The Fourth Man in the Fire - October 25th

Message notes by Pastor Ewings on a sermon based on Daniel 3:16-28

What a dramatic story this is! Imagine three Jewish men daring to defy the most powerful ruler of the world, and daring to be different from the thousands of people in Babylon! Although this event took place over 4,000 years ago in far-off Babylon, it teaches us lessons for our lives now.

It’s important for us to learn a little bit more about each of the characters in this account.

Nebuchadnezzar:

Shadrach:

Meshach:

Abednego:

The Fourth Man in the Fire:

While Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego faced the fury of the king and the furnace, you and I face fires of a different sort in our lives.  Christians should expect the furnace of persecution if they live their Christian faith openly. The world hates us, and Satan sees to it that the furnace gets stoked up seven times hotter. Of course, the three Jews could have made excuses and gone along with the crowd. Instead, they stood with one another and with the Lord, trusting God to glorify Himself either by their life or by their death. Christian, you can expect persecution, too.

God will never forsake His Own when they go through fiery trials. He may not keep us out of the furnace, but He will go with us and bring us through for His glory. When the king looked into the furnace, he saw four men—he declared that the fourth man in the fire “looked like a son of the gods.”  His words may have expressed more than he understood;  it is possible that this fourth man in the furnace was Jesus Christ. Christ walked with them; He loosed their bonds; He kept them from being harmed; in fact, they did not even smell of the fire when they came out.

These men were better off for having gone through the fire. For one thing, it gave them the opportunity to walk with the Lord and face the flames with Him. Sometimes it takes danger and trial to know how near the Lord is to us. Their experience glorified God before others and gave them the opportunity to display their faith in their day and ours.  As you face the flames and fires of the furnace in your life, know that you are never alone; the Lord is with you everywhere you go

Lesson 1:  Daniel 3:16-28

Lesson 2:  Revelation 14:6,7

Gospel:     Mark 13:5-11