FOURTH MAN IN THE FIRE

Tonight (Wednesday, 3/12, 7:00 pm), join your Calvary Chapel family at the Holy Grounds Cafe or online through our website (www. calvaryinv. com), Facebook, and YouTube (Calvary Inverness) as we continue our study in the book of Daniel (3:1-30). It is one of the most remarkable sets of prophecies ever recorded.

When Nebuchadnezzar invaded Jerusalem the first of three times, he commanded his soldiers to find the best and brightest young men and bring them back to Babylon. They would be given everything Babylon had to offer, including the best education, housing, food, and religious training.

Three of them stood above all the others when they took a stand with their childhood friend Daniel. Each was in their early teen years. All they ever knew in their young lives was Israel. Their parents raised them to know, love, and obey the God of heaven. Like every other Jewish boy, they would be trained to understand the Scriptures.

Now, as captives in a foreign land, their upbringing would prove beneficial time and time again. First, the time they were tested by eating food that had been sacrificed to foreign and false gods. Many of their peers would have jumped at the opportunity to eat delicacies that had never before afforded them. But, they knew that God would not be pleased; therefore, like Daniel, they declined the invitation.

Twenty-three later, as young men in their thirties, they would once again be tempted to compromise their faith. The difference is that it would cost them their lives to say no this time.

King Nebuchadnezzar had erected a ninety-foot golden statue in the plain of Dura. He then summoned all the nations he had subjugated to attend and prove their allegiance to him by bowing down and worshiping the statue.

When the orchestra began to play, that would serve as the cue for everyone to bow. Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah once again proved their allegiance not to Babylon but to the God of Israel. When threatened, they doubled down, believing that God would deliver them from the fate of being roasted alive in the furnace. All three also stated to the King that if God chose not to deliver them from death, they would still refuse to bend their knees at the altar of a false god.

The three Hebrew young men are an example for the church to follow. In these last days before the coming of Jesus Christ, the culture is spiraling downward to Hell. As the young Jewish men stood firm in their faith, so should the church.

Please pray that open hearts will welcome this journey through the Word of God, yearning to grow in Jesus’ grace and knowledge. Furthermore, He will accomplish profound and lasting work in and through us for a world desperately needing a Savior.

In His Strong Love,

Pastor