a
simple, prompt obedience, even though his heart was breaking. This was
what God asked of him. God needed this in His dealings with these people
of His in whom His world-plan centred. How desperate must have been the
need that called for such an experience as this! Ezekiel said "Yes" even
to this. Surely there was here some of that Calvary meaning, of the
secondary sort, of which we have spoken together. Following meant not only
giving his personality and life, but now it meant giving what must have
been more than life itself.

Through Fire.

To _Daniel_ following meant something essentially different. He was not a
messenger to his own people, nor their leader. He was a messenger to the
great world-rulers of his time, through the visions he interpreted, and
through his unbending faithfulness and purity of life; The thing that
stands out largest is the life he lived, a life of simplicity in habit, of
purity and consistency, with an unwavering faith in God. God _could_ use
him to speak to the great emperors. So he helped God to get His message to
men so hard to reach through a human channel.

Following meant a pure life. It was Daniel's insistence on being pure and
true that shut him up with the wild beasts. And it was through his
unflinching fidelity and persistence that God could send His message anew,
in the most public manner, out to all the millions of that great
world-empire. Following meant to a marked degree a pure life as the basis
of the service rendered. It proved to mean a lions' den, _and_ the power
of God overcoming the instincts of ravenous beasts. But clear beyond these
it meant that God could reach His world with His message to an unusual
extent.

_Daniel's three companions_ helped God by means of a most thrilling
experience, a really terrible experience. God had been pleading with the
great Nebuchadnezzar through Daniel's message. Now He wants to speak again
in a way that will compel attention. He needs these three young men. They
consent to be His messengers. It meant going through a terrible ordeal.
They simply remained true in their personal devotion to God. This was the
thing God needed, and used. Everything of use to God roots down in the
life. The personal plea of the great king, and the prospect of a horrible
death fail alike to move them. They probably had quite resigned themselves
to the fate of being burned alive for the truth. But God had a different
purpose. He was thinking abou