The Supremacy of Christ Sermon Jam

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Conclusion: The Purpose the Refiner's in the Crucified Life

Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. He spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. And he commanded certain mighty men of valor who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, and cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their coats, their trousers, their turbans, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore, because the king’s command was urgent, and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, “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.”

Daniel 3:19-25 (NKJV)

The Joy of God's Presence

The fire in the furnace reveals Christ in the midst of His people, sharing their fellowship.  The flame of Nebuchadnezzar's furnace did not overcome the fragrance of God's presence.  Imagine the joy of those men in the flames.  There is no joy comparable to that joy of being in a place where God joins you in sweet fellowship.  Never in the marketplace.  Never on the mountaintop.  Remember Peter on the Mount of Transfiguration.  He wanted to set up a couple of tents, forget the rest of the world and enjoy fellowship with God.  But the value of the mountaintop experience is revealed in the valley below in which we must tread.

The revelation of God is the fruit of the flame.  How many times have we missed the fragrance of God's presence because we resist the furnace and the tribulation and the suffering before us?  We have it all worked out.  We read a couple verses of Scripture and say, "I believe."  That settles it.  We think we can then go on our merry way to heaven, whistling "When the Saints Come Marching In."  We want to be coddled on our way to heaven and have an easy life.  We want to make sure that we are going to go to heaven when we die, but in the meantime we want to enjoy the pleasures of the world.

There is no revelation of God in following that path.  There is no experiencing the fragrance of God's presence.  There is no burning of the bonds that the world has imposed upon us, setting us free to follow our Lord.  Yes, we walk by faith.  But occasionally there are some glorious moments in which God reveals Himself to us.  I tell you, this is holy ground.  This is an area of sacredness incomparable to anything else this side of glory.

Keep in mind that God has a vision for us beyond the furnace.  The fires serves its purpose, burning away the bonds of the world and purifying our relationship with God, and then we move on.  Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego walked out of that furnace.  Imagine the testimony they would have the rest of their lives.  They certainly were creatures out of the fire.  They were men who had met God in the wondrous, glorious fashion incomparable to anything else in their lives.  They were counted worthy to suffer for Christ.

If we are ever going to see God in the fullness of His manifestation, we must be like these men.  We must obey Him implicitly and surrender in such a way that He can place us where He wants to place us in order to show us what He wants to show us.  And what He does to us He will also do through us to confound the wisdom of the world, who cannot figure out what we are.

God's most delicate tools are reserved for His special children.  For the Christian on the path of the crucified life, God will bring into his pathway the fiery furnace, the Refiner's Fire, and show that Christian how much He really loves him.

[excerpt from A.W. Tozer's The Crucified Life]

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