The Bottom Line

THE BOTTOM LINE

Read Daniel 3:1-30

Read Daniel 3:1-30

But if not, be it known to you, O King, that we will not serve your gods. Daniel 4:18

Few stories are more famous in all of Scripture than the story of the three Hebrew children in the fiery furnace. Along with the creation story, Noah’s Ark, the Exodus and Daniel in the lion’s den, this story is learned by every child at the start of Sunday School or the earliest Vacation Bible School. And why not? It is perhaps the most heroic of all stories in the Old Testament. Though the story is well known, perhaps the bottom line of the tale is not.

We live in an age of unbridled pragmatism. The motto of modernity is this: Only do what works. Translated: “If it benefits you, it’s o.k.; if not, then forget it.” We have experienced our present economic collapse precisely because this pragmatism and its effects have come home to roost. Want a big home? Buy it! Can’t afford it? Get it now and hope that later it will sell for more. Can’t make the payments? Walk away from it, and let someone else clean up the mess. Too much credit card debt? Default on payments and then go get another card. Marriage no longer fun? Get a new wife; or better yet, have several, but don’t marry any of them. Feeling the urge to have sex? Do it! Use the pill; if that fails then just pay $400.00 for a “pregnancy termination” (It’s your right to choose!). Religion necessary for the kids? Shop around: the children’s ministry is great at First Baptist; the youth group is best at New Directions Church; and VBS is a knockout at Covenant Presbyterian. Carpool the kids from one to another on Sunday mornings. When they outgrow these things, forget going to Church. Hey! It works for me!

But what happens when God, Jesus or the Christian faith doesn’t work out? You tithe, but God does not bless your finances? You say “No!” to premarital sex, but you’re still single? You do the upright thing at work but get passed over for promotion? You rear your children in the faith, and they walk away from Christ in college? What happens when following Christ doesn’t work out as it should?

Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah answer that question for us. In their magnificent response to the king’s challenge, they set the bar at the level it should be for people of faith in Christ. Please read Daniel 3:16-18.

Three verses. Three sentences. Three answers. Three truths.

1. We don’t need to answer to men what God will and will not do. God knows. We don’t. If you ask me, “Why hasn’t this worked out like God said it would?” I need not answer you. God can speak for Himself.

1. God is able to do whatever He wants, and doing the supernatural is no problem for God. In the end, one way or another, God will work for us, and He will deliver us from evil and bless us. Now or in eternity.
2. If God’s ways don’t work out as we’d like or as we’d planned, so what? Good or bad, blessings or not, we will never forsake God, deny Christ or turn from the Holy Spirit. To die in faith is better than to live in pragmatism.

This is all so…so…un-American! Things are supposed to work out for our good (Romans 8:28). God is supposed to bless those who follow Him. Christ is supposed to answer our prayers—in the affirmative. And the Holy Spirit is supposed to make our faith successful so others will believe in Jesus! Who wants to follow a God who gives us no guarantees?

Answer? Those who love God do. Job answers for all of us: “Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10). As the Scripture says elsewhere: “Is it not from the Lord that both good and ill go forth?” We don’t like this answer, but it’s true. Grace does not always work the way we like it to. But love works this way: We are loyal to God even if He “doesn’t work.” And He is loyal to us, His people, because we never do for Him all we should. Job learned from the pain and disappointment what Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego learned in the furnace: “Though he slay me, I will hope in him; yet I will argue my ways to his face” (Job 13:15). This is the bottom line of living faith.

PRAYING FOR THE PCA

AC: Please pray for Roy Taylor, Stated Clerk, and John Robertson, Business Administrator, that they will handle with wisdom, insight and discernment the many different issues and questions that come to the Office of the Stated Clerk each week.

CTS: Pray that all Covenant Seminary students will gain an even greater passion for God’s world mission and that the Lord will bring forth much fruit from the various short-term mission trips in which students, faculty and staff participate.

MTW: Pray that the growing mercy ministries of MTW will open many hearts to the Gospel, allowing us and our national partners to bring the love of Christ into otherwise resistant areas.

RUM: The Universities today are alive with conflicting ideas. Please pray that Reformed University Fellowship will effectively help college students to understand the authority of Scripture, the ministry of the Spirit and the means of justification and sanctification. Pray that our students will be rooted in the life-giving Scriptures as they engage with the world.

RBI: The Ministerial Relief Ministry has contact with pastors who are without a ministry call. Pray that their needs will be met during the transition and that the Lord will direct them to a new field of service.