I Will Not Bow! | Pastor Chuck Salvo | 12.10.23 | Sunday AM | On Fire Christian Church

I Will Not Bow!

1. I will not bow ought to be the conviction of every born again believer! The 3 Hebrews had a conviction of only bowing down to God and none other. The story of the 3 Hebrews takes place in Daniel 3. How does this preach to us today? What can we take from these 3 heroic young men?

1. 1. These 3 young men along with Daniel were taken captive within another kingdom
   2. Nebuchadnezzar was the king!
   3. Daniel 1 expresses the character and convictions of these young men
   4. ”But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.“ Daniel‬ ‭1‬:‭8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬‬‬‬

1. 2. ”As for these four young men, God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.“ Daniel‬ ‭1‬:‭17‬ ‭‬‬‬
   3. ”And in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in all his realm.“ Daniel‬ ‭1‬:‭20‬ ‭NKJV‬‬‬‬‬

2. Nebuchadnezzar has a dream of an image when Daniel interprets it he makes Daniel and 3 Hebrew young men high ranking officials

1. 1. Although Nebuchadnezzar declares God the Lord He erects an image in Daniel 3 and commands all to bow to him. Pride brought about his decision to attack 3 that would not bow
   2. First! Babylon represents a second attempt to get the children of God to repent!
   3. The Assyrians attacked Northern Israel because of their sin God allowed it and destroyed them in 722 bc
   4. Now Babylon attacks southern Israel and over powers them in 586 bc.
   5. Although the children of God saw judgment of those of the North they still did not repent of their sin
   6. Daniel and 3 Hebrews were living in the midst of others waywardness

3. The United States declared its independence from Britain in 1776 The reasons for it were many but persecution of religion was no doubt a basis

1. 1. The religious persecution that drove settlers from Europe to the British North American colonies sprang from the conviction, held by Protestants and Catholics alike, that uniformity of religion must exist in any given society. This conviction rested on the belief that there was one true religion and that it was the duty of the civil authorities to impose it, forcibly if necessary, in the interest of saving the souls of all citizens. Nonconformists could expect no mercy and might be executed as heretics. The dominance of the concept, denounced by Roger Williams as “inforced uniformity of religion,” meant majority religious groups who controlled political power punished dissenters in their midst. In some areas Catholics persecuted Protestants, in others Protestants persecuted Catholics, and in still others Catholics and Protestants persecuted wayward coreligionists
   2. Is it possible we are repeating history. As the Southern Kingdom didn’t learn from the North of Israel so the United States has not learned from our past
   3. This engraving depicts the execution of David van der Leyen and Levina Ghyselins, described variously as Dutch Anabaptists or Mennonites, by Catholic authorities in Ghent in 1554. Strangled and burned, van der Leyen was finally dispatched with an iron fork.

1. 2. Jesuits like John Ogilvie (Ogilby) (1580-1615) were under constant surveillance and threat from the Protestant governments of England and Scotland. Ogilvie was sentenced to death by a Glasgow court and hanged and mutilated on March 10, 1615.
   3. The slaughter of Huguenots (French Protestants) by Catholics at Sens, Burgundy in 1562 occurred at the beginning of more than thirty years of religious strife between French Protestants and Catholics. These wars produced numerous atrocities. The worst was the notorious St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in Paris, August 24, 1572. Thousands of Huguenots were butchered by Roman Catholic mobs. Although an accommodation between the two sides was sealed in 1598 by the Edict of Nantes, religious privileges of Huguenots eroded during the seventeenth century and were extinguished in 1685 by the revocation of the Edict. Perhaps as many as 400,000 French Protestants emigrated to various parts of the world, including the British North American colonies.

4. So like the 3 Hebrews who find themselves living in a godless culture just like you and I and really the world, we mustn’t bow to the Babylon system.

1. 1. From John’s vision, we draw several conclusions about Babylon the Great:

1. 1. Babylon in the end times will have influence over all “peoples, multitudes, nations and languages” (Revelation 17:15).
   2. Babylon the Great will promote religious heresy, indicated by its association with blasphemy (Revelation 17:3) and its depiction as a prostitute (see Psalm 106:39; Leviticus 17:7; Judges 2:17).
   3. Babylon will kill the true followers of God: the woman is “drunk with the blood of God’s holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus” (Revelation 17:6; cf. 18:24).
   4. Babylon in the end times will once again be a place of luxury, wealth, and opulence (Revelation 18:7, 11–17).
   5. Babylon the Great will be a center of worldwide merchandising (Revelation 18:19, 23).
   6. Babylon will actively lead people astray into corruption (Revelation 18:23; 19:2).
   7. Babylon the Great will be associated with a federation of ten kings, plus the beast (Revelation 17:12; cf. 13:4).
   8. End-times Babylon will thrive for a time, but then the beast and the ten kings will conclude that such a financial, religious, and political system is no longer needed. They will proceed to dispose of it: “They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire” (Revelation 17:16).

5. I will not bow!

1. 1. ”Then a herald cried aloud: “To you it is commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, that at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, you shall fall down and worship the gold image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up; and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.” Daniel‬ ‭3‬:‭4‬-‭6‬ ‭‬‬‬‬
   2. They lived a life not bowing! Now the Babylon anti Christ system is demanding to bow and if not a threat!
   3. ”Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.” Daniel‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬-‭18‬ ‭NKJV ‬‬‬‬‬‬

6. Revelation 13:1-18. Mark of anti christ and his demand for the culture to bow!

1. 1. Revelation 18:1