Video Transcript: The Fourth Man in the Fire

These men were brought before the king who was enraged at their rebellion, their refusal to obey His law.  As they were brought before the king, he gave them opportunity to change their mind, to bow down to the statue.  And they refused.  Not only did they refuse, but they made a statement to the king, explaining why they would not bow down to the image.  In Daniel 3:16-18 we read, “Shadrach, Meshach. and Abednego replied to him, King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter.  If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and He will deliver us from Your Majesty's hand.  But even if He does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold, you have set up.”

Well, this was further infuriating to Nebuchadnezzar.  He ordered that the fiery furnace be heated seven times hotter than normal.  The penalty for refusing to bow down to the statute was to be thrown into this furnace. 

So the three young Hebrews were bound and thrown into the fire.  And that, for us is a great picture of what conflict looks like.  If you ever been in a conflict, where you felt like you were bound, you couldn't move, didn't know what to do and worse than that, you were in the middle of a fire.  You thought your whole life or a relationship, maybe a marriage, maybe a family relationship, maybe a business relationship was going down in flames?  Well, that's where these three young Hebrews found themselves.  And the king looked into the furnace, expecting to see these three young Hebrews died, being burned alive. 

But what he saw was startling to him.  And he turned to those around and he said, didn't we throw three men into the fire?  He said, I see four; four men walking in the fire and the fourth looks like the Son of God. 

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were visited in this fiery furnace by fourth man.  And this fourth man turned that fiery furnace of death into a place of purpose, place of power, even a place of peace.  Well, you might say, how can that fire be a place of peace? Well, if you and I were in a fire, and we were bound and our bonds were loosed, and we could get up and walk around, I don't know about you but I would be heading out of that fire. 

So that's not what these three young Hebrews did. They stayed in the fire in the presence of the fourth man.  And they stayed in that fire until the King called them out.  And this is a great picture for us of what conflict looks like.  For the believer, Jesus Christ. There is a place of peace in the midst of conflict.  There's a place where we can walk in the midst of the fire and know the Lord's purpose and know the Lord's power of protection and peace in his presence.  And we can remain in that fire until the king calls us out. 

Well, the king called these three young Hebrews out of the fire and as they came to him, he made a declaration this time and here's what he said.  “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who has sent his angel and rescued his servants. They trusted in Him and defied the Kings command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.  Therefore, I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other God can saved in this way,” then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the province of Babylon. The presence of the fourth man changed everything for these three Hebrew men.

Jesus Christ is the fourth man in the fire and He’s the fourth man in the fire of every conflict that you and I will face as a Christian leader.  As a Christian leader, you will experience conflict in your own life.  You'll experience conflict with others in your marriage, if you're married, your family conflicts in your ministry.  If you are a business person, you will experience conflict with your employer or your employees or your customers, your suppliers.  Conflict is part of life.

The purpose of this course is not to help you avoid conflict, or to try to remove conflict from your life.  The goal of this course is to equip you to stand in the fire in the presence of the fourth man.  And though the Lord's purpose, experienced the Lord's power, and walk in the Lord's peace, until the king calls you out of that conflict. 

There are some New Testament examples of that remind us of what the Lord is doing in the midst of conflict and how he can provide extraordinary,y astonishing peace to his people, no matter how hot the fire can get. 

Remember, the Deacon Stephen.  In Acts Chapter 7, he's brought before the Sanhedrin.  He gives the defense of the gospel and they rejected him and they stone him and they kill him.  And while they are stoning him, he says, Father, lay not this sin, to their charge. 

The Apostle Paul and Silas were in Philippi.  Again, preaching the gospel  They were arrested. They were mistreated.  They were beaten, put into jail without due process.  And they're in the jail.  They're wounded.  And what are they doing?  They're singing praise to God.  The prison doors fly open.  The jailer comes in.  All the prisoners are still there.  And the jailer says, “What must I do to be saved?”  And he's born again, right in the midst of all of that conflict. 

Now, if I had been in Paul's situation, I probably would have been crying out for an attorney, crying for a doctor.  And probably thinking just about myself.  There's something different about these men.  Something different about Steven, something different about Paul, something had changed in them to where they were no longer concerned about their interest in the conflicts they faced. 

But they were interested in pursuing their relationship with the fourth man in the fire and serving him and pleasing him in the midst of conflict.  Now there's one difference in your life and mind in the lives of the three Hebrew men. The fourth man in the fire was in the fire with them.  But because of the age in which we live, in the church age and the Age of Grace, the fourth man in the fire lives in you through his Holy Spirit.  Jesus Christ, the fourth man in the fire is in you. 

In Isaiah 43:2 we read, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire you will not be burned, the flames will not set you ablaze.” 

And John 14:20, “On that day, you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in Me and I am in you.”  The Lord's promise to protect you, to be with you, and to use you in the midst of conflict is available to every born again child of God. 

No matter how long you've been walking with the Lord.  No matter how many conflicts you've had in your past that have devastated your life.  No matter where you are right now in your relationship with the Lord and in your relationships with others.  I have great words of encouragement for you.  The Lord is at work in your situation and He's doing things that are far greater than you and I can even imagine. 

The goal of this course, and I want to thank you for taking this course, by the way, is to equip you to experience the transforming peace of Jesus Christ in the midst of every conflict you encounter.  Not only that, I don't only want to equip you so that you experience that peace, I want to equip you so that you can equip others to experience the peace of Jesus Christ in the midst of conflict.  So that every conflict you encounter not only will you be encouraged and your faith will grow, but that you will be able to help other people who are in the midst of conflict you are serving in ministry, or in business, or at home.  That every conflict will become a faith building experience for you and for them, drawing you closer to the Lord Jesus Christ, transforming you more and more to His image, and that you become His ambassador, in every relationship that you encounter and you look for those opportunities when conflict arise, to be used as him to bring that transforming peace into the situation.

We achieve this goal by focusing on two things.  One is understanding what the Scriptures teach us about conflict.  That's the first task.  And that's what most of these lectures will be about. What does the Bible teach us about the dynamics of conflict?  What does the Bible teach us about God's purpose in the midst of conflict?  How do we avail ourselves of God's power and what does God's power look like in the midst of conflict?  And how do we pursue God's presence and what does that do for us in the midst of conflict?  Not only will we equip you in that manner, but then the second thing we'll focus on is your relationship of relentless reliance on Jesus Christ.

It is impossible to experience God's transforming peace without the presence of Jesus Christ.  It is awesome. And He's at work doing awesome things in your life; not just in you, but through you.  And I hope that this course will encourage you to lay hold of that, for which He's laid hold of you, whatever His calling is on your life. Wherever you are in the world, watching these, these lectures, the Lord's at work in your life. You are His ambassador, where you stand where you sit. 

And my prayer for you during this course is that the Lord will speak to you about the conflicts in your life and what He has in store for you. What He wants you to do. 

Conflict is not something we respond to with a formula and our goal in this course is not to teach you how to eliminate conflict from your life but how to respond to it when it occurs.  And to respond to it in such a way that the Lord Jesus Christ is using you to bring peace into the situation and peace into your own heart. 

The Scripture theme for this course, is found in Isaiah chapter 26:3-4. It reads, "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.  Trust in the Lord forever. For the Lord God is an everlasting rock.”

One of the dynamics we're going to talk about, in responding to conflict is what we are pursuing.  What do you pursue when a conflict comes your way?  Most of the time, we pursue a desired outcome.  Let's say there's a lantern here in this table, let's say that you and I are fighting about who owns that lantern.  I think I should own it and you think it's yours.

We're going to have a conflict over who gets the lantern.  And when that conflict begins, each of us will start to strategize, build our argument and build our case for why we think we should get the lantern.  But what the way I want you to start to think about conflict, and let the Lord speak to you about changing the way you respond to conflict, is instead of pursuing a desired outcome, is to pursue a man, the Lord Jesus Christ, and in such a way that He encourages you about what to do with lantern.  Oftentimes, we will come to the Lord and say, Lord, I want this lantern.  And my friend wants it, but I think I should have it, so help me get that lantern; show me how to get that lantern.  

That's a different approach than what I want you to think about.  Instead of thinking about what I want and asking the Lord for it, I want to go to the Lord and ask Him what He wants. But what do you want Him to do about this lantern?  And more importantly, Lord, what do you want me to do about my brother, my sister, who also wants this lantern. We're going to talk about that dynamic in future lectures. Right now. I want to pray for you, that the Lord will bless you as you continue in this course 

Father, bless my brother and sister who is taking this course.  Speak into their lives, Lord in relationship to the conflicts that they face.  Have your way with them.  Teach them what you have for them, and glorify Jesus Christ in them and through them and bless them with your presence in Jesus name, Amen. 

Thanks for watching. We'll see you next time.