Jesus is with You in the Fiery Furnace

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CONSOLATION IN THE FIERY FURNACE

DR. ROGER BARRIER

Daniel 3:1-30

S-1445

•BACKGROUND SLIDE :

Love jalapeños: The hotter the better

Describe Queso appetizer

Grabbed in fingers

Incredible burn

Ate meal with fingers in glass of ice water

I have one verse in mind this morning from which we will take our text.

•SLIDE # Daniel 3:25: "Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods."

In this verse we see Muammar al-Gaddafi watching his three victims quietly surviving the fire which he had intended for their instant destruction.

Did I say, “Muammar al-Gaddafi”? I meant King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon—2600 years ago.

How do three of God’s men manage to end up in the furnace?

•SLIDE # Daniel 3:1: “King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, ninety feet high and nine feet wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.”

What kind of guy was Nebuchadnezzar?

Totalitarian ruler over Babylon

Hanging gardens one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world

See his gate with giant lion reliefs

Honored Daniel, Meshach and Abednego as young teenagers

Dream of multi-metallic man: “You are the head of Gold.” Neb praised the name of Jehovah

Sixteen years later and it has gone to his head. Egomaniac who thinks he is god.

Grotesque: Statue: 90 feet by 9 feet is a 10:1 ratio. Tall and skinny. Average ratio of a man is 5 to 1. I know some 4 to 1 and some 3 to 2.

Looks like missile set up at Cape Canaveral.

“Plain of Dura” would be like the airport - Large expanse of territory which enabled a great multitude to assemble.

•SLIDE # Big Tex at state fair is 52 feet tall: 75 gallon hat

Not uncommon for a ruler to make posters and images of himself to remind people to submit and often to worship.

Talk about over compensating.

Monster truck and 5’3” guy gets out

Called all high officials through out the kingdom for the dedication.

•SLIDE # Daniel 3:4-6: “4 Then the herald loudly proclaimed, "This is what you are commanded to do, O peoples, nations and men of every language: 5 As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 6 Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace."

•SLIDE # Daniel 3:7: Therefore, as soon as they heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp and all kinds of music, all the peoples, nations and men of every language fell down and worshiped the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

Except for three men who did not cooperate.

The royal orchestra began to play and the great multitude fell quickly on their faces while some cried urgently to the three who remained standing, “Get down! Didn’t you hear the music? Get down or you’re dead!”

They stood out like sore thumbs.

But from early childhood they had developed a relationship with God that went to the very core of their beings: Exodus 20:3-4: “You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make any graven image of anything in heaven above or earth below and fall down and worship it.”

Verse 3:13: Nebuchadnezzar blows his stack…

Calls in the three Hebrews to give them a second chance!

•SLIDE # Daniel 3:15: “… if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?"

Fire is a horrible way to die.

•SLIDE # Daniel 3:16-18: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."

Goes both ways: look at their understanding: Our God is Able—but may choose not to. Not upset if God chooses for them to die in the flames.

Times in God's sovereign will when He has more important plans for us in the furnace than out of the furnace.

•SLIDE # Daniel 3:19-20: “Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual 20 and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace.”

•SLIDE # Daniel 3:21-23: “So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace. 22 The king's command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, 23 and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.”

God delights in leading us into green pastures, but to be frank about it, we do not always think that the paths into which God leads us are very pleasant.

Sometimes He takes us through the Valley Of Death.

Some of you are wrestling with this because some of you are not walking in pleasant places. You have done what is right to the best of your ability; but even though you have done what is right, the furnace of testing is hotter than ever

For you in particular Daniel 3 is included in the Bible.

•SLIDE # Daniel 3:24-25: Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, "Weren't there three men that we tied up and thrown into the fire?" They replied, ‘Certainly, O king.’ He said,

•SLIDE # Daniel 3:25: "Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods."

This is a preincarnate appearance of Jesus Christ—who walked with Enoch, feasted with Abraham, wrestled with Jacob, spoke to Moses in the burning bush, spent the night in the Lion’s Den with Daniel, and came to be born in a manger.

The Son of God has been in many fiery furnaces through out the ages. It makes no difference how hot the furnace or how severe the test, He will always be there.

•SLIDE # Daniel 3:26: So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, 27 and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.

We find the three saints in the fiery furnace, and to tell the truth, that is the place where God’s people are usually to be found.

Ask any Christian and he’ll tell you, he’s always got problems.

•SLIDE # FURNACES COME IN ALL SHAPED AND SIZES

•SLIDE # ☻Some furnaces are kindled by people against other people.

Business Troubles

Slander

Gossip

Broken Relationships

Persecution

Julie and Sally

•SLIDE # ☻Some fires are stoked Satan by furiously using a large bellows.

Fires of Physical Pain and Suffering.

Paul's Thorn

Accusations.

Mom: OK to go to Middle East. Turn for the worst: Come home. Ron, no plenty of time left. DFW: drove to hospital. Her bed empty—sheets stripped.

Said the preachers’ curse word: “Boulder” biggest damn around.

Satan: “If you were a good son, you would have been there.

☻SLIDE # Our broken world fires some furnaces.

Japan earthquake (Already off the front page)—but pain is still going on

Tsunamis

Nuclear meltdowns (Many brave volunteers will not live a full and normal life.)

Floods on Mississippi, Ohio and Missouri bring devastation to many.

Tornadoes in South and Midwest

☻SLIDE # Some furnaces are fired up for God’s eternal purposes.

John 9:1-3

How I deal with Jessie's death

To appreciate the application of Daniel 3, we should look first into the second chapter of 1 Peter.

As silver is purified in the furnace simply because it is silver, so saints are sometimes afflicted simply because they are saints.

•SLIDE # 1 Peter 1:3-4: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade — kept in heaven for you…

SLIDE # 1 Peter 1:6-7: In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your faith — of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire — may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

DRAW CRUCIBLE OF REFINING GOLD.

Men do not cut common pebbles, but the diamond is cut again and again with sharp cuttings – and so must be the believer in Christ.

I can’t leave this point without observing that these holy men were helpless when thrown into the fire. READ Daniel 3:23. They were cast and bound – they fell down in the midst of the fire. How often we feel bound when we’re cast into the fire.

So often a fit of fainting overtakes the saint at the beginning of his troubles – the very troubles in which afterward he’ll rejoice. But the present fills them with heaviness. Pity that plight to be in – none of us willingly choose it.

Stages Of Loss Recovery: Disbelief—Anger—Grief—Depression—Resolution

•SLIDE #: Daniel 3:26-27: Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, "Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!" So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.

Now. let's learn some lessons from the midst of the fire.

•SLIDE #: NOTICE WHAT WE LOSE IN THE FIRE

The text is clear that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego lost something in the fire!

Not turban, coats, pants, not one hair on their heads or beards - NO! What then?

They lost their BONDS there —the ropes tying their hands: “Cast three men in bound? See four men loose!” The fire did not hurt them, but it burned away their bonds.

Note carefully: Many of God’s servants never know the fullness of spiritual liberty until they are cast into the midst of the furnace.

Corrie Ten Boom forgiving German soldier after the war.

When Nebuchadnezzar had done his worst to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, what more could be done? Already heated the furnace, seven times hotter. He had done his worst. What more could there be to fear?

•SLIDE #: NOTICE WHAT WE DON’T LOSE IN THE FLAMES

CROWN: Nebuchadnezzar says, “And they have no hurt.” They did not lose anything there. The child of God loses nothing worth losing in the fiery flames. He doesn’t lose salvation, or garments – not one grain of heavenly treasure. In summary, he loses

nothing.

GIRL MARTYRS IN CHINA

Chiu-Chin-Hsiu and Ho-Hsiu-Tzu

Jiangxi, Mainland, China

During the Red Guard era, 1966-69\

The two Christian girls waited in the Chinese prison yard for the announced execution. A fellow prisoner who watched their faces from his prison cell described their faces as pale but beautiful beyond belief; infinitely sad, but sweet. Chiu-Chin-Hsiu and

Ho-Hsiu-Tzu had decided to submit to death rather than to renounce their faith in Christ.

Flanked by renegade guards, the executioner came with a revolver in his hand. It was their pastor! He had been sentenced to die with the two girls. But, as on many other occasions in Christian history, the persecutors worked on him, tempting him. They promised to release him if he shot the two girls. He accepted.

The girls whispered to each other, then bowed respectfully before their pastor. One of them said, “before you shoot us, we wish to thank you heartily for what you have meant to us. You baptized us, taught the ways of eternal life, you gave us holy communion with the same hand in which you now hold the gun.

You also taught us that Christians are sometimes weak and commit terrible sins, but they can be forgiven again. When you regret what you are about to do to us, do not despair like Judas but repent like Peter.

God bless you and remember that our last thought was not one of indignation against your failure. Everyone passes through hours of darkness. May God reward you for all the good you have done for us. We die with gratitude.

They bowed again.

The pastor pulled the trigger twice.

Afterwards the Communists shot him.

•SLIDE # NOTICE WHO WAS WITH S, M and E IN THE FURNACE

It's in the furnace that we always have our nearest and dearest dealings with Jesus.

Personal example.

Psalm shadow of his wings

Psalm 23

•SLIDE #: NOTICE WHAT DO SAINTS DO IN THE FURNACE?

Praising God

See Paul and Silas - prison stocks - yet sing for all to hear.

I know you dread the furnace, brethren, but have courage. The Lord who permits that furnace to be heated will preserve you in it. Therefore, be not dismayed.

•SLIDE #: 1 Corinthians 10:13: No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

DRAW: REFINING CRUCIBLE WITH LOVE THERMOMETER

God never promised to keep us out of the fire. Instead, He promised to walk with us through the fire.

•SLIDE #: ONE LAST THOUGHT. THE KING BECAME A BELIEVER WHEN HE SAW WHAT HAPPENED TO GOD’S PEOPLE IN THE FLAMES.

•SLIDE #: Daniel 3:28-30: Then Nebuchadnezzar said, "Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king's command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.

•SLIDE #: Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way." Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

I believe that’s probably where people see God in us more than in any other place. They see God in us when we are going through the fire. It is easy to be a Christian when everything is going great - but when the fire is hot and all our friends are watching - Do they see God in us?

A couple in the Midwest came to Casas

Of course suffering in the Midwest has been intense in recent years... factories shutting down... car industry on the rocks (Uh -- Roger -- how old is this? --TW)

One particular Christian couple had suffered greatly. Both lost jobs. All benefits had run out. House foreclosure. Just eaking out a bare existence. Gaining assistance through local church benevolence funds.

During this time their next door neighbors came to Christ. Someone asked them how they had come to Christ.

They gave this testimony: “We lived next door to this Christian couple and we watched as God literally took away everything that they had - and we saw them with as mile on their faces, never complaining, but rejoicing in their faith. One night, after supper, we were talking about that and we said to each other, ‘Whatever they have, that’s what we need.’ We went over to their house and they led us to Christ.”

When God frees us up from the things that bind you it is impressive. We become the sermon.