QT 23/09/2025 Tue. Daniel 3. Crisis will reveal what we truly believe. 危机将显明我们真正的信仰
QT 23/09/2025 Tue. Daniel 3. Crisis will reveal what we truly believe.
READ http://www.esv.org/daniel3
Today, we focus on faith in crisis, the challenge of worldly power, and God's sovereign ability to rescue — or sustain — His people even through suffering.
🔥 Faith in the Fire: Scripture Focus: Daniel 3:16–18 (ESV)
“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.’”
✦ The Crisis of Faith
Daniel 3 is not just about a fiery furnace — it’s about faith under fire.
Nebuchadnezzar, the most powerful man on earth at that time, sets up a golden image and demands worship. The consequences of refusal? Immediate, agonising death. This is not a subtle trial. It's a moment of public testing, designed to crush resistance and prove that no one — not even God — can save those who defy him.
[Crisis will always reveal what we truly believe.]
Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, we will face moments where compromise seems easier, even justified. Yet they refused to bend, even if it meant their lives.
✦ Faith That Doesn’t Flinch
Their answer is one of the most powerful declarations in all of Scripture:
“Our God is able to deliver us... but even if He doesn’t... we will not bow.”
This is not conditional faith — the kind that trusts God only if the outcome is favourable. It is covenantal faith — faith that trusts in God's character regardless of the outcome.
They believed:
(1) God was able.
(2) God was sovereign.
(3) God was worthy — even if He chose not to deliver them.
[True faith isn’t proven by the miracles we receive, but by the obedience we give — even when God stays silent.]
✦ God’s Presence in the Fire
What happens next is divine and deeply encouraging: God doesn't keep them from the fire; He meets them in it.
“I see four men... and the fourth is like a son of the gods.” — Daniel 3:25. This might be a foreshadowing of Christ — walking with His people in their suffering.
Jesus doesn't always deliver us from the fire, but He always joins us in the fire. Sometimes we pray for escape, and God gives endurance. Sometimes we pray for healing, and God gives holiness. Sometimes we ask for relief, and God offers His presence, which is greater.
✦ Reflection Questions
(1) Where in your life are you tempted to bow to pressure instead of standing in faith?
(2) Would your faith remain intact even if God doesn’t deliver you the way you hope?
(3) How does knowing Christ walks with you in suffering change how you face your current fire?
✦ Prayer
Father, give me the faith of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Help me to stand firm when the pressure is overwhelming. Strengthen my heart to trust You not only for deliverance but for Your presence, even in the fire. I choose to follow You, whether You rescue me or not, because You are worthy. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
QT 23/09/2025 星期二. 但以理书 3章. 危机将显明我们真正的信仰
阅读 http://m.bbintl.org/bible/ncv/dan/3/
今日聚焦：危难中的信心、世俗权力的挑战，以及神在苦难中拯救——或扶持——祂子民的主权能力。
🔥 烈火中的信心：经文聚焦：但以理书3:16-18
16 沙得拉、米煞、亚伯尼歌回答王说：“尼布甲尼撒啊！这件事我们无需回答你。17 如果我们被扔在火窑里，我们所事奉的 神必能拯救我们；王啊！他必拯救我们脱离烈火的窑和你的手。（本节或译：“如果我们所事奉的 神能拯救我们，王啊！他必拯救我们脱离烈火的窑和你的手。”）18 即或不然，王啊！你要知道，我们决不事奉你的神，也不向你所立的金像下拜。”
✦ 信心的试炼
但以理书第三章不仅是关于火窑的记载——更是关于烈火中的信心。
当时世上最强大的尼布甲尼撒王竖立金像，强迫百姓敬拜。拒绝的代价？即刻遭受痛苦的死亡。这绝非隐晦的考验，而是公开的试炼，旨在粉碎反抗，证明无人——甚至神——能拯救违抗者。
[危机总会揭示我们真正的信仰。]
如同沙得拉、米煞、亚伯尼歌，我们终将面临妥协看似更轻松甚至合理的情境。但他们拒绝屈服，纵使代价是性命。
✦ 坚定不移的信心
他们的回答堪称圣经中最震撼的宣言：“我们所事奉的 神必能拯救我们……即或不然… 我们决不事奉你的神…”
这并非附条件的信心——那种仅在结果有利时才信靠神的态度。这是立约的信心——无论结局如何，都信靠神品格的信心。
他们确信：
(1) 神大有能力
(2) 神掌管万有
(3) 神配得敬拜——即便祂选择不拯救他们
[真实的信心不在于我们所受的奇迹，而在于我们献上的顺服——即便神保持沉默时亦然。]
✦ 火中显现的神同在
接下来发生的事充满神圣启示：神并未阻止烈火，却在火中与他们相遇。
“但我见有四个人，并没有绑着，在火中走来走去，也没有受伤，并且那第四个的样貌好像神子。”——但以理书3:25
这或许预示着基督——祂与受苦的子民同行。耶稣未必总将我们从火中拯救，但祂必与我们同在火中。有时我们祈求脱离，上帝赐予坚忍；有时我们祈求医治，上帝赐予圣洁；有时我们寻求解脱，上帝赐予祂更宝贵的同在。
✦ 反思问题
(1) 在你生命中哪些时刻，你曾面临屈服于压力而非持守信心的诱惑？
(2) 若神未按你所盼的方式拯救，你的信心仍会坚固吗？
(3) 知晓基督与你同受苦难，如何改变你面对当下试炼的态度？
✦ 祷告
天父，求赐我如沙得拉、米煞、亚伯尼歌般的信心。当重压如山时，求助我站立得稳。求坚固我心，使我不仅因得拯救而信靠祢，更因祢同在而信靠祢——纵使身处火窑之中。我选择跟随祢，无论祢是否拯救我，因祢配得一切尊崇。奉耶稣的名祷告，阿们。
