Not Conformed but Transformed

Oh, the depth of the riches of both the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor? Or who has first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Let's pray. Father, as we again this morning open Your Word, I ask that You would open our hearts, Lord, and speak very clearly to us about this passage. Lord, as we consider not being conformed to this world but being transformed by You, I pray that You would do a work in each of our lives and each of our hearts this week. Lord, that truly we would be set apart to You, holy unto You, to be used completely by You, and Lord, not to be touched by the things of this world. For we do ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. You can be seated.

We took some time last night to look at the riches that God has given to you and me in Christ. This salvation that you and I have been afforded, awarded, as we believed upon the Lord, as we've come to Him, confessing to Him that we have sinned and that we've fallen short of His glory. We understand that the wages of that sin, the punishment for that sin, is death, but He loved us so much that while we were yet sinners, He died for us. He took that judgment, that punishment upon Himself, and the free gift that He desires to give to you and to me.

And that we would confess Him and call upon His name that we would be saved, no longer to be under the condemnation of the judgment of God's wrath, but that we've been given a new life to walk in. After we looked at all the riches that God has given to us, we considered what our response should be. After God has poured out His blessings upon us, what are we to give to Him? Paul says there in chapter 12, verse 1, that he begs these people that they would give their lives as a living sacrifice, that they would lay themselves down at the feet of God to be used completely by Him.

Wholly acceptable to Him, which is our reasonable service. Then He goes on to say, "And be not conformed to this world." This world, which the Bible tells us in the book of First John, chapter 2, verse 17, is passing away. The things of this world are passing away. Peter goes on to tell us in his second letter that all these things that you and I see are going to burn with a fiery heat. Everything that you and I see, all the things that we can lay hold of, the things that we so oftentimes like to have, those things are going to burn anyway; they are going to go up in flames.

Paul here says to this church in Rome, where they are living in the midst of all kinds of decadence, that they are surrounded by all kinds of stuff. Now, I don't know about you guys, but living in Southern California, I am surrounded by stuff everywhere I turn. It's pretty much the same throughout the United States; there are all kinds of things that we can grab hold of. For some reason, there are little pockets in our nation where it is just an abundance of stuff, and one of them is Southern California. Everybody that lives around me has lots and lots of stuff. There are all kinds of malls around us, and I'm sure you guys have your malls out there in Arizona as well.

It's just filled with things. As we walk through, I like to call the mall the "flesh field" because you walk through it and feel like you are growing. I look around at the mall, and I have to be honest: I walk through and look at things in the windows. It's like, "Wow, I like that! Oh, I want that! Oh, wow, yeah, that would look cool on me." As I go through, my flesh is just built up; it's the flesh field, and it's all around us. The world crams it down our throats constantly. If you watch TV or listen to the radio, it's all advertisements for things, and it's just being crammed down us all. There are hardly any articles in magazines anymore; they are just filled with advertisements because the world is trying to grab you and, in some way, conform you to its image.

Now, this word "conform" in the original language has an interesting meaning. It's where we get our word "schematic" in English. It's like when someone goes to build a house or a big building; they have the schematics, the plans, the blueprints for that house or building. I know my dad is out there in Glendale, and he has these drawings for something that you can't even imagine.

Just stacks and stacks of blueprints. He knows exactly what they are, and he tries to show me. When I was out there a few weeks ago, he was flipping through them and showing me all this stuff. They make no sense to me. I look at it and just go, "Yeah, it looks like little lines on paper and little tiny words that don't make any sense." But it all makes sense to him.

It's this huge schematic, this huge blueprint that shows every single portion of this building, how it's going to be built, what day it's going to be built on, and what minute everything's going to be coming. It's all categorized down to the last little detail. These big schematics are for these huge buildings.

The world has a schematic; they have a blueprint that they want you to fit into. They want your life to be crammed into this mold. As you look at it in the original language, it's like being forced into a mold. Have you ever played with Play-Doh? Come on, be honest. I oversee the children's ministry at my church, and up in the little classrooms at the very end of our building, we've got all the little kids. I go up there, and I have to be honest, I like to mess around with the Play-Doh and check it out as they're pushing it into the little molds and forcing it into that shape.

That's what this word is like, where the world wants to take you like Play-Doh. They want to cram you into their mold, their schematic, their plan for what you should look like in this world. That's what the world desires to do with you and with me. They use all kinds of interesting things to do it, whether it be advertising, which is a big thing that the enemy is using in our day to grab hold of people.

They make you look at pictures in magazines or on TV and think, "That's how I'm supposed to look. That's how I'm supposed to talk. Those are the shoes I'm supposed to wear. Those are the clothes I'm supposed to wear." These are the toys that I'm supposed to have. People look at me and think, "Yeah, that person's cool because they have that thing," whatever it may be—Xbox, PlayStation 2, or all kinds of different toys and things that are out there.

The world wants you to have these things, to be cool, and for you to fit into their schematic, their blueprint, and their mold. These are the things that you need to have. There are a lot of people in our world, and maybe even a lot of people in this room today, who have kind of been sucked into that. It's like, "This is what I need to do to be cool, to fit in with this crowd or this group of people. I've got to wear this kind of belt or these kinds of shoes so that these people like me."

This is the blueprint of success for them. In the world, there is this blueprint, this schematic that Paul is talking about here. But he says, "Do not be conformed to it. Do not be forced into its mold. Do not be crammed into what the world has for you." Why? Because as we looked...

Just a couple of seconds ago, in First John chapter 2, we learned that the things of this world are passing away. It's all going to burn. If you put all of your hope, time, and efforts into that mold, what's going to happen to your life? It's going to go up in smoke.

We see this back in the book of Genesis, the very first book of the Bible. There was a guy by the name of Lot, and his uncle's name was Abraham. Maybe some of you have heard of Abraham. He was called by God to leave his country, and when he left to come into a new land, he brought his nephew Lot with him.

Through a course of events, as time went by, they had a whole bunch of herds because they were shepherds. As they were moving about in the area with their sheep, some fights broke out among their men. Abraham said to Lot, "It's not good that we have this little fight, this family feud going on. Let's separate. You choose for yourself any of the land you want, and I'll go in the opposite direction."

Lot looked around. Being a shepherd, he was a smart guy. He was in the middle of a desert, and what do you need for sheep to live? You need grass and water. As he surveyed the area, he noticed a nice green patch of ground down in the southern part of the nation. He decided, "I'm going there." At that point, Abraham probably thought, "Well, okay, you take that, and I'll go elsewhere."

Lot went down into this great place that looked really nice from a distance, as many things in this world do. He pitched his tent in Genesis chapter 13 towards Sodom, a city down in the south. As the story goes on, we see that Lot's whole life was about fitting into the world's schematic of building his life, getting better things, and acquiring bigger herds. He chose the place where he could get the most for his life, which was a location with plenty of grass and water. Sodom looked like that place.

However, Sodom wasn't exactly a good place. There was a lot of wickedness and sin going on there. God decided that, as He looked upon the sin in Sodom and Gomorrah and the other cities in the south, this sin needed to be addressed. It needed to be destroyed, just like if someone were to have cancer, and that cancer in...

Their body needs to be gotten rid of; it needs to be killed and taken out. If it doesn't, then it's going to take out that body. God, looking at this group of people down there in the south—Sodom and Gomorrah and these other three cities—said that this cancer needs to go. He was going to take care of it, and He was going to remove this cancer and consume it with fire and brimstone. But first, He went down and got Lot out of the city. He took Lot from that place before He destroyed the city.

However, everything that Lot worked for in his life, everything that he sought after, even his family, was consumed that day. You see, he was going after the things of this world, which are temporary; they were passing away. He was seeking to have the things of this world: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Because of this, he lost everything he worked so hard for. As John tells us, the world is passing away, and the lust thereof, the desires thereof, are passing away. They are going away, and there are so many people who are seeking after those things. The enemy has done a very good job of tantalizing us—tempting us to go after those things—because they look really good from the outside. They look appealing when you step back and look at them from a distance, just like Sodom and Gomorrah did.

But then, when Lot got in the middle of it, his righteous heart was grieved. The Bible tells us in the book of Jude that as he looked around at all the things going on in this city, the wickedness that was present in Sodom and Gomorrah, his heart was grieved. He found himself in the midst of it but didn't quite know how to get out. He had been pressed into that mold and felt that he needed to do something, say something, or keep all these things so that his life would be good. In the end, he lost it all.

The same is true for Lot, who was in the middle of it, and the same is true for me. If we go seeking after the things of this world, following the plan that this world has for us and being crammed into their mold, then at the end of your life, you're going to lose it all. All the things that you worked so hard for will go up in flames, and you can't take it with you.

Paul tells this church in Rome, as they are in the middle of another society filled with all kinds of stuff, temptations, desires, and lusts, "Do not be conformed to this world. Do not follow the world's pattern for you and their blueprint. Don't be pressed into their mold like Play-Doh." Rather, he says, "Be transformed." This word "transformed" is different than "conformed." Transformed, in the original language, is where we get our word "metamorphosis."

Transformation takes place when a tadpole turns into a frog. It occurs when a caterpillar turns into a butterfly. It is what happens when Jesus comes into the world and when Jesus comes into my life and your life, wanting to totally and radically transform us and change us from the inside out.

The world wants to take who you are and package you, cramming you into their little mold so that you look like everyone else. It’s like cookie cutters, creating little gingerbread men that all look the same. I find it amusing because I remember when I was in high school, not too long ago, all my friends were into being independent. There were even clothing labels called "Independent," where we wanted to be different and unique.

I look around this room and see that everyone wants to be unique and different. However, if you pursue the things of the world, at the end of the day, they all look the same. All sin is the same. If you truly want to be different and unique in this world, then a change needs to take place deep within our lives and hearts that can only be accomplished by God.

Being conformed to the things of this world means you end up looking like everyone else. You think like everyone else, act like everyone else, and talk like everyone else. Sure, you may package it a little differently—maybe with spiky hair, curly hair, wavy hair, pink hair, blue hair, or blonde hair—but when you get right down to it, everyone in the world looks the same because they have been conformed and pressed into a certain mold, a cookie-cutter shape, the schematic that the world has for them.

Yet, Paul says it should not be so with the church. It is not to be that way with those who have offered themselves as living sacrifices to God. Rather, we are to be transformed, metamorphosized, and changed from the inside out so that we look completely different.

In Romans chapter 8, verse 29, it says, "For whom He did foreknow," referring to God, "He also predestined to be conformed." This is a different word than what is found in Romans chapter 12, verse 2. This conformed here also relates to being metamorphosized, conformed into the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. See, God wants...

To take my life, and he wants to take your life. He wants to transform us from the inside out so that we look more and more like Him. We are to be conformed to the image of His Son, that we might be more and more like Jesus. Our lives should begin to be characterized by the same things that characterized Jesus' life. Our nature becomes the same as His nature, which is completely different from the nature of those in the world. It is completely opposite to what the world looks at as successful.

The world will look at believers in Christ who have been transformed by Jesus from the inside out and say, "What's up with that person? That person is not a Christian; that person is whacked. Something's wrong with them." But in reality, something is truly right with that person. Jesus told us that if the world hated Him, the world would hate us as well. If you are transformed more and more into the image of His Son, and your nature is changed from the inside out, you will look more and more like Jesus in the way that you live, act, and talk. The world is going to look at you and say, "I don't like that," because it grates at them.

But you see, that's what the Lord has called us to. He says here, "Don't be changed into what the world wants you to be, but be transformed by God. Be completely metamorphosized by God so that you are a completely different individual." The world has a plan for you; it has a certain blueprint that it wants to fit you into. But God does too. God has a plan for every single one of us as well.

Jeremiah chapter 29, verse 11, says, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you," says the Lord, "thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." You see, God has a future prepared for you and for me. He has a life that He wants you and I to live. The world does too; it has a packaged plan for us. There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is death, as Proverbs tells us. The way of the world will lead you to death and destruction.

But there is also a plan that God has for us. His thoughts toward us are good, not evil, to bring us a future and a hope. Ephesians chapter 2, verse 10, says, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God created beforehand that we should walk in them." What that means is God has a plan of good works prepared for me and for you. He has a path of good works that He has set up before us.

The foundation of the world was established by God, who created a plan of good works for you—a blueprint for your life. However, the world also has a blueprint for your life, and every single day, it tries to lead you down its path. God desires that you walk on His path, following His blueprint, and being transformed more and more into the image of His Son.

The way of the world leads to death and destruction. The things of the world are perishing, and they are declining rapidly. As I mentioned earlier in 1 John 2:17, it is interesting what the end of that verse says: "The world passes away, and the lust thereof; but he that does the will of God shall abide forever." The way of the world is passing away, but the person who walks on the path that the Lord has established for them will live forever; that person will abide forever.

In Romans, Paul is asking which path you will choose. Will you be conformed to the world's plan, its blueprint, and its schematic, which leads to death and ultimately passes away? Or will you be transformed by the renewing of your mind on the Lord's path, doing His will, which leads to life and that more abundantly?

Moses told the children of Israel in the later chapters of Deuteronomy, "I set before you this day life and death, blessing and cursing; choose life that you might live." This is exactly what Paul is doing in Romans chapter 12 as well. He is setting before you a life transformed, a life renewed, a life on a new path—a new blueprint that is spent walking in the will of God, on the good works and the path He prepared for you.

Alternatively, there is the path of death, which consists of the things of this world, leading to destruction. Paul urges us not to be conformed to this world but to be transformed. How can we be transformed? After realizing that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and that the wages of sin is death, we understand that the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus. He demonstrated His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, He died for us. He took the punishment and judgment of sin upon Himself so that whoever would confess Him and call on His name would be saved.

No longer would they face condemnation or experience the judgment of sin; instead, they would be given a new life.

That person who comes before the Lord and lays their life down as a living sacrifice now has a choice: to go down the path of the world and be conformed to this world, or to be transformed by God. But how is one transformed? He says there in verse 2, "by the renewing of your mind." Be transformed as your mind is renewed.

In the book of Ephesians, chapter 5, Paul tells the church at Ephesus in verse 26 that God has saved us so that He might sanctify us and cleanse us with the washing of the water by the word. Paul tells the church at Rome to be transformed by the renewing of your mind, and he tells the church at Ephesus that God wants to sanctify you. He wants to cleanse you by the washing of the water by His word.

Jesus prayed for us in John, chapter 17, verse 17, where He says, "Lord, sanctify them by Your truth; Your word is truth." God desires to cleanse and sanctify us, transforming our minds by His truth, which is His word. He told His disciples in John, chapter 15, verse 3, "Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you."

How are we cleansed? How is our mind renewed? It is very clear throughout Scripture that God desires to take a life that has been yielded to Him, one that has come to Him and laid down as a living sacrifice. He desires to cleanse it by the washing of the water by the word. He wants to renew us and transform our minds so that we no longer need to be cleansed by the washing of the water by the word of God.

He said that there is a stony heart, a heart that is set on the wrong path, and He promises, "I’m going to give you a new heart, a new operating system," so to speak.

So that you can walk on this new path, I want to clean you out with my Word day and night. That's why He would tell Joshua in Joshua chapter 1, "I want you to meditate upon my Word day and night, that you do not turn to the right hand or to the left of it, that you seek to do all that is written therein, for then you shall have success in a prosperous way." Our minds are renewed as we set them upon the Lord. As we begin to get into His Word, and His Word begins to get in us, it cleans us out.

That's why I think that these camps are so important. We take a week where we get away from the conforming of this world, and we come up into this mountaintop. We sit down where there are not very many distractions. There are distractions here, but not as many as down the mountain. We come away, and we have the Word poured into us. God's living water begins to run over us, and He begins to change our minds, transforming us more and more into the image of His Son.

I heard a story once about a young man who goes to his grandfather. His grandfather is out in the garden, and as he's working, the young man tells him, "You know, I've decided that I don't want to read my Bible anymore. I just don't see how it's helping me in any way. It's just stories I've read over and over since I was a little kid, and I just don't think I'm going to read it anymore." His grandfather, while he's working, nods his head as his grandson shares his thoughts about why he thinks he shouldn't read the Bible anymore.

Finally, his grandfather looks at him and hands him a basket. He says, "Can you take this over to the faucet and run some water through it to fill it up?" The young man looks at him and replies, "Grandfather, this is a basket. It's not going to hold any water." His grandfather insists, "Just please take it over to the faucet and put some water in it." The young man thinks, "Oh no, he's lost it. He's going insane." However, he agrees to do it just to appease his grandfather.

He takes the basket, sticks it under the water, and thinks, "This is the dumbest thing I've ever done." The water runs through it and runs through it. Finally, after about five minutes, he takes it back to his grandfather and says, "I told you it wouldn't hold any water." His grandfather responds, "I didn't ask you to hold any water. I just told you to run some water. I know it wouldn't hold any water, but notice, the basket is cleaner."

You see, sometimes we look at the Word and we read through it, thinking, "I've read through these stories over and over again."

Some of you have grown up in church, and you feel like you've heard all this stuff before, over and over again. You're getting tired of it. It doesn't seem to be helping you or affecting your life in any way. But God is using His Word to clean you and to cleanse you. He wants to transform us. The way that He does it is by the washing of the water, by His Word. This is so that we would not be conformed to the things of this world, but that we would be transformed by the renewing of our minds.

Why should we be transformed? He goes on to say that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. You see, God desires to take an individual life. He desires to take one of your lives that has been laid down at His feet as a living sacrifice. He wants to remove you from the things of this world so that you're no longer pressed into their mold, their pattern, their schematic. He wants to transform your mind so that He can use you to fulfill His purpose, His goal, and His will, which is good, perfect, and acceptable.

He wants to take our lives and set us on that path that I spoke of in Ephesians 2:10, which is filled with good works. We just walk through them and experience the good life, the abundant life that He died to give to you and me. He wants us not to be conformed to this world, but transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we can do His will, follow Him, and be lights to this world. God wants to take your life and do that with you.

But we have to make a determination not to go down the path toward the things of this world. We have to make a decision in our will, in our mind, that we don't want those things. If you would, turn in your Bibles to the book of Daniel in the Old Testament, and we'll look at this a little bit further. Daniel comes right after the book of Ezekiel. It's a pretty good-sized book, somewhere about the middle of your Bible. Go to the middle of your Bible and turn to the right; you'll find it.

Now, in the book of Daniel, there is this king by the name of Nebuchadnezzar, who is the king of Babylon during this time. He comes against the children of Israel, the Jews, whose king at this time was named Jehoiakim.

He comes against their city and totally takes them out. When he does, King Nebuchadnezzar gives this decree. He gives this law, this command, that his men are to go into Jerusalem. They are to go into this city and get all the really good-looking guys—those who are strong, fit, and smart. He says to bring them back to Babylon, where they will be schooled. The plan is to change them from good Jews to good Babylonians.

So, they go into Jerusalem and pick up all these young men. In verse 6 of Daniel chapter 1, it says, "Now among these, among all these people that they picked out, were the children of Judah." One of their names was Daniel, and the others were Hananiah, Mishaiah, and Azariah. These four young men, who we assume are friends, are from the tribe of Judah in the nation of Israel, and they are taken back to Babylon.

The Babylonians didn't care for their names, so they decided to change them. In verse 7, they gave Daniel the name Belshazzar, Hananiah the name Shadrach, Mishaiah the name Meshach, and Azariah the name Abednego. Now we have Belshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

In verse 8, we read, "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank." Therefore, he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. Underline that verse in your Bibles. Put a big circle around it and add an exclamation mark next to it. Daniel made a decision in his heart that he was not going to go down the path of the Babylonians, that he was not going to be pressed into their mold or conformed into their image.

Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, wanted to take all these young men from Israel and stick them into the Babylonian mold to make them good Babylonians. But Daniel said, "I'm not going to be pressed into this mold. I'm not going to go down that path. I want to follow the Lord." He inquired of the overseer and said, "I don't want any of the meat and the wine and the stuff that all these other guys are going to get. I want to be different. I want to be set apart."

I don't want to follow down the path of everybody else who's around me, even these people who are related to me, my brothers from Israel. He says, "I don't want to have a part with them. I don't want to be conformed to the image of the Babylonians. I want to follow the Lord." And so he made a decision. He purposed in his heart that he wasn't going to go that way.

You know what happened when he did? His three friends, Azariah, Mishael, and Hananiah—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—saw the stand that Daniel took, and the witness of Daniel caused them to want to take a stand too. You see, I know how it is because this has been the way in my life as well. Sometimes it's difficult to take a stand. Sometimes it's difficult to say, "I don't want to go down that path," because everybody else in the world is doing it. All of your friends are going after the things of this world. They're watching things on TV that aren't going to help you. They're seeking after the pleasures and the things of this world, which the Bible tells us in Hebrews are passing away.

It can be challenging to take a stand and say, "I don't want to go down that path. I don't want to talk like that. I don't want to look like that. I want to follow the Lord." But you know what? When you do, others will take notice, and they will follow with you, just like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. When Daniel said, "I will not defile myself with the things of this world. I will not dirty myself with the things of Babylon. I'm going to follow the Lord," Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego took notice and said, "Yeah, we're going to do that too."

Anytime you take a stand like that, persecution will come. People will come against it. That's exactly what happens in Daniel chapter 3. If you turn there, in Daniel chapter 3, verse 1, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, decides that since he's such a cool guy, he's going to make himself a really cool statue out of solid gold, a picture of himself. That's not real vain, is it? Making a nice big statue of gold to look like you? That's a little bit prideful, don't you think?

Well, Nebuchadnezzar, he's king of Babylon. He doesn't really care about being prideful; he's pretty arrogant. So he decides that he's going to make this thing. Verse 1 says, "Nebuchadnezzar, the king, made an image of gold whose height was three score cubits, or 60 cubits, and whose breadth was six cubits, and he set it up in the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon." So he makes this golden image, and it's 60 cubits tall.

Now, that may not mean much to you and me, but a cubit during this time was 18 inches. Therefore, 60 cubits is 90 feet. This is a solid gold statue of Nebuchadnezzar himself, so that everybody can see that Nebuchadnezzar is the king. It's 90 feet tall and nine feet wide—a huge statue.

In verse 2, Nebuchadnezzar, the king, sent and gathered together all the princes, governors, captains, judges, treasurers, counselors, sheriffs, and all the rulers of the province to come to the dedication of the image which he had set up. He said, "Everybody, I want you to come see my big image of myself. I want you guys to come look at me in all my gold grandeur. Come and check me out." Isn't that what the world is all about? That's what Nebuchadnezzar was doing as well.

So, he called all the people of his area around. In verse 3, the princes, governors, captains, judges, treasurers, counselors, sheriffs, and all the rulers of the province were gathered together to dedicate the image of Nebuchadnezzar, the king, which was set up. They stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

Then a herald cried aloud. This guy stood up and began to speak. He said, "To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, that at the time you hear the sound of the cornet, the flute, the harp, the sackbut, the psaltery, the dulcimer, and all kinds of music, you shall fall down and worship the golden image of Nebuchadnezzar, which he has set up."

So, this guy stood up and said, "Listen, everybody, every time you hear a guitar, every time you hear any music, any time the radio's on, any time MTV is on, any time you hear any sort of music, or hear a guy walking down the street whistling, you are going to fall down and bow to this image. Every time any sort of music plays, I want you to bow down to the image of Nebuchadnezzar."

He continued, "Whoso falls not down and worships the same image shall be cast in the midst of the fiery furnace." He made it clear that if you don't do it, you're going to be killed. It's just like the world: if you don't go in the direction that we're going, if you don't wear the shoes that we're wearing, if you don't wear the clothes that we're wearing, we're going to kill you. Maybe not physically, but verbally. We're going to talk behind your back and say how much of a nerd you are because you don't do the same things we do.

And he says, "Whoever will not bow down to the image, whoever will not conform themselves to the image of the world, we're going to throw them into the fiery furnace." Therefore, at that time, when the people heard the sound of the cornet, the flute, the harp, the sackbut, the psaltery, and all kinds of music, all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

But, in verse 8, at that time, certain Chaldeans came near to accuse the Jews. They spoke and said to Nebuchadnezzar, "O king, live forever. You, O king, have made a decree that every man shall hear the sound of the cornet, the harp, the sackbut, the psaltery, the dulcimer, and all kinds of music, and shall fall down and worship the golden image. Whosoever falls not down and worships that image shall be cast into the midst of the fiery furnace. There are certain Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, have not regarded you. They serve not your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up."

Then Nebuchadnezzar was angry. His rage and fury came out, and he commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought before him. When he heard about this, these men came up and said, "Oh, King Nebi, listen. There are these guys in your kingdom who aren't listening to your command. They're not going down the path that you've set up. They're not conforming to the image that you've erected. They are going in a different direction. They don't serve your gods; they serve the God of the Jews." Old King Nebi got pretty ticked off. I'm sure at that point in time his face turned red, and he got all angry. So he said, "Bring these guys to me. They're going to die."

Nebuchadnezzar spoke to them in verse 14 and asked, "Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods nor worship the golden image which I have set up? Now, if you be ready at the time that you hear the sound of the cornet, the flute, the harp, the sackbut, the psaltery, the dulcimer, and all kinds of music, and you fall down and worship the image which I have made, good. But if you worship it not, then you shall be cast in that same hour into the midst of the fiery furnace. And who is the God that shall deliver you out of my hands?"

I'm going to give you guys one more chance. These guys are going to play some music right here. My little worship team is going to play some music. If you bow down to my golden thing, all right, cool. I'll let you go. But if not, I'm throwing you into the fiery furnace. And what god can save you? Who's going to save you then? Who will be able to deliver you out of my hands?

In verse 16, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer you in this matter. We're not concerned about our answer here. It doesn't cause us to be worried. We're not anxious about this. If so be it, 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, let it be known unto you, king, that we will not serve your gods nor worship the golden image which you have set up."

They looked at the king, they looked at Nebuchadnezzar right in the face, and they said, "Who can deliver us from your hand? Our God can deliver us from your hand. But you know what? Even if He doesn't, we want you to know we aren't going to worship your god. We aren't going to bow down to your image. So do with us what you will because we don't really care what you have to do."

Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Basically, what that means is this guy's face got all contorted, and he's just like, "I'm going to kill you." His face was changed towards Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and therefore he spoke and commanded that they should heat the fiery furnace seven times hotter than it was normally to be heated. He said, "Get that thing as hot as we possibly can. These guys need to die. Now."

He commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. He said, "Get the biggest guys we have and tie these guys up as tight as you can. Throw them into the hot furnace and kill them because they won't bow down to my image. They won't conform themselves."

to my golden image. So kill them. Then these men were bound in their coats, their clothes, their hats, and their other garments, and they were cast into the midst of the burning, fiery furnace. Therefore, because the king's command was urgent and the furnace was exceedingly hot, the flame was so intense that it slew those mighty men who took Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and cast them in.

Here are these big, huge guys binding Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. As they threw these men into the furnace, the fire was so hot that these mighty men died. That's how hot it was. In verse 23 of chapter 3, these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound in the midst of the fiery furnace.

Then Nebuchadnezzar, the king, was astonished. He rose up in haste and spoke. He got up quickly, looking in, and exclaimed, "Oh my goodness, what's going on?" He said to his counselors, "Hey, didn't we throw three men bound into the midst of the fiery furnace?" They answered, "Oh king, that is true. Very, very true, king."

He replied, "But I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt. There's nothing wrong with them. The form of the fourth is like the Son of God." He looked into the furnace after his mighty men had died just throwing these guys in, and yet now he saw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who were tied up tightly by the mightiest men of Nebuchadnezzar's army. Now they were walking around in the fire, no longer bound and unharmed, and there was another person with them who looked like the Son of God. Who do you think that might be? Jesus. Amen.

He said, "Check it out, there are four guys in there, and the fourth guy looks like the Son of God." Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke, "Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, you servants of the Most High God, come forth and come hither."

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came forth out of the midst of the fire. The princes, governors, and captains of the king's counselors gathered together and saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power. Not a hair on their heads was singed, nor were their coats even charred, and the smell of fire was not upon them. Then Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said, "Blessed be the God."

Of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, you should underline that too. God has sent His angel to deliver His servants who trusted in Him and have changed the king's word. They yielded their bodies so that they might not serve and worship any God except their own God. Therefore, as the king of Babylon sees this, he makes a new decree that every people, nation, and language which speaks anything amiss against this God, the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut into pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill. This is significant because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort.

Earlier in the chapter, old King Nebuchadnezzar says, "Who can deliver you from my hand? No one! I am the almighty king of Babylon." I bet the guy was like four foot two. He's probably compensating for something when he builds his ninety-foot statue. So he asks, "Who's going to deliver you from my hand?" Now, after he sees the power of God in the lives of these men, he declares that anyone who speaks against this God will not be thrown into the fiery furnace; instead, they will be cut into pieces. There is no other God who can deliver like the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

You see, you can choose to go down the path of being conformed to the image of the world, bowing down to the image of Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. That is what the world is trying to get you to do. You'll just be like everybody else, bowing down when the music plays. You'll have nobody, and you'll have no problems. You'll have a life here on earth that doesn't seem to have very many problems.

In fact, that's what the psalmist in Psalm 73 expresses when he says, "How come the people who are pagans, who are just doing their things in the world, don't ever seem to have any problems?" He reflects, "My foot almost slipped; I almost stumbled when I saw this." Here are these individuals who aren't following the Lord; they're bowing down to the image of the world, and they seem to be doing just fine. He admits, "My foot almost slipped; I almost fell; I almost stumbled until I saw their end."

Until I saw what happened to those who gave all of their life to get the things of this world that pass away, I realized they passed away too, and they were destroyed. Until I saw their end, I understood that today the Lord is also giving you a chance to make a decision, like Daniel, like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, to say, "I will not defile myself with the things of this world; I'm going to follow the Lord."

When you do take a stand, I assure you people will take notice. The witness of Christ will be powerful upon your life. People will look at your life and say, "There is no God like the God of Calvary Chapel of Prescott, or Calvary Community, or Calvary of the White Mountains, or out there in St. George, Utah." There is no God like the God of those junior hires that I know who is able to deliver. They will look at your life and say, "There is no smell of smoke upon them; they're unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and there's one walking with them that appears as the Son of God."

That was the testimony of the Jewish leaders when they saw Peter and John. After Peter and John had healed the man at the gate called Beautiful in the early chapters of Acts, they said, "These guys are unlearned and untrained men; they're a bunch of idiots," basically what they were saying. These guys are dumb. But they knew that they had been with Jesus. There was one who was with them that had the appearance of the Son of God, and their lives were effective. Their lives were filled with witness for Him.

Why? Because they took a stand and said, "I will not be conformed to this world, but I want to be transformed by the renewing of my mind that I may do the perfect and good and acceptable will of God." What will you do? I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day. I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; choose life that you might live. Choose life.

Let's pray. God, I thank you for Your word, which truly does have application for us, Lord. There's meaning to it, and there's reason that we look through it, Lord. Sometimes we feel like we've heard it all before, and it's just like water running through a basket. But, Lord, You're cleaning us out, and You're making us ready to do Your will. Father, I ask that You would set us apart, that You would change us, Lord. God, that we'd not be conformed.

Into the image of this world, we would be transformed by the renewing of our minds, conformed into the image of Your Son. Metamorphosize, Lord, so that the world looks on and says, "What is up with that?" Let them look at our lives and say there is no God like the one true God whom those junior hires serve. Only He can deliver.

God, we thank You for Your power, which works effectively in our lives as we faithfully sit down at Your feet and allow You to work. Lord, I pray that You would pour out Your Spirit and Your blessing upon this group. Stir their hearts by Your Spirit to make that determination, as Daniel did in that day, that he purposed not to defile himself.

God, would You work that into these hearts this morning? That they would be set apart for You, not for the things of this world, but for You, and that You would accomplish great and awesome things—awesome works through their lives, Lord.

I look forward, Lord, to seeing what You're going to do with this group of people, with this group of young men and women who have so much potential to serve You as they lay down their lives for You. Work a work in our days that we would not believe, though what we're told. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.