I want to show you something
that blessed my heart so much. When I saw this, I got excited
about it. I really hope this blesses you
as much as it blesses me. I am going to set up our text
in Daniel. by showing you a few scriptures,
okay? Give me just a minute here at
the beginning of this message. I want to show you a few scriptures
and let's see if we can really enter into this and enjoy what's
being said here. Turn with me, if you would, to
Ephesians chapter one. Ephesians 1 verse 1 says, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will
of God, 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. Now look at the title of this
book. It says the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Ephesians. The Epistle of Paul the Apostle
to the Ephesians. Turn with me to 2 Timothy chapter
1. 2nd Timothy 1 verse 1 says, Paul,
an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, according to
the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, to Timothy,
my dearly beloved son, grace, mercy, and peace. From God the Father, in Christ
Jesus our Lord. Now look at the title of that.
It says the second epistle of Paul the apostle to Timothy. The second epistle of Paul to
Timothy. Turn with me to Philemon. Two or three pages over to Philemon. Verse 1 says, Paul, a prisoner
of Jesus Christ and Timothy, our brother, unto Philemon, our
dearly beloved and fellow laborer, and to our beloved Aphia and
Archippus, our fellow soldier, and to the church in thy house,
grace to you and peace. From God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ. Look at the title. It says, The
Epistle of Paul to Philemon. Look at James chapter 1. Verse 1 says, James. A servant of God and of
the Lord Jesus Christ to the 12 tribes, which are scattered
abroad. Greetings. Now look at the title. It says
the general epistle of James, the general epistle of James. Go with me to second Peter chapter
one. 2 Peter chapter 1. Verse 1 says, Simon Peter, a
servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained
like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and
our Savior Jesus Christ, Grace and peace be multiplied unto
you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. Now look at the title, it says
the second epistle general of Peter. The general epistle of
James, the general epistle of Peter. Go to Jude, just before
Revelation, Jude. Verse one says, Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ
and brother of James to them that are sanctified by God, the
father and preserved in Jesus Christ and called mercy unto
you and peace and love be multiplied. Now look at the title, the general
epistle of Jude. The general epistle of Jude,
the epistle of Paul, the epistle of James, the epistle of Peter,
the epistle of Jude. All right, now turn to our text
in Daniel 4. Daniel chapter 4. Verse one says, Nebuchadnezzar, the King, unto all people, nations
and languages that dwell in all the earth, peace be multiplied
unto you. Do you see a resemblance there? Who I am, what I am, by whom I am, and
therefore what I have to declare. That's what all of them said.
Who I am, what I am, by whom I am, and therefore what I have
to declare. Verse one says, Nebuchadnezzar,
the king unto all people, Nations and languages that dwell in all
the earth, peace be multiplied unto you. 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. Do you see the
similarity there to the letters of the apostles? I've titled
this message, The General Epistle of Nebuchadnezzar. Peter, Paul, James, John, Jude,
Nebuchadnezzar. an apostle, a prisoner, a servant,
a king. Because of what God did through
Christ, peace be unto you. Peace be unto you. This is the
general epistle of Nebuchadnezzar. Now, what I want to do tonight
is point out some things about all of this, all of what is going
to happen here, all of what has happened here. I don't know if
this is going to be like a Bible study or what, but I want to
point out some things about all of this and then we're going
to focus on what he said. I believe it's very clear that
our Lord had mercy on this wicked king. I believe it's very clear
that our Lord had mercy on this wicked king for a few obvious
reasons. Number one, God humbled him. God humbled him. He said at the end of this chapter,
these are his last words, the very last line of verse 37. And after this chapter, he's
not mentioned other than to say that he's the father of, but
his very last line, he said at the end of verse 37, those that
walk in pride, he is able to abase. Those were his last words. Nebuchadnezzar said, God abased
me. He brought me down. He humbled
me. And that's what he does for all
of his people. That's what he does for all of
his people. John the Baptist said, Jesus Christ must increase. I must decrease. And all of God's
people say, amen. Amen. That is right. That is
so right. God humbled him. Number two,
God taught him. God revealed some things to him.
Look at the end of chapter one. Verse 18, Daniel 1, verse 18
says, and this is, you know, they took Israel captive and
he wanted them to stay in prison for three years and they were
gonna be fed, you know, supposed to be the king's meat, but then
it was, according to Daniel, pulse. And at the end of the
time, verse 18, now at the end of the days that the king had
said he should bring them in, Then the prince of the eunuchs
brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar, and the king communed with them,
and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael,
and Azariah. Therefore stood they before the
king. He thought, These men are better
than the rest. Kind of all lumped in with everybody.
He interviewed everybody, but he thought they stand out as
being better. And that's kind of how it is
with people concerning the gospel. Sometimes they see it as being kind of
lumped in with all religion, but something about it stands
out just being a little different.
You know, at least they're actually studying the Bible. It's gotta
be a little bit better. In chapter 2, Nebuchadnezzar
dreamed a dream and he still went to all of his astrologers
and his magicians first. He still had confidence in all
of them. And he even still inquired of
them in chapter 4. Sometimes it takes a little while
to get rid of religious baggage. But look at this progression
here. In chapter 1, he sees Daniel and these three men to be better
than the rest. Look with me at the end of chapter
two, verse 46. Then the King Nebuchadnezzar
fell upon his face and worshiped Daniel. At least he's not worshiping
himself in this particular moment, but it's still the wrong person. Verse 46, the King Nebuchadnezzar
fell upon his face and worshiped Daniel and commanded that they
should offer an oblation and sweet odors unto him. Nebuchadnezzar
sacrificed unto Daniel. That's the wrong person. We don't
worship the messenger. We don't worship the declarer
of the revelation. We worship the revealer of the
revelation. That's who we worship. God's
people don't worship the messenger. They worship the messenger's
Lord, the one the message is about. I believe sincerely in
my heart that there have been many, many women who have sat
under the truth, and let's take this as a warning, okay? We're a young congregation. And let's take this as a warning.
I am convinced there have been many men and women who have sat
under the truth for decades on end and still missed Christ because they worshipped the messenger
and ended up missing the messenger's Lord. We don't want to do that. So
chapter one, Nebuchadnezzar saw them as being better than the
rest. Chapter two, Nebuchadnezzar worshiped Daniel. That's a progression
right there. Look at the end of chapter three. Verse 28. Then Nebuchadnezzar spake and
said, blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. who hath
sent his angel and delivered his servants that trusted in
him, and have changed the king's word and yielded their bodies,
that they might not serve nor worship any god except their
own god." He said, blessed be their god. Boy, they have a great god. That's
their God. You know what he's saying in
chapter 4? Their God is my God. He is my God. Look at chapter
4 verse 2. I thought it good to show the
signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me. Not just Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego's God. Their God is now my God. It's
clear that God had mercy on this man because number one, God humbled
him. Number two, God taught him. And number three, the real evidence
is, if we didn't even have those two, the real evidence is God
used him to be one of the writers of God's holy scripture. Chapter four, verse one says,
Nebuchadnezzar, the King unto all people, nations, and languages
that dwell in all the earth, peace be multiplied unto you.
I thought it good to show the signs and wonders that the high
God hath wrought toward me." God included this man's penmanship
in the canon of his holy word. What that means is Nebuchadnezzar
was sent of God. That's amazing, isn't it? To see Everything that God allowed
to transpire to his people to bring all of this to pass. He was sent of God and inspired
of God. If he was a penman of the holy
scriptures of God, look with me at Romans chapter 10. Romans 10 verse 13 says, for
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?
And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?
And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they
preach except they be sent? They must be sent of God to preach
and declare God's word. In Jeremiah 23, our Lord said,
woe to the pastors that are preaching their own word and not my word.
He said, I did not send them. and they will not profit my people
at all. Nothing that they say will be
of any profit to my people at all. The only way that a man
can speak God's word to the profit of God's people is if that man
is sent and inspired of God. Turn with me over to 2 Peter
1. 2 Peter 1 verse 20 says, knowing this first, that no prophecy
of the scripture is of any private interpretation. No man came up
with what he wanted to say on his own. Not one word of it.
Verse 21 says, for the prophecy came not in old time by the will
of man. But holy men of God spake as
they were moved by the Holy Ghost. If Nebuchadnezzar was a writer
of the Holy Scriptures, he was sent and inspired by the Holy
Spirit of God. And therefore, what God inspired
him to write is profitable to us. So let's look at it for a
quick second here. Go back to Daniel 4. We're not gonna go past these
three verses tonight. So let me point out one more
thing in case you read ahead and wonder about it. Verses one
through three, what I have been reading to us, this is the same moment in time
as verse 37, the last, because when we read Daniel four, Nebuchadnezzar,
God dealt harshly with him. He was full of himself. He was
lifted up in pride. He was, and God dealt harshly
with him. But what I want us to understand
is these first three verses are the same moment in time as verse
37, where he said, 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. Verse 1 and verse 37 are the
same moment in time. Throughout this chapter, starting
in verse 4, he is recalling the marvelous works that God did
for him, opening his eyes, what he did to reveal himself, reveal
God's sovereignty in everything. God revealed his sovereignty
to Nebuchadnezzar. God revealed his mercy to Nebuchadnezzar. He revealed his grace. Verse
four to 36, he's recalling all of these things, backtracking
these events. So he doesn't turn from the true
and living God. He is telling us the account
of how the true and living God turned him, okay? So look with
me at verse one. It says, Nebuchadnezzar, His
name means idolater, that's what it means. It means may Nebo protect
the crown, idolatry. He acknowledges who he is, what
he is by nature, like when the Lord wrestled with Jacob and
he made Jacob say his name. I love how the Lord kept asking
him, what is your name? And he was forced to say Jacob,
sinner, trickster. That's who I am, that's what
I am. Verse one says, Nebuchadnezzar, the king, he acknowledges who
and what he is, and he acknowledges what he's been made to be by
God. The king of this idolatrous place, Babylon. Verse one, he
goes on to say, unto all people, nations and languages that dwell
in all the earth. Our Lord said, You go and declare
this gospel to all the world. I'm so glad he said that. You
go declare this good news. You tell this wonderful news
to all the world. And a sinner who has been saved
by grace will do just that. That sinner will say, if God
saved me, he can save anybody. I'll never despair of anybody
since God saved me. A preacher is a nobody who tells
everybody about somebody who can save anybody. That's all
that a preacher is. Verse 1 says, Nebuchadnezzar
the king unto all people, nations, and languages that dwell in all
the earth. Peace be multiplied unto you. That is the message of the gospel.
That is the message of the gospel. That is the message of Jesus
Christ crucified. Peace on earth and mercy mild. God and sinners reconciled. Because of the sacrifice of Christ,
there is peace with God. There's peace. Peace be unto
you. You know, Nebuchadnezzar was a tyrant and now he's peaceable
and there is peace among God's people. That's true. But more
importantly than that, there is peace with God. Peace with
God and the blood of his cross, the sin is removed. The wrath
is appeased. The judgment is satisfied and
there's peace. There's peace. Verse two, he
said, I thought it good to show the signs and wonders that the
high God hath wrought toward me. The Lord told that Gadarene
lunatic, you go show how great things the Lord has done for
you. I, um, I've told you so many
times that, you know, a lot of quite often Sunday is my big
day. It's my big, the culmination
of all my work. And so come Monday morning, my
brain is fried. And I tell you all the time,
I get to my study and I think, okay, now what? I know what.
And it takes the Lord revealing the next message. But nonetheless,
I'm, you know, I sit there a little stumped quite often. And for
all these years now, I've been calling my dad and asking him.
I'll tell him, well, here I sit again. I don't know what to say. And for years now, he's been
telling me, well, let me just tell you what Scott kept telling
me, Scott Richardson. You just go and tell how great
things the Lord has done for you. And it's so true. It's so true. That's what we've
been called to do. As we witness to other people,
that's all we're doing. We're just telling how great
things the Lord has done for me. That's all that any messenger
of Christ and his gospel does. The Lord has done this for me,
and if he did it for me, he can do it for you. I'm convinced
in my heart the Lord can save anybody. He's only going to save
whoever he chooses to save and willed to save and all those
things. But I don't know who they are.
So I preach to everybody as though God's going to save everybody
if he chooses to. Go show how great things the
Lord has done for me. I was going to have you go to
Ephesians 2, but I'm not going to do that. You know what it
says. You being Gentiles, enemies in your mind, uncircumcision,
without God, no hope in the world. But now you've made an eye by
the blood of Christ. Because he broke down that middle
wall of partition. And of Twain, made one new man. Joined with him, so making peace.
He is our peace. He's our peace. Jesus Christ
is our peace. He's our peace with God. He's
our peace with each other. Verse one, Nebuchadnezzar, the
king and all people, nations and languages that dwell in all
the earth, peace be multiplied unto you. I thought it good to
show the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward
me. The high God, the sovereign God,
the almighty, all powerful, holy God who only does right and good
among his people. I thought it good to show the
signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me. How great are his signs. How great. How great. And how mighty are his wonders. How mighty, how great, how mighty. His kingdom is an everlasting
kingdom. His kingdom is forever. And his
dominion is from generation to generation. Of his reign, there
will be no end. Nebuchadnezzar preached the glory
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the glory of the Lord
Jesus Christ. The angel Gabriel here in Daniel
chapter nine, this angel Gabriel comes and he appeared to Daniel
and Gabriel said to Daniel, The same thing that Gabriel said
to Mary 500 years after this. Let me read this to you and I'll
close. All right. Turn with me over to Luke chapter
one. Luke 1, verse 26. Luke 1, 26. In the sixth month, the angel
Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the
house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel
came in unto her and said, Hail thou that art highly favored,
The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women.
And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast
in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel
said unto her, fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with
God. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth
a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great and
shall be called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God shall
give unto him the throne of his father David. And he shall reign
over the house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom there shall
be no end. If for no other reason I love
this time of year to be especially reminded of that. I just love
hearing that. I love that moment. The message
of Christ is always the same. How great thou art. How great
is his reign? How great is his mercy? How great
is his salvation to sinners? Nebuchadnezzar declared the same
thing in his epistle that every soul declares who Christ has
revealed himself to. Grace, mercy, and peace from
the God of heaven through the person and work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. To him be glory forever. Amen.