And at the end of the days, I,
Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes unto heaven, and my understanding
returned unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised
and honored Him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting
dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation.
Nebuchadnezzar worships God. And that's what we hope we'll
be able to do this morning. Will you stand with me and open
your hymnals to number 37. How great thou art. Tom's going
to come lead us. Number 37. Yeah. O Lord my God, when I in awesome
wonder Consider all the works Thy hands have made, I see the
stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe
displayed. Then sings my soul, my Savior
God, to Thee How great Thou art, how great Thou art Then sings
my soul, my Savior God, to Thee How great Thou art Great thou
art! When through the woods and forest
glades I wander And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur And hear the brook and
feel the gentle breeze Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee. How great Thou art! How great Thou art! Then sings my soul, my Savior
God, to Thee How great Thou art! How great Thou art! And when I think that God, His
Son not sparing, Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in. That on the cross, my burden
gladly bearing, He bled and died to take away my sin. Then sings my soul, my Savior,
God to Thee, How great Thou art! How great Thou art! Then sings my soul, my Savior
God, to Thee How great Thou art! How great Thou art! When Christ shall come with shout
of acclamation, And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart! Then I shall bow in humble adoration,
and there proclaim, My God, how great Thou art! Then sings my soul, my Savior
God, to Thee, How great Thou art! How great Thou art! Then sings my soul, my Savior
God, to Thee. How great Thou art! How great Thou art! Please be seated. God has called us to worship,
and I pray you would join me to Ephesians chapter one. I can't speak for others who
stand at this pulpit, but every time you do, even walking up
here, God, please put in my heart what you want said. Give me the
ability to say it clearly and concisely. So thankful God has given us
a faithful servant to declare Christ to us. And one of the
things he's declared, a great truth, and that is how much of
God's word do you have to believe to be a believer? And of course,
it's really very simple. Either you believe it all or
you believe none of it. And if God gives you the faith
to believe it all, Then you know that whatever we read, we believe
it even if we don't understand it. And we believe it even if
we can't explain it. Not because the word, because
who's penned these words. This is the word of God. And
I pray this morning he'd give us the faith to believe his word.
I want us to realize there's three, there's a phrase that
comes three times in these 14 verses. I thought, wow, I guess
the Lord has to repeat these phrases because you've got some
pretty thick heads that need to hear it over and over again.
Listen to what I'm telling you and believe it. Paul, an apostle
of Jesus Christ by the will of God. That separates religion
and gospel right there, doesn't it? To the saints which are at
Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus, Grace be to you
and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who
hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ. According as he hath chosen us,
his people, in Christ before the foundation of the world,
that his people should be holy and without blame before God
in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to himself, and why did he do it? According to
the good pleasure of his will. Verse six, to the praise of the
glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the
beloved in whom we have redemption through Christ's blood, the forgiveness
of sins, according to the riches of his grace, wherein he hath
abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known
unto his people the mystery of his will, according to his good
pleasure, which he hath purposed in himself that in the dispensation
of the fullness of times, he might gather together in one
all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on
earth, even in him, in whom we have obtained an inheritance
being predestinated, predestinated according to the purpose of him
That's Christ who worketh all things after the counsel of his
own will. Verse 12, that we, his people
should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ
and whom you also trusted after that you heard the word of the
truth. That's the gospel, the gospel of your salvation. The
gospel, not a gospel, the gospel, the only gospel that can save.
In whom after you believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit
of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the
redemption of the purchase possession, that's us, unto the praise of
his glory. Man since the start of Adam and
Eve has been trying to figure out what's the purpose of man. What's my purpose? What's your
purpose? God's told us. We just don't want to believe
it. We are here for His glory. His glory. Not my glory. Not my ease. Not my comfort. For His glory. And we are to
give praise that He gets all the glory. If God gets all the
glory, his people will be comforted and will rejoice. That's why
we're here. We're here this morning, Lord.
We plead that you get all the glory, that he would enable us
to do that. Please join me as we try to pray
to the Lord. Lord, we agree and confess to
you We have no hope of life outside of Christ. We have no strength. We have no power. And Lord, we
are resting in you for all of our salvation and all of our
life for the faith to believe and to be sustained by you. And I pray that you would send
your spirit to us this morning and give us the ability to give
you glory in all things. Even those times when we are
disheartened and troubled to steal, Lord, these troubles and
times have been ordained by you that we would continue to give
you glory. Forgive us, Lord, for wanting
to steal your glory from you. Keep us, Lord. We pray for our
brother. We thank you for sending him
to us and for your gospel preachers, wherever your people gather this
morning, that your hand would be upon them. Oh Lord, that you
would speak to them and comfort them and give them boldness to
declare you. And as your people, prepare our
hearts to hear. And Lord, that you would give
us the faith by your spirit to believe. Forgive us of our sin
against you. We ask these things and that
all glory be yours. Amen. Let's all stand once again. We'll
sing the hymn that's on the back of your bulletin. Repeat the last verse twice. Christ is coming, let creation
from her thrones and travails cease. Let the glorious proclamation,
hope restore and faith increase. Christ is coming! Christ is coming! Come, Thou blessed Prince of
Peace! Come, Thou blessed Prince of
Peace! Earth can now but tell the story
of thy bitter cross and pain. She shall yet behold thy glory
when thou comest back to reign. Christ is coming. Christ is coming. Let each heart repeat the strain. Let each heart repeat the strain. Though once cradled in a manger,
off no pillow but the sod, Here an alien and a stranger, mocked
of men, disowned of God, Christ is coming! Christ is coming! Come, Thou blessed Prince of
Peace! Come, Thou blessed Prince of
Peace! Long thine exiles have been pining,
Far from rest and home and thee, But in heavenly vestures shining,
They their loving Lord shall see Christ is coming, Christ
is coming Haste the joyous jubilee Haste the joyous jubilee With
that whole blessed hope before us, let no heart remain unstrung. Let the mighty Advent chorus
onward roll from tongue to tongue. Christ is coming. Christ is coming. Come, Lord Jesus, quickly come. Come, Lord Jesus, quickly come. Please be seated. We're going
to have special music now, Greg. When peace like a river attendeth
my way When sorrows like sea billows roll Whatever my lot Thou hast taught
me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my
soul. It is well, it is well with my
soul. Though Satan should buffet, Though
trials should come, Let this blaster show Brine's control. that Christ has regarded my helpless
estate and has shed his own blood for my soul. It is well with my soul It is
well, it is well with my soul. My sin, O the bliss of this glorious
thought, My sin, not in part, but the whole, Is nailed to the
cross, and I bear it no more, Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
O my soul. It is well, it is well with my
soul. It is well, it is well with my
soul. and lord haste the day when my
face shall be sighed the clouds be rolled back as a scroll The trump shall resound, and
the Lord shall descend. Even so, it is well with my soul. It is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my
soul. Thank you. I love that hymn. My sin, not
in part, but the whole, was nailed to the cross. Will you open your Bibles with
me to Daniel chapter 4, please? Daniel chapter 4. This is a continuation from the
previous hour on every believer's confession. Of all men the Lord reached down
into Babylon and was pleased to make himself known to Nebuchadnezzar. And the things that Nebuchadnezzar
writes in chapter 4 of Daniel is every believer's confession. He finds himself at rest in his
house flourishing in his palace and the Lord arrested him, didn't
he? Now, after he finds, after he
goes to Daniel and gets the interpretation of the dream, we won't read all
of these verses but if you've read it, you know the dream was
that Nebuchadnezzar envisioned a very large tree that reached
up into the heavens and that all the inhabitants of the earth
found safety under this tree and that the fruit of this tree
provided food for everybody. And then the tree was cut down. And for seven years, the stump
was left there with a band of brass around it. And then at
the end of the seven years, the tree began to grow. And Nebuchadnezzar
was told by the prophet that he was that tree. and that his
kingdom was the kingdom that provided for the food and protection
of everybody in the world and it was that way. And then Nebuchadnezzar
was lifted up with pride and look what he says in verse 30,
and 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 honor of my majesty. Now turn with me to
the last verse in this chapter. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise
and extol and honor the king of heaven, all whose works are
truth and his ways judgment, and those that walk in pride
he is able to abase. Nebuchadnezzar was a proud man.
Nebuchadnezzar was the ruler of the world. The first worldwide
kingdom was Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar ruled it. Remember the figure
with the gold head and the silver arms and the brass belly and
the iron legs? Those are the kingdoms that ruled
the world and Nebuchadnezzar was that golden head. Now he
thought that he had built the kingdom. And the Lord's gonna
humble Nebuchadnezzar. He's gonna cut him down. Notice
in verse 31, while the word was in the king's mouth, there fell
a voice from heaven saying, O King Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is
spoken. The kingdom is departed from
thee and they shall drive thee from men and thy dwelling shall
be with the beast of the field, and they shall make thee to eat
grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee." Now, the
word times there is years. So, seven years, Nebuchadnezzar,
you're going to act like a beast. Until thou know that the Most
High ruleth in the kingdoms of men, and giveth it to whomsoever
he will. The same hour, the same hour
that Nebuchadnezzar proudly declared himself to be the one who built
the kingdom, the same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar
and he was driven from men and did eat grass as oxen and his
body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hairs were grown
like eagle feathers and his nails like birds' claws. Nebuchadnezzar lost his mind. He lost his mind. He crawled
around like a beast for seven years. What is the point of this story? Just as a person who has a serious
mental illness is out of touch with reality. So are those who
think that they had anything to do with their salvation. That's the message. Our heart goes out to people
who suffer with mental illness. This is not about that. This is showing us that those
people who seem perfectly sane, are completely out of touch with
reality when it comes to the spiritual truth of salvation. Men say, this is the kingdom
that I have built. That's the message. I accepted Jesus. I decided to
follow Christ. I did this or I did that. And I haven't done this and I
haven't done that. And what the Apostle Paul, Saul
of Tarsus said, I was of the tribe of Benjamin, an Israelite
of Israelites, circumcised the eighth day, and concerning the
law, I was blameless. And I was hoping in my righteousness
for the hope of my salvation. people look to all sorts of things, things that they have done for
the hope of their salvation. That's what Nebuchadnezzar did.
Here's the key verse of this whole chapter, by the might of
my power, verse 30, and for the honor of my majesty, men rob
Christ of his glory and take it to themselves. Men set themselves
up on the throne of God and just as out of touch with the real
world as Nebuchadnezzar was during those seven years, so are men
who look anywhere other than the Lord Jesus Christ for the
hope of their salvation. Turn to me to Galatians chapter
5, please. Galatians chapter 5. Stand fast, therefore, in the
liberty wherewith Christ has made you free, and be not entangled
again with the yoke of bondage. Don't go back to the law. Don't
go back to Egypt. Don't look to your circumcision.
Don't look to anything that you've done. Behold, I, Paul, say unto
you that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. A circumcision is symbolic of
all the things that men do in order to try to earn favor with
God by their own works. At circumcision, it covers everything,
everything. For I testify again to every
man that is circumcised that he is a debtor to do the whole
law and Christ has become of no effect unto you whomsoever
you are that are justified by the law. You've fallen from grace.
This is the kingdom that I have built. Look what I've done. Look
what I'm not doing. Look at the goodness of my life. For we through the Spirit wait
for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Christ Jesus
neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision,
but faith which worketh by love. It's the love of Christ. Not
our love for Christ, though we do love Him. It is the love of
Christ that constraineth us, and it is God's love that gives
to us the faith enabling us to put all our hope in Christ alone
for our salvation. A person who's looking anywhere
other than Christ is out of touch with reality. They are as a beast
being wet with the dew of heaven, their hair growing like bird's
feathers and their fingers like claws. They don't know the truth. Turn with me back to our text. Verse 34. This is every believer's confession.
Every believer knows that there was a time when they were trusting
something other than the Lord Jesus Christ for the hope of
their salvation. Every believer knows that in that deception,
they were completely out of touch with the truth. And then what
does Nebuchadnezzar say? Look at verse 34. And at the
end of days, Paul said, when it pleased God
who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace
to reveal Christ in me. At the end of days, every believer's
confession is that I had nothing more to do with my new birth
than I did with my first birth. That God appointed a time to
make himself known to me. Every believer's confession is
that of Nebuchadnezzar at the end of days. In God's time, His
grace was irresistible. It was irresistible. The call
of God is effectual. You cannot say no. You cannot
say no. Now, some will hear that and
they'll take a fatalistic position. They'll say, well then, nothing
I can do. And the elect of God will say,
Lord, turn me and I'll be turned. Lord, I can't come to you. You've
got to come to where I am. You've got to open the eyes of
my understanding. You've got to give me faith.
Lord, you've got to save me. If I'm going to be saved, you're
going to have to do it. It's up to you. It's completely
up to you. The Lord left Nebuchadnezzar
seven years before it was time, and in God's time. Oh, He does
make everything beautiful in His time, doesn't He? You remember
the story of the prodigal in Luke chapter 15 when he took
his inheritance and went off into riotous living. And where
did he end up? He ended up in a pig's pen, didn't
he? Feeding swine and eating the husk that the swine did eat. Now there's a picture of a man
who falls into man-made religion. Works, religion. Free will, religion. Teaching a Sunday school class,
feeding the pigs, and eating the pigs the same thing that
he ate. And then he came to himself,
didn't he? He said, the servants in my father's house have it
better than I've got it. I'll go back and I'll say to
my father, I've sinned against you and against heaven. And in
God's time, God brought him to his senses, didn't he? He came
home to find his father waiting for him. The father knew he was
coming home. Oh, and he lavished him with
kisses, didn't he? He called the servant and said, put a ring
on his finger and shoes on his feet and put a robe around him.
Oh, that's what the Lord does. The grace of God is irresistible. But the Lord has to bring us
to where we've got no place else to go. You remember, look at
verse seven in this same chapter. You remember the magicians, the
astrologers, they had no answers for me and at last, at last Daniel
Daniel God is my judge a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ I had
no place else to go I'll say this again salvation the last
resort it is if you got anyplace else to go to find peace that's
where you gonna go that's where you gonna go God has to shut
us up to Christ doesn't he he has to give us no other options
Lord, where should we go? You alone have the words of eternal
life. We know and are sure that thou art the Christ, the son
of the living God. You've shut us up to yourself. We've got
no place else to go. This is not a choice we're making.
At the end of days, at the end of days, the Lord has to strip
us of everything, all of our own righteousness, all of our
own pride, all of our own will and works. How long did he leave
Naomi in Moab? Well, he left her there until
she lost everything, didn't she? She lost her husband. She lost
her sons. She came back to Bethlehem as a beggar. And then she met
Boaz. That's where the Lord takes each
one of his children. That's every believer's confession.
I tried everything I could. I thought this was the house
that I had built. I thought this salvation was
something that I had made happen. But then the Lord stripped me
naked and showed me that he had to do it all if it was to be
done at all. At the end of days, at the end
of days, Moses had to spend 40 years in in Egypt under Pharaoh
and then 40 more years on the backside of Sinai shepherding
sheep before he met the Lord Jesus Christ at that burning
bush, didn't he? The bush that burned with fire
that was not consumed. What a picture of the Lord Jesus
Christ burning with the fire of God's wrath. The Lord saying
to Moses, Moses, take off thy shoes for thou standest on holy
ground. That's what the Lord does for
each of us. That's our confession, isn't it? At the end of days,
I, Nebuchadnezzar, came to myself. Well, look what he says. He actually
doesn't say he came to himself. Look what he says. At the end
of days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes unto heaven. It takes
omnipotent, sovereign grace to cause a sinner to look up to
heaven. It does. You and I are not going to look
up. We'll look at everything else. We'll consider every other
option. We'll put our hope in everything
that we can see with the senses of this flesh. It's not until
the Lord rends the heavens, opens the window of heaven and causes
us to look up. John in the book of Revelation
says, the heavens were opened. And I saw the Son of God seated
at the right hand of the majesty on high. John, don't weep. The Lamb of the tribe of Judah,
he's worthy to open the scroll and to unlock the seal. He's
worthy. He's the only one worthy. Nebuchadnezzar
thought that he was worthy. And this is the same spiritual
condition that all men outside of Christ are in. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4,
verse 18, look not on the things which can be seen. but on the
things which cannot be seen. For the things which can be seen
are temporal, but the things which cannot be seen are eternal. How are you going to look at
the eternal with temporal eyes? Well, you're not. You're not.
Temporal eyes can only look at temporal things, but spiritual
eyes. You see, that's the miracle of
the new birth. we're not going to look up not to look up to it just like
i said the first hour man doesn't always lost to the site man doesn't
look up until he looks up he can't see until he can see i never can answer at the end days Turn to me to Psalm 40, please.
Psalm 40. You remember when the children
of Israel were being bitten by fiery serpents out in the wilderness
and the Lord instructed Moses, he said, He said, fashion a serpent
in brass and put it on a pole and hold it up. And anyone who
looks at that serpent shall live. Now it's been estimated that
the children of Israel were probably a million strong leaving Egypt. How many of those folks would
have been blind? And how susceptible would a blind
person be of being stung by a serpent? If you were blind, you wouldn't
know there was one serpent on the ground, would you? The children
of Israel were being bitten by fiery serpents, and I'm sure
those who were blind were probably all bitten. And Moses said, look,
and you shall live. The blind were commanded to look.
And granted, I'm sure it probably took another Israelite to turn
them in the right direction and just say, okay, there it is,
look up. And the Lord Jesus Christ said, as the serpent was lifted
up in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
And I, if I be lifted up, will draw men to me. You and I have
been stung by the fiery serpent of sin, haven't we? The Lord
calls on us to look, look up into heaven. And the only reason,
here's my point, the only reason that you and I are able to look
up is because the Lord Jesus Christ could not look up. Psalm 40, here it is, look at
it. Psalm 40, verse 12, for innumerable evils
have come past me about, mine iniquities have taken hold upon
me so that I am not able to look up. The Lord Jesus Christ in
the fullness of shame and sorrow for the sins of his people that
he bore in his body upon that tree was not able to look up. And God saw the travail of his
soul. And God was satisfied. So that we. Are able to look
up. Look, look, look at the serpent
on the pole. He's been stung with sin more
than you and I could ever imagine. And he was not able to look up.
And Nebuchadnezzar said at the end of days, I looked up into
heaven. The only reason we can look up
is because he could not. They are more, verse 12, they
are more than the hairs of my head, therefore my heart faileth
me. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver
me, O Lord, make haste to help me. Here's the Lord Jesus Christ
in the fullness of shame and in the fullness of sorrow, satisfying
a holy God with what it requires to put away sin. You and I are
able by the irresistible grace of God to look up because he
could not. You say, well, what is my warrant
for looking up? It's his command to look up.
That's your warrant. He commands you. So if you don't
look up, you're fully responsible for not looking. And if you look
up, It's all of His power and all
of His grace, isn't it? The unbeliever can't relate to
that. What I'm saying is that if God saves a sinner, He gets
all the glory. And if a sinner goes unsaved,
He gets all the blame. At the end of days, I, Nebuchadnezzar,
lifted up my eyes unto heaven and look at the next verse, verse
34, the rest of that verse, and my understanding returned unto
me. Understanding, that word is knowledge. I came to know something that
I didn't know before. So Job came to know something
he didn't know before after Eli who preached the gospel to him
and Job said, behold, behold, I see something I never saw before. I am vile. I am vile. Paul thought that Saul of Tarsus
thought he had some righteousness before God until the law came
and when the law came, he said, I died. I died before God. I realized
that I had not kept the law. My understanding returned unto
me." What did he understand? He understood
he was a sinner. He understood that if he was
going to be saved, God was going to have to do it. Listen to what
the Lord Jesus Christ said in John chapter 17, all power over
all flesh has been given unto me to give eternal life to as
many as them which the Father hath given me. And this is life
eternal, that they might know thee the only true God in Jesus
Christ whom thou hast sent. We know that all power for salvation
is in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ. In us, that is in our flesh,
dwelleth no good thing. We know that. Nebuchadnezzar
said, my knowledge returned unto me, my understanding, I began
to see things as they really were. I began to see that God
had the absolute sovereign right to choose according to His will
and purpose those whom He would have mercy upon. My understanding, my knowledge
returned unto me. I saw that the Lord Jesus Christ
was the successful Redeemer in atoning for the sins of all of
His people by the sacrifice of Himself on Calvary's cross. I
saw that He wasn't making an offer of salvation. He actually
accomplished the salvation of His people. My understanding
returned unto me. My understanding returned unto
me in that if I was going to be saved, the Lord was going
to have to do it all. My understanding returned unto
me in that if I was going to be called, He was going to have
to call me irresistibly. He was going to have to give
me no other choice. He was going to have to make
His grace effectual. My understanding returned unto
me. My knowledge returned unto me in that I saw that if I was
going to remain a believer, He was going to have to keep me. He was going to have to enable
me to keep looking, keep trusting, and keep relying upon the Lord
Jesus Christ. He was going to have to finish
what He started. My understanding returned unto me. This is every
believer's understanding. If you're like me, you sometimes wonder if you really know God or if
you just know things about Him. It's unfortunate that preachers
have made a distinction between the head and the heart. I've heard preachers say a lot
of people know everything up here but they don't have it down
here and they're going to go to hell because they miss heaven
by 18 inches. I've heard preachers say that.
The Bible makes no distinction between what we have in our heads
and what we have in our hearts. The Bible makes a distinction
between what a person believes and what they say. Men by nature are liars and they
will say things that they don't believe. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which
I have committed unto him against that day. The heart is deceitful. It's desperately wicked. Who
can know it? We don't know our own hearts. And it's right that we ought
to be suspicious of ourselves. We hold ourselves suspect often,
don't we? We know He's faithful, but Lord,
what about me? What about me? Child of God, if you know Him, you know Him. You know you know
Him. You know what you believe. You
know who you believe. Can a person say they believe
something that they don't believe? Yeah, and they're lying, and
you know when you're lying, don't you? You know when you're lying. Let me show you a passage of
scripture that will hopefully be helpful. Turn with me to 1
John 3. 1 John 3. Every child of God has this as their confession. What fellowship hath light with
darkness? What does Baal have in common
with God? Every child of God knows that
their relationship with another child of God is completely different
than their relationship with those who don't believe the gospel. They have fellowship with other
saints. Their spirit connects, doesn't
it? Look what the Lord said in 1
John chapter 3 verse 18, My little children, let us not love in
word, neither in tongue, nor but in deed and in truth. We love one another indeed and
we love one another in truth. And hereby we know that we are
of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him. For if
our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knoweth
all things. Beloved, if our hearts condemn us not, then we have
confidence towards God. Has God put in your heart a love
for your brethren, a love for the gospel, a love for Christ,
a love for knowing that I love the fact that God's not
looking to me for anything. I love the fact that Christ gets
all the glory for our salvation. And whatsoever we ask, we receive
of Him because we keep His commandments and do those things which are
pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment,
that we should believe on the name of His Son, Jesus Christ,
and love one another as He gave His commandment. Believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith is the evidence of things
hoped for. It's the substance of things
not seen. And if God gives you faith, oh, you do have a love
for the brethren. Nebuchadnezzar said, at the end
of days, I lifted up my eyes unto heaven, and my understanding
returned unto me. and I blessed the Most High and
praised Him. I took sides with God against
myself. Have you done that? I've come to realize that there's
nothing I can do to earn God's favor. and that I'm trusting Christ
alone for all my righteousness before him. That I do have a
fellowship with God's people that I don't have with anybody
outside of Christ. Nebuchadnezzar blessed the Most
High and praised and honored him. What is it to worship God? Well, you remember the Syrophoenician
woman? When the Lord told her that she
was a dog, remember what she said? Truth, Lord, and she worshipped
him. She took sides with the Lord
Jesus Christ against herself and she worshipped him. She worshipped
him. She bowed before him gladly,
gladly, and gratefully acknowledging
her complete dependence upon him for her salvation. That's
what it is to worship God. To worship him in spirit and
to worship him according to the truth of the gospel. We are in complete dependence
upon him and he needs us for nothing. That's what worship
does. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and the finisher of your faith. If this can be of some comfort
to a doubtful child of God, I hope it will be. unbelievers don't doubt. They never hold themselves suspect.
They presume upon God. You see, it's holding ourselves
suspect that causes us to look again to the Lord Jesus Christ
for all the hope of our salvation. Nebuchadnezzar said, At the end
of days, I looked up into heaven and my understanding returned
unto me. And I blessed the Most High. And I praised and worshipped
Him. I took sides with Him against
myself. I confessed that His dominion
is an everlasting dominion. Now, contrary to what most folks
think, the word everlasting does not mean that it started now
and lasts forever. Ever, ever means forever past. Lasting, everlasting is that
which is of God, that which cannot change, that which has been from
everlasting to everlasting. And so Nebuchadnezzar confesses,
thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. The kingdom of God has
not changed from before Adam was created. The kingdom of God
hasn't changed. Those chosen of God and the covenant
of grace and placed in Christ by God's sovereign purpose and
will has never changed. The church of the Lord Jesus
Christ has never grown by one person. It's the exact same size
now as it was from everlasting and as it will be for everlasting. And Nebuchadnezzar confesses
that. My understanding returned unto me. And I honored and worshipped
him whose dominion is an everlasting dominion and his kingdom is from
generation to generation. Look at verse 35. Here's the
confession of a child of God and all the inhabitants of the
earth are reputed as nothing. Nebuchadnezzar had been humbled,
hadn't he? He thought that he was the one
responsible for building his kingdom and now he confesses
all the inhabitants of the earth before him are reputed as nothing. And he doeth according to his
will with the armies of heaven and all the inhabitants of the
earth and no man can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest
thou? Is this my confession? Let me
tell you what Nebuchadnezzar is confessing here. Whatever
God does is right. And what God did? You see, the
unbeliever, Romans chapter 9, Jacob I have loved and Esau I
have hated. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid. Perish the thought. Oh no, as he said unto Moses,
he will have mercy upon whom he will have mercy, and he will
have compassion upon whom he will have compassion. Therefore
it is not of him who willeth, nor of him that runneth. It's
not by our free will or by our efforts, but of God to show mercy. Now that's what Nebuchadnezzar
is confessing. The unbeliever will say to the gospel of God's
free grace in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, that's
not fair. And they will accuse God of wrongdoing. Now when did man begin accusing
God? When did man begin accusing God?
Back there in the garden, didn't he? When Adam was trying to cover
his nakedness with his own works covering himself with fig leaves
and God and God confronted Adam. Adam, have you eaten of the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil? What did Adam say? The woman that you gave me. What
was Adam doing? Adam was accusing God, wasn't
he? When we murmur and complain,
we are unconsciously accusing God of wrongdoing every time
we do it. But here's my point. Once Adam
saw that innocent lamb slain, that blood shed, and God took
the fleece of that lamb and covered Adam's nakedness, Adam never
accused God consciously ever again. How do I know that? Because once
the Lord Jesus Christ revealed himself to me, I've never been
able to go into the throne room of grace. Now, I'm a complainer
just like you. I'm a murmurer. I can unconsciously
accuse God, but the child of God will never consciously accuse
God of wrongdoing. Never. Job, you say, well, what about
Job? Once Job heard the gospel preached
by Elihu. Job said, I had heard of thee
by the hearing of my ear, but now mine eyes have seen thee,
and I repent in dust and ashes. Lord, whatever you do is right. His dominion is an everlasting
dominion. His kingdom is from generation
to generation. He hath done whatsoever he wills.
With the armies of heaven and all the inhabitants of the earth,
no man can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? God,
you're right. You're right. Child of God, you've not been
able to get on your face before God and enter into the throne
room of grace and plead your cause before God and blame God
for your sin, have you? You've never been able to do
that, have you? You've never been able to blame God for your
circumstances, have you? You've never been able to say,
God, this is your fault. This is your confession. This is every believer's confession. God forgive us for when we complain,
when we unconsciously accuse God of wrongdoing. But when we're in our right mind,
when we're in our right mind, we can't do it, can we? You can't do it. Verse 36, at the same time, my
reason returned unto me and for the glory of my kingdom, my honor
and brightness returned unto me and my counselors and my Lord
sought unto me and I was established in my kingdom and excellent majesty
was added unto me. Oh, as he is, so are we in this
world. The very nature of God is given
to us in the new birth. made one with the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise
and extol and honor the King of Heaven, all whose works are
truth. Here's every believer's confession.
What God does is true. What God does is right. God's
judgments, God's judgments, what does he say? His ways are judgment. Israel knew the acts of God. The children of Israel, they
saw the 10 plagues that God sent against the Egyptians. They saw
the Red Sea divided. They saw the manna fall from
heaven. They saw the mountain quake with fire. They saw the
quail. They saw the water come from
the rock. They saw the acts of God. But Moses knew his ways. You see, believing on the Lord
Jesus Christ is not just believing in some historical events. It's believing on Him. It's not
knowing what God did, it's knowing why He did it. Why He did it. It's not believing on the what's,
it's believing on the why. It's believing on the who. It's
believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. He did these things for the salvation
of his people and for his glory. And those who are proud, self-righteous,
we all have pride in us, I know that. But a child of God doesn't take
credit for his salvation. A child of God doesn't enter
into the presence of God and demand his rights before God. Those who are proud like Nebuchadnezzar
was, he's able to abase. And when he does, when he does,
this will be their confession. This will be their confession. Our heavenly father, we're thankful for your word. Lord,
we pray for your Holy Spirit to speak. Comfort and peace and
hope to our hearts. As you enable us. To set our
affections on things above where Christ is seated at the right
hand. For it's in his name we pray. Amen. For the time. 168 let's stand together 168. Lord, I hear of showers of blessing. Thou art scattering, full and
free. Showers the thirsty land refreshing,
let some drops now fall on me. Even me, even me, let thy blessing
fall on me. Pass me not, O tender Saviour,
let me love and cling to Thee. I am longing for Thy favour,
whilst Thou art calling, O call me. Even me, even me, let thy
blessing fall on me. Pass me not, O mighty Spirit,
thou canst make the blind to see. Witnesser of Jesus' merit,
speak the word of power to me. Even me, even me, let thy blessing
fall on me. Love of God so pure and changeless,
blood of Christ so rich and free. Grace of God so strong and boundless,
magnify them all in me. Even me, even me, let Thy blessing
fall on me. Past me not, Thy lost one bringing,
bind my heart, O Lord, to Thee. While the streams of life are
springing, Blessing others, O bless me. Even me, even me, Let thy
blessing fall on me. Thanks for doing that today.
I didn't know you guys were, I asked Bert, I didn't know he
was getting all that help. I want to keep him in the rotation,
it just means you have to do more. You got a few weeks break
though, I'm on tap next and I'm going to talk to either Brie
or Adam and fiddle two weeks ago. Probably Brie.