For Men | Virtue Three: Resist | Daniel 3:14-16 | The Virtues of Daniel

Every generation bows to something.

Some generations bowed to carved idols. Others bowed to kings.

Today, our idols just wear different names. Success. Comfort. Money. Approval. Pleasure. Power. Image. Followers. Self.

The names have changed—but worship hasn't. Because every man kneels before something. The question isn't if you'll bow. The question is who you'll bow to. 

In Daniel 3, King Nebuchadnezzar built a ninety-foot golden statue and commanded everyone to bow when the music played. The choice was simple: bow or burn. But for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, this wasn't about a statue. It was about allegiance. They believed God was able to rescue them, but their obedience wasn't dependent on His deliverance. Their faith rested in God's character, not in a guaranteed miracle.

Babylon is still playing the music today. Through notifications, algorithms, social media, entertainment, politics, and endless distractions, culture continually asks us to move Jesus off the throne of our lives. It doesn't mind your Christianity—until your Christianity confronts its idols.

In this episode, we unpack three gritty truths about resisting Babylon:

1. Resist Compromise — The enemy rarely asks for your whole life. He asks for one compromise, one click, one secret, one excuse. Small compromises eventually produce surrendered convictions.

2. Resist The Crowd — Standing with God will often mean standing apart from the crowd. Culture has never been the standard. God has.

3. Resist Fear With Faith — Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego feared God more than they feared the furnace. When your greatest fear becomes disappointing God, the fear of disappointing people begins to lose its grip.

Ultimately, Daniel 3 points us to Jesus. He stood before rulers, endured rejection, and faced God's judgment without bowing. He entered the fire of God's wrath so that everyone who trusts in Him can stand righteous before God.

How Men Build Resistance:

• Decide your convictions before culture tests them.
• Saturate your mind with God's Word.
• Surround yourself with men who stand.
• Worship daily—because whatever captures your worship eventually commands your life.

Because the music is still playing.

The only question is...

Will you bow?

Book Derek Griffon to Speak at your next event 

https://www.derekgriffon.com/invite

Transcript

Welcome \\ Rebel For Men Mission

SPEAKER_00 0:18

Welcome to the Daily Rebel, Saturday bonus edition, from men who are done playing games with their faith and ready to live it for real. No excuses, no hiding, no fluff. Just truth that hits your life where it actually counts. Because your faith isn't proven by what you say. It's proven by how you show up and live. So step up, man. Let's lock in and let's get to work. Yo, what's up, man? Welcome back. Here we go. We're on week three of the Daily Rebel for men with the Virtue of Daniel series. So if you have a Bible, Daniel

Daniel 3:16-18

SPEAKER_00 0:51

chapter 3, 16 through 18, and I'm gonna read a few of the verses just to sum it up and then we're gonna dive in. Here we go. If the God, if the God we serve exists, then he can rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire. But even if he does not rescue us, we want you as king to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up. So listen,

Every Man Kneels Before Something

SPEAKER_00 1:13

men, every generation bows to something. Some generations bow to carved idols, others bow to kings. Today, our idols look a little different, don't they? Success, it looks like comfort, it looks like making a lot of money. It looks like approval, politics, pleasure, power, image, followers, sports, career, self. The names change. Here's the deal. Worship doesn't. Because every man worships something. The question is not, will you bow? The question is, who will you bow to? See, every man kneels before something. You see, Nebuchadnezzar, here's let me set this up in Daniel chapter three. King Nebuchadnezzar, who we assumed just started praising the God of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendigo. Um, years later, we see him go back to worshiping himself. Nebuchadnezzar, he builds this massive golden statue. It's 90 feet tall, nine feet wide. I mean, imagine that intimidation. Uh, that then he gathers everyone. He gathers the governors, the judges, the military leaders, some officials, the most powerful men in Babylon. And the command is simple. When the music plays,

Daniel 3 Explained — Bow Or Burn

SPEAKER_00 2:16

you bow. There ain't no discussion, no exceptions, no middle ground. Bow or burn. This really really wasn't about a statue, though. It was actually about allegiance. See, Nebuchadnezzar wasn't asking for respect. He was demanding their worship. And so, man, here's here's the deal.

Babylon Is Still Playing The Music

SPEAKER_00 2:33

Babylon is still playing the music today. Nothing through uh not through trumpets, not harps, but through notifications. It's playing through algorithms. And man, I want to tell you, man, if you ever are looking at Instagram or Facebook and you start getting, man, visions or not visions, but images of girls, videos of girls, I just want you to know that's your fault because you typed it in. Because the algorithms are feeding you what you were finding and what you're typing in and what you're looking at. It comes through advertisements, streaming platforms, social media, entertainment, politics, and this corporate pressure. That's it. Babylon is still playing music. The cot the culture is constantly preaching. You better bow to comfort. You're gonna have to bow to sexual freedom, bow to success, bow to yourself, bow to whatever feels right. And culture usually doesn't ask you to reject Jesus, it simply asks you to move him off the throne. Now, of course, yeah, of course, you've got uh extreme leftists and you've got people who are uh atheists, or maybe you've got people who are um in different realms of their own religion that are saying that, hey, we want Jesus to be cut out and we reject him because he is claiming exclusivity. So obviously, yeah, they will ask you to reject him, but culture is just saying, hey, man, worship whoever you want. Just don't make your God exclusive. And that's what the biggest problem in Rome was was worship any God you want. But the moment you claim exclusivity, it's over. But Nebuchadnezzar, he said, believe in him, don't just obey him, love him, don't just tell them to don't just just don't tell them the define truth. Talk about them, just don't build your life around him. Uh,

Babylon is Fine With Religion, Not Allegiance

SPEAKER_00 4:05

Babylon has always been comfortable with religion, it hates allegiance. Culture doesn't mind your Christianity until it confronts its idols. I'm gonna say that again. Some of you didn't need to hear that. Culture doesn't mind your Christianity until it confronts its idols. Again, the music is still praying, uh, still playing every day, every scroll, scroll, every commercial, every conversation, every trend. The question is, are you bowing? In Daniel chapter 3, 16 through 18, that I just read at the top of the show, is Shatterite, Meshach, and Abednego stand before the king. But here's the deal there's no hesitation, there's not a committee meeting, they ain't no compromise. They answer, our God is able to deliver us. Then they say one of the greatest statements of faith in the entire Bible. Listen to this.

But Even If He Doesn't

SPEAKER_00 4:50

But even if he does not, we will not bow down and worship your idols. See, their confidence wasn't in the miracle, their confidence was in God's character. They believed God could deliver them. They refused to make their obedience dependent upon his deliverance. Faith says, here's the deal. I need us to understand this, especially in the West. Faith says, I obey because he's worthy, even if I'm not delivered. And whether he heals, whether he provides, whether he rescues, or whether he doesn't, I will obey because he's worthy. And listen, faith doesn't demand rescue, faith rests in God's character. So let me give y'all three truths, man. Number one, because the biggest, uh, the biggest

Resist: Stand When Everyone Else Bows

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virtue today, we went from resolve to remember to today is resist. So number through number one is this

Point 1: Resist Compromise

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you need to resist compromise. See, never can never never can never uh uh can't even say it. King Neb never asked them to stop believing in God. He simply asked them to bow once. Remember, before this chapter, it's not that Nebuchadnezzar didn't believe there was a God. It's that, hey, but we uh I'm gonna be him for a season. I'm just gonna be the one you bow to. He said, hey, bow. That's how compromise works. It rarely asks for the entire life. It asks for one click, one moment, one secret, one relationship, one excuse, one compromise. And then the enemy destroys a man. Um, he he rarely destroys a man overnight. He erodes him one decision at a time. Here's why. I want you to understand this

Small Compromises Produce Surrendered Convictions

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small compromises eventually produce surrendered convictions. Write that down. Small compromises eventually produce surrendered convictions. Listen, don't negotiate with sin. Kill it while it's small, because what you tolerate today, you'll eventually defend tomorrow because it has dominated your mind. Here's number two.

Point 2: Resist The Crowd

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Not only do we need to resist compromise, you need to resist the crowd. Remember, Shatterai, Meshach, and Abinago are in the midst of thousands of people. The music begins, everyone's everyone bows except these three men. And standing while everyone else was kneeling was their posture. And that's biblical manhood. Standing isn't always loud. Sometimes it's simply refusing to kneel. And culture has never been the standard. God has always been it. The crowd cried when it came to Jesus. They cry out, they cried, crucify him. I mean, literally, the the crowd joined in. Some of the ones who were just caught off by this Jesus guy saying, crucify him. Some scholars believe that some of the same people that were shouting, Hosanna, save now, were some of the same people shouting, crucify him. The crowd in this moment, they're the ones who built the golden calf. And now the crowd, remember the crowd built the golden calf when Aaron, the priest, the brother of Moses, was with them. And Moses was up in the mountain, and they could not be patient enough for the leader to come down. So they said, Aaron, let's make for ourselves a God. And they build this golden calf. And now the crowd is bowing in Babylon and to Babylon. Here's the deal. Standing

Standing Alone With God Is Better Than Fitting In Without Him

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alone with God is always better than fitting in without him. I'm gonna say it again. Standing alone with God is always better than fitting in without him. Which leads me to

Point 3: Resist Fear With Faith

SPEAKER_00 7:54

number three. Resist fear with faith. Here's the deal. The furnace was real. They saw how hot it got. Death was real, yet they stood because they feared God more than they feared man. When your greatest fear becomes disappointing God, the fear of disappointing people begins to lose its grip. The fear of God frees you from the fear of man. Let me ask you this.

What Furnace Are You Facing?

SPEAKER_00 8:20

What furnace are you facing? Being misunderstood? Is it losing influence? Being mocked, being rejected? Listen, don't trade eternal reward for temporary applause. Some of us know more about what's trending than what's true. We become students of culture instead of disciples of Christ. We refresh our feed all day, but rarely let the word of God renew our minds. And then we wonder why our hearts are restless and our convictions are weak. We refresh our feed all day and neglect the word. And we don't let it refresh our souls. And then again, wonder why we're spiritually dehydrated. We've trained our thumbs to scroll more than we've trained our minds to think biblically. Don't ever let the screen or the scroll shape your soul more than the savior. Whew, here we go. Don't ever let the screen or the scroll shape your soul more than the savior. Because if the word isn't shaping your mind, listen, the world will. How do

How Men Build Resistance

SPEAKER_00 9:14

we as men build resistance? Well, let me give me let me give y'all four points to really build resistance. Number one, decide your conviction before culture tests them. Decide your convictions before culture tests them. We talked about that in week one when it comes to resolve. You have to decide who you're gonna be. You have to know who you are and decide who you're gonna be and what you stand on before the pressure hits. Number two, saturate your mind with God's word. I will always beat that like a dead horse. Here's why. Because when the word of God transforms your brain and transforms your life, and you become obsessed with it and you want it every single day, then you will know and download truth into your brain when the world is trying to get you to binge its lies. Number three, surround yourself with men who stand. Notice Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were always with each other. And even if what if one of them, and and this is this is not, this is speculation, but what if one of the guys was thinking about bowing and saying, hey, let's just bow in our posture and not bow in our hearts? But what if Nebuchadnezzar would have still thrown them in the in the fire? What if one of them was a little scared and a little timid? What if they wanted to compromise? But they always had each other to pick each other up, to stand together. So you need to surround yourself with men who stand. Matt Chandler calls it a king's table. Joby Martin calls it um Mac carriers. I know Kyle Thompson calls it a foxhole of brothers. Here's the deal. Regardless, you need to bring people to the table, especially men around you, to help you stand with conviction is waning. And number four, worship daily. Go to the throne with confidence. Open

Whatever Captures Your Worship Demands Your Life

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your arms. Open your hands in a palm posture because whatever captures your worship eventually commands your life. Daniel 3 points to someone greater. Jesus

Jesus Stood So You Could Stand

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stood before rulers. He was mocked, rejected, threatened, condemned, but he never bowed. Jesus wasn't delivered from the fire of judgment. He stepped into it. The wrath we deserved fell on him. So everyone who trusts him can stand righteous before God. The same Savior who stood for you now gives you the strength to stand for him. Again, the music played, the crowd bowed, the furnace burned, the three men remained strong. Not because they were fearless, but because they had already settled who sat on the thrones of their heart. And I'll say this once a

Kneel Before God, Never Bow To Culture

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man who kneels before God will never have to bow before culture. Amen.

Outro

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Lead yourself well. Don't keep it to yourself, because Redeem Rebels, we don't just profess faith, we prove it. If you want to equip other men and grow their faith, share this with them, leave a five star review, and we'll see you next time on the Saturday bonus edition of