Turn, if you would, in your Bibles
to Daniel chapter 4. Daniel chapter 4. The name of
the message is, Who is in control? Who is in control? Daniel chapter
4. We'll read the first three verses
in Daniel chapter 4. 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.
Who is in control? This is a question that many
people ask, especially in times like we are living in now. Is the local government in control?
Yes, they have power, but there is someone who is higher in authority
over them. Is the state government in control? Yes, they have power, but there
is someone who is higher in authority over them. Is the federal government
in control? Yes, they have power, but there
is someone who is higher in authority over them. Is the president in
control? Yes, he has power, but there
is someone who is higher in authority over him. Look at verse 3 of
our text and marvel at what the scriptures declare about our
great and glorious God. 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. Beloved
of God, find great comfort here in the scriptures. Our great
God, who is described here, became a man. His name is the Lord Jesus
Christ, and He died for the sins of His people, His sheep, at
Calvary, and He redeemed them by the shedding of His precious
blood. So we can say, as the scriptures proclaim here, how
mighty are His wonders. The text declares how great are
His signs and how mighty are His wonders. They are very great,
exceedingly great, so great that words cannot speak of how great
they are. God's people cannot describe
with our words how great our God's works are. Our finite minds
cannot even conceive how great works of God are because these
works are the works of the infinite one, the infinite one. And we
are in awe of what we see in this world, the mountains, the
great lakes which we have here in Michigan, this wondrous world
which is full of the glory of God, the sun which comes up each
day, and the moon which comes up each night, the wonder of
the stars as you walk out in a starlit night and you look
up, a clear starlit night, and just the vastness, the vastness
of the stars. And all this displays God's greatness. All this displays God's wisdom.
All this displays God's power. And it also declares His goodness. It displays His goodness. And
God's almighty power cannot be stopped. It cannot be abated. He is strong and mighty, the
true God, the one true God. And all the power of nature,
earth, and hell can do nothing to stop His works of providence,
His mighty works of providence, His works and miracles of grace. And truly the saving of a lost
sinner is a miracle of grace. We see also in this text, in
Daniel chapter four, verse three, that our great God's kingdom
is an everlasting kingdom. 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. Now Nebuchadnezzar's reign, although
a long one, had an end. Just as all earthly kings, he
died. We see in this text, though,
that the kingdom of God is forever. This is the kingdom also of providence
and of grace. This is the kingdom of God's
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah. In Daniel 2.44, The
scriptures declare this. And in the days of these kings
shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be
destroyed. And the kingdom shall not be
left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume
all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Let's read verse
three again. And we see that God's dominion
is from generation to generation or with generation and generation. Daniel chapter four verse three.
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. God's kingdom continues with
all generations and will do so until the end of time until that
that great day when our Lord comes back. Lamentations, chapter
5, verse 19, the scriptures declare, Thou, O Lord, remainest forever. Our Lord is forever. Thy throne
from generation to generation. And our text brings forth the
unchangeable nature of God and the unstoppable purpose purposes
of God, think of this, you who are redeemed by the blood of
Christ, and born again by the Holy Spirit of God, in light
of God's faithfulness and mercy in Christ, which has been shown
us. Our great God does not change. He is the same in His nature
and in His perfections. He is the same, again, in His
nature and perfections, in His grace, in His goodness, in His
power, in His faithfulness, in His purposes, and in His promises. Everything we see in this world
is subject to change and decay, but our great God changes not. He abides the same, without any
variableness or shadow of turning. Whether revolutions occur in
this world or changes in this world, yet our great God remains
firm and unalterable in His counsel and covenant. Material things
are subject to decay and fall into ill circumstances. My wife
and I like to watch a show called Mystery of the Abandoned. And
what they do is they go through different places that were once
vibrant and now are left in decay. They're abandoned. Well, our
great God, even though those things fall and decay in this
world, our great God does not change. He does not change at
all. Material things, again, are subject
to decay and fall into ill circumstances and may lie in ruins. Yet those
things never change the fact of the eternality and unchangeableness
of our great God. And this precious truth brings
great comfort to the people of God. No matter what comes our
way, whether we find ourselves in times of distress, in times
of sorrow, in times of seeming despair, beloved, we can always
look to the unchangeableness and the faithfulness of our great
God. And think of how our great God's
faithfulness and unchangeableness was on full display at Calvary's
cross. We know God's law and justice
is unbending and it demands satisfaction for the sins of God's people,
for the chosen ones of God. And then we see the faithfulness
of God on full display. as God had given His people a
chosen people to Christ in eternity. And it was promised that the
Messiah would make an end of sin and bring in everlasting
righteousness. And beloved, all this occurred
at Calvary's cross when Christ died in the room and place of
His people, when He satisfied the law and justice of God in
the place of His people. O sinner friend, Look to the
Lord Jesus Christ. Look to Him alone. Cast yourself
upon the Lord Jesus Christ as the only hope for your eternal
soul. May God make it so. Oh, may He
make it so. May He make you willing in the
day of His power, just as He has for all we who are the people
of God. We are but sinners saved by the
grace of God. God's amazing grace. Listen to
what the scriptures declare about our great God and the powers
that be. Proverbs 21.1, the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord.
As the rivers of water, he turneth it, whithersoever he will. Beloved of God, we believe in
the absolute sovereignty of God. We know that our great God is
in full control right now. Right now, even during this time
of a global pandemic. And we know that for the believer,
all things work together for our good. Romans 8 tells us that. And all things work together
for the good of those who are called, for the people of God. We believe in the divine providence
of God, which is God is daily and constantly the sovereign
ruler over all things. And all things occur for the
accomplishment of His eternal will, and all according to His
almighty sovereign will. We daily see unfolding before
us the almighty providence and will of God, the God of the Bible,
sovereign, eternal, immutable. What he has purposed will come
to pass, will come to pass. It'll come to pass in time, just
as God has purposed it to. Never forget you who are born
again, blood washed believer in Christ, that he is the one
who has ordained and ordered all things according to his own
will and his good pleasure, all things that come to pass in time. Beloved of God, take great comfort
in knowing that this is true of your salvation and knowing
that the God of the Bible who has ordered all this to come
to pass is the very one who has saved you and will keep you and
will one day take you home to be in his presence forever. And
it'll all happen by God's almighty power and according to his mercy
and grace, which he purposed to show us in eternity. Divine
providence is the accomplishment of God's sovereign will and purpose.
Providence is God bringing to pass in time, sovereignly, absolutely,
and perfectly, what He has purposed in eternity. Providence is also
God's execution of His purpose as nothing in the universe happens
by luck, chance, fortune or accident or by blind faith. No, beloved,
there is not an atom, there is not a molecule, there is not
a virus that is not under the dominion of our great God. Everything that comes to pass
in time was purposed by God in eternity and is bought to pass
by His wise and good providence. Nothing comes to pass in time
that God did not purpose in eternity, in sovereign predestination.
Nothing comes to pass except that which God sovereignly brings
to pass according to His divine will, according to His divine
will. Beloved of God, that which God
predestinated in eternity and brings to pass in His providence
is for the good of His elect and for the glory of His name.
We know from the scripture that I mentioned in Romans that this
is true. This is clear teaching of the
Holy Scriptures. Listen to these verses. Psalm
76, 10. Surely the wrath of man shall
praise thee. The remainder of wrath shalt
thou restrain. Proverbs 16.4 The Lord hath made
all things for himself, yea, even the wicked, for the day
of evil. Proverbs 16.9 A man's heart devises
his way, but the Lord directeth his steps. And then Proverbs
16.33 You know, in World War II, when men were on ships, they
used to play dice. And they'd say, oh, that was
a lucky roll. Well, listen to this in Proverbs chapter 16,
33. The lot is cast into the lap,
but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. Isaiah 46, verses
9 to 13. Listen to these wonderful scriptures. Remember the former things of
old, for I am God and there is none else. I am God and there
is none like me. Declaring 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. Calling a
ravenous bird from the east, the man that executed my counsel
from a far country. Yea, I have spoken it. I will
also bring it to pass. So that which God speaks, it'll
come to pass. That which is written in the
scripture is truth. I have purposed it. I will also
do it. Hearken unto me, ye stout-hearted
that are far from righteousness. That's our natural state, isn't
it? That's our natural state. I bring near my righteousness,
it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry.
And I will place salvation in Zion for Israel, my glory. Now
Zion, there's the church, and he's placed salvation in Zion,
hasn't he? In spiritual Israel. And that's
the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the object of our faith. Oh,
truly, truly our great God has placed salvation in Zion, and
it's all in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Daniel chapter
4 verse 34, the scriptures declare this. After Nebuchadnezzar had
been eaten dirt for a little while, he'd been humbled. And
remember, in Daniel 4, 3, it's Nebuchadnezzar as well. He's
a great king. Some say he was one of the greatest
kings that ever lived in sense of domain that he had. And listen
to what he writes after his humiliation. And at the end of days, I, Nebuchadnezzar,
lifted up mine eyes into 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, Daniel chapter
4 verse 34. But he goes on in verse 35 and
verse 37, he says, all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing.
All the inhabitants of the earth in God's eyes are reputed as
nothing. And he do it according to his
will. You see, he is the one who has free will to do whatever
he pleases. We are bound by our nature. But
our great God, He does according to His will, the scripture declares
in Daniel 4.35, according to His will and the army of heaven,
so that's all things above and among the inhabitants of the
earth, and none can stay His hand or say unto Him, what doest
thou? No one can say unto our great
God, what are you doing? You see, this is where people
who speak against the great doctrines of the scripture, they err and
know not the truth of the scriptures. when they say, well, it's up
to my free will. No, your will is bound to your
nature. So you'll never seek God, the scripture says. You'll
never understand the scriptures. No, in our natural state, we
do not seek God. Just as the shepherd in Luke
15 sought the lost sheep, that's what the Lord must do for us.
He seeks us out. He seeks us out. Oh my. And then Daniel 4.37, 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's able to abase. And He does. In our
natural state, we walk in pride, don't we? Yes, we do. Pride and
self-righteousness. And what has He done for His
people? He's abased us, hasn't He? Oh, He's abased us. When we're born again in the
Holy Spirit of God, we see our sinfulness. Oh, we see that we're
great sinners, but we also see that Christ is a great Savior
and we flee to Him, don't we? We flee to Him. Listen to this
in Romans chapter 11, verses 33 to 36. Oh, the depths of the
riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable
are His judgments and His ways past finding out. For who hath
no one in the mind of the Lord? Who hath been his counselor?
You see, our president and other leaders in the world, they have
advisors, they have counselors, but our great God, he doesn't
have no counselors. He doesn't need any counselors.
No one tells God what to do. No one. You see, this is what
man is saying. They got a false God, religious
man got a false God built up in their imagination who can't
do anything, not so with our God. No, the scripture declares,
who hath been his counselor, who hath first given to him,
and it shall be recompensed unto him again. For of him and through
him and to him are all things to whom be glory forever and
ever, amen. Everything, everything is subject to our great King.
And if you're one of the people of God, if you're a born-again
believer, blood-washed believer, rejoice, because this is who
saved us. This is who became a man. Our
great God became a man. 100% God and 100% man. And He died on Calvary's cross.
He lived that perfect life, which we never could as our substitute,
and then He went to that cross and He died. as our substitute? Paying everything that God's
law demanded for us? Satisfying the justice of God
in our place for us? Truly, God's people have been
shown mercy and have been shown grace. Let's go back to Daniel
chapter four, verse three, and we'll look at this and have a
few more words, and then we'll be finished. Daniel chapter four,
verse three. How great are his signs, speaking
of our great God, and how mighty are his wonders. His kingdom
is an everlasting kingdom, and His dominion is from generation
to generation. Our great God is not idle. He's
not idle. Scriptures declare He never slumbers
nor sleeps. He never needs to rest or recuperate
like we do. We need to sometimes rest, recuperate,
and regroup, don't we? Our great God doesn't need any
of that. Not at all. He never slumbers nor sleep.
He's God Almighty. He's our Great God. He's our
Heavenly Father. And He's always at work. And
you know what He's doing? He's governing the world. He's governing over
the world. Even right now, in the midst
of this global pandemic, our Lord, our Great God is on the
throne, beloved. He's in full control. He's in
full control. He's governing the world as it
pleases Him. Have you ever heard preachers
and religious leaders speak of sickness and poverty and war
and famine and earthquakes and death as things over which God
has no control? Well, that's just an outright
lie. Think upon this, the scripture declares that God so rules over
the world, he so rules over the world, and that he has ordained
a number of hairs on our very heads. And he so rules over the
world, that not even a sparrow, which some consider worthless,
I love sparrows. I just love watching them and
knowing that our great God is taking care of them. Some folks,
though, just think they're a worthless bird. But our Lord so governs
this world, He so watches over this world, that not even a sparrow
falls to the ground without His almighty wise decree. And so
let we who are the people of God always remember that God's
providence is all-inclusive. Our Great God rules and governs
over everything, great and small, everywhere and always. Our God
is in control of all inanimate matter. He who created all things
rules all things. One preacher said of all, he
said, nothing in God's universe breathes or wiggles contrary
to God's decree. And so think upon this as a wise,
skilled pharmacist mixes medicine. Our Heavenly Father wisely mixes
exactly the right measure of bitter things and sweet to do
us good. Too much joy would intoxicate
us. Too much misery would drive us
to despair. Too much sorrow would crush us.
Too much suffering would break our spirits. Too much pleasure
would ruin us. Too much defeat would discourage
us. Too much success would puff us up. Too much failure would
keep us from doing anything. Too much criticism would harden
us. Too much failure would keep us
from doing anything. Too much praise would exalt us.
Our Great God knows exactly what we need. His providence is wisely
designed and sovereignly sent for our good. Let Him, therefore,
send and do what He will. By His grace, if we are His,
we will face it, bow to it, and accept it, and give thanks for
it. God's providence is always executed
in the wisest manner possible. We are often unable to see and
understand the reasons and causes for specific events in our lives
or in the lives of others. Always remember, beloved of God,
that our lack of understanding does not prevent us from believing
God. No, we, by His grace, bow to His will, which is evident
in His works of providence. O the depths of the riches both
of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His
judgments and His ways past finding out! The God of providence rules
all things well. How we ought to trust Him! O
Beloved, how we ought to trust Him! How we ought to ever remember
that our Heavenly Father is is God. He's all wise. He's good. He's omnipotent. And He is too
wise to error, too good to do wrong, and too strong to fail.
So take great comfort, beloved of God, in the eternality and
unchangeableness of our God. And take comfort in the times
that we find ourselves in now, in these precious, precious truths.
And take comfort also in the future when these things pass,
because we know these things shall pass. And take great comfort
in knowing that our God doesn't change and how he's so faithful
to his people. And may we be given grace and
strength to say, to God be the glory, the great things he hath
done.