Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayer for attention to Daniel chapter 4 and reading
for our text verses 2 and 3. This is a king, King Nebuchadnezzar,
seeking to show forth what God has done for him. Verse two and three, I thought
it good to show the signs and wonders that the high God hath
wrought toward me. How great are his signs, and
how mighty are his wonders. His kingdom is an everlasting
kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation. Daniel 4, verses 2 and 3. As we gather and would remember
the Lord's goodness to our Queen over 70 years, we would remember
who is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We would remember
the danger that which Nebuchadnezzar fell into of ascribing all of
the glory of his kingdom to himself, and not giving that glory to
God. He says at the end of this chapter,
those that walk in pride, he is able to abase. And whenever
we look upon a kingdom, look upon given us or set us over. We are to remember what the children
of Israel were charged with remembering as they came into the promised
land, that it is God that giveth thee power to get wealth. It is not ourselves. Now Nebuchadnezzar
had been through this time and he felt it right to speak of
what God had done for him personally. And I hope it is with us each
that realization we do need a personal testimony of the Lord in our
lives, of a call by grace, of conversion, of being brought
to know the true and living God and put the crown on the right
head has reigned for these 70 years,
only 25 when she came to the throne, and she is the longest
reigning monarch in the British and Commonwealth history, and
in fact another two years it will be the longest reigning
throughout Europe as well. Nebuchadnezzar was not as long
reign at all. In fact, the times of the greatness
of Babylon was little over the length of time of our Queen's
reign. And of course, that went over
several kings during that time. But nevertheless, it was an extensive
kingdom And I want to look with the Lord's help this morning. Firstly, thinking of our Lord's
kingdom, about his kingdom and dominion, will contrast that
with that of an earthly monarch and Nebuchadnezzar here. And then secondly, the signs
and wonders wrought towards him, that is, towards Nebuchadnezzar
here by God, personally so, and think under that heading of what
we need in a personal way. But then thirdly, Nebuchadnezzar,
his assessment of God's signs and wonders. He assesses it really
in these words, how great are his signs and how mighty are
his wonders. He doesn't have small thoughts,
small views of the Lord. The things that he has gone through,
he has high views of the Lord and thinks it right and it is
right. to show to the world and hear
part of the inspired, infallible Word of God. God has chosen to
use the words of a heathen king, a king that was raised up to
be a servant of God, to chastise the children of Israel, to bring
them into 70 years' captivity. It is a mark in the history of
Israel that is noted as we come to the New Testament in Matthew,
where we have the 14 generations, from Abraham to David, then 14
generations from David to the carrying away into Babylon, and
then from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ, another
14 generations. This was an important mark in
the history of the line to Christ from Abraham to our Lord. But firstly, to consider about
his kingdom, about our Lord's, about Nebuchadnezzar's, regarding
Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom, at the time that he reigned, some
43 years. And it was at the beginning of
when they first were under tribute with Assyria, and then they overcame
Assyria, some 612 years before Christ. But only 73 years later
was when they fell to the Medes and the Persians. But in that time, they took Egypt,
they took Judah, they had an extensive kingdom. And Nebuchadnezzar,
he mentions this, he describes it, and Daniel does as well,
in verse 22. It is thou, O King, that art
grown and become strong, for thy greatness is grown and reacheth
unto heaven and thy dominion to the end of the earth. Daniel acknowledges that dominion. And then the king himself, when
he, just before his mind is taken from him, The king spake and
said, is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house
of the kingdom by the might of my power and for the honour of
my majesty? And he speaks of something of
that greatness of Babylon at that time. We know of the great
Ishtar Gate, we know of the hanging gardens, we know of how grand,
how lovely, beautiful that place was, and yet now there's no evidence,
nothing of it is remaining at all. Isaiah, some 150 or so years
before, had foretold of Babylon, foretold of the destruction of
it by a nation that has yet had not even written up the Medes
and the Persians. So we have the relatively short
time of the nation, really, of Babylon and certainly the shorter
time of Nebuchadnezzar. But over a country and a kingdom
that was very, very extensive and very, very powerful. But
what about the kingdom of our Lord? This is what Nebuchadnezzar
now, after all that he's been through, this is what he wants
to speak of. It's no longer his kingdom, but
the Lord's kingdom. He says in verse three, his kingdom
is an everlasting kingdom. And his dominion is from generation
to generation. What a contrast. What a contrast. Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom was
soon to end after him. Then came the time when the writing
was on the wall, Belshazzar's day, and we have that kingdom
numbered. and that same night it was destroyed. But here in Abhigyanesa, he has
been brought to view God's kingdom as an everlasting one. That is,
from before the foundation of the world, a kingdom that was
known and formed by God, of a people chosen in Christ, before the
foundation of the world, loved with an everlasting love and
therefore in time with loving-kindness being drawn. A kingdom that extends
beyond this time-state. We think of the words of the
dying thief, Lord, remember me. when thou comest into thy kingdom. Our Lord's words, my kingdom
is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world,
then would my servants fight. And yet he speaks of a spiritual
kingdom. And he says the kingdom of God
cometh not with observation, it is within you. And the Lord
sets up his kingdom in the hearts and lives of his people. And that kingdom, when that is
set up there, is an everlasting kingdom. It doesn't perish when
his people die. They, like the dying thief, ascend
to that kingdom above, partner of God's throne, and to be with
him forever and forever. What a contrast we have here
of the changing scenes of kingdoms in this world and our own kingdom. We tend to think, and I thought
with myself, that I was born during our Queen's reign. She's been the only Queen that
I've known of the British Isles. And yet, if the Lord will, Soon
there will be a change, a change that many, many millions in this
land have not known in their lifetime at all. A change from
a queen to a king. And yet here we have set before
us where there is no change. The Lord is king from one generation
to another generation. From our children, from us, to
our children, to our grandchildren, we think of the many generations,
from the beginning of time to the end of time, and we have
a kingdom that spans over them all. And Nebuchadnezzar can see
this. After what he's gone through,
he can see it. and he gives praise and honour
and glory unto the Lord. We must remember that this world
exists not for man to live independent of God. It exists for God's honour
and glory and all that is done in it is for the good of his
people and for the furtherance of his purposes towards those
that shall be with him forever and ever in heaven. A people
that have been lost and ruined in the fall, but a people whom
he has redeemed at Calvary and a people who his will is that
they be with me in my kingdom, that they may behold my glory,
the glory that the Father has given the Son. With Nebuchadnezzar,
his glory, was given Him and He took that glory as if He'd
gotten it Himself. Yet even our Lord Jesus Christ,
though the glory is His, yet He still speaks of it as given
Him by His Father. And may we be amongst those that
join with Nebuchadnezzar and that we have a right view and
think it right to speak it as well, of the everlasting kingdom
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. May we know it in the day of
grace, may we know it in our own heart, that it is not self
that reigns, but Christ that reigns over self. that our spirit
is the same as Saul of Tarsus, the Apostle Paul, when he was
converted. Lord, what wilt thou have me
to do? And his desire to be in subjection
unto the Lord. Where there is a king, where
there is a kingdom, the mark of such a a royal sovereign. I know today
it's not the same as in the days of the scriptures or even the
days in our history where the kings had much, much more power
than they have today. But in the scriptures of truth,
the mark of God's kingdom is his sovereignty. Who decided
to deal with Nebuchadnezzar in the way that we have read in
this passage? The Lord did. Sovereignly did. How he should do it was his decision. The timing was his timing. The warning of it, a year later,
it brought to pass. Just as the king was speaking, his might and his glory. The
Lord was in control, not Nebuchadnezzar. And we would remember that as
applying to every nation, kindred and tongue today, the years before
us, and the years that shall come. An everlasting kingdom. We'll
want to look then, secondly, at the signs and wonders wrought
toward him personally. And again, I'd emphasize how
we do need a personal acquaintance with the God of heaven. Our Lord's
prayer that they might know Thee, the only true God, and thy beloved
Son whom thou hast sent. Countless millions today do not
acknowledge God, do not know Him, do not worship Him, do not
reverence Him, do not obey His laws. What a different thing
when we have a personal reason why we can say we know that there
is a God and that He has dealt with us personally. And this is really what Nebuchadnezzar's
testimony was. In verse 2, I thought it good
to show the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought
toward me. Toward him. Those things that
were done in his life. Or what had been done. Or we
could go back to before this account in the earlier chapters
in Daniel. We could think of the dream that
he had, another dream. But this dream, he couldn't remember
in the morning what the dream was. He knew he had a dream,
but he couldn't remember what it was. And he required of his
wise men that they not only tell him an interpretation, but they
tell him what the dream was first. And when he sought then to slay
all the wise men because they couldn't tell him his dream and
interpretation, it was Daniel that was brought in before him
and was able to do both. The dream was of that great image
and God showing to Nebuchadnezzar himself as the golden-haired
Nebuchadnezzar was, and then those nations, those kingdoms
that would follow after him. And again, it was highlighted
here was a God who could discern the secrets of the heart, who
could do what none other wise man could do. And Nebuchadnezzar,
He was able to say to those wise men, supposedly, that couldn't
make known his dream, you tell me the dream and I will know
that you can tell me the interpretation thereof. And he's very, very
good, good doctrine, good teaching in that. Applied in a gospel
way, you show me a God that is able to convince a person that
they are a sinner, to show the malady, and I will show you the
same God is able to apply the remedy of the gospel and to save
that sinner from their sins. What would we think of a medical
person that said, well, I can cure these diseases, these illnesses,
these things that you could not get from him how he could diagnose
it. He needed someone else to be
able to diagnose the problem at first. Even mechanical things
with a car, for instance, one of the greatest challenges for
a mechanic is not fixing the problem, is finding out what
the problem is. And many, many hours are spent
in trying to find out health-wise what is wrong with someone, what's
causing the symptoms, and in a mechanical sense, what is wrong
with the vehicle, before any attempt can be made to fix it.
Because the remedy must match the problem. And so it is with
those mankind that is dead in trespasses and sins, those that
are lost and ruined in the fall, those who do not know they are
sinners, yet they are sinners, who do not know they are under
condemnation, yet they are under condemnation, that know they
must die the same as all men must. But do not realize that
after death is the judgment. After judgment, there is eternal
hellfire, the eternal death. But do not realize the danger.
We don't by nature. There's only God that is able
to give life, spiritual life, and to convince a person that
they are a sinner. The law of God is used in that
way. The Apostle Paul says, the law
is a schoolmaster unto Christ. The law was given that sin might
abound, that all the world might be brought in guilty before God. And so in the work that God does
with a person is first to bring them down, first to bring them
as a sinner, first to show them that he is on the throne, and
that they are accountable to him and to bring down their proud
looks and their rebellion against him. And this is exactly what
God did here with Nebuchadnezzar. Well, Nebuchadnezzar had that
dream in chapter two. Then in chapter three, we have
the burning fiery furnace It seems almost that he took his
dream and built an image and then commanded everyone to bow
down to that image that he had made. And the three Hebrew children
would not do that. And so were cast into the burning
fiery furnace. But Nebuchadnezzar, he rose up,
he was amazed. He said, did we not cast three
men down? into the furnace, yet I see four
men, loose, walking in the midst of the furnace, and the fourth
is like unto the Son of God. The Lord Jesus Christ, before
his pre-incarnation appearances, was with those Hebrew children
in that fire. When they came out, there was
not even the smell of fire on them. The fire had burnt their
bonds, it had killed those that cast them into the fire, but
they had been completely preserved. The fire had no power over them
at all, and Nebuchadnezzar had seen that. We have another lesson
in this. When God converted Saul of Tarsus,
the Apostle Paul, he said to him on the Damascus road, It
is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. What were those pricks? Things that had happened before.
He had seen Stephen stoned to death. He had heard what Stephen
had said. They'd laid his clothes, or the
clothes of those that were stoning him, at Saul's feet. He was that close. Had there
been those things that really pricked his conscience, really
troubled him, gone before? Very often, when the Lord begins
with a person and begins to teach them about himself, then there
are those things that are done that don't work immediately in
the way of conversion, but they cause that person to think to
be troubled, to have things they can't understand. And where the
Lord is in it, he will bring to a conclusion, a conclusion
similar to what was here. Because we find in this chapter,
the Lord deals directly with Nebuchadnezzar, takes away his
reason, brings him to be out of his mind, to act like a beast, to be out in the fields for seven
years. So I understand the seven times
would be the effect on his body, more than just seven days. The
effect of the kingdom, more than just seven months, but seven
times. passed over him and yet it was
an appointed time and he had to remain in that time
until the work was done, until he was humbled, until he was
brought down, then his reason was given to him again. And so it is with every one of
the people of God. The Lord will deal with them,
that pride and self might fall, that Jesus Christ be all in all. We are taught to be humble before
God, humbled as a sinner under condemnation. Pride is the great
mark of sin with man. that though he is so miserable,
so wretched, so vile, so undone, yet he lifts himself up and shakes
his fist at the Eternal God. But the scriptures speak of putting
one's mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope. And Nebuchadnezzar
here, the great work that was done that he was humbled before
God and humbled to hear hear the Lord and to bow before Him
and to speak well of Him and to set other men to look upon
Him as well. The things that were done for
Him was that which was foretold, that which came to pass, a kingdom
that was taken away for a period and then restored, naturally
speaking, We can read of several kingdoms in the Word of God,
that even while the king was strong and healthy, were those
that came and took the kingdoms away from him, usurped them.
But in this time for seven years, there was no such thing happened,
and the kingdom returned to him. Those signs, those things, would
not have escaped his notice, that God had sovereignly I hope
that in our lives we don't ascribe things to chance, but we look
to see the same evidence of a God that is working sovereignly,
that is dealing with us, and the effect is to humble us before
him. It's a painful thing to be humble,
painful thing to know our dependence, our helplessness, our inability. We may be this morning brought
into a net, unable to move, not know which way to go, held fast,
beset with sin, troubled by providences, afflicted with afflictions, whether
in ourselves or loved ones, in a position we know that these
things are in God's hand and He has chosen that path and done
that which is appointed for us and we are humbled before the
Lord. There are those times we rise
up against Him but the Lord knows how to keep us in trials long
enough so that we bow before the Lord nevertheless not my
will, but thy will be done." It's a blessed thing to be in
a position where we have an appetite and a longing for the Saviour,
for the forgiveness and pardon of our sins, to know the salvation
of the Lord. Jonah had to go into the whale's
belly for him to be able to say salvation is of the Lord. Those
things that the people of God have had to go through have been
low, sometimes very dark places. And it's a dark place when all
we can see is sin and a broken law and death. The apostle said,
who shall deliver me from this body of death? But he had an
answer. I thank God through Jesus Christ,
my Lord. We may ask ourselves, what has
the Lord done to us personally? Has it had, and when we think
of this account here, a long chapter, and really summarised
as to the end result, which we might despise. We might think
all of what the Lord is doing in our lives is not much. But here is one thing. Those
that walk in pride is able to obey. Nebuchadnezzar doesn't
think that's a small thing. It's a great thing. And we should
not despise what the Lord has done. You might say here, the
Lord took seven years to teach Nebuchadnezzar this. You might
say, but it's been many years. that I've had trial and tribulation,
afflictions, but the Lord uses these things. He must, through much tribulation,
enter the kingdom. Despise not now the chastening
of the Lord, or the teaching and the instruction, and that
which brings us to value the Saviour, and in our sufferings
to think the sufferings of the Saviour and what He has wrought,
that there should be a kingdom at all, a kingdom of grace, a
kingdom of mercy, a kingdom of sinners saved by grace, a kingdom
that we are part of, that the Lord has known us, known our
sins, borne our sins, chosen us, and has called us by grace
and quickened us. Our Queen doesn't know any of
her subjects like the Lord knows his subjects. She has not died
for them nor suffered for them. She is not to give an everlasting
kingdom for them. She needs those blessings herself
and we pray that she might be blessed with them. But we need
these personal works. We might look upon another, but
what another passes through, unless they're directly related
to us or close to us and it becomes what we pass through, is not
enough. We need that work like the man
that was born blind. One thing I know. One thing I
know. Nebby Gnese could say, one thing
I know. There are signs. There are wonders,
and they have been wrought toward me. He says, I thought it good
to show the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought
toward me. I wonder how much we can look
on our lives, and we can view what we have been through, and
we can view them as signs and wonders. We can view that these
were done by the high with Nebuchadnezzar and that
we can think it a good thing to tell. Where should we tell
it? Tell it to the Church of God.
Tell it to the people of God. You know those four lepers that
went out at the time that Samaria was besieged by the Assyrians
and God had caused the Assyrians to hear a noise of hooves, horses,
and they fled. And the lepers, the four lepers,
went out. They saw no man in the camp.
They started to hide, hide all of the evidences of the riches
and all what was done, hide it in the tent. But one said, we
do not well. This is a day of good tidings.
Let us go and tell the king's household. There is a time to
tell the wonders of God. With Nebuchadnezzar, it was not
in the middle of his seven years. It was not in the last year. It was when God brought that
time of teaching and bringing down to an end, and then it was
a time to speak and to write, when the Lord had lifted him
up again, and he could praise the Lord and bless the Lord. may be with us. We are still
in the fires, still in the teaching, still in the affliction, but
a blessed expectation when the Lord shall bring us out from
it, when we shall then look back as Nebuchadnezzar did and see
what the Lord has done. Well, what was his assessment?
That was our third point. What was the assessment of what
God had done with him? Those signs and wonders. He says
in verse 3, how great are his signs and how mighty are his
wonders. There are those times that we
can be in trouble, whether in providence or in our souls, And
we cry unto the Lord in our trouble. But then when we're delivered
from that trouble, along comes Satan and says, it's nothing,
it's nothing. You would have been delivered
anyway. There's nothing to do with your prayer. It wasn't such
a bad thing anyway. And I find what is very profitable
that when we discern that we have prayed for something and
the Lord has answered that prayer, to try and in our thoughts go
back to when we were praying, when we had not got the answer. Perhaps it was that something
was lost and we were looking for it and it was very important
vital for us. And we prayed the Lord would
show us where it was. And He did. We found it. We were
glad we found it. But then we don't see a greatness
in what the Lord has done. We don't praise Him. We minimise
what the Lord has done and rob Him of praise and thanksgiving.
You know, on this occasion, We seek to try and give thanks for
our Queen, for her reign. But how easy it is to just minimise
things, not realise what could have been, take for granted things. And that applies to our lives
as well. We read with Hannah when she
prayed for a child and the Lord gave her Samuel. She returned,
she paid her vow, and then she returns to the path of prayer. And you don't read of Samuel
featuring in that prayer. It is all praise to God, what
he has done, the wonders that he had wrought. And that is what
is to be dwelt here. Nebuchadnezzar is not naming
in these opening verses what these signs are. Yes, he goes
through all what he's been through, but he emphasises this. How great are his signs and how
mighty are his wonders. What are our views of the Lord's
dealings with us? What are the views of Calvary? What are the views of the ordinances of the house
of God, baptism, the Lord's Supper, those signs given by God to the
church. What are our views of how he
has dealt with us? Maybe moving men's hearts, affecting
other men, other people. They've seen it. There are many
witnesses to what had happened to Nebuchadnezzar. may be with
us as well, the children of Israel, many witnesses, other nations
looking on as the Lord dealt with them. But may we have that
estimation of the Lord's work. We're exhorted in the Psalms
to see thou magnify the work of God which men behold. But if we magnify something,
we make it look bigger. We cannot make God's work any
bigger, greater than it is. But the people of God, as they
speak like Nebuchadnezzar did, they magnify God's work. They
speak in a way that lift him up, extol him, praise him. The Lord said of his people,
this people have I formed for myself, they shall show forth
my praise. And here we have Nebuchadnezzar,
Gentile king, doing just that and showing forth God's praise.
Well, may we be of those that are able to come in with something
of the spirit of Nebuchadnezzar, be able to tell like those two
on the way to Emmaus, what was done in the way and how Jesus
had been made known unto them, to tell forth God's work, God's
work in the kingdom of men, God's work in grace, teaching, instructing
in the ways of righteousness and bringing to know and love
and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, believing in him and trusting
in him alone for salvation. May the Lord bless us then and
we join with Nebuchadnezzar, I thought it good, to show the
signs and wonders that the high God hath brought toward me. How great are his signs and how
mighty are his wonders. His kingdom is an everlasting
kingdom and His dominion is from generation to generation. Amen.