All right Daniel Daniel chapter 4 We'll begin reading at verse 1. I'll read verses 1 through 3 give you a bit of a an introduction and Get into our study Daniel chapter 4 and what we're going to be looking at today I chose to entitle of pride and punishment and you'll see that as we go through this passage Daniel chapter 4 beginning at verse 1 reading to verse 3 Nebuchadnezzar the king To all peoples nations and languages that dwell in all the earth peace be multiplied to you I thought it good to declare the signs and wonders that the Most High God has worked for me How great are his signs and how mighty his wonders his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and His dominion is from generation to generation and so this chapter that we have here chapter 4 represents the conclusion of what we would call Nebuchadnezzar's spiritual journey as We began the book of Daniel his journey has been outlined all the way from chapter 1 Remember in chapter 1 verses 19 and 20 Nebuchadnezzar had recognized the excellence of Daniel and his friends and Then in chapter 2 verse 47. He had acknowledged that the God of Daniel is the God of gods When we got to chapter 3 verses 26 and 27 he there acknowledged that Daniel's God was a God who delivers his servants And so he's going through a spiritual Journey so in this chapter Nebuchadnezzar illustrates the praise the praise that comes from brokenness Often praise that results from brokenness is what has been called the purest kind of praise In Psalm 51 verse 17 the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit a Broken and a contrite heart. Oh God you will not despise when the Lord breaks somebody very often the result of the breaking is a purity and Thus after the breaking in that and the mending and and God revealing what he intends to do through that Your praise is stronger. It's it's purer because you have a deeper understanding And we're going to be seeing something like that as we go through the chapter Because what we see in this chapter is an illustration of how God breaks a man's pride Now why would God break a man's pride? Well pride it was a sin that caused Satan to fall from heaven Pride is a sin that is the great great a great very great sin and God hates pride in Proverbs 16 verse 5 everyone who's arrogant in hearts is an abomination to the Lord be assured He will not go unpunished God hates pride and so throughout the Bible man is exhorted to live a humble life and Humility is often the result of an honest understanding of our own shortcomings. It it's simply seeing ourselves for what we truly truly are Pride is generally an over high opinion of ourselves It's often manifested by arrogance and and boasting boasting in our own achievements and this kind of sinful pride is Obviously manifested by self-sufficiency and so throughout the book of Daniel God has been dealing with Nebuchadnezzar's pride He had slowly performed works that had gotten Nebuchadnezzar's attention. He threw a dream. He had gotten his attention he rescued these young men and His majesty God's majesty was seen. He's getting his attention But now Nebuchadnezzar here in chapter 4 is going to give what we would call a lengthy personal testimony Now there's argument here and you may already have a question concerning this So let me attempt to say something as we begin. There's been argument here Concerning whether or not Nebuchadnezzar had actually been converted to the God of Israel Now that reminds me of what we read in the Psalms in Psalm 66 verse 16 where it says Come in here all you who fear God and I will declare what he has done for my soul We will see at the end I'll conclude by giving you a couple of ideas about the conversion Whether he was converted or simply speaking concerning the fact that the God of the of the Israelites is truly a Majestic God but as we go through this what we're going to do is we're going to be seeing how God works with an arrogant person And we're going to see that what he's doing here what Nebuchadnezzar is doing here Is he's simply giving praise to to the one who taught him a magnificent a magnificent lesson Now the purpose for this chapter is revealed in verse 25 if you look at it for just a moment here with me It says at the very end of that verse it says It says seven times shall pass over you until you know that the most high rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to Whomever he chooses So what is intended here is the humbling of this great king so that he comes to understand that it is God who Determines who is the ruler and so this may also be a picture of God's dealing with people in general Especially with the Gentiles because God gives kingdoms to whomever he desires And so with that as kind of a backdrop we can begin our study here beginning at verse 1 Nebuchadnezzar the king to all people's nations languages and languages that dwell in all the earth Peace be multiplied to you. So what we begin with here is what is called a public proclamation It's actually a royal edict and you'll see that in a moment Notice here that it's written to all his subjects. It's a testimony of what God has done to him And so he says his testimony verse 2 I thought it good to declare the signs and wonders that the most high God has worked for me And so when he says this the most high God has worked for me That tells us that God is not the God of Israel alone, but God is the God of the whole earth Remember in Daniel's day each nation or people group had their own gods I mentioned that to you recently But you'll see that as you go through the Bible and once again when when I would say I'm we'll say I'm a Philistine and I I come against Israel I bring my gods with me and They'd be symbolized to perhaps an idol I carried or whatever and if my group defeated the Israelites And I would say my God is greater. That's how it would work. There were what are called tribal gods But God is not a God of just Israel God is a God of the whole earth And that's the whole point that we're seeing here the God of Israel is the God of the world When you look in the book of Job, it says in chapter 41 verse 11 Who has given to me that I should repay him everything under heaven God said is mine in Deuteronomy 10 14 behold to the Lord your God belong the heavens even the highest heavens and the earth and Everything in it God is a ruler and owner of all things on 24 verse 1 The earth is the Lord's and everything in it the world and all who live in it and see the God of Israel is not a tribal God The God of Israel is not just the God of Israel the God that Israel worships is the God of the universe And so the king of Babel Babylon is being taught this lesson Because he had his own gods that he worshiped but now he's given declaration concerning the God of Israel He says in verse 3 he says how great are his signs how mighty his wonders his kingdom is an Everlasting kingdom his dominion is from generation to generation. And so he's giving to us Insight into the fact that the God of the of the Jews is the God of the entire universe and his kingdom is Everlasting his dominion his rulership is is also from generation to generation So that contrasts the temporary nature of Babylon with the eternal kingdom of God Now that's something that God had already made clear at least he had given him enough information for him to know that that his kingdom is temporary remember in chapter 2 that he had had this dream a dream of a golden image and It was broken into various You know Gold and silver and all it was broken down in various metals of different value and all and and Daniel had spoken to the king of Babylon and he had said you are the head of gold But the head of gold had given place to silver and degrading Metals from there and it was a point of this is what's going to take place during the The time of the Gentiles that Gentiles are going to rule over Israel for all of these years and all of that And so he already knew because he was the head of gold that his kingdom was temporary He knew that it had already been revealed to him but Apparently he didn't remember You see the Bible makes it very clear There's only one kingdom that lasts forever and that's the kingdom of God and so I'm 145 verse 13 your kingdom is an Everlasting kingdom your dominion endures throughout all generations remember when we're in Revelation in chapter 11 verse 15 How that it reads the seventh angel sounded there were loud voices in heaven saying The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever and So in the Old Testament as well as the new the kingdom of God is not a temporary kingdom The true kingdom is an eternal kingdom and so he's speaking Nebuchadnezzar is speaking about that And that's why he says his kingdom his kingdom not mine His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom his dominion is from generation to generation And so verse 4 I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in my house because I'm lazy No, I was at rest in my house and flourishing in my palace. I Saw a dream which made me afraid and the thoughts on my bed and the visions of my head troubled me Therefore I Issued a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream Then the magicians astrologers caldeans soothsayers came in I told them the dream But they did not make known to me its interpretation does that sound familiar? We've already seen that earlier in the book of Daniel So he says I was at rest when he speaks concerning that way I was at rest in my house and all of that when he says that he's saying I was in peace and I was in security There are no campaigns No battles that are existing so I'm at rest but in spite of this My spiritual poverty is about to be revealed and he says in verse 5 that he saw a dream notice the dream made him afraid in The midst of his peace in the midst of his security once again He has a troubling dream and so what did he do well verse 6? He issued a decree to bring the wise men of Babylon before me Now that he had had before remember that happened when he had the dream of that great image So what's he do? He calls in the wise men, but they're unable to give him the interpretation Now it seems that he had not understood yet the greatness of Daniel and his friends God Remembering chapter 2 he wouldn't disclose to them his dream, but here he tells him But they're unable to give him insight into it Now I brought this up before we recently went through the book of Job I'll say it again once again. God communicates with a man Through a dream and somebody said it this way God communicates with a man who won't open his Bible and So in the book of Job in chapter 33 verses 14 through 18 Indeed God speaks once or twice Yet no one notices it in a dream a vision of the night when sound sleep falls on men while they slumber in their beds Then he opens the ears of men seals their instruction that he may turn man aside from his conduct and Keep man from pride He keeps back his soul from the pit and his life from the passing over into shale and to into hell and so God communicates to this man who doesn't know scripture Doesn't know it very well if at all and he did so once again through a dream And so he brings in his religious guys notice their magicians and and their astrologers and Chaldeans and Soothsayers those who say calming things they come in and and I told them the dream They didn't make known to me its interpretation once again They can't give him the interpretation and they can't give him any comfort And so as that's taking place verse 8 at last Daniel came before me His name is Balthasar according to name the name of my God in him is the spirit of the holy God And I told the dream before him saying Balthasar chief of the magicians because I know that the spirit of the holy God is in you and no secret troubles you Explain to me the visions of my dream that I have seen and its interpretation Tell me what's what's going on? Apparently Daniel wasn't there when the first conversation took place, but we see him coming in now and He begins to speak to him now When he speaks of him, I should point this out notice in verse 8 where it says Daniel and Balthasar this event is taking place according to commentators 25 years later Then you know it's been 25 years since he named him Balthasar So he's explaining that Daniel is known by this name But no notice how he describes in verse 8 in him in him is the spirit of the holy God Now there's a couple ways this can be looked at. I'm not gonna spend a lot of time saying this But a couple ways you can look at this one When it speaks about in him being the spirit of the holy God may be referring to the purity of Daniel Because Daniel had a pure heart before the Lord and God and he lived a godly life So one commentator says this may be in reference to his moral purity But it also another commentator said may speak of the moral excellence of the God that Daniel serves it is the holy God that he serves and so Notice first nine he calls back calls Daniel Balthasar the chief of the magicians Now the word magician is not necessarily what you're thinking, you know They're not standing there with a little hat pulling out a rabbit or anything like that the word magician Majai can also speak of a scholar and so what he's referring to is these religious scholars to me speaking to and Daniel is the master over the religious scholars when he speaks of it that way Nebuchadnezzar is honoring him and he's recognizing that he can be of help to him and So he says to him. I want to know the interpretation verse 10 These were the visions of my head while on my bed. I was looking and behold a Tree in the midst of the earth Its height was great The tree grew became strong its height reached to the heavens It could be seen to the ends of all the earth its leaves were lovely its fruit abundant And it was food for all the beast of the field found shade under it The birds of the heavens dwelt in its branches. All flesh was fed from it I saw on the visions of my head while on on my bed and it was a watch or a holy one coming down from heaven He cried aloud and said thus chopped down the tree and cut off its branches strip off its leaves scatter its fruit Let the beast get out from under it and the birds from its branches Nevertheless leave the stump in the roots in the earth bound with the band of iron and bronze in the tender grass of the field Let it be wet with the dew of heaven. Let him graze with the beasts on the grass of the earth Let his heart be changed from that of a man Let him be given the heart of a beast and let seven times pass over him This decision is by the decree of the watchers and the sentence by the word of the holy ones In order that the living may know that the most high rules in the kingdom of men Gives it to him whomever he will and sets over it the lowest of men So Nebuchadnezzar explains his dream Notice that the tree is very great Notice that it's strong notice that it's growing notice. It's bearing much fruit And as he looks at the tree this watcher the word watcher there is also Translated the vigilant one this watcher comes down from heaven So that would be his Babylonian manner of speaking of an angelic messenger That's the way a Babylonian would have spoken of an angel and a decree is given Notice the decree the tree is to be chopped down. It's to be stripped bare it leaves the stump in the earth and Then this tree in verses verse 15 and 16 the image is then changed to that of a man And so he gives him this this this dream and all and then he says in verse 17 again This decision is by the decree of the watchers and the sentence by the word of the holy ones in order That the living may know that the most high rules in the kingdom of men man and gives it to whomever he will And sets over it the lowest event. So this is what he heard and this is what he saw So this is the dream that I've seen Now the purpose of this is for people to know that government is established by God It is he who places into power whomever he desires In Job we saw this in chapter 5 verse 11. He sets on high those who are lowly and those who mourn are lifted to safety God makes the determination and that's what Daniel is going to be sharing with Nebuchadnezzar when it says the most high rules and the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever he will You are the king.  You did not put yourself in that position And so as he's speaking that in verse 18 this dream I King Nebuchadnezzar have seen now you Balthasar Declare its interpretation Since all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known to me the interpretation, but you are able For the spirit of the holy God is in you. I'm gonna put you on the You know, I'm gonna put you on the spot I believe that you can you can tell me what this is what this means and so Daniel verse 19 whose name was Balthasar was astonished for a time his thoughts troubled him So the king spoke and said Balthasar do not let the dream of or its interpretation trouble you Balthasar answered and said my lord May the dream concern those who hate you and its interpretation concern your enemies. I Don't want to tell you this Now there'd be a lot of reasons why we can think of some of them What is what is Nebuchadnezzar due to those that make him upset? I'm gonna cut you in pieces and burned on your house so I don't know about you, but I Probably would ask the Lord from with for wisdom and how to approach this and So there's a hesitation at least in part by the reality of the fact that he's speaking to this king But I'm pretty sure that he's not he's not afraid at the same time But he doesn't want to say anything notice that Nebuchadnezzar urges him and says don't be troubled Now when he says to him don't be troubled you need to tell me that reveals the king's respect and trust in Daniel He assures Daniel. There's there's no danger to you. I respect you and all of that I think it's always wise for us when we speak into those in authority to to regard them with the kind of honor that and Respect that the office should determine and so that's what he's doing here Well Daniel and verse 19 Daniel when he when he gives his reply That's what it's called a typical courtesy. He's saying I don't want this to apply to you I I would I would prefer it being applicable to somebody who is more of an enemy, but not to you But he has to now give the interpretation. There he goes verse 20 Well the tree that you saw which grew and became strong whose height reached to the heavens and Which could be seen by all the earth whose leaves were lovely and its fruit abundant in Which was food for all under which the beasts of the field dwelt and In those branches the birds of the heaven had their home its you king Who have grown and become strong For your greatness has grown and reaches to the heavens and your dominion to the end of the earth and In as much as the king saw a watch or a holy one coming down from heaven and saying chop down the tree and destroy it But leave it stumping roots in the earth bound with a band of iron and bronze in the tender grass of the field Let it be wet with the dew of heaven let him graze with the beasts of the field till seven times pass over him This is the interpretation of king This is the decree of the most high Which has come upon my lord the king They shall drive you from men Your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field They shall make you eat grass like oxen They shall wet you with the dew of heaven and seven times shall pass over you Till you know that the most high rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever he chooses Yeah, the tree represents you o king you've grown mighty, but you've also grown arrogant You've grown mighty But you've also become extremely proud and the thing that God is intending to teach you is That he's the one who gave you the kingdom that you're ruling He's the one who set you up because the most high rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever he will and Sets it over the lowest of men You o king have been given this amazing power and authority By God it isn't something that you did yourself or we're gonna see something in just a moment It's not something that comes out of your own ingenuity. You need to understand that it's God who raised you to that position You have grown mighty But you have also grown extremely proud Because no matter how great you are God is greater still So humble yourself, please Break off your sins live righteously repent Demonstrate true repentance by by concerned for others Because that's what you need to do You see in verse 26 in as much as they gave the command to leave this dump in roots of the tree Your kingdom shall be assured to you after you come to know that heaven rules therefore o king Let my advice be acceptable to you Break off your sins by being righteous your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor Perhaps there may be a lengthening of your prosperity.  You need to stop sinning You need to to live a life that is righteous because a right life that is righteous is pleasing to God And the only way you're going to be able to do that is to do what we call in scripture to repent And if you repent you're going to be demonstrating your repentance by by your concern for others That's what he means in verse 27 when he says your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor Because true repentance is demonstrated by a change of behavior The when we speak of repentance the word repent in the new testament word in the greek is is a greek word metanoia Metanoia speaks of a change of mind You know a lot of times we speak of repentance and and you'll hear this and i've heard this often And and sometimes the word repentance Is illustrated by somebody weeping over their sins, right? I we've heard that before He was so broken. He was so repentant. He was crying But you may find this interesting most of you would already know this perhaps you don't repentance doesn't necessarily Have tears that accompany it Sometimes they do sometimes there's something that happens and broken and contrite spirit You you might have and and there are tears that flow because you realize what you've done has been injurious to others and Painful and and you've gone through things as a result of that and there may be tears of sorrow over that but But repentance is not an emotion. It's a decision and I think that's where a lot of people make the mistake They say no, I don't feel like I've repented because I haven't felt an emotion You know my wife marie when she was my girlfriend spoke to me on one occasion and and she had committed her heart to christ I think three weeks are so into coming to a bible study. I was teaching. I was teaching a bible study to my brother frank He had given his heart to the lord and I was driving from norwalk to ontario. He began to invite friends from work to uh to the bible study and then one day this young woman walks in and uh my brother I still remember my brother saying david. This is marie. I'll always remember that david. This is marie And I looked up at this young lady and she looked back at me and she came running at me tried to kiss me. I said no, no, no I said no, no, no, you may not do that Ah, she just looks at me like yes or what and she went and sat down And she came to the bible study the next week. She didn't the next week She came again and never stopped. She's been with me since the third week of her first meeting of me and so um My sister madeline had spoken to her and my sister madeline had led marie to faith in christ And so that's how my my wife girl who became the girl who became my girlfriend and my wife later on That's how she got saved and one day she was speaking to me and she said this to me. She said I don't think i'm really I don't know i'm saved And I said and why is that?  I said That's not what repentance is repentance and scripture is a change of mind Sometimes there are emotions Sometimes there are people we've been at the at that at that altar if you will sometimes there are Crimes, you know my god what I have done what I have done god forgive me god forgive me a sinner But not always I may have somebody watching online right now or somebody in this room who may have even questioned that about yourself Have I changed am I I haven't you know, I hear these people give testimonies and they cry me I don't feel any of that maybe i'm not saved Well, maybe you're not I don't know I can't be the judge of that But I can say this that true repentance Is not an emotion True repentance is a decision of the will It's hearing what god says agreeing with him And saying to him be merciful to me because I am condemned as a sinner forgive me Now you you may you may have tears of joy You may you may smile and say how I can almost I can feel I can feel I feel different That's what happened to me and that's why marie was wondering because when I got saved I I told her this it was like the weight of the world just rolled off my shoulders I I finally I finally could breathe again. I could finally I just knew something had happened But but I that that feeling isn't what guaranteed my salvation because about three weeks later I was speaking to a friend of my name george And he's the one who stood up with me when I got saved And I said to him george, I don't think I'm saved and he said why because I don't feel saved And george, you know, he was very wise. He was my elder. He had been a christian for almost a year very deep man But to me a years a long time Compared to three weeks four weeks He said david and he's the one who reminded me and and taught me Again, he said it isn't what you're feeling It's the facts And you have faith in facts And the feelings follow Faith in facts and feelings follow It's never the feeling It's always the fact So you have the fact and you have faith And then you have feelings to follow He said you're not saved because you feel safe You're saved because god saved you You're saved because god's word can be trusted But there are evidences of salvation because there have been people who say oh, I'm a christian As they're boozing it up or You know of whatever sin maybe The sin they like oh, yeah, I'm a christian. I just write, you know, no, no, no because That's what repentance is. It's a change of mind concerning God's way of entering into heaven a life that you're living And it becomes an agreement with what he says Is true So repentance is a change of mind and again repentance is not Only felt when it is it's a changed way of life in acts 26 verse 20 the apostle paul said this He said first to those in damascus Then to those in jerusalem And in aljadea And to the gentiles also I preached that they should repent Turn to god And prove their repentance Demonstrate the repentance by their deeds So your your life Demonstrates genuine repentance It's a transformed life And that's part of why he said in verse 27 Let my advice be acceptable Break off your sins That's repentance Be righteous that's a result of repenting and your iniquities By showing mercy to the poor you demonstrate that it's actually happened by what you do You see I mentioned this and you already know this if you've been with me going through daniel or have read daniel before an ebacan Esser could be cruel I mean think about that i'm gonna cut your bodies up and i'm gonna or i'm gonna throw you in a fiery furnace I mean when we saw the The the three young men in the fiery furnace and all of that and how he had had his soldiers Who had taken them to the mouth of that furnace and the soldiers died too that soldiers died That's cruelty It's when he said to these soldiers accompany these young men and throw them in the furnace He was giving them the death sentence He was saying you're gonna die and they did they went up there They cast these young men in and the fire burned them to death He was a very very cruel man He could be extremely cruel and that's why he's speaking to him in this way. He says show mercy You're a man who's who's who's always obviously known for your cruelty You need to show humility and you need to repent And repentance will be accompanied by a concern a concern for other people And that will be what is called the fruit of repentance So cease being so angry cease being so cruel and begin to be merciful That'll demonstrate that you understand who the god of heaven actually is well He speaks to him and he says if you do that there may be there may be a lengthening of your prosperity Well verse 28 All this came upon king nebuchadnezzar At the end of the 12 months a year later He was walking around the royal palace of Babylon And the king spoke and he's speaking to himself apparently Oh Is not this great Babylon That i've built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty Oh, i've done a good job Look at me Look how beautiful this is And so he begins to boast about What he's done he couldn't contain himself now Perhaps for a year he had turned over this new leaf But he had never genuinely repented And ultimately what happens is his true self was revealed I have seen this you have seen this Where somebody says I almost got killed or I almost got arrested and I'm gonna change man. I'm gonna That was close I almost got killed.  I'll I'll serve you. I'll do this or I'll do that Uh, I did even as a new christian there used to be these The radio longer 50 years ago something called radio I was listening to it and it was called am that's another one and Because nobody less listened to fm radio, by the way, all of you guys have been raised with that or satellite radio for the younger ones, right? Internet radio whatever we grew up with what was called am radio nobody listened to fm radio and fm radio all of the band was empty And on a certain day a friend of mine friends of mine would gather together and they would listen to this one fm station because they guy the guy had something called a stereo Which was really new Because that was a time Ancient history. I'll just share a minute with you You would actually be going with your parents will say as a kid and you'd go buy a hotel motel really and it would say color tv That would be on a big banner there like wow Color tv because they didn't have color tv and if you got a big tv it was going to be 19 inches you were You were big time you and so I listened to am there was kkk k rla and khj and What was the other one runny? Wolf bandjack, yeah Anyway I'm walking down just let's talk for a runny Tell me about it. Tell me about it But what happened is you would actually they would have these giveaways and they'd say if you If you are the 11th caller you can win a hundred dollars That's a lot of money back in 1967 60. It's a lot of money. And I and then in 1971 I got saved I didn't have a job. I didn't like to work and so I would listen to the radio and I would call that was my job and And I remember telling god I said if you if you let me win a hundred I heard something about tithing that is something like 10 percent I will give you 10 bucks and I actually said that I will give you 10 bucks because I hear it's around 10 I'll give you 10 Then I you know the sixth caller the third caller and I just kept on I was working so hard and then finally I was saying all I need is 10 bucks all I need I'll give you 90 dollars See, so I learned a long and I never never want I I learned a long time ago about bargaining with god and and Sometimes you can have a man. I almost died or I need this and I'm gonna change and And it can happen for him. It was 12 months 12 months. He said man. I that that dream Scared me so badly I've got to straighten up I've got to fly right For a year But it just came out. There he is walking around. He's looking at this unbelievable landscape and he said oh my pride I I cannot I cannot uh I can't keep myself from saying something notice the king spoke saying in verse 30 is Not this great Babylon that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty He's boasting There's all these beautiful buildings. They were constructed of of brick and and stone There were the gardens the hanging gardens of Babylon And these hanging gardens were planted on top of a building he served to beautify Keep the building cool from the summer heat. He's looking at the beautiful hanging gardens He had temples he could see in the distance His own city had parks and armaments and architecture that was amazing Everything that money could buy and he's looking at it saying how amazing how beautiful this is and I did this Oh myself well verse 31 well the word was still in the king's mouth a voice fell from heaven King Nebuchadnezzar To you it is spoken The kingdom has departed from you And they shall drive you from men in your dwelling shall be with the beast of the field They shall make you eat grass like oxen Seven times shall pass over you until you know That the most high rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever he chooses That very hour the word was fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from men Ate grass like oxen his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagles feathers and his nails like birds claws And at the end of the time I Nebuchadnezzar lifted my eyes to heaven My understanding returned to me. I blessed the most high praised and honored him who lives forever For his dominion is an everlasting dominion. His kingdom is from generation to generation All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing he does according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth No one can restrain his hand or say to him. What have you done? He immediately went insane As it says he began to live like a beast and commentators when it says seven times Could be up to seven years So from a powerful regal king To a filthy shell of a human being He was more than likely kept in isolation. So his subjects didn't see him Daniel and his friends and other counselors would begin to run the empire And Daniel because of his influence more than likely had influenced the others and told him this is temporary So treat the king with kindness And that time came and ultimately seven years of it And it ended and then he says in verses 34 and 35 that he said he says I and I began as it lifted my eyes to heaven Someone wrote he was saved by a look He was saved by a look to heaven And Isaiah 45 22 looking to me and be saved all you ends of the earth. I'm god. There is no other So he looked up to heaven and he begins to say verse 35. No one can restrain his hand And no one can say to him. What have you done? In other words, god is all powerful god is sovereign god does not answer to man Psalm 115 verse 3 our god is in heaven. He does whatever he pleases Psalm 135 verse 6 whatever the lord pleases he does In heaven and in earth in the seas and in all deep places He is the sovereign king. This is what he learned Of the universe and then he says in verse 36 at the same time my reason returned to me And for the glory of my kingdom my honor and splendor returned to me My counselors and nobles resorted to me. I was restored to my kingdom An excellent majesty was added to me now I never can as a praise and extol an honor the king of heaven All of whose works are truth and his ways justice and Those who walk in pride he's able to put down Speak in from some experience here Now prior to chapter 4 nebuchadnezzar had looked at the god of israel in a way that he would look at his own gods But chapter 4 now reveals that he worships the king of heaven Again, I mentioned this at the beginning. There's a debate as to whether nebuchadnezzar became a true follower of the god of israel Notice that he acknowledged god as a sovereign ruler notice that he called him the king of heaven And he also made it clear that god is all powerful and unstoppable And many commentators would say That this man became a true believer in the god of israel and it closes With an amazing testament To the fruitfulness of daniel's godly life Because even the king of babalon Was moved by his testimony never underestimate The value Of a life that is lived openly for god on the workplace Never forget some of you Some of you may may need to be reminded of this or encouraged in this I don't know how to put this because I made myself laugh with the thought. I'll stop go again um Sometimes we think people are watching us and maybe they're not it's because we're a little kooky But the fact is people are watching My father got saved And he told me this he said david He said I saw You come to christ And I said to myself He needed him. I saw your sister come to christ And I asked myself Why did she he said david I knew I was better than you But I knew I wasn't as good as my daughter He said so I combined Seeing your life and her life And that is what caused my dad to listen to the message You have neighbors who know that you're a christian You'll be surprised I have an extra neighbor. I've lived in the same home for 25 years and uh He didn't talk to me I went out 25 years. I went out And he has a Mustang and And I admire nice cars and he's a 66 fastback. Some of you guys know what that is And uh, I like that. That's a cool car And so when we first moved in there, I walked I saw him. He pulled it out and I walked up to him And that's a nice car. Now normally car guys are real friendly This guy's not He's just not So I kind of tried to visit with him and he didn't want to talk and even to this day. He doesn't talk to me for whatever reason But one of the guys in our church Talked to me A while back now and he says, you know your next door neighbor I said Not really but yeah He goes I work with him I said, oh Yeah, he knows you're a pastor How He didn't talk to me He did I'm telling you you'd be surprised at people who know who you are without you even knowing it You will be surprised and I have told my staff I've said never forget who you are Because you may go to a restaurant You may go to a store. You may go to Costco And there are people that are walking by that you don't even know But they know who you are Marie has had people walk up to her in the supermarket Looking into the shopping cart to see what she's buying And that's why I've taught her put the beer on the bottom Next to the water They have looked into the cart I've had them walk up to me when I'm eating to look at the iced tea I'm drinking To see whether it's a drink You will be surprised At the people who watch you Because you are what has been called the living bible And when they watch you They see whether your faith is real one last Comment some of you who came to the 40-year anniversary celebration my son David shared this and I'll close with this speaking of the power of a testimony In our home when my kids are growing up. We had the three strike rule if they use a profane word what strike I'd say strike one Strike two Strike three we change it. That's it. I don't want this and so my kids grew up that way I was home I was in the front room. I thought I was by myself There was nobody home And so I sat down and turned on a movie I didn't know what kind of movie it was. It was an action movie of some sort I'm just sitting there because I like action movies. I can't do it. So I'll let somebody else do it and entertain me And they use a bad word And under my breath I said something like well, that's that and I changed My son David was in the other room And he came and told me and he said this Last week he said I wanted to see what my father would do Because he didn't know any he didn't know I was home. He thought he My dad thought he was alone He said and I knew that that movie had a bad word in it. Oh really Dave we need to talk about that That was strike four that's that kind of word He said I wanted to see what my dad would do I didn't see anything I was quiet And I heard my father say well, that's that And he changed it You never know You never know For me it was my son But there are others who have seen me in so many places And I'm always aware why because the power of a godly life Impacts people never forget that Never forget that And Daniel's life impacted this mighty king Never can answer Father we ask That you would teach us your ways And that lord we would live in such a way It's a ring glory to you lord as we see this story of how you humbled this most magnificent mighty king And brought him to an awareness that he is nothing and that you are everything Oh lord in jesus name. I pray that we the church Would live as if we actually believed that ourselves for god Even the present government that we have Is something that you have allowed to take place I just asked that we would work within the confines of this And not take our eyes off the fact that We are witnesses to this world also And the way that we live can bring glory to you Help us remember And even as our eyes are closed our heads are bowed perhaps there are some right now in this room You need to get right with the lord You need to get right with god or you're watching online There are people right now on the overflow. You need to get right But if you're in this room right now and you need to to give give your heart to christ or or return to him Whatever the case may be as We wait for a moment. Would you raise your hand and let me pray for you if you know that you need to Father you see these hands. These are people who are saying right now. I need to be right with my god Lord work in my life forgive me my sins cleanse me lord fill me with your power. I want to serve you Lord, I pray that you would work in these whose arms was hands are raised lord that you would reach down right now touch them That they might right now since your your freedom and your forgiveness And and lord the cleansing that comes in and that you would fill them with your presence And so we lift up to you right now our lives and and god we ask that you would just work in us And for these in particular whose hands are raised that you would you would you would make them new Right now And by faith that we receive from you you are the mighty god and we will follow you. Thank you. Bless you You can put your hands down And jesus I ask that you would work in all of our lives That we would live for you And we do so now and we'll do so now in jesus name. Amen