Randall Caselman
Bella Vista Church of Christ
10/19/97 am
Seeing God In Fiery Furnaces
Reading — Daniel 3.13-28
The first nuclear accident in our hemisphere took place at Chalk River, Canada in 1951. There actually was a reactor melt down. The Canadians didn’t have the expertise to handle it, so they turned to our government for help, for technical assistance. A 26 years old naval lieutenant whose degree was in nuclear engineering was sent to Chalk River. The day came to enter the reactor... And with settled nerves and bravery, this navel lieutenant entered the fusion chamber. The first man to ever walk into the mouth of such hell and actually witness a meltdown in progress. It was estimated that, even with the protective clothing, he would receive more radiation in one minute and thirty seconds than most people would receive in five years. This man did such an extraordinary job at Chalk River, that the story was never published. An atomic disaster had been prevented, all because this young navel lieutenant was willing to go where no man had ever gone before... Into a fiery furnace. His bravery and expertise saved no-telling how many lives, perhaps thousands. When asked, how he could have done this, his response was:
- I knew I was doing right.
- I felt that God was with me.
That lieutenant is still alive and lives in Georgia.... His name is Jimmy Carter.
We must know this morning that this kind of faith and bravery is not new.
Twenty five hundred years ago three Jewish lads were thrown into a fiery furnace by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian government. The furnace was stoked seven times hotter than it had ever been stoked before. As the Babylonian world looked on in astonishment, they saw not three, but four walking in the flames. The fourth looked like the Son of God.
Now it is not likely that we’ll be called on to walk into a nuclear reactor or that our government is going to throw us into a fiery furnace. But the truth is LIFE does. We face circumstances that are not easy to understand and that are just as painful and threatening as a fiery furnace. The question is, do we have one walking with us in our: Trials, Troubles, Fears, and Doubts? Is the Son of God accompanying us in life’s fiery moments?
FIERY MOMENTS SUCH AS HUMAN SUFFERING.
Of course, we need to understand that most of our fiery moments are brought about by our own behavior, corporately as a people and as individuals.
- Wars are the result of our own actions.
- Sometimes we make poor business decisions which result in a financial collapse.
- We fuss and fight among one another, resulting in ruptured family or church relationships.
- We abuse our bodies for years and then we suffer the consequences. But, there is no doubt that God uses human suffering for the purpose of disciplining and for maturing, molding and remaking us into the people and person He would have us be.
Scripture bears this out in Hebrews 12.5-7, And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son." Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?
Peter gives us this insight from 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. 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.
You see, God allows fiery moments to:
- Melt us,
- Humble us,
- Make us moldable.
He uses these moments to remold, remake, reform like us like gold from the refiner’s fire. God reshapes us into that which He has called us to be... IF... IF church, we will allow it. The secret is our submitting to the reshaping of the potters hand.
Here is the good news. God never promised us a life without pain, but He does promise to walk with us in the fire. He will see us through.
“God has not promised skies always blue,
Flower-strewn pathways all our life through;
God has not promised sun without the rain,
Joy without sorrow, peace without pain.
But God has promised strength for the day,
Rest for our labor, light for our way,
Grace for the trials, help from above
Unfailing sympathy, undying love.”
The next time you are called to suffer, stop and look for God in your fiery furnace.
HOW ABOUT IN LONELINESS?
No one knows about this lonesome valley until they have been called to walk there... RIGHT? Our loneliness may be brought about by a loss of a spouse, a child or a friend. When I think of loneliness in Scripture, I think of Joseph.
- Joseph had a lonely childhood because of his father’s favoritism.
- Later, he no doubt, fostered his own loneliness by revealing his dreams to his brothers.
- Then he was left in a pit to die by these same jealous brothers.
- Sold into Egyptian slavery.
- Falsely accused of rape.
- Thrown into prison for something he did not do.
But notice, when all of this is over and Jacob dies, his brothers are scared to death. They are afraid, now that daddy is dead, Joseph is going to get his revenge for all those fiery moments of loneliness. Do you know what Joseph said?... You shunned me, you treated me with contempt... You meat it for evil, but God intended it for good. Joseph saw God’s presence with him in his fiery furnace of loneliness.
THEN THERE IS THE FIERY MOMENTS OF TEMPTATION AND SIN.
Perhaps our fiery furnace is some temptation, some sin that seems to dog us every day. Do you have such a temptation in your life... Am I the only one?
- Maybe it’s gossip.
- Maybe anger.
- Envy,
- Perhaps it’s jealousy.
- A critical spirit,
- Selfishness,
- Greed,
- Materialism,
- Sexual lust,
- Alcoholism,
- Drug abuse,
Or a thousand other sins that we could mention.
The Hebrews writer speaks of, the sin that so easily besets us... That so easily entangles us. That burning desire within, which keeps us in a fiery furnace. There is good news for those of us who suffer these fiery moments. God promises us both His FORGIVENESS and His power to overcome.
Listen to Paul as he writes to the church at Corinth, 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. We must know this morning that God is walking with us in these fiery moments of temptation and that He will provide deliverance.
And church, here is the best news, even when we stumble and fall God provides forgiveness for our sins, If we confess... If we acknowledge... If we have a broken, contrite heart because of our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. Praise God for His presence in our fiery moments of temptation and sin!
ONE MORE - THE FIERY FURNACE OF DEATH.
Man’s biggest fear. Our most fiery moment. Death often combines human suffering and loneliness together. No one wants to die alone. We need somebody to walk with us.
- Jesus promises, I will be with you always, even to the end.
- David writes, Yea though I walk through the valley, in the shadow of death, I will fear no evil... For your presence comforts me.
- Paul says, I know in whom I have believed and I am confident that He is able to keep that which I have committed to His trust till that day.
- Jesus promised, In My Fathers house are many mansions, if this were not true, I would have told you so. I go to prepare a place for you and if I go will come again to receive you unto myself, so that where I am there you may be also.
We must understand that for the Christian, death is not a fiery furnace, but an open welcome into the presence of God in a very literal sense.
My good people, we must have the faith of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego, when they said in verse 16 & 18, O Nebuchadnezzar, you must know that our God is able to deliver us. And if He does, we will take that deliverance, but if not we will continue to worship and serve Him and none other.
Let me ask you to turn to the back of your worship outline and let’s, together, affirm our faith in God’s presence in our life by repeating the 23rd Psalm with me.
“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul:
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;
Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
Thou anointest my head with oil;
My cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”
These three Jewish men knew and accepted what we know, but sometimes fail to accept.
- That God is always with us, that he will never forsake or leave us.
- That God is always present in our fiery moments.
- And that He is always working ALL things out to our benefit... To our good.
Truth is, God has worked it out, this morning, so that we all have another opportunity to become His child by:
- Faith,
- Repentance,
- And New Testament baptism, immersion in water for the forgiveness of our sins.
He, right now, is giving us one more chance to make ALL things right with him and others.
