Exclusive Worship

Pastor Stan Mons

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Sermon Transcription:

This week we're still in the book of Daniel. And the title of this third part of us looking at the book of Daniel—and what we learn and receive from the Lord for our own lives today as we look at Daniel's life and at his book—the title for this message is Exclusive Worship, and it's on Daniel chapter 3. This week, we had part one. It was titled Restoration Only Happens Without Compromise, and we saw Daniel live a life without compromise. Daniel became the man that ushered restoration and was able to see restoration from afar in a prophetic way, and bring that message to the people of God even before anyone else could see it. Then last week, we had a message on chapter 2: Eagerly Desire Gifts. We saw how the Lord allowed Daniel to get into a death situation in his own life and how God turned that around through the spiritual giftings in Daniel's life. Daniel fled to God in that impossible situation, and God gave heavenly gifts—showing him, in this particular case, what was hidden away secretly in the king's heart: the dream he had dreamed. And then on top of that, the interpretation of that dream. And we saw that the Lord desires to deliver His people out of the impossible. Not through human strength. Not through your network. Not through your abilities. But through things that He can give to you—things that God can give into your life—so that God gets the glory of the deliverance. And now chapter 3: Exclusive Worship.

I was so blessed during the time of worship today, as we were just in the presence of the Lord, seeking to praise Him from the depths of our hearts and seeing how orderly our worship leader had picked the songs—not knowing what I was going to preach on. And I did not know her worship set. Yet when I see them align so perfectly, I get so excited, because I can tell the Lord is preparing our hearts to be able to see and receive what He is going to bring into our lives through His Word. And so once again—thank you, worship team—for always doing a faithful job seeking to worship Jesus. Not to get us to sing. Not to bless us with songs we like. But there's a consistency in our worship leaders that they always seek to sing to Jesus with all of their heart. And those that want to do the same—they're just going to follow them along into worship. Amen? Amen.

Let me pray over your life one more time. Lord, I pray that You bring this Word into our hearts.Lord, there's not a man alive that can carry Your Scriptures into another person's heart.There's not a man alive that is able to unfold the Scriptures and make people understand them except through the ministry of Your Holy Spirit. Lord, we acknowledge our dependency on Your Spirit.The Spirit guides us into all truth.And I pray, Lord God, that You bless us and grant us the presence of Your Holy Spirit—that we may understand things we couldn't see before,that we may understand what You're calling us to do next,how You're calling us to believe next, how You're calling us to respond to You this morning. Lord, would You help us all see it?Lord, in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen.

Exclusive Worship. We're going to go into chapter three, where we have a historical account—a story that Daniel relays to us, even though he is not mentioned in it himself from beginning to end. He is the one that wrote this story to us. And so we're going to start off in a very famous story—some of you may know it. It’s the story of the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar makes and the fiery furnace. We're going to start in verse 1, chapter 3: Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold whose height was 60 cubits and its width six cubits. He set it up in the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. Now, for those of you that already have that question—those cubits would translate to a height of about 90 feet. So, this statue at that time in history: 90 feet tall, about 9 feet wide, erected right there in the plain of Dura. Verse 2: And King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to gather the satraps, the administrators, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

So the sat traps, the administrators, the governors, the counselors, the treasures, the judges, the magistrates, and the officials of the provinces gathered together for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Then a herald cried out loud, “To you it is commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, that at the time you hear the sound of the horn, the flute, the harp, the liar, and the salt tree 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.” Here we have everything set up. Nebuchadnezzar for a long time has been planning this. He has this statue made. All the peoples have gathered. There is not an idea in my mind to even understand how many people would have been right there in the plane standing, the herald making that announcement, and then other heralds that were in the reach of his hearing repeating it after one another. You hear it echoing through the fields until all the people have heard it. It takes a while, and everyone is waiting until all people have been instructed, and there comes the music and everyone in unison obeys. All the people do it except just a few. Daniel's friends disobeyed the command to worship outside of worshiping God. They just—they just didn't do it. Their worship was exclusive. Their worship was exclusive to one God.

Now to paint a picture for you: they weren't singing songs. They weren't instructed to sing songs. They were instructed to worship. Very often when we are in a church setting like this and we talk about worship, what we really mean to say is we're talking about the praise, the singing of the songs to the praise and honor of the Lord. That's not worship. You may enter into worship in your heart while you're singing songs of praise unto the Lord, but living a life of worship—and even worshiping in a church service—not everybody does. Worship is taking an attitude of the heart that says all of my trust, all of my dedication, all of my ability to honor a God, all of my willingness to submit—I render it all to the Lord Almighty. It is a heart of worship. It results in praise. It results in godly decisions. It results in a priority system in life that is defined by what God is doing in your generation, in your life, in your family before anything else. It is a heart, a lifestyle of worship. And here Nebuchadnezzar makes the very strong command that he wants everyone to transpose to, to move their worship to a different place, to move their worship to this image, this new God that Nebuchadnezzar now presents to his people. And so when we talk about worship, when the Bible talks about worship, it is really about what gets the trust of your heart, the way your heart makes priorities in your decisions and the way your heart honors and the way your heart renders its expectation.

Where does my hope come from? And Daniel's friends disobeyed this command, this symbolic gesture of bowing down to this statue other than to bow down to the living God. Their worship was exclusive. And let me tell you this: Satan always hates exclusive worship. This king Nebuchadnezzar, who in some pictures represents the attitude of our enemy, King the devil, also hated that this was happening. You're going to see that in the story. But the enemy in your life—when we're talking about exclusive worship, I only follow Jesus with all of my heart—the way I do finances is defined by Jesus. The way that I do my schedule and my calendar, is defined by Jesus. The way I go about my career is defined by Jesus. When we worship Jesus with all of our lives, the enemy absolutely hates it. And he will always attack a heart that knows exclusive worship to Christ Jesus. And no different in this story. These friends, they get noticed for it. We continue in verse 12. “There are certain Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shedrach, Meek, and Abednego. These men, O king, have not paid due regard to you. They do not serve your gods or worship the gold image which you have set up.”

They get noticed. They get tattletaled on. And the friends are now brought before the king.

And here's what he tells them. Verse 14 and 15. Nebuchadnezzar spoke saying to them, “Is it true, Shedrach, Meek, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the gold image which I have set up?” “Now, if you are ready at the time that you hear the sound of the horn, the flute, the harp, the liar, and the sultry, and symphony with all kinds of music, and you fall down and worship the image which I have made—good. But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the God who will deliver you from my hands? Who is the God who will deliver you from my hands?” Now I want to call to your remembrance the very issue that God dealt with in this kingdom just a chapter earlier. We talked about it last week. What was it? Verse 11 of chapter 2, is it? It is a difficult thing that the king requests and there is none other who can tell it to the king except the gods whose dwelling is not with flesh. We see these topics throughout the book of Daniel where there is a common belief in a generation and God uses some of his people and at times very difficult things in their life to attack and eradicate these false beliefs about God out of a generation.

Just earlier, before this moment of the fiery oven being a threat, there was this belief in the nation that God does not come to live with man. God does not come to dwell in the heart of man. In other words, God is not like that. God is not seeking to be near to people. God is not seeking to deliver. God, let alone, is willing to come and live in your heart. God is not like that. That was the belief in that chapter. And we learned that you and I will receive purpose when we belong to Jesus just like Daniel received purpose. And God allows us, as well as Daniel, to face at times a death situation, a pressure situation. And he showed us through Daniel's life how he wants to use that in us. God used it to spread the word throughout the kingdom that the God of heaven does indeed make his dwelling with man, that God is willing to come and make his home in you, that God is willing to draw near to man, and man will not forever have to try and get close to God. And now in this following chapter in the book of Daniel, we read that next incredible challenge. “And who is the God who will deliver you from my hands?” Yes, you've made your point. God is in some cases, I guess, willing to come and dwell with man. But there are threats in the lives of those that have a lifestyle of exclusive worship. There are threats the enemy is faithful to always bring in. And at the heart of it, this is the message: “Who is the God that will deliver you from my hands?”

That threat is no different today for those that want to follow Jesus in all things in their exclusive worship. And the threat still today goes out against the people of God. “Who has the power to give you a good life when you don't worship the way that we worship? Who has the power to make sure that you have proper provision for you and your kids? If you don't pursue college, if you don't pursue the highest career, if you don't pursue money, if you don't lie when you do your taxes, if you don't make everything turn into your own benefit, if you don't do what's good for you, who will deliver you? Who has the power to deliver you when you don't worship the way that we do?” Some of you, maybe you're bothered in your spirit by some of the practices you've noticed at your job. Some of the things that are done under the table. Some of the things you've been asked to look the other way or to lie—and a threat hangs in the air. You can feel it when those things are asked of you. “Who has the power to deliver you if you don't sacrifice for money—making money the way that we do? Who has the power to deliver you if you don't sacrifice for your income the way we do? When you don't compromise and add things so that we can just make a little bit more. Who's watching? Who's checking? Everybody does it. Everybody kneels down. Who will deliver you if you do not?

It's not reasonable to ask for exclusive worship in this part. Now if you are ready, good. If not, you will be thrown into all kinds and heaps of trouble. And who has the power to deliver you?” And the snare can come. And sometimes it is delivered through people. Sometimes you can just sense the threat in your heart. But the snare comes, and it can cut you to the heart so deep. Well, you want to walk in the light so bad, but you need to bow down. You need to walk in line. Who will deliver you when I take away your job? Who will deliver you when I take away your favor? Who will be your friends when you draw the line and you say, "No more. I can't do this. I can't watch this. I can't be a part of this. I have one Lord. I serve Him. I bow to Him. I do not bow to another."

And the threat comes. "Well, then who is the God who will deliver you? You can't live like this. You can't do these things. You cannot..." "You can sing in church all you want. Don't bring that stuff here to the job. You cannot live a lifestyle of exclusive worship—or else." And the king tells them, gracious as he comes off, "I'll give you another chance. I'm confident you'll do what it takes, and then all will be fine. You're just a little overzealous right now." Verse 16 to 18: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego 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."

All of a sudden, they draw a clear line, and they're not shy about it. They're saying,"I'm saying no. I'm not going there no more. I don't need to answer you. I will not bow for what you want me to bow. I will have my honor. My character will remain intact. I have decided that only the Lord receives my worship—not my money, not sports, not sexual satisfaction, not power and prestige. I have been purchased with a price and I will not bow. I'm saying no. My worship is exclusive to one Lord, one King, one Savior. Hallelujah." Then Nebuchadnezzar—verse 19—then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury. This is what happens in the heart that hates exclusive worship. Full of fury. Upset. Unreasonable. "How could you say these things?" And the expression on his face changed towards Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. He spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. And he commanded certain mighty men of valor who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, and cast them into the burning fiery furnace.

Then these men were bound in their coats, their trousers, their turbans, and other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore, because the king's command was urgent and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Now, watch, church, what happens. And remember the threat that always is accompanied with everything the enemy tries to throw at exclusive worship: "Who is the God who will deliver you from my hands?"Who is He? Verse 24:Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished, and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors,"Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?"They answered and said to the king, "True, O king.""Look," he answered, "I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God." Church, listen to me.If you have seen Jesus the Messiah with the eyes of your heart and you have fallen in love with Him, He has become your Savior. He has become your Redeemer. He has become your Lord, and you no longer want to bow and compromise in character.

You have decided to no longer worship anyone or anything else. Church, if you have truly decided to give Christ your exclusive worship, the enemy threats will come. They will come.

I remember so clear when they first started showing up when I gave my life to Jesus and to His gospel almost 14 years ago now. And I remember so clearly the threats: "You can't follow Jesus like that. There won't be money. There won't be provision." You're throwing away your future. Things will not work out. Who is the God who will deliver you? The enemy is saying, "You live in my world. You need to bow and worship to how we do things in my world, just like everyone else."

Another one: "You have to start behaving normal. You're way too excited about Jesus. Just be normal. Get a normal job. Do what you need to do. You're going to waste your life if you stay so excited about the Lord. You're going to waste it on nothing. This doesn't work in the real world. Who is the God that will deliver you if you're going to exclusively worship to this degree? Who will deliver you?"

I remember someone speaking into my life, so animated, saying, "You can't keep living like this. What if kids come? You won't be able to provide for them. You won't be able to make a way for them. You're setting your kids up for failure. You're setting them up for a future full of lack." In other words, the enemy's threat saying, "This is my world. And who is the God who will deliver you out of my hand? You have to worship like others do. You can't only exclusively worship Jesus. You'll end up in trouble. And who will deliver you?" Church. Again, it has almost been 14 years. I've only given my life to Christ and to His gospel. And none of the enemy's threats have ever been able to touch my life or the lives of my children. Because when you and I end up in the fiery oven, you are never alone. When you and I end up in the trouble—that is the consequence of exclusive worship—we are never alone in that oven. We are never alone in that fiery pressure. When you have given all of your life to follow and worship Jesus, He will always show up in the consequences, and He will take the power of the consequences away. And in the very place in your life—the very place where your enemies and every demon of hell was expecting your downfall—in that very area, in that very place, Jesus will show up. And they will see and be astonished that you're walking around in that fire and it's not touching you. It's not affecting you. And Jesus takes the power away right there and turns the place of consequence into a place of testimony and praise.

And that place—everybody expects your downfall in that place.

Everybody says it's impossible. When you exclusively worship Jesus, it means a lot of practical decisions in your life. But when you begin to exclusively worship Jesus, there are so many people—and not all of them mean bad—but they expect to see a downfall in so many areas of your life.

And so does the enemy, and he's whispering and threatening. But that place, where they expect for you to be burned by all of the consequences—your Jesus will birth favor and praise for His own name in that very place. The enemy will never have his way. The enemy is thinking, "You know that burning oven? That will become their downfall. This will be their consequence for their ridiculous exclusive worship." And that place became their greatest testimony and brought the king and a nation to its knees. What everyone knew would be their downfall—because of how exclusively they worshiped—instead of everyone's expectation coming to pass, that place became so powerful that it brought the king and the nation to its knees. Verse 26:Then Nebuchadnezzar went near the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke, saying,"Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out and come here."

Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego came from the midst of the fire. And the satraps, the administrators, governors, the king's counselors gathered together, and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power. The hair of their head was not singed, nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them. Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying,"Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent His angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king's word and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any other god except their own God."

Church, when you count the cost and you desire to follow Jesus with all of your life—your reasonable worship—the threats will come. And the threats will be in line with what most, if not all (at the time), will feel like all the people are doing around you. Everybody's bowing down to it. Everybody's compromising in it. Everybody is just doing it the way the world is doing it. The threats will come.

But church, don't you bow.Don't you break your character. Let your character remain intact. Don't you worship. Don't compromise. When you worship Jesus exclusively—when you follow Him exclusively—it will get you into all kinds of trouble. It will get you into all kinds of disadvantage.

But don't you pay attention to the threats of the enemy. When you worship exclusively, Jesus will always show up in the midst of your fire. He will be there, and none of it will touch you. The smell of the fire was not even on them. You know, the only thing that burned were the ropes with which they were bound. When you worship exclusively, there will be rejection from people. There will be looking down on you. You will look like you have no strength and no power in this world many, many times in your life. But when, all of a sudden, people see the kind of trouble this exclusive worship gets you into—and they see that the bonds come off, they see Jesus show up in the midst of it—it's not just the guys, not just the friends, who saw the Lord show up in their situation. Everybody could see it, and it affected the way everybody worshiped.

Church, exclusive worship—making Christ the only person, the only object of your worship, becoming a worshiper of God—exclusive worship is very, very pricey while you live in this world.

But I believe with all my heart, God is calling us to count the cost and to pay the price and to lay down your life exclusively for His sake and for the gospel. Church, there will never be a fiery trial—not one enemy threat—that will have power over your life. They will come and go. None of them will have power. Jesus will show up and frustrate the words of the enemy. Every word of threat will become a frustration to the enemy's heart, because God will just show up and set you free.

God will show up and give you favor when you don’t get it from people. God will show up and He will awaken praise through your life. He will give you the favor, and He will cause praise in areas where you no longer worship what other people worship. And by all accounts—if you could calculate it, by all accounts—if you become an exclusive worshiper of Jesus like this, it should become your downfall in this area, that area, or the other. Your kids are going to pay the price. You name it. Every threat will come your way.

Yet, people are going to see Jesus show up in the most unlikely of places. And He’s going to make it a place of favor, testimony, and praise. He’ll do it in your life when you render your heart wholly to God—your trust completely on Him as protector, the one that justifies your soul, provider—you name it. Every single one of His names. When you render all of your heart to Him, it will always get you in trouble.And Jesus will show up in the midst of it. Some of you—you've known a time where you were on the road to exclusive worship, and Jesus was very present in your life. And you miss the way that He is present. And today you're realizing that there may be areas where you're not as black and white anymore with where your heart goes—where you worship, what you give. Again, that priority system. Who gets to define my priority system in life? The way I make decisions. The way I go about saying no. The way I go about honoring. The way I comply with the people around me in order to avoid the consequences of exclusive worship.

If you want to respond to the Holy Spirit today and say,"God, I'm going to give to You all of my life—my worship exclusively," if you want to exclusively worship Jesus, I want to pray over you today to seal that word—to pray that the Holy Spirit will bring it back to your mind when you need it.

When you need to make certain decisions.When you need to cut out certain friends—certain friendships—people that you can be a friend to and you can carry a word of life into their life, but you cannot let them be your friend because of what they're trying to bring into your life. There is, in every area of life, a cost and consequences to exclusively worshiping Jesus. And if you've counted the cost and desire to worship Christ—not just praise Him—if you've come to the place where you say:"I'm going to say no to the enemy. I'm going to say no to this god. I'm going to say no to all of the threats. I’m going to worship exclusively." If that is you, and you are responding in the house, I'm asking you to come forward at this time so that we can pray together. And I desire to pray over you, as the prayer team will come around and pray for you personally. And as people are making their way forward, I want to tell you online:If you are with us online and you say,"I want to exclusively worship Jesus,"—it may be the first time in your life where you say:"I’m going to worship Jesus exclusively.

I believe for the first time that I can be forgiven because of His blood. I believe for the first time that He has a call for me in this world, that He will be the one who defines value in my life. I believe for the first time that He will be my provider." "I always thought I had to do it all. I always thought that burden was on me. But I see now that I’ve been worshiping differently. I believed that work would give me the provision—not God." It’s a shifting of the heart. If it's for the first time, or if you say:"I'm coming back to a place where once I used to exclusively worship—where all of my schedule, my calendar, all of my life was organized around what Jesus is doing in my heart, through my life, and around me in the people that I love. All of my life was surrounded and filled exclusively with worship for Jesus—and I want to come back to that place." Either way, I want to invite you: if you're online with someone, let somebody know that sits next to you. Tell them what is going on in your heart, what the Holy Spirit is doing in your heart, and ask them to pray with you, as we pray together in this place as well.

Church, God wants to seal this word in your life.That means that you can always fall back on it—that you can lean on this word.He will bring it back to remembrance. If you're here at the front, He will do that miracle in your life.He'll remind you of the word He has spoken to your heart when you're under a threat again—and you're about to make decisions the way the world does.You're about to bow down the way the world does.You're about to compromise the way the world does.You're about to accept behavior around friends the way the world does. He will remind you.So that through His Spirit, the Bible says, He may raise up a standard and leave your character unflawed, unbroken, uncompromised, your honor intact, and your worship exclusive—for the one and only name through whom all men must be saved:The name of Jesus Christ.

A life of worship to Jesus—it means something in our everyday.The Holy Spirit will teach you the specifics.

But if you're rendering your heart today, I want to pray, as the team prays over you, I’m going to pray that the Lord will seal this word, and that you will be able to clearly see it with the eyes of your heart when you need this word the most. Lord God, I pray over every person that is with us online.Lord God, every person that has responded to the Holy Spirit in this house.Lord God, I pray, Lord Jesus Christ, that You seal this word of encouragement in Your holy name. Lord God, I pray, Lord Jesus, that by Your Holy Spirit, You bring it back to remembrance when we most need it. When the threats come that seek to make us compromise in the way that we exclusively give our life to Jesus—exclusively give our life for His gospel and His purposes. Lord, I pray that You bring it to remembrance so that we can decide based on who You are, based on what You say, based on us being able to see past the fiery furnace.

Lord God, I pray that we may see with the eyes of our heart that our God is able to deliver. "O king, we have no need to answer you in this matter because our God is able to deliver." "And even if He does not, I need you to know that we will not worship and that we will not bow down." Lord God, I pray that You remind us of this word—that when we get in trouble because of our exclusive worship, You will always show up in the fiery furnace. You will always show up and take the power away from the consequences that, in some cases, people wished on us—the enemy wished on us, Lord God. Thank You that You will frustrate the word of the enemy. Thank You, Lord God, that You will break the power and the dominion of the consequences in this world that come upon us because we only want to follow You, Lord Jesus. Thank You that we will never be alone. Thank You, Lord God. And I pray, Lord Jesus, that You allow us to see so clearly what You are to us—that You are our deliverer, so that we would never fear the fiery furnace, that we would never fear the threats, Lord God,and that Your people—that Your people’s character would remain intact, Lord God, that Your people’s honor would remain intact, Lord God, and that their worship may always be exclusive.

Lord Jesus, I pray that You help us see the attacks. I pray that You help us understand the threats. And I pray that Your word may be so thick on our mind that we make decisions based on who our Deliverer is. Lord God, Lord Jesus, teach us to exclusively worship You. Teach us to exclusively worship You in the way we do marriage. Teach us, Lord God, to exclusively worship You in the way that we raise our children and the way that we invest in them. Teach us, Lord God, to exclusively worship You in the way that we do church. In the way we evangelize at the job.The way, Lord God, we behave among friends. The way, Lord God, that we watch television. The way, Lord God, we listen to music. That in all things, Lord God, we keep our worship exclusive to one God, one Lord, one King—Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. Lord God, we bless You in this place. And we ask You, Lord God, send Your Spirit upon our houses. Send Your Spirit upon our hearts. And teach us to worship You with all of our hearts. In Jesus’ name, amen.

-Pastor Stan Mons