By Carlo A. Serrano
Daniel 3:17-18 - 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."
It’s hot! According to scientists, it is hotter on planet earth right now than it’s been in
thousands of years. The old saying says “if you can’t stand the heat; get out of the
kitchen.” But how can we get of this frying pan we call earth? Obviously we can’t. But
did you know that we come into this earth with fire-proofing? Our bodies come full
loaded with a cooling system. Its called – and this is deep – sweat. Yes, sweat is our
natural response to kitchens that are too hot. Our sweat also serves as a warning system
to, letting us know that we need some water about 2 hours ago, and some shade would be
nice! We also have these nerve endings that let us know “Hey, that’s too hot! Get away or
you will get burned!” If we heed these warnings and maintain our cooling systems, we
won’t have to fear burning up in this life.
God has also given us the same ability to fire-proof our faith. Sure or bodies may
succumb to the heat of a flame, but with God’s help, nothing can shake our faith. We can
have faith so strong that all of the firebombs of hell can’t even leave the smell of smoke.
We can have faith that will stand firm in the fires of life! Let’s examine three
foundational aspects of fire proofing your faith.
I. Be Unbound
We all know this story. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, along with Daniel had been
promoted to high offices in King Nebuchadnezzar’s court. If you remember in Ch 1 of
Daniel they held firm to their convictions and did not violate their dietary laws and God
blessed them. In Ch 2 we see Daniel interpreting the famous dream of the statue. So here
these foreigners, these aliens, are given high political office and favor.
If you want to fire-proof your faith, you have to be unbound…. from the the world and its
ways. The other officials in the land gathered and basically made this decree that when
the music sounds, everyone had to bow and worship the image of the king. It is
interesting to note that these same officials who couldn’t interpret the dream and whom
Daniel, and the 3 Israelites saved through their prayers would be the ones to bring this
law up You’ll see later on in Ch 6 that Daniel once again has to deal with this jealousy.
Yet in spite of what everyone else was doing, the Bible tells me that they did not bow
down to the king’s image. They were not bound by the worldly ways around them.
We also have to be unbound form...people pressure. They did not let the pressure of their
peers cause them to cave in. They worked openly on the kings court and did not once
give in. the bible says in one translation that they paid no attention to the king and his
image. How do you ignore a 90x90 image? They were not bound to this world and its
ways.
Don’t we today have a world that is screaming at us with the wrong message? The world
wants us to respond the way it does. When someone does you wrong, fight back. When
someone steals from you, steal back. When you have an itch, scratch it! The world is
telling us to worship the dollar, bow down to sex, and let self-ambition lead you in all
paths. We need the anointing of God to break those chains that want to bind us to this
world and its ways. If you want faith that can stand the heat, be unbound.
The next foundational aspect of fire proofing your faith is being unharmed.
II. Be Unharmed
Be unharmed by threatening circumstances. The other officials plotted against Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, and told the king that they weren’t obeying the new law. I
wonder if the king was furious because the law was being broken, or because he was not
being worshiped? Regardless, he was mad and that could only mean trouble for the 3. But
even in the face of threats from the king himself, they would not be moved. They were
unharmed by threats and gestures. Their answer in v.17 is worth rereading
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.
Now, they did not doubt God in v. 18, instead they were showing their absolute resolve to
keep the faith.
We also need to be unharmed by physical setbacks. We see that the consequence of their
actions was going to be pain. They were physically threatened with death. Its one thing to
say “bow or you will be fired”, it’s another thing to say “bow or you will be fire!!” Yet
again they did not waiver.
The enemy is defeated! He can only bring short term pain and suffering. He can’t destroy
your soul. You are a child of God! He doesn’t own you or have the rights to you. We’ve
got to make up our minds that in spite of threats, we are going to serve God and walk by
faith. I’m so tired of talking politics and what the government and the ACLU is doing
now to our Christian freedoms. God is bigger!! Talking about it and worrying isn’t going
to change the fact that in these end times, the oven is going to get a little warmer. We’ve
got to stand anyway!! Pain may come. There might be some bumps and bruises. When
are we Americans going to realizes that it is a privilege to suffer for the king?
Persecution is nothing new. Yet, we must be unharmed by this pain, with God’s help.
The final aspect of fire proofing your faith that we must be under the influence.
III. Under the influence
25 He said, "Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and
unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods."
They were thrown into the fire that was heated 7 times hotter than usual. The guards who
threw them into the furnace where killed by the heat. Did you know that skin exposed to
160 degree water for ONLY 1 second, can result in a third degree burn? Steam has
temperature of over 212 degrees and can not only burn the outside skin,when inhaled, it
immediately burns the lungs and airways causing rapid death. I don’t say that to be
morbid, I just want to paint a picture of how hot this furnace was!
And yet
25 He said, "Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed,
and the fourth looks like a son of the gods."26 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, 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.
Remember how hot it was? They were under the influence of the Lord of Grace.
If someone or something is Lord over you than you are under its influence.
Shadrach’s real name was Hannaniah which means: the Lord shows grace.
The Lord will always give us grace to make it through anything. I know your situation
might look bleak. But quit listening to that old father of lies and get under the influence
of the Lord who shows grace!
They were under the influence of the Lord who helps.
Abednego’s real name was Azariah which means: the Lord helps.
I think having that fourth man in the fire constitutes as help don’t you? Praise God that
we don’t have to face anything on our own. God is our “ever present help in times of
trouble”. The Lord helped them in a miraculous ways by saving them. He can do it for
you today. What king is threatening you? What fire is out of control in your life? Get
under the influence of the Lord who helps.
They were under the influence of the Lord with no equal.
Meshach’s real name was Mishael which means: Who is equal to God?
Who can dig down in to a pit and save a wretch stuck in sin? Who can take a
transgression and separate it as far as the east is from the west? Who can take a storm and
at one word create peace? Who can take nothing and form it into the heavens and the
earth and all between. Who is equal to our God? There is no God like Jehovah!! So why
do we doubt him when things get a little spicy? Don’t fear; just get under the influence of
the Lord who has no equal.
We can fireproof our faith by being unbound by the world and its ways, unharmed by
threats and physical setbacks, and by being under the influence of the Lord.
©2010 Carlo A. Serrano
