“No Matter What, Stand Firm in the Faith”
Text: Daniel 3:13-30
5-10-2026
Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. This is a special day as we celebrate the Confirmation of these 3 young people, publicly confessing the faith given them in their Baptisms. Now, we certainly celebrate the Confirmation of adults like we did 2 weeks ago. But this is a bit different. Reason being, the adults have already encountered plenty of our vile and sinful world. They’re familiar with the evil temptations that challenge and threaten our faith. By contrast, these young people are just beginning to wade into the shallow end of those murky, wicked waters. As much as we’d like to shield them from it, we can’t. This is the sinful world we live in. Besides, Jesus never instructed us to live in a bubble. He sends His followers out into the world to boldly profess their faith even in the face of opposition. So, the best thing we can do is to prepare them to stand firm in their faith no matter what happens.
Our text for today from Daniel chapter 3 is a great faith lesson not only for these 3 young people, but for all of us who believe in the only true God. Some of you may not be familiar with what led up to this incident, so let’s do a quick review. Around 600 B.C. the Babylonians conquered Israel. As a result, Daniel, his 3 friends, and a whole bunch of other Israelites were taken captive to Babylon. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abenego must’ve been pretty sharp young men because they were selected to work as advisors to King Nebuchadnezzar. In all likelihood they were only about 15-18 years old. And yet, they stood firm in their faith. While they were in training, they were fed a special diet. Unfortunately, it contained foods that Jews were not allowed to eat. So, they refused it and requested kosher foods, which their supervisor reluctantly gave them. And they flourished! God blessed their faithfulness by having them recognized as the wisest among all the trainees.
One night, the king had a strange dream that none of his older advisors could interpret. Nebuchadnezzar was frustrated and angered by this. So, he ordered that all of his advisors be killed. When Daniel heard about it, he offered to tell the king what the dream meant. But before he did, he met with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abenego. And this is important. They joined together in prayer, asking God for the answer, which the Lord graciously supplied. When the king asked Daniel if he could interpret the dream, he basically said, “No, king, I can’t. But God can and He will reveal this mystery to you.” Daniel then told him the meaning of the dream. Nebuchadnezzar was so impressed that he promoted Daniel to be chief of all the advisors. But Daniel didn’t forget about his loyal friends and asked that they be allowed to assist him in this new job, which they did.
Do you see a pattern here? These young men kept meeting and praying together even though they were in challenging and dangerous circumstances. By doing so, they strengthened one another in their faith. Which leads us to our reading for today. In the first 12 verses, Nebuchadnezzar had a 90’ tall, golden statue built of his Babylonian god. And he ordered that everyone, regardless of their social status, bow down to worship this god whenever the royal orchestra started to play. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abenego quietly refused to do it. Well, some Babylonian tattletales went and told the king. Which makes you wonder: If they were bowing down to worship this god, how did they know that these 3 Israelites weren’t doing it? That’s what hypocrites do. Most likely the tattletales were their fellow advisors and they were jealous of these Jewish foreigners being promoted ahead of them. We should also pause to ask where Daniel was? Surely, he wouldn’t bow down to this false god. So, where was he? Bible scholars suggest that he was probably gone away on the king’s business.
Anyway, this is where our text picks up the story. The king is furious because he sees the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abenego as nothing less than insubordination. The king calls them in and threatens a horrible death if they don’t do as they’re told. Their bold and fearless response to the king is worth repeating. They said, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
There are a couple of important lessons to glean from this. First, they said, “we have no need to answer you in this matter.” In other words, they refused to debate the issue. That’s a mistake we Christians often make. An atheist asks where God came from. It’s a gotcha question. They don’t even believe God exists. Our simple answer ought to be that He’s eternal and it’s a mystery to us humans. No debate. Or what about when people challenge our belief in the real presence of Christ’s body and blood in the bread and wine of Holy Communion? They argue that it’s not possible. Here again, it’s a mystery that we accept by faith. Jesus said it and we believe it. No debate.
Second, these 3 young men expressed their trust in God’s supreme power to save them. By doing so, they were declaring that their God is the only true God and that He’s almighty. Not even this powerful, earthly king can compete with Him. However, even if God allowed them to be killed, their faith in the Lord’s goodness and plan for them would not waver. No matter what happened, they would stand firm in their faith.
Tristen, Colton, and Hazel, that’s the kind of faith and trust in God that you’ll be boldly confessing here shortly. One of the questions you’ll be asked is: “Do you intend to continue steadfast in this confession and Church and to suffer all, even death, rather than fall away from it?” That’s a serious question to be asking young teenagers. But remember, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abenego weren’t much older than you when this incident of the fiery furnace took place. Age isn’t the issue here. The firm and trusting faith in God that you possess right now is sufficient to make you stand firm, no matter what happens to you in life. He has the power to rescue you from any and all threatening circumstances. All you need do is trust in Him by faith.
All 3 of you chose a Confirmation verse that fits this lesson perfectly. Tristen, yours is Psalm 50:15, “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” This is God’s promise to all believers. Like Daniel and his 3 companions, we should regularly call on God in prayer, in both good times and bad. Colton, yours is Psalm 27:1, “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” This verse might’ve been going through the minds of those 3 young men as they were threatened. Since God was their salvation then pain, suffering, and death couldn’t shake them from their faith. And Hazel, your verse is Ephesians 2:8–9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” God will rescue and save all who believe in Him. Most importantly, He’ll save our souls and give us eternal life. It’s all His doing and His work. All we have to do is trust in Him by faith, no matter what happens.
Before we wrap this up, I want to take you back to a couple important things from the earlier part of this sermon. First, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abenego didn’t suddenly start seeking God’s help when the king threatened them. They had been actively living their faith. They refused to eat the king’s food because it would have violated God’s law. You also can actively live out your faith every day in the choices you make. The evil world is going to offer you some very desirable temptations. But you have to ask yourself: has God told me not to do this? If so, then like those 3 guys you have to refuse it, trusting that God will bless you. Second, before Daniel interpreted the king’s dream, do you remember how they gathered to pray about it? This is certainly something they did regularly as they met to worship God together. They encouraged and strengthened each other’s faith. You and I are no different. We need the encouragement, spiritual gifts and nourishment that God supplies for us here in worship. Don’t separate yourselves from it.
Which leads to the last point. These guys were prepared when they faced the greatest challenge of their lives. They had already made up their minds that they would stand firm in their faith, no matter what happened. Obviously, we all pray that you won’t have to face a life-or-death situation regarding your faith. But that doesn’t mean all the other threats and temptations will be easy. In fact, they may be even harder because so many of those things will seem so innocent. Don’t be fooled. You’ve been taught what God says about it. Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abenego, listen and obey His will. Continue to seek the Lord’s will as you study the Bible. Worship Him regularly with your fellow believers and be fed by God’s Word and Sacrament. And you can be sure that God’s blessings will flow to you because He promised they will. May God grant it all for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!