“Look!” he exclaimed. “I see four men, unbound and unharmed, walking around in the fire—and the fourth looks like a son of the gods!”He answered, “Look, I see four men loose, walking in the middle of the fire, and they are unharmed. The appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”He answered and said, 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.He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the aspect of the fourth is like a son of the gods.
5 sermons cite this verse
… kinds of music shall fall down and worship the golden image. Whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast in the midst of a fiery furnace. There are certain Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon. So these are leaders now. Because of Daniel's favor, these guys literally rode in on the coattails of Daniel to be appointed as leaders in various responsibilities in Nebuchadnezzar's government. All right. There are certain Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, have not paid due regard to you. They do not serve your gods or worship the gold image which you have set up. Then Nebuchadnezzar in rage and fury gave the command to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar spoke saying to them, is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the gold image which I have set up? Now if you are ready, at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, you shall fall down and worship the image which I have made good. But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning, fiery furnace. And who is the God who will deliver you from my hands? …
… Sir, sir, yes, sir, yes, sir, yes, sir. And the king says, look, he answered, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire. And they're not hurt. And the form of the fourth one is like the son of God. The king looks in and says, there's not three, there's four. And they're not burning, They're walking. And the fourth one doesn't look like the other three. There's something different about this one. This one looks like the son of God. Now think about this. The pagan king didn't know Jesus. Jesus hadn't been born in a manger and a wise man hadn't showed up with their gifts yet. He's looking on and there's something so profoundly powerful about the fourth man in the fire that a non-believing king says he looks like the son of God. And that's why we call this series Jesus Always. Why? Because before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Jesus was here. And before he walked on water, he walked with three men in the middle of a fire. …
… And the king says, look, he answered. I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they're not even hurt. And the form of the fourth is like the son of God. This just got crazy. This just got powerful. Our God is able. Three men are thrown into the fire, and a fourth man appears. Who is the fourth man in the fire? Well, Bible scholars tell us that the fourth man is most likely Jesus. They call it a Christophany or a theophany. Christophany, Christ is Christ. Ophany means appearance. Scholars would say that this is an Old Testament appearance of Christ or a pre-incarnate vision or visitation from Christ. Because in the beginning, there was God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. There's always been God, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus has always been there. He wasn't just here when he became flesh. He was here before he was flesh, pre-incarnate. And so they would say, this is very likely a Christophany. …
… 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 I want that video. verse 28 Nebuchadnezzar spoke saying blessed be the God that's a good idea you change your tone 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 words and yielded their bodies so that they should not serve nor worship any God except their own God. This is a tremendous story. I love the children's stories because they are children's stories. They are memorable. Through the years, pastors and Sunday school teachers and the like have found the stories that are easiest to relate to, easiest to remember. and articulate them to children. How many of you heard this story of Shadrach, Meshach, when you were growing up? Even in business, you hear stories of Daniel in the lion's den. You'll hear analogies. You'll hear David and Goliath, and it'll be used in business of the small company facing the big company. And they use these biblical stories because they're so easy to remember. And quite honestly, they're so profound in their impact. But this story has one element to it that is an absolute treasure to me because it clarifies, at least for me, it clarifies for me this journey that is nonstop, unrelenting, non-negotiable into the absolute demonstration …
… And then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished, and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselor, Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? And they answered and said to the king, True, O king. 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 unto the Son of God. I have to think that this is an Old Testament Christophany. This is a pre-incarnation appearance of the second person of the Trinity, who came not to the cross but to the furnace, who stood in the crucible with His faithful people and rescued them from the wrath of this King. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came from the midst of the fire, and the satraps, administrators, governors, and kings, counselors gathered together, and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power. The hair of their head was not singed, nor were their garments affected, and not even the smell of fire was upon them. …