Spurgeon: June PM
* 06/24/PM
"Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said . . . Be it
known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods."
--Daniel 3:16,Daniel 3:18
The narrative of the manly courage and marvellous deliverance
of the three holy children, or rather champions, is well
calculated to excite in the minds of believers firmness and
steadfastness in upholding the truth in the teeth of tyranny and
in the very jaws of death. Let young Christians especially
learn from their example, both in matters of faith in religion,
and matters of uprightness in business, never to sacrifice their
consciences. Lose all rather than lose your integrity, and when
all else is gone, still hold fast a clear conscience as the
rarest jewel which can adorn the bosom of a mortal. Be not
guided by the will-o'-the-wisp of policy, but by the pole-star
of divine authority. Follow the right at all hazards. When you
see no present advantage, walk by faith and not by sight. Do God
the honour to trust Him when it comes to matters of loss for the
sake of principle. See whether He will be your debtor! See if He
doth not even in this life prove His word that "Godliness, with
contentment, is great gain," and that they who "seek first the
kingdom of God and His righteousness, shall have all these
things added unto them." Should it happen that, in the
providence of God, you are a loser by conscience, you shall find
that if the Lord pays you not back in the silver of earthly
prosperity, He will discharge His promise in the gold of
spiritual joy. Remember that a man's life consisteth not in the
abundance of that which he possesseth. To wear a guileless
spirit, to have a heart void of offence, to have the favour and
smile of God, is greater riches than the mines of Ophir could
yield, or the traffic of Tyre could win. "Better is a dinner of
herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and inward contention
therewith." An ounce of heart's-ease is worth a ton of gold.