The Obedience of Faith Part Two

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Isaiah 6:1-7
• Hymn — Holy, Holy, Holy
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Sin
• Assurance of Pardon — Micah 7:18-19
• Scripture Reading — Luke 1:57-80
• Hymn — Marvelous Grace of Our Loving Lord
• Pastoral Prayer
• Offering
• Hymn — How Firm a Foundation
• Sermon
• Hymn — I Need Thee Every Hour
• Benediction
• Doxology

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Sermon Title: The Obedience of Faith Part Two

Scripture: Daniel 3:19-30

I. The Rage Against the Obedience of Faith

A. Nebuchadnezzar's fury is displayed in his response to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego's refusal to bow

1. The Hebrew word for "expression" (image) in v. 19 echoes the theme of "image" running through Daniel 2 and Daniel 3 — from the dream-image, to the golden statue, now to Nebuchadnezzar's own changing face
2. The mutability of earthly kings contrasted with the immutable God whose kingdom cannot be destroyed

B. The furnace is heated seven times hotter; the executioners themselves are killed by the flames

1. This displays the self-destructive nature of prideful rage against God's people
2. Satan's fury at the cross is the supreme example: in crushing Christ, he crushed himself — the cross is Satan's suicide

C. The pattern of death-threat followed by vindication appears throughout Daniel

1. Daniel 1 — refusing the king's food leads to honor in the king's court
2. Daniel 2 — threat of death leads to Daniel's promotion after God reveals the dream
3. Faithful servants of the heavenly King prove to be the best citizens in the kingdoms of men

II. The Resolve of the Obedience of Faith

A. The silence of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego throughout their ordeal is instructive

1. They speak only once — to make their stand before the king; everything else is resolute silence
2. They do not cry out for mercy even as the executioners are killed before their eyes

B. Resolve in faith means girding up for suffering, not merely hoping to avoid it

1. 1 Peter 1:13 — "Gird up the loins of your mind" as you face suffering
2. Abraham's three-day journey to Mount Moriah (Genesis 22) illustrates a long, resolute obedience — the writer of Hebrews notes he believed God could raise Isaac from the dead

C. The foundation of their resolve is stated in v. 17: "Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us"

1. Bishop John Hooper, condemned under Mary Tudor, refused a pardon: "The death to come is more bitter and the life to come more sweet"
2. John Bunyan, imprisoned for preaching the gospel, wrote Pilgrim's Progress in jail, likening separation from family to having bones pulled from flesh — yet resolved in faith

D. The promise of Isaiah 43:2 belongs to those who pass through and walk through — not those who skirt around — the waters and fire

1. The fourth man does not deliver them from outside the furnace; he is with them in it
2. Matthew 16:25 — "Whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it"

III. The Reward for the Obedience of Faith

A. Nebuchadnezzar looks through the furnace window and sees not three men but four, the fourth like "a son of the gods"

1. This is a pagan idiom but points to something supernatural and divine
2. Most scholars throughout church history identify this figure as the pre-incarnate Son of God

B. The case for the pre-incarnate Christ

1. The description echoes Daniel 7:13 — "one like a son of man" coming with the clouds of heaven, who is the little stone of Daniel 2 that crushes all kingdoms
2. The furnace likely used to forge Nebuchadnezzar's golden statue — now through that same window he sees not his image but the Son of God and his servants, unharmed
3. Like the burning bush of Exodus 3, they burn but are not consumed — the unchangeable one and his servants unchanged, unscathed, without even the smell of smoke

C. Nebuchadnezzar moves from executioner to confessor, calling their God "Most High"

1. Parallels the centurion at the foot of the cross — Matthew 27:54 — who witnesses Christ's obedience in death and declares, "Truly this was the Son of God"
2. The centurion sees the inverse: not a servant unharmed, but the Son of God bearing the full fire of God's wrath in our place

D. The resurrection is God's concrete assurance that he will deliver his people through every fire

1. The Son of God was consumed in the furnace of the Father's wrath so that his people never will be
2. Those who in obedient faith walk through the fires become witnesses before the watching world that they are servants of God Most High