Three Plus One Equals Infinity Series

The soldiers and my friends neared the gaping mouth of the furnace. It was so hot that none of them dared approach it. But the king, in his rage, shouted all the more for blood. “Throw them in, throw them in now, I say.”

Do you know, it was so hot that when the soldiers obeyed Nebuchadnezzar’s order, they themselves were overcome by the heat and died! A whole contingent of soldiers died, trying to do their misguided duty! And Nebuchadnezzar? He just laughed. Just laughed at all of these soldiers dying! Life is cheap, you see, when you think you are the only one worth anything.

The blaze roared as my friends went into the flames. For a while I could not see anything, as the intensity of the fire made a light so bright my eyes were blinded. But when I was able to see, I saw the king peering into the flames. For the longest time he stared into the furnace. And then I discovered why. I saw what he saw. I saw four figures, walking in the midst of the flames. Four. Not three, but four.

How could anyone still be alive in that fire? And where did the fourth man come from? Who was he? Who could have entered the furnace with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, unknown to them or to the soldiers? Who would have done such a thing?

I cannot tell you, and yet I can. I cannot give his name, but I saw enough to know that this fourth person in the flames, was, in some way, God Himself. How He did it I cannot say. But I can say is that in a mysterious way very God Himself, the God of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of eternity stepped into those flames and bore in His own body the pain and the hurt that was meant for my friends, and He saved them. He saved them.

How can it be? How can it be that great God Himself, deserving no punishment, eternal in the heavens, should come down here, in human form, and enter the fiery furnace with the likes of us? How can that be? I know not. With all my wisdom, I know not.

And yet this I do know. I, Daniel, stand before you to testify to one great truth. You know, here in Babylon we have learned a new skill; it’s called mathematics. Here I have learned how to use numbers, to add and to multiply, to subtract and to divide. It is a wonderful skill. But I have learned one great truth that no Babylonian has in his copybooks, one great equation that no wise man has ever computed before – that three plus one equals – what? You say “four”? You would think so; three plus one equals four. But no, I have learned that with God, three plus one equals infinity! Three men plus one God equals infinity!

A people like my Judah, or a people like you, gathered here this morning – if you will pray and continually seek the presence and the will of God, are victors. Even though you may be strangers in an alien place, with God all things are possible. For with God in the equation, three plus one equals infinity.

I have also learned that faithfulness is its own reward. I have learned that this world will rage at you if you dare to be different. If you choose to indulge in luxury and self-gratification, this world will applaud you. They want believers to give themselves to the idols of money and comfort and rich food and strong drink. They want you to do that, because then they can point at you and say, “You are no different from the rest of us”. And they will be most upset if, instead of spending money on more things, you give it to God’s work. They will be very unhappy if, instead of hanging out at their happy hours, you pursue happiness in Bible study groups or ministry teams. They will say all sorts of unkind things about you; they are threatened. But I have learned that you do not need the world’s approval. You do not need to fit in to the world’s way of life. You have the approval of God Himself. You want to fit into the Kingdom way of life. For in the Kingdom, the mathematics favor you. No matter how many out in the world put you down, you are on the winning side, for three plus one equals infinity!