Consolation in the Furnace (sermon 662)

Nebuchadnezzar's exclamation is a Christian's consolation: "Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God" (Dan 3:25). In order to obtain the balm, we need to understand first of all what is the furnace into which the children of God are still cast, what it is that the saints lose in the furnaces into which they are thrown, what the saints do when they are in the furnace, what they cannot lose no matter how high or hot the flames, and the company which they enjoy. The fact that Christ himself draws near when the Christian is so afflicted is the great peace and joy we can genuinely anticipate when we are tried as were Daniel's three friends: "you must go into the furnace if you would have the nearest and dearest dealings with Christ Jesus." It is, then, a sweetly comforting sermon, helpfully realistic about the various trials which a Christian might be called to face, and equally realistic about the blessings a faithful believer can enjoy when so tried.