The Son of God With His Children in the Furnace — Erlo Stegen

We find that matter in Daniel, the third chapter, I'll read verse 24. Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished, and he rose in haste, and spoke, saying to his counsellors, Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?

They answered and said to the King, True, O King. Look, he answered, I see four men loose,.

Walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt,. And the form of the fourth is.

Like the Son of God. Nebuchadnezzar was the king. He was probably the first and the last.

Nebuchadnezzar’s Greatness and the Revelation of God’s Power

King to have such an empire like his. Remember, there's even that dream which was described about him, that head of gold, that described him, ruling the whole known world. A great man.

King Nebuchadnezzar was the first and the last king to have such an empire like his. He was probably the first and the last king to have such an empire like his.

I sometimes ask, what type of a man are you, King Nebuchadnezzar? What was wrong with you? You having this dream interpreted for you by Daniel, that you were the head of gold, and then all the rest of the interpretation, so much so that you issued a decree that the whole empire was to worship the God of Daniel, why didn't you?

For he had said that the God of Daniel is the king, he's the Lord of Lords. Let the whole earth know it. But after just a few days, he had forgotten all that. After just a few days, along came some wicked counsellors of his, his leaders, and they advised him, they said, oh king, there are some Jews who don't really fear you, and they still pray to another God.

We suggest erecting a statue, and of course it was a statue in Nebuchadnezzar's image, oh what foolishness, he had already seen and been told of the destruction of that, but it's like people today, they make a decision, they say, I accept Jesus, after a few days they've forgotten it.

The Counselors’ Hatred and the Demand for Idolatry

And those advisers had a grudge, they had a hatred towards the Jews, they said, it's these Jews that are the problem, and these particular men, and then they arranged that furnace to be heated. That reminds me of a more topical issue.

Saddam Hussein, Islam, and the Modern Political Parallel

It is now known that it is on the lips of everybody, Saddam Hussein.

Remember, Saddam Hussein is the king of Babylonia,.

And you could say, I mean it in the sense of the geography of the place, that is exactly where King Nebuchadnezzar was the ruler. There are many today who say that those wonderful gardens of Eden were in that area.

Remember, Saddam Hussein is the king of Babylonia.

And just see now, Saddam Hussein, he has that same hatred of the Jews, that which King Nebuchadnezzar suffered from. And he, in his Islamic kingdom, hating the Jews. They have so much spoken about Bush.

Bush is a Christian. He got converted through the ministry of Billy Graham. And he is not ashamed of it. And he writes clearly in his testimony how he got saved. And today, the main criticism of Bush is that he is in favor of the Jews and is sympathetic to the Jews and towards Christianity.

That's us. Some don't know. They just automatically fight America. But the one who is born again. He has a love of the gospel and the things of the Lord. I wish we could have a leader like that. But there are many, many who are viciously opposed to him.

I'm not a politician. But let me just speak the plain truth to you. And that is that I must love and stand with those who love the gospel and the things of the Lord. And those who don't, it's a sad thing for them.

Some years ago, there was a network Islamic meeting which declared that it was going to conquer the whole of Africa and convert it absolutely to Islam. And it concerns me that we give them absolute liberty to build their religious institutions and their mosques in our countries, but they do not do the same.

They don't allow even one church to be built and the freedom for Christianity in their own countries. And their scripture, the Koran, it states very clearly that no Muslim should make a friend of a Christian or the Jew.

In fact, he is to take for granted that if he kills an infidel, it is not he who has killed him, it is Allah himself. But remember, it's not we who say that, but it is our Lord Jesus who said, love your enemies.

The Furnace, Persecution, and the Faith of the Three Jews

So here in the story we have King Nebuchadnezzar who was ruling over that empire in that same geographical spot where Saddam Hussein is today the dictator. And you know how it is part of Islamic doctrine to put strap bombs around you and to go and to do a suicide bombing to kill others and look at what happened in New York City?

I've been in those Twin Towers, I'm just thankful that I wasn't there when those Muslims blew them up. Because, not that I'm afraid of death, but I've had more opportunity to preach the Gospel.

That's why I'm thankful I would like to thank Bin Laden and all his terrorists that they didn't do that when I was there. Thank you to them. Because now I've still got the time to preach the Gospel. Till my time is up, then I can go home as well.

I would like to thank Bin Laden and all his terrorists that they didn't do that when I was there. Till my time is up, then I can go home as well. Till my time is up, then I can go home as well. And so some of the King's counsellors then came and said, O King Nebuchadnezzar, there are some Jews who hate you and they do these evil things.

Meantime, they were just slandering these Jews. And so it was arranged that the furnace should be heated seven times hotter. And he said, bring them here. And he asked, is it the truth that you despise me and you refuse to bow down to my idol?

And he said, well, I, but he goes. And he goes, And he said, well, I, but he goes.

And so when they were brought before him, they explained, it's not that we despise your King, but it's just our faith says, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and you shall bow down to no graven image.

And he said, what do you mean you're not going to bow down to my image? They said, yes, but because we serve God. And should he want us to die, we will die. Should he not, he will rescue us. Nebuchadnezzar was so furious.

He ordered that the furnace should be heated seven times hotter than it was. He called his men. And he said, bind them hands and feet. Throw them into the fiery furnace. And so they were taken to be thrown in.

But the flames of the fire were so enormous that they leapt out everywhere. So intense was the heat all over that even the very men who threw these victims into the fire were themselves burned to cinders.

They could see those flames and those flames were so hot that they killed those that threw these people into the fire.

You see, when you touch a child of God, when you hurt a child of God, you're putting your finger into God's eye. You are hurting that which is precious to God. If you want to criticize, then why don't you criticize yourself?

If you want to burn in anger against somebody, how about doing it against what you are and the things in your life? But be careful, lest you hurt and gossip and wound the next person. You only will meet with the flames of hell.

The Son of God With His Children in the Fire

And so they threw them in. And then while they were in the furnace, Nebuchadnezzar said, open so that I might look inside. And he shouted in disbelief to his men and said, I thought that we only threw three men inside, but behold, I see four.

And the fourth looks like the Son of God. And he had said it in the way he looks like the Son of the Gods. It was Jesus. And they were able to walk in liberty. When one of our people said to Nebuchadnezzar, you are suffering like Job.

He said, no, Job's was a far worse condition. I have the Son of God near me. Isn't that marvelous? When a child of God goes through suffering and goes through anguish and difficulty, the Son of God is with him and close by.

And when he was being martyred and the stones were being thrown at him, he looked up and said, I see the Son of God standing at the right hand of the Father.

And he said, I see the Son of God standing at the right hand of the Father.

Is there a child of God suffering and in the fire? Know that the Son of God is right there with you in your suffering, alongside you. And the Lord Jesus also said that when they speak scandalous things about you, for my name's sake, then jump for joy, rejoice, because great is your reward in heaven.

Don't flee from difficulty and from persecution. The Lord Jesus, his closeness is the most real at that moment.

A certain...

A certain leader of the Salvation Army is known to have bewailed the fact that in the early days of the Salvation Army, they were persecuted and even stoned by the audience, and they had a terrible name.

They were despised. But now instead of stones being thrown at them, flowers are thrown. And he said, and along with it, we've lost the power. And then he called Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, come here.

Nebuchadnezzar’s Witness to Deliverance

And out they came. And he called all his set traps and administrators and governors.

These were the... What was that?

And he called all these leaders around and they beheld with astonishment and noticed that they didn't even have the smell of smoke upon them. Neither was a hair of their heads touched.

They didn't even have a hair of their heads touched.

Nebuchadnezzar spoke saying, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him. And they have frustrated the king's word and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own god.

Repentance, Conversion, and the Call to Wholehearted Faith

Mother of Nomusa, you have done well in allowing your child to serve the Lord. You would have had eternal regrets should your child have just gone its own way, if you had stopped it and then it went into its own way and just fizzled out.

Now today, Nomusa is in heaven with her crown in heaven. Thank God. And as I thank God for her in that even in her young state she was able to answer her parents with great wisdom.

Young people, maybe it won't need the Lord's blessing.

Young people, maybe it won't need the Lord Jesus Christ to do the judging and pointing out things on the day of judgment. He could simply call Nomusa and say, you come and you speak what you knew and you can be condemned to hell.

He who hasn't got converted, let him get converted today. He who needs to make things right with the Lord, let him do it. He who has only made a half job, half a confession, let him truly repent and truly make right his sins.

Uncle Joe, when he emphasized the point yesterday in that rural area preaching, he said, get into the dip, like into a cow dip, get right into it, be submerged, that all the ticks that are on you might fall off.

Don't be a Christian and walk around with ticks on you like a dog.

Don't be a Christian and walk around with ticks on you like a dog. And so I remember going to a home where there was a dog full of ticks. I said, remove those ticks from the dog. So to remove those ticks from you, if you're getting into the dip, then get in head first, then the rest of you will be easily submerged.

The Narrow Way and the Presence of God at Judgment

Remember, when you stand before the Lord, you want to have the shepherd with you. You want to have the king with you, the son of God.

Remember, when you stand before the Lord, you want to have the shepherd with you. You want to have the king with you, the son of God.

Remember, when you stand before the Lord, you want to have the shepherd with you. You want to have the king with you, the son of God.

Remember, when you stand before the Lord, you want to have the shepherd with you. You want to have the king with you, the son of God. Remember, when you stand before the Lord, you want to have the shepherd with you, the son of God.

Remember, when you stand before the Lord, you want to have the shepherd with you, the son of God.

The Lord said, that most go the way of the broad way, few are they who are saved. Always stick to the few, those who are on the narrow way. And then, even if you're completely alone, you have the majority with you, you have God.

Remember, when you stand before the Lord, you want to have the shepherd with you, the son of God. Remember, when you stand before the Lord, you want to have the shepherd with you, the son of God.

Don't ever go with the crowd on the broad way, because remember, this message remains the same, even at the end, even at your funeral, this is the same message. Let us bow and pray. We thank you Lord, that we could hear your word.

Thank you for Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They were not afraid of the majority or of the power of the king. Help us, make us Lord to be like them. Amen.