Oh Nebby, we don't have to give you an answer concerning this matter, but just so you know, God will deliver us from this fire." They had a fundamental belief that I don't need to do anything with culture because God has already ordered my steps. God has already delivered me. God is the only one who made me, so he's the only one who knows my purpose for me. So why would I be listening to you? I'm literally wasting my time being cultural when everything was given to me by Christ. Watch this. God will deliver us. Watch this. Beginning of verse 18. "God will deliver us, but even if he doesn't... But even if he doesn't deliver us, we still are not going to bow down to any idols you set up." Oh, you rebellious teens you. What you mean, "but even if he doesn't"? The level of faith of these young people is on a whole another level. Our God will deliver us. I believe. But even if he doesn't, I still won't bow. Let me help you with that term. This means it is not faithless to appeal to the sovereignty of God. You didn't hear that. People will say if you pray but then you put a "but," and you say, "But if you choose God not to, then I'm going to go with that anyway," then they'll say, "Well, then he won't answer your prayer because you didn't have faith." God is not a slave to your faith. He is activated by your faith, but he can do whatever he wants. These boys appealed to the sovereignty of God and were full of faith. How do I know they were full of faith? Because they said, "Even if you don't, we're still going to walk like Christ. Even if you don't, I'm still not going to be cultural." Even if you don't. That means when you pray, you're not faithless if you appeal to the sovereignty of God. I have cancer and I want you to heal me, but even if you don't, I'm going to worship you anyway. I need finances to come through, but even if you don't, I'm still going to be faithful. I need my child to come back, but even if they don't, I'm still going to walk it out. I want my this to be done, but even if it don't... You can pray the prayer that, "I need this from you, God, but if you choose to do something different, I'm still going to walk my faith." That's a Christian. That's a Christian. That's the hard part. That you're going to say, "But even if you don't, Lord, I'm still going to walk this thing out. I'm still going to be faithful. I'm still going to finish the race." That's a Christian. And they were willing to go with it. Even if you don't, we're going to stand on our two feet for the gospel. Now, you've got to understand as I get ready to conclude, this made Nebby hot. Because if you've ever experienced a rebellious young person... and he the king, and they like, "No." And they just looking at him and not blinking. Can you imagine them just looking at you like this? These dudes are beast. So Nebuchadnezzar in verse 19 said, "Okay, turn up the fire seven times hotter. Crank that thing up." And he tied them up by their clothes. They were bound. And then he told his two men, "Throw them into the fire." The fire was so hot that it slew the two men that threw them in. Because God can make it to where your enemies get slain by their own device. So he threw them into the fire. And Nebuchadnezzar sat back on his throne like, "I tried to tell them." Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded. When he looked into the fire and said, "Hey guys, I thought we threw three of them in there." Verse 25 says, and he said, "Look, I see four men loosed and walking about in the midst of the fire without harm, and the presence of the fourth is like the son of the gods." No, sorry Nebby. The presence of the fourth was not a son of the gods. But he was the Son of God. What Nebby saw was a Christophany. A Christophany is Christ's presence before he became flesh in the Old Testament. How do I know this is Christ? Because they were in the midst of the fire and they were not being consumed. Well, that takes me back to Exodus 3 when there was a bush that was on fire that was not being consumed. And the angel of the Lord was in the midst of the bush and it said God spoke from the bush. So now I know that God was in the bush and he thought he saw one of the sons of the gods. No, no, no. You saw the Son of God, a Christophany in the Old Testament, and these boys would not be consumed by the fire because God was in it with them. The testimony of Christianity is not that there are no fires. He did not save them from the fire. He walked with them in the fire. And when you can walk in the fire and you can be unbound, unmoved, unchanged, it's because you really are walking with Jesus Christ. Is there anybody that will make some noise and say, "Jesus, I will follow you even in the fire"? Do I have a witness up in here? Jesus. There was an enemy in Matthew 4 that told Jesus to bow. And Jesus said, "I'm not doing that." And that enemy got mad. And the enemy threw him in a furnace called the grave. And the enemy sat back on his throne and thought that he won. But then three days later he looked. And after three days he saw the Son of Man, the son of David, the Son of God and God himself getting out of the grave. In other words, destroying the scorch of the fire of the grave. And he invites anyone who's afraid of that furnace called the grave to come to him. Because one thing about fire, where it has been burned once, it cannot be burned twice. And Jesus has already taken the burn. Jesus has already overcome the fire. And he says in Isaiah 43:2, "If you walk with me, you will go through the fire and not be scorched. You will experience the flames but you will not burn, because where it has been burned once, it cannot be burned twice." Is there anybody in the house that is or wants to be fireproof? This is what God is calling not just our young people to, it's calling the church to. This is the hard part, being fireproof. That you're willing to stand for God in the end times. That you're willing to stand for God in the end times.
Guest (Male): That was Pastor Jonathan Evans. Before you go today, I want to remind you that we have a couple of gifts for you: an eight-part audio series, All Eyes on Jesus, and a book, The Power of Jesus' Names. How can knowing him more deeply transform your faith? Through Dr. Evans' book, The Power of Jesus' Names, you'll discover how the name of Jesus reveals his character, his purpose, and his power in your life today. We're also including Jonathan Evans' All Eyes on Jesus audio series, helping you refocus on the one who changes everything. Discover how to deepen your faith, stand firm in difficult times, and live with confidence in God's calling. What could happen if you fixed your eyes on Jesus in every area of your life? Both resources are a gift to you to thank you for your donation to help support the ministry of the Urban Alternative. It's our way of showing appreciation for the continued support of listeners like you who make this program possible. Call 1-800-800-3222 anytime or get all the details online at tonyevans.org. Again, that's tonyevans.org, or you can call our 24-hour resource request line at 1-800-800-3222 and let one of our team members help you. That's 1-800-800-3222. Thank you for listening to The Faith Walk with Jonathan Evans. The Faith Walk is produced as a part of the Urban Alternative, a ministry of Dr. Tony Evans.