Daniel 3:12-18 There are certain Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men… Why is it that men like these Jews under the Old Testament dispensation, and Christians now and at all times, are ready to give up life and everything for God? It is because a true religion is the sole thing which enlightens the conscience, and so trains and strengthens it as to invest it with real power in the guidance of our lives. When men have felt their will enlightened by Divine knowledge, and sanctified by the Holy Spirit's indwelling, they then choose God's service so firmly and joyfully that no earthly terrors can shake or move them from their sure foundation. This, then, is what religion does for us. It clothes us with power. Under false religions the conscience remains in a rudimentary state, and though it does approve or condemn, and say this is right and that wrong, it acts but weakly and ignorantly, and is a very feeble monitor. And with so little help men's lives sink down into mean baseness. But a true faith and the Holy Spirit aid to build up the conscience, and give it, first, light, whereby it distinguishes right and wrong clearly; and, secondly, power, so that it speaks to the will with all authority, and says, "This thou shalt do, and this thou shalt leave undone." Conscience had long ago decided, for Shadrach and his companions what their lives were to be. And under its influence they could not abandon the faith which had enlightened the conscience and given it this power; nor could they be false to that God who had been their peace and happiness, and whom they knew to be the sole Almighty Governor both in Heaven and in earth below. (Dean Payne-Smith, D.D.) Parallel Verses KJV: There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. |
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