"Peace By A Holy God"

"Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments." (Exodus 20:3-6) Holiness: There is a certain kind of Peace that can only come from serving a Holy God; this is a Peace which can not be moved by even the threat of a horrible death: Because we know how Holy God is, and because He requires all of our reverence and all of our worship. However, when we are serving other gods (which is to have another god before Him), we can not begin to really experience this peace that is not moved by anything (including a horrific death). Why is that you might ask? Because, to be sure of God's power to deliver us, or sustain us, we must be sure of His Holiness; and we can not be sure of His Holiness if we are not living as though we believe it to be so. Now, maybe you think you can pass the test; Do You? If we think we can, maybe we should really check ourselves, because from where I see things, if we can get so bent out of shape and distorted from godliness over such little things, which are not life threatening, then what will we do when our lives are threatened? Really: What do you think that you would do? Would you have the Peace within you to say, "Bring it!"? Would you have the Peace enough to not bow down to any other? In Daniel 3:10-18, we see a story of three of God's servants; who for no fault of their own, were actually serving King Nebuchadnezzer, and had been placed over the affairs of the province of Babylon. The king had made a decree, that everyone must bow down and worship the image the he had set up whenever the music was played. Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego refused to bow down and worship his image; even though the king had made a decree, and whosoever did not bow down would be thrown alive into the fiery furnace. When the king heard of this, he was upset with their actions, and summonsed them, asking: "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? Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?" (Daniel 3:14 & 15) Now for some, this would be a time for a testing of their faith, which it was for these three, in a way; however, it was their Peace in knowing the God that they served that was the real issue here; because for these three, it did not matter whether or not God would deliver them; what mattered most to them, was that He was Holy, and that they would worship non other. "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." (Daniel 3:16-18) This is where the rubber meets the road for what we believe about God; because these three were not concerned about whether or not God was going to deliver, but more importantly, they were concerned about offending a jealous God; and because they were, they had a Peace which had been supplied to them by a God who does not change, and who is Holy!!! "See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh: for if they escaped not who refused Him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from Him that speaketh from heaven: Whose voice then shook the earth: but now He hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For Our God Is A Consuming Fire." (Hebrews 12:25-29)