Turn with me this morning to
Daniel chapter four. I don't have to tell you this,
but I'm going to because hopefully it will help you enter into both
services today. I prepared this message in Daniel
for our message this morning. And I prepared a message, outline, a Bible study
in Matthew or our Bible study this morning. And I think this
is only the second time this has ever happened to me, but
yesterday I started feeling inside that I may need to swap them.
And I got up this morning and after much looking and praying
and thinking, I feel led to swap them for whatever reason. So We're about to have a very declarative
Bible study. And then we're gonna have an
instructive message in just a moment, and I'm not 100% sure why, but
this is what the Lord has laid on my heart, and I pray he'll
bless it. Daniel 4, we were here last Wednesday night, and we
saw the whole story of chapter four. We looked at the whole
thing. But I told you that we would come back to it this morning
to focus on the details of what God taught Nebuchadnezzar through
his dealings with him. God dealt very harshly with Nebuchadnezzar. He brought him down. He brought
that man down. If you remember the story that
we looked at Wednesday night, He brought him down. And it's
because Nebuchadnezzar admitted in verse 37 that he was one who
in his flesh, in his sinful, wicked flesh, he walked in pride
before God. And I admit the same thing with
Nebuchadnezzar. I admit the same thing. This flesh is so full of pride
and arrogance, and it grieves me to think of
all the pride that I have had before God, before the holy God. Honestly, it grieves me to think
of all the pride I've had. It grieved Nebuchadnezzar, but
he said, thank God. Those who walk in pride, he is
able to abase. And I say that with him. Thank
God. That's what God did for Nebuchadnezzar. He brought him down. That's what God did for the apostle
Paul. If you know Saul of Tarsus, the
story of Saul of Tarsus on his way to Damascus, God knocked
him off of his high horse and he put him in the dust. That's what God does for all
of his people. That's what God does for all
of his people. All flesh by nature walks in
pride before God. But after God opens the eyes
of his people and causes them to see the truth of all matters,
the truth of every matter. And causes them to see and know
and understand the mercy and the grace The glory, the majesty,
the humility of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. After
God reveals the cross, what happens when God opens the eyes? Everybody
hears about the cross, but when God reveals the glory, the majesty,
the grace, the mercy, the honor, the humiliation, of the cross. Who hung on that cross? Everybody
knows, well, Jesus hung on the cross. Who hung on that cross? God Almighty did. Why He hung on that cross? Why? Well, because they hated Him
and, you know, they were trying to ruin everything He did. They
did what He determined before to be done. Why did he hang on
that cross? He hung there to save his people. And who were his people? Sinners
like Nebuchadnezzar, Saul of Tarsus, you, and me. Sinners. When God reveals the
truth of these things, His people are taught. God teaches His people. John 6, 45 says, they shall all
be taught of God. God's people all learn the same
thing from Him. Do you know that? God's people
all learn the same thing. They all believe and cling to
the same thing, the same knowledge. They're all taught the same thing
Nebuchadnezzar was taught, taught of God. And we're gonna look
at it right here, okay? I pray if any of us here have
never been taught this, I pray God will open our eyes to it
today. I pray God will open our eyes. You ask the Lord to open
your eyes today. I ask him to open my eyes today. I pray he'll cause us to see
this, believe this, say amen to it. The Lord God humbled Nebuchadnezzar
greatly in order to teach him something. Look with me at verse
17. Daniel 4 verse 17, it says, This matter is by the decree
of the watchers and the demand by the word of the holy ones
to the intent that the living may know. It's for the learning
of something. To the intent. It's for the learning
of something. Look at verse 25. that 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 they shall
wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over
thee till thou know." This is going to happen till you know,
till you learn some things. And Nebuchadnezzar did learn
some things from what God put him through. And before we read
it, I want to point out that this was God's mercy to him.
This was God's grace to Nebuchadnezzar. What God taught Nebuchadnezzar,
this knowledge he gave to him, this was saving knowledge. The knowledge of all the redeemed. what God teaches, all the redeemed. So even though these dealings
were harsh, this was God's grace and God's mercy to this sinner.
And no matter what God brings us through, if He reveals this
to us, this will be His grace. If He teaches us this through
whatever means He chooses, it'll be His grace, it'll be His mercy,
it will be His kindness. This is how God dealt with Nebuchadnezzar. We looked at this last Wednesday
night, but let's read through the last part, verse 28. It says,
all this came upon the King Nebuchadnezzar. Everything God said he was going
to do. All this came upon the King Nebuchadnezzar. At the end
of 12 months, he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. 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? Here Nebuchadnezzar is, sin is
just pouring out of his lips. God told him, this is what I'm
gonna do to you. And in spite of all that, that's what he said
before God. Out of his heart, his mouth spoke.
And what he said is the very thing that man naturally says
in the idolatry of his own false religion. Just look at what I
have done. That's what false religion cries. Look at what I have done. Look
at how I have secured the kingdom for myself, spiritually speaking,
the spiritual heavenly kingdom. Look at what I've done to secure
that for myself. That's what people believe. That's
what they say in their heart. That's what comes out of their
mouth. Look at how I have given my heart to Jesus. Look how I've
done that. Look how I accepted him as my
personal savior. Look at that. That's the great sin of man's
self-will, self-work, self-righteous, false religion. Look at what
I have done. The idolatry of I, me, my. That spiritual pride, it leads
to an eternal fall. Pride leads to a fall. But for the mercy and grace of
God in breaking a sinner from that, that's what happened. He
was broken of that. But for God's mercy and grace,
stopping a sinner in his or her tracks, turning a sinner from
the lies of man to the truth of God, but for the salvation
of God, all men and women will walk pridefully straight into
that eternal destruction and fall. Every man and woman will
just walk straight into it, pridefully, proudly, but for God. Verse 28. All this came upon
the King Nebuchadnezzar at the end of 12 months. He walked in
the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. 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? 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. They shall make thee to eat grass
as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know
that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth
it to whomsoever he will. 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 eagles' feathers and his nails like birds'
claws." God took everything away from him. Everything. God stripped him of everything. Not only his material things.
You know, he lived in a palace, in a kingdom. He ended up out
in a field. God took not only his material
things and he didn't just take his office and his position as
king and ruler and his respect and his dignity. God even took
his mind. God stripped him of everything. And I'm telling you, that was
the mercy and grace of God to that man. That was the mercy
and grace of God to him. Had God not done that for him,
I believe that that man would be in eternal damnation right
now as we speak. My prayer for all of us here
is that spiritually speaking, God will do the same thing for
us. I pray God will do the same thing for us. Spiritually speaking,
I pray God will strip us of everything that we think we have or we think
we have done for ourselves or for God or for anybody that is
worthy of being gloried in. If we think that we possess anything
worthy of being gloried in, I pray God will strip it away from us. And I pray he'll teach us the
truth of this right here. Okay, the truth of this right
here. Look at verse 34. At the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar,
lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and 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. After the Almighty
dealt with him and opened his eyes, Lord, deal with us. Open our eyes. Open our eyes. Don't let us slumber, the sleep
of death, open our eyes. After the Lord dealt with him,
opened his eyes to see the truth of the matter. This is the first
thing that Nebuchadnezzar learned and was absolutely convinced
of. God is God. That's what he learned. He walked
in pride, look at this, look at me, look at I, God went. And
he said, God is God. Saul of Tarsus on the way to
Damascus to kill and punish God's people. God came to him and said,
Saul, can you imagine how hard that word was? So hard it knocked
him off his horse. First thing he said was, Lord,
what would you have me to do? God is God. God Almighty is God
Almighty. God Almighty. He said in verse
34, I blessed the most high. He said, I realized that nothing
and no one is as high and lofty as he is. Oh, what a blessing
it is to know that. David said, lead me to the rock
that is higher than I. Nebuchadnezzar said, I thought
I was something. You remember from the story.
I thought I was a great tree, you know, that provided for everybody
and all those things. Tree reached up to the clouds. He said, I learned that the clouds
are just the dust of his feet. I now realize his name is above
every name. That word blessed, it means kneeled
before. He said, I kneeled before the
Most High, after God opened my eyes, and I saw who I was dealing
with. I kneeled before the Most High. He said in verse 34, and I praised
and honored, I adored and I magnified Him that liveth forever, the
eternal God, the God that was, the God that is, the God that
forever will be. The God who changes not from
being God. The eternal God who created all
things, controls all things, he owns all things. If he made
it, it's his. If he made us, we're his. Verse
34, he said, I blessed The most high and I praised and honored
him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion. That word dominion means, it
translates sovereignty. I loved seeing that. Nebuchadnezzar learned his sovereignty
is an everlasting sovereignty. His reign, sovereign, His reign over everything is
forever. He reigns over everything forever. Boy, that's a thing to learn. All of God's people are taught
this. He reigns over everything forever. The one and only God
of heaven that there is, Jesus Christ. He is the God of everything forever.
His dominion, His sovereignty is an everlasting sovereignty.
Verse 34, and His kingdom is from generation to generation.
His throne. Thy throne, O God, the Father
said to the Son. His throne is forever and ever. God is God. That's the first
thing Nebuchadnezzar learned. That's the first thing that all
of God's people learn when they come in and hear the truth. Most
people spend their life in false religion where God is not God. And then they come in and they
hear the truth of God's word. And it is shocking. They're like,
Whoa, wait a minute. You're coming in strong here.
Never heard that. Boy, we need to, don't we? Some people don't like it. You
know what? You sound like I'm, you know, you're making me a
puppet on a string. Well, they're making God a puppet on a string.
Which one's more accurate. God is God. That's the first
thing that we learn. God is God. Here's the second
thing. I'm going to be brief. Here's the second thing. Verse
35, Daniel four, verse 35. Nebuchadnezzar said, and all
the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. God is God. Man is nothing. God is God. Man is nothing. That's truly a lesson to learn.
I'm nothing. I'm nothing. I am nothing. You are nothing. Aren't you glad? Aren't you glad God is God and
we are nothing? When it comes to our salvation,
when it comes to our righteousness, when it comes to our acceptance
with God, when it comes to anything before God, man contributed nothing
but sin. That's the only thing he contributed,
sin. Man has done nothing for God. People get behind old pits
of wood just like this and say, now, what are you going to do
for God? Man has done nothing for God. Nothing. Man has earned nothing. Man is
owed nothing because man is nothing. Man is nothing. You know what
man at his best state is? Complete worthlessness, total
emptiness, altogether vanity. You know what man's best deeds
are before God? All of man's righteousnesses?
You know what they are? Filthy, filthy rags. When God looks at man, do you
know what he sees? Man in his flesh, you know what he sees?
Death. Vile, rotten decay, wounds, bruises,
putrefying sores. Isn't that what he said? Man
stinks in God's nostrils. The stink of death. Not only
is man nothing, man is worse than nothing. Worse than nothing. In Psalm 50, the Lord said to
man, if I were hungry, I wouldn't tell you. You can't do anything
for me. You're nothing. You're nothing. Don't turn. Isaiah 40, the voice
said, cry. The command was cry. The voice
said, what shall I cry? Here was the answer. All flesh
is grass. The goodliness of man is like
a flower of the field and it withers because all flesh is
just grass. He said there, God said there
in Isaiah 40, just let me read it to you. I got to, I got to
quote this because this is exactly what he's saying here. Isaiah
40 verse 15 says, behold, the nations are as a drop of the
bucket and are counted as the small dust of the balance, meaning
the dust that doesn't even matter. It affects nothing. Behold, he
taketh up the islands, the isles as a very little thing. Lebanon
is not sufficient to burn, nor the beast thereof sufficient
for a burnt offering. All nations before him are as
nothing, and they are counted to him less than nothing in vanity."
Nothing. Man is nothing. Man makes his
claims and thinks he's something before God. He that sits in the
heavens laughs. What wisdom, what mercy, what
grace it is when God reveals this to a sinner. This is what
turns the pride of man to the cry of man for mercy. Daniel 4 verse 36. At the same time, my reason returned
unto me, and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honor and brightness
returned unto me, and my counselors and my lords sought unto me,
and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added
unto me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise
and extol and honor the King of heaven." Who is the King of
heaven? Who was crowned king? Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ. This is what Nebuchadnezzar learned.
God is God. Man is nothing. Christ is all. Christ is all. That's what Nebuchadnezzar
came to see. Verse 37, now I, Nebuchadnezzar,
praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works
are truth. and His ways judgment, His works,
His ways, not mine, His. Look back up at verse 35. 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? He does according to His will.
Man does not have one. Man doesn't have a way. He does
according to His way. Man doesn't have a way. Man's
will is sin. Man's way is sin. That's all
man has is sin. Man's work is sin. Thank God it's all His will,
His way, His work. Verse 35, 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? He does whatever he wants to
do and nobody can stop him. What a thing to learn. Who does that? The king does. The king of heaven does. Jesus
Christ the Lord does. Jesus Christ the sovereign God
does. Jesus Christ the most high. He
does according to His will. All things are according to His
will. Now, all right, go to Ephesians 1
and I'll stop with that. Go to Ephesians 1. Ephesians 1, verse 2. 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. Aren't you
so glad he did what he wanted to do? He blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places. in Christ. Verse 4, according as He hath
chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world that we should be
holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according
to the good pleasure of His will. We didn't do any of that. He
did all of that according to His will. How wonderful. Verse 6, to the praise of the
glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the
Beloved, in whom we have redemption through His 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 us the mystery of His will. Thank God our eternal destiny
was according to His will, not ours. Verse 9, having made known
unto us 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 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." His will, his will,
his will. He chose a people according to
his will. He died for and redeemed those
people according to His will. He calls those people according
to His will. Every one of those people are
going to make it to glory with Him according to His will. All
according to His will. He's our life, our hope, our
salvation. He's our everything. Jesus Christ
is everything. He's done everything. He's worthy
of everything. And all of God's people will
come to know that. All of God's people will come
to know that. They shall all be taught of God. If God opens
our eyes to a saving knowledge of the truth, this is what we'll
see. God is God. Man is nothing. Christ is all. If he ever reveals that, you'll
never be able to be convinced otherwise. Nobody will ever be
able to convince you otherwise. I pray God will reveal that today.