The Bible Baptist Church located
at 2015 Beulah Road in Madisonville, Kentucky would like to invite
you to listen to a message of the sovereign grace of God in
the Lord Jesus Christ by their pastor David Edmondson. When Moses went to Pharaoh and
said, thus saith the Lord God of Israel, let my people go,
Pharaoh in unbelief asked this question, who is the Lord that
I should obey his voice? Now this morning, it is my earnest
desire to answer that question from the scriptures. Who is the
Lord that you and I should obey him. In Daniel chapter 4, we
have a very accurate description of the God of the Bible. And
these most inspired words concerning God were not spoken by the deliverer
of Israel named Moses. They were not spoken by a minor
or a major prophet. They weren't spoken by the psalmist
David. They were spoken by Nebuchadnezzar,
a pagan king of Babylon. God taught Nebuchadnezzar like
he did Jonah in a most unusual way. And here in Daniel chapter
4 we see that this pagan king was a very proud man and Peter
later wrote, God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the
humble and he most certainly does. In verse 30, Daniel 4,
the king spake and he 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? And God resisted this proud man,
and while the word was still in the king's mouth, God spoke
in judgment to him. In verse 37 of Daniel chapter
4, Nebuchadnezzar said, those that walk in pride, he, God,
is able to abase. And he certainly is. You know
the story. God took Nebuchadnezzar's mind.
He became an animal. His hair grew long like eagle's
feathers. His fingernails like bird's claws. He ate grass like a beast in
the field. And when the Lord restored his
mind, God taught him some very important things. Some things
about God and some things about himself. Verse 34, Daniel 4,
and at the end of the days, the end of what days? The end of
the days of his experience when God restored Nebuchadnezzar to
his right mind, at the end of those days, he, Nebuchadnezzar,
lifted up his eyes unto heaven and he said, Mine 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. and all the inhabitants of the
earth are reputed as nothing, and he doeth according to his
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth, and none can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest
thou? Now, the first thing that God
revealed to this proud king was the sovereignty and the greatness
of God. What did Nebuchadnezzar learn?
Well, he learned first that God was the most high. He learned
that God lives forever. He learned something of the eternality
of God. God revealed his dominion, his
rule to him as an everlasting one. God revealed that his kingdom
is forever. To this proud, this arrogant,
this self-sufficient king, God revealed his sovereignty and
his greatness. And if we're to ever know God,
He must reveal Himself to us. Now the sovereignty of God, we've
talked about that very often on this program, that was once
an expression of truth preached in the majority of pulpits today. It was a message that brought
great comfort to the hearts of its hearers. But today, men have
made God to be one who is helpless and pitied instead of revered
and worshiped. Sovereignty simply means that
God is God. It is to proclaim that none can
defeat His counsels, that none can thwart His purpose, that
none can resist His will. How different is the God of the
Bible from the God that is preached by most today? The God that's
preached by most today is a God of men and women's imaginations.
So that's what God Himself told David. David said, thou thought,
you imagined, that I was altogether such a one as thyself. Men have
imagined God to be a souped up version of themselves. They imagine
their God to have a little more power than they themselves have,
so that way they can call him supreme, meaning he's a little
more supreme than they are. But their God is a far cry from
being so. The God of the Bible declares,
for my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways
my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher
than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my
thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55, verses eight and nine. Now whatever happens in this
world, the believer says, even so, Father, for it seemed good
in thy sight. When God revealed to young Samuel
that he was about to slay Eli, the high priest's sons, for their
wickedness, Eli said this. He knew something of God. He
said, it's the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good. Abraham asked this question,
shall not the judge of all the earth do right? After losing
all his possessions, and I might add all his children, Job said
this, the Lord gave and the Lord had taken away, blessed be the
name of the Lord. Oh, what perfect submission and
perfect delight. Is God now governing the world
and everything and everyone in it? Of course He is. But men
choose to believe that God's actions are like theirs, regulated
by a change of circumstances. God determined and purposed before
man was ever created that the purpose that is executed is according
to His original design. What sayeth the scriptures? God's
word declares that God is one who worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will, Ephesians 1.11. And therefore,
he's working all things together for the believer's good, Romans
8.28. God declares the end from the
beginning. And from ancient times, the things
that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand, and I
will do all my pleasure. Is that your God? unbelieving
sinner, why would anyone not submit to his sovereignty when
it's his sovereign purpose to do his people good? Now the second
lesson that the Lord taught Nebuchadnezzar was the nothingness of man. This is not a popular subject
among religionists today. Verse 35, Daniel four, and all
the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. These words are confirmed by
the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 40, verse 13 is written,
who had directed the spirit of the Lord or who being his counselor
had taught him. with whom took he counsel, and
who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment,
and taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of understanding.
Who taught God? Behold, the nations are as a
drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance. Behold, he, God, taketh up the
aisles as a very little thing. All nations before God are as
nothing, and all nations and all that are in them are like
that unnoticed drop left in the water bucket. It's not enough
to drink, it's not enough to wash with, not enough to do anything
with. It's just nothing. Every single
person born of woman is like the dust of the balances. The
dust is nothing that would cause the balance of the scales to
read incorrectly. The dust on the scales amounts
to nothing. That's what man is. All nations
before God are as nothing, and they are counted to him, to God,
as less than nothing and vanity. Friends, man in his best state
is altogether vain, vanity. We are nothing. We are less than
nothing. The sooner God reveals that to
us, the better off we'll be, and we'll never see a need of
a Savior until we see a need, the need within ourselves. Thirdly,
God showed Nebuchadnezzar what he showed Jeremiah, and that
is God is sovereign. He does what he wills and purposes
in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.
In Ephesians chapter 1 verse 5, Paul wrote, having predestinated
us, having predetermined us, determined beforehand us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to
the good pleasure of his will. Verse 9, having made known unto
us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he
hath purposed in himself. Verse 11, Ephesians 1, in whom
also we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated according
to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel
of his own will. Men and women want to talk about
their will. And I know that men and women are not robots. And
I know we're not dead logs. I've never said that man doesn't
have a will. What I've said, that man doesn't
have a free will. The Lord said that a man has
a will, but man's will is not to come to Christ that he might
have life. Pilate delivered Christ to man's
will, and what did they do? They cried, crucify him, crucify
him. Our will is not free. It's in
bondage to our sin nature. And it's not our will, but God's
will that saves us. Our God is in the heavens. He
hath done whatsoever He hath pleased. For I know that the
Lord is great and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatsoever
the Lord pleased, that did He in heaven and in earth and in
the seas and all deep places. Psalm 135 verses five and six. And then lastly, dear friends,
God showed Nebuchadnezzar that his will is irresistible. None can stay his hand. None can say unto God, what doest
thou? When a criminal is arrested of
a crime, you put them in handcuffs and you question them. That's
the normal procedure. But you can't put a sovereign
God in handcuffs. You can't question God's right
to do what he wills. It's the Lord. Let him do what
he wills, is what Eli said. Job said, though he slay me yet
will I trust him. With Peter, we say, nevertheless,
it's your word. Peter had fished all night long
with his friends, professional fishermen, caught nothing. The
Lord appears and he says, cast your nets on the other side.
And Peter, you know, being the proud man he was, he thought,
well, you're a preacher. You're not a fisherman. You don't
know anything about fishing. He's God. And Peter said, nevertheless,
it's your word. Who are we? We're nothing, reputed
as nothing, less than nothing. Who is the Lord? He's the sovereign,
omnipotent, self-existent, the God with whom we have to do.
May God be pleased to reveal these things to you as he did
Nebuchadnezzar. You have been listening to a
message by David Edmondson. the pastor of Bible Baptist Church
in Madisonville, Kentucky. If you would like a copy of this
message or to hear other messages of God's free, sovereign grace
in Christ, you can write to our mailing address at P.O. Box 652
Madisonville, Kentucky 42431 or log on to our website at FreeGraceRadio.com. If you would like to come and
worship with us, we meet at 2015 Beulah Road, Madisonville, Kentucky. And our service times are Sunday
morning Bible study at 10 o'clock a.m. Worship services begin at
11 o'clock a.m. Wednesday evening services at
7 o'clock p.m. Please tune in again next Sunday
morning at 10 o'clock a.m. for another message of God's
free and sovereign grace in the Lord Jesus Christ.