Jesus, The Man In The Fire! 🙌 : Diving Deeper
See Jesus
Family,
Thank you for participating in the February Series: Through!
I pray that you have been encouraged and comforted to know that the Lord Jesus Christ is with you. Regardless of what you are facing, He is leading you THROUGH.
The Lord has promised to lead you through the waters, rivers and fires. He has promised to turn all things together for your good. He has promised to use our sufferings and grief through all kinds of trials to authenticate and refine our faith.
"In all 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 the genuineness of your faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed."
1 Peter 1:6&7
Listen to last Sunday's message by clicking the link below. We tackle the question, "If God uses all kinds of trials" for our good does that mean he tempts us to sin? makes us sick? sends disaster to us?" We see that Jesus is our Perfect Savior who is not ashamed of us because we suffer. He is able to help us when we are in trials!
To close out this series, I want to encourage you with a true story of a gold statue, three young men and a fiery trial!
God's people, Israel, had turned away from God and were worshiping idols. God had sent his prophets many times to warn the people that idols were false gods. He reminded them that He was God. That He loved them. He asked them to return to Him.
Through the prophets, God warned the people that idolatry would destroy them. He warned that if they did not turn away from idols and return to Him, He would need to discipline them as loving Father in order to save the Nation and keep His promises to Abraham and to David.
God's people did not return to Him. For this reason, the Lord used the world power, Babylon under King Nebuchadnezzar's reign, to besiege the country of Judah.
As actions of war, King Nebuchadnezzar carried off the articles of God's temple in Jerusalem to put in the temple of his god in Babylonia. He also ordered that some of the young men from the royal family and nobility of Judah be brought as slaves to serve him as King.
These young Hebrew men were to be trained in the language and literature of the Babylonians and immersed in the Babylonian culture.
Among these young men were four: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.
In a warfare attempt to rob their heritage and reshape their destiny, King Nebuchadnezzar had them renamed: Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
These four young men were unique. In the suffering of their hardship they did not reject God but turned to Him.
As King Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom grew, so did his arrogance and pride. He made a ninety foot high statue ... of himself!
He then issued a herald to go across the land,
"Nations and peoples of every language, this is what you are commanded to do: As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace."
His command was worship the statue or be burned in a blazing furnace.
The young captives we mentioned earlier had already bowed their heart to the Lord God Almighty. How could they bow their knee to a statue?
They didn't!
Their jealous co-workers tattled on them. Nebuchadnezzar, enraged by their insubordination, ordered Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to brought before the king.
Do you think these young men recalled the Prophet Isaiah's words?
"But now, this is what the LORD says - he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you Israel: "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mind. When you pass through the waters I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze." Isaiah 43:1-2
I think they hung their hat on that promise. Listen to their answer:
"King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty's hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."
I love their declaration of faith!
This infuriated the king all the more and he ordered the furnace turned up seven times hotter than usual.
He ordered his strongest soldiers to seize the young men and bind them in ropes and throw them into the blazing furnace.
The fire was so hot that the soldiers died on the spot. The young men fell, bound, into the fire.
What happened next?
King Nebuchadnezzar was watching. He leaped to his feet and called out, "Weren't there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?" ... "Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods."
The king ordered the men brought from the fire. They were unharmed, un-singed and didn't even smell like smoke!
God had saved them!!
Who was the fourth man?
The fourth man was Jesus! He didn't only look like a son of the gods He WAS the Son of God!!
Here is Jesus, before his incarnate birth, come to save Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from the fire and to pass them THROUGH this fiery trial.
You can read this passage for yourself in Daniel 3.
Beloved, if you are in a fire today, see Jesus in the fire with you. See him unbinding the ropes that had you bound. See him walking with you. He is rescuing you. He will deliver you from this enemy's hand.
Say the words of these young men, 'My God will deliver me!'
The Lord is the same yesterday, today and forever. Whatever you are facing, the Lord is very near. Be anxious about nothing. Make your requests known to God. He will keep you in His peace and keep your mind stayed upon Him.
Trusting in the Lord Alongside You,
Pastor Merodee
Know Jesus
This week, you can dive deeper into the message through one or all of the following:
Discovery Bible Study
TO BEGIN
Pray and ask Holy Spirit to teach you about God from His word.
Next, read the verse a couple of times.
Now, ask these questions:
What does this tell me about God/Jesus?
What does this tell me about people?
How can I respond to what I just read?
When you’re done asking these questions, it’s a great idea to pray and thank God for teaching you more about who He is and who you are!
Discovery Bible Study (DBS) is a way for anyone, anywhere to read God's word! You can dive deeper into this week's message by doing a DBS one any one or all of these scriptures. DBS is a great tool to use for your own devotions, as a bible study with friends, or as an evangelism tool!
"In all 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 the proven genuiness of your faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed."
1 Peter 1:6-7
Prayer Prompts
Pray that those in trial will ask Jesus, the Perfect Saviour, to help them.
Pray that the Lord will show us how we can encourage someone who is discouraged this week.
Pray that we will see Jesus, the Man in the Fire!
Share Jesus
You can share this week's podcast, email, or blog post. Check out volunteer opportunities to get involved in the work of sharing Jesus in our church family and community.
