In these days of flux and upheaval, with "men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth," to quote the words of the Master (Luke 21:26), how Truth-seeking people should turn as never before to the Holy Scriptures for strength, for consolation, and for inspiration! In the stirring narratives of the sacred Book of books one finds wholesome stimulation of faith in God's power to vanquish every form of sin and discord; and in instance after instance are evidences of the unruffled serenity and poise of spiritually-minded men and women in the face of unspeakable adversities.
Invariably the Bible stories chronicle the ultimate overcoming of the error, but equally as heartening are the records of the sustaining evidenced whilst the fiery trials continued. Consider, for a moment, the account of the severe testing time of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego given in the third chapter of Daniel. Even during their trial before the king, Nebuchadnezzar, apparently their calm was uninvaded. The threat of death in the furnace flames did not move them. They maintained confidently that their God could deliver them even from such a terrifying experience; but, they added, with the sublime assurance of those who look from matter to Spirit for immortal substance, they would not bow down to the king's idol, even though they might not understand God's power sufficiently to prove man's indestructibility.
In what is known as the Septuagint Version of the Old Testament, we read that when these three men were thrown, bound, into the fiery furnace, instantly they "walked in the midst of the flame, singing praise to God, and blessing the Lord." Their steadfast, joyous adherence to Principle resulted not only in delivering them from combustion, and from even the smell of fire, but in actually burning up the bonds that bound them. Should it be a matter of wonderment that this saving Christ-consciousness was so potent, so actual, to these three men that it was manifested in the form of a fourth man, who was "like the Son of God"?
