come to celebrate it today by the putting to death of certain Christians, in honor of our great and noble architect." Whereupon, the Greek architect sprang to his feet and shouted, "I also am a Christian,' with the result that they flung him to the wild beasts. For each one of us life will have its crucible. Sooner or later we will be called upon to pass through some fiery furnace. God grant that in such a time of testing we may stand unabashed and unafraid, clear-eyed, looking into the face of our Lord and King. (c) PERMANENCE. 3:22-30. 22 Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. 23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. 24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. 25 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. 26 Then Nebuchadnezzer came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, came forth of the midst of the fire. 27 And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was a hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them. 28 Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who hath sent his angel and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and hath changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god except their own God. 29 Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any 30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, in the province of Babylon. The Apocrapha gives sixty-eight verses in song, sung by the three Hebrew children whilst in the fiery furnace. The king's amazement was beyond measure when, looking into the furnace, he saw them alive and untouched by the flame. His assertion that he saw a fourth like unto the Son of God must not be interpreted as though he possessed a knowledge of Christ. Holding to the ancient mythological conception that gods and goddesses had children, his statement was merely to the effect that this fourth one was a son of the gods. We who live on this side of Calvary's cross, know however, that it was none other than Jesus the Savior. Well did the apostle say, "They quenched the violence of fire through faith." Only their bonds did the flame touch. With anger changed to admiration the king assures them of his protection. He orders that all men shall worship the God of the Hebrew children. What permanence their lives have had. The place they attained can never be obliterated. Suns have risen and set, kingdoms have flourished and waned, and although they have entered the tomb, their influence has not ceased. Being dead they speak. It was during the Boxer uprising that Horace Pitkin came to the evening of a certain day. Realizing that any moment might be his last he wrote a letter to his wife who had left China for a visit to the United States. As he came to close his letter he said in substance, "Dear heart of mine, this may be the last letter you will ever receive from me. But if the Boxers come in upon us and I am called home, I want you to take my boy Horace and send him back to China to fill his father's place." The next day Pitkin fell, a victim to the Boxers and went into the glory. His life, however, was not lived in vain, for the story of his heroism caused many of the finest men and women of American college life to offer themselves for foreign field service. Let us remember that "the world passeth away and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever." It is our privilege to rejoice when passing through the fires of Life's Crucible. Satan can only burn our bonds as we comfort our hearts by singing: "When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie, CHAPTER FOUR THEME "A Creed Born of Tears." 4:1-37. Divisional Words nouncement. Proclamation-Probation-Pro (a) PROCLAMATION. 4:1-18. Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you. 2 I thought it good to shew the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me. 3 How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation. 4 I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in mine house, and flourishing in my palace: 5 I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me. 6 Therefore made I a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known unto me the interpretation of the dream. 7 Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers: and I told the dream before them; but they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof. 8 But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods: and before him I told the 90 Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, 10 Thus were the visions of mine head in my bed; I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great. 11 The tree grew and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth: 12 The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all: the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it. 13 I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and behold, a watcher and a holy one came down from heaven; 14 He cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit: let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches: 15 Nevertheless, leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth. 16 Let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him. 17 This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whosoever he will and setteth up over it the basest of men. 18 This dream I King Nebuchadnezzar have seen. Now thou, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation thereof, forasmuch as all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the interpretation: but thou art able; for the spirit of the holy gods is in thee. Nebuchadnezzer is a striking illustration of sudden conversion. Very early in his life of faith he began to write about it. The record is in this chapter. Having touched the infinite he would have all people, nations and languages know what befell him. The language he uses is very quaint. Whilst he was perfectly comfortable with everything according to his liking, the strange experience came. He is again visited by a night vision. Although the conqueror of great nations, yet his armies could not keep out the dream that came to him by night. How real our dreams can be. In our dreaming we can burn and suffer the tortures of the damned. Awakening, the king called for the wise men. One would think he had had enough of their advice, but like the modern man, instead of seeking advice from the true servant of God, he turns to vain wordlings. It is only as a last resort that Daniel finally comes before him. How sad it is that we turn to the Savior only after we have tried innumerable, useless experiments of the world. Dr. John McDowell was one day passing Wanamaker's in New York when he ran across Sam Hadley. Inviting Mr. Hadley to lunch with him they proceeded to the dining room of Wanamaker's. In the course of the luncheon Dr. McDowell said, "Sam, I am to have a preparatory communion service tonight, and I want you to tell me what is the greatest thing in life, for I want to talk about it to my people. The tears came into Mr. Hadley's eyes as he said, "Tell them that the greatest thing in life is the story of the Cross, the message of which can take poor drunken outcast, such as I was, who had tried every cure under heaven, and can so reedeem him as to make it possible for him to be the guest of a man like you in this beautiful dining room. The religion of Christ is the only proved religion. It is its own sublime argument. It alone wipes the tear from the eye, trims the midnight lamp with hope, fills the heart of the believer with grace, and gives to the sorrowing the joy of that land in which there is no night. Recognizing the truth of Daniel's interpretation and the utter worthlessness of the advice of his wise men, no marvel then that Nebuchadnezzar desired all people |