Sometimes, it's funny what motivates us to do right. As children, a promise of an ice cream cone or a new toy would many times instantly change our behavior. As adults it's the same way. We labor hard at our jobs so we can receive a bonus, a raise, or even a promotion. We try to do right by our spouse, so they will in turn do right by us. We do right and serve at church, because God has blessed us. God has truly been good to us! God has proclaimed in His Word that He will bless those that do right (Psalm 1), but if God doesn't bless us in the way that we desire it, or in the time frame we desire it. Would we still do right? In Daniel 3, We find the narrative of the three Hebrew young men, Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego. These three boys refused to worship the king's idol, and decided to stand on the principles of Scripture. The king bellowed out the effects of their decision, and these three young men came back with one of the greatest responses in the Word of God.  "Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." (Daniel 3:17, 18) These three young men made the decision to do right regardless of the consequences or the reward. They understood that God had the power to deliver them from the flames of the fiery furnace, but whether He did or not they were determined to do right. Are we willing to do right whether God blesses or not. Are we willing to do right in the workplace even if we never get recognition or a promotion. Are we willing to do right in our families whether they do right by us or not? Are we willing to serve our Heavenly Father, whether He delivers us out of our difficult situations or not? We must take the challenge from the life of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to be "but if not" Christians. If we do right God will honor it, but if not, we still have the obligation to do right!

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We often use the phrase "Let us pray about this." May these words never be used as a ploy for procrastination. That we may have time to find a solution in our own frail human strength. But may theses words be a humble proclamation that I can go no further, until I have spent ample time on my knees for power and wisdom from an Almighty God.

How may I, a true believer, have my faith strengthened? The answer is this:—

"I.—Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." James i. 17. As the increase of faith is a good gift, it must come from God, and therefore He ought to be asked for this blessing.

"II.—The following means, however, ought to be used:—1, The careful reading of the word of God, combined with meditation on it. Through reading of the word of God, and especially through meditation on the word of God, the believer becomes more and more acquainted with the nature and character of God, and thus sees more and more, besides His holiness and justice, what a kind, loving, gracious, merciful, mighty, wise, and faithful Being He is, and, therefore, in poverty, affliction of body, bereavement in his family, difficulty in his service, want of a situation or employment, he will repose upon the ability of God to help him, because he has not only learned from His word that He is of almighty power and infinite wisdom, but he has also seen instance upon instance in the Holy Scriptures in which His almighty power and infinite wisdom have been actually exercised in helping and delivering His people; and he will repose upon the willingness of God to help him, because he has not only learned from the Scriptures what a kind, good, merciful, gracious, and faithful being God is, but because he has also seen in the word of God how, in a great variety of instances He has proved Himself to be so. And the consideration of this, if God has become known to us through prayer and meditation on His own word, will lead us, in general at least, with a measure of confidence to rely upon Him: and thus the reading of the word of God, together with meditation on it, will be one especial means to strengthen our faith. 2, As with reference to the growth of every grace of the Spirit, it is of the utmost importance that we seek to maintain an upright heart and a good conscience, and, therefore, do not knowingly and habitually indulge in those things which are contrary to the mind of God, so it is also particularly the case with reference to the growth in faith. How can I possibly continue to act faith upon God, concerning anything, if I am habitually grieving Him, and seek to detract from the glory and honour of Him in whom I profess to trust, upon whom I profess to depend? All my confidence towards God, all my leaning upon Him in the hour of trial will be gone, if I have a guilty conscience, and do not seek to put away this guilty conscience, but still continue to do the things which are contrary to the mind of God. And if, in any particular instance, I cannot trust in God, because of the guilty conscience, then my faith is weakened by that instance of distrust; for faith with every fresh trial of it either increases by trusting God, and thus getting help, or it decreases by not trusting Him; and then there is less and less power of looking simply and directly to Him, and a habit of self-dependence is begotten or encouraged. One or the other of these will always be the case in each particular instance. Either we trust in God, and in that case we neither trust in ourselves, nor in our fellow-men, nor in circumstances, nor in anything besides; or we DO trust in one or more of these, and in that case doNOT trust in God. 3, If we, indeed, desire our faith to be strengthened, we should not shrink from opportunities where our faith may be tried, and, therefore, through the trial, be strengthened. In our natural state we dislike dealing with God alone. Through our natural alienation from God we shrink from Him, and from eternal realities. This cleaves to us more or less, even after our regeneration. Hence it is, that more or less, even as believers, we have the same shrinking from standing with God alone,—from depending upon Him alone,—from looking to Him alone:—and yet this is the very position in which we ought to be, if we wish our faith to be strengthened. The more I am in a position to be tried in faith with reference to my body, my family, my service for the Lord, my business, etc., the more shall I have opportunity of seeing God's help and deliverance; and every fresh instance, in which He helps and delivers me, will tend towards the increase of my faith. On this account, therefore, the believer should not shrink from situations, positions, circumstances, in which his faith may be tried; but should cheerfully embrace them as opportunities where he may see the hand of God stretched out on his behalf, to help and deliver him, and whereby he may thus have his faith strengthened. 4, The last important point for the strengthening of our faith is, that we let God work for us, when the hour of the trial of our faith comes, and do not work a deliverance of our own. Wherever God has given faith, it is given, among other reasons, for the very purpose of being tried.

"Yea, however weak our faith may be, God will try it; only with this restriction, that as in every way, He leads on gently, gradually, patiently, so also with reference to the trial of our faith. At first our faith will be tried very little in comparison with what it may be afterwards; for God never lays more upon us that He is willing to enable us to bear. Now when the trial of faith comes, we are naturally inclined to distrust God, and to trust rather in ourselves, or in our friends, or in circumstances.

"We will rather work a deliverance of our own somehow or other, than simply look to God and wait for His help. But if we do not patiently wait for God's help, if we work a deliverance of our own, then at the next trial of our faith it will be thus again, we shall be again inclined to deliver ourselves; and thus with every fresh instance of that kind, our faith will decrease; whilst on the contrary, were we to stand still, in order to see the salvation of God, to see His hand stretched out on our behalf, trusting in Him alone, then our faith would be increased, and with every fresh case in which the hand of God is stretched out on our behalf in the hour of the trial of our faith, our faith would be increased yet more.

"Would the believer, therefore, have his faith strengthened, he must especially, give time to God, who tries his faith in order to prove to His child, in the end, how willing He is to help and deliver him, the moment it is good for him."

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego are outstanding examples of how young people should respond to ungodly pressures. Daniel 3 demonstrates that it is possible to stand for God. Every Christian young person must strive to attain the character illustrated in Daniel 3. Here are three principles to understand.

1.  God's Word is greater than Culture.

Daniel 3:10-14 

Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, shall fall down and worship the golden image:

And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

 There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

 Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego. Then they brought these men before the king.

 Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?

King Nebuchadnezzar makes a decree that everyone must bow to his golden image. At the sound of the music, everyone was to worship the image that he had erected. The Scripture passage shows us that everyone bowed down except for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. Every other person heard the music and bowed  down to Nebuchadnezzzar's image. There were three young men that understood that God's Word was greater than culture. God's Word is to be obeyed over any decree or dogma of man. Every Christian young person must understand that culture should not dictate the life of a Christian. Many Christian young people are following the masses of culture, and neglecting the message of the Word of God. Proverbs 4: 20-27 exclaims, "My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil." The entertainment, fashion, social media, and other cultural trends should not be the standard of how a Christian young person should live. God's Word is the final standard to be followed

2. Godliness is not dependent on Circumstances.

Daniel 3:16-18

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.

If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.

But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

There are many good young people in the world. Young people that are obedient, disciplined, and even spiritual. The only problem is they are not many godly young people. Psalm 12:1 says "Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men." Many young people seek to please parents, leaders, and even themselves, but very few desire to please God. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego appear to be good obedient young men, but the difference is shown during difficult circumstances. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego did not have their parents, youth pastor, or Sunday School teacher to cheer them on. They would not receive applause or acclamation for their stand. These three young men understood that they were to honor God. Every Christian young person must understand that our obedience to God does not depend on current circumstances. Good young people behave like a Christian during positive circumstances. They behave properly when authority is present, or when there are awards to be won. The godly young person seeks to please God. That desire to please God will give them the desire to do right no matter the circumstances or the consequences. The good young person says, "I will do right as long as God blesses." The godly young person says, "I will do right if God blesses, but if not I will still do right."

3. God is in Control.

Daniel 3:26-28

Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, came forth of the midst of the fire.

 And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.

Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.

One of the most elementary principles of the Word of God is understanding that God is in control. When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego were thrown into a fiery furnace, God was in control. God in His miraculous omnipotence was able to preserve three young men from a furnace heated seven times hotter than it had ever been. Every young person must recognize the power of God. God has the power to meet our need. God has the power to deliver us from circumstances. God has promised "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." (Heb. 13:5) Christian young person, you must grasp that this world did not come into existence because of random events, but an because of an almighty God. That same God desires to protect you and provide for your needs. Young person you can trust God!

1 Thessalonians 2:8 

So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the Gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us.

It has been my privilege to serve as a Youth Pastor for Gulf Coast Baptist Church for the last couple of years.Today, I had to write my resignation letter. It was hard to write. I have enjoyed teaching Sunday School, teaching Youth Group, and even the activities! Gulf Coast Baptist Church has been a major part of my life! There will be a few difficult days for me after we move to Michigan, but I move knowing that God has a plan. I look forward to seeing what God will continue to do at Gulf Coast Baptist Church. I thank the Gulf Coast Baptist Church family for your love and faithfulness that you have demonstrated through your ministry. Thank you all for the gifts, letters, and words of encouragement as my family and I leave to follow God's will. The friendships we have developed here have been encouraging and spiritually uplifting. We will keep you in our prayers as well as in our hearts!

"Asking for the Right Spirit"  A sermon by Evangelist Lester Roloff