Would you turn back to Daniel
chapter 4? I saw the directory back on that
table back there, and what we need is for people to proof the
information about you to make sure it's right before we have
them print it. So just any corrections, make
it right there. I've entitled this message, Who Rules? A lesson I must learn. Who rules? It is difficult for us in this
country where we have these freedoms that we enjoy. and these rights
that we possess and this protection that we possess. What a blessing
it is to live here in the United States of America. I'm thankful
for the freedoms that we have. But it's difficult for us to
imagine what kind of power an absolute monarch like Nebuchadnezzar
had. King Nebuchadnezzar was the dictator
of the earth. That's how powerful this man
was. If he decided to promote you,
you were promoted, whether anybody liked it or agreed with it or
not. And if he decided to have you put to death, you were put
to death right now. No questions asked. Look in Daniel chapter 5 verse
20. Verse 18. Oh, thou King, the most high
God gave Nebuchadnezzar, thy father, a kingdom and majesty
and glory and honor. And for the majesty that he gave
him, all people, nations and languages, that's everybody,
trembled and feared before him, whom he would, he slew, and whom
he would, he kept alive, and whom he would, he set up, and
whom he would, he put down. Now that's the kind of power
that this man had. And Nebuchadnezzar has a message
for me and you today. Look in chapter 4, beginning
in verse 1. This is Nebuchadnezzar speaking.
He wasn't a prophet. He wasn't a priest. But he was
the man God put in this position, and he was speaking under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit when he made this statement.
a heathen king. Look what he 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, his sovereignty, is from generation
to generation. Now, I've entitled this message,
Who Rules? Who Rules? A lesson I must learn. Look in verse 17. 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 that
the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever
he will, and setteth up over it the basis of men. In verse
25 of the same chapter, Then shall they drive thee, this is
the This is Daniel giving the interpretation of the dream that
Nebuchadnezzar had. Then shall they drive thee from
men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field,
and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall
whet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times or seven years
shall pass over thee, till thou know that the Most High ruleth
in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. And
they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with
the beasts of the field. They shall make thee to eat grass
as an oxen, and seven years shall pass over thee, until thou know
that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth
it to whomsoever he will." Now, who rules in the kingdom of men? Who rules in the United States? Who rules in the Middle East? Who rules in Europe? In Asia? In Africa? In South America? In Australia? Who rules? Who
controls the economy? Who controls the value of the
euro in Europe? Who controls the value of the
yen in China? Who controls the value of the
dollar in America? Who controls what takes place? Now, there are four possible
answers to that question. The first possible answer is
no one. No one. Everything is governed by blind
fate and chance and luck and happenstance. Anarchy. The other second answer could
be men are in control of their own fate and their own destiny. The third answer could be the
devil. And sometimes it seems like he's
ruling, doesn't it? To see all the things that are
going on. The devil. And the fourth answer is God. God, the Most High rules. He's the first cause behind everything. Period. The Most High rules. You know, I love thinking about
this. You know, men have such high thoughts of themselves,
and they think they have such power, and they're nothing but God's
puppets doing His will. That's wonderful, isn't it? If
you love God, if you believe Him. Now, let's go on reading
what Nebuchadnezzar has to say. Verse 4. He says, I, Nebuchadnezzar, was
at rest in mine house. and flourishing in my palace.
We know what kind of power this man had. He had absolute power
as far as a human being goes. He could do whatever he wanted
to. He was wealth beyond imagination, and he could do whatever he wanted
to do. If he wanted you killed, you were dead. If he wanted to
promote you, you were promoted. He was king. He was dictator,
and he says, I was at rest in my house and flourishing in my
palace. I saw a dream which made me afraid. and the thoughts upon
my bed, and the visions of my head troubled me. Therefore made
I decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me,
that they might make known unto me the interpretation of the
dream. Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans,
and the soothsayers, and I told the dream before them, but they
did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof. But at
last Daniel came in before me, Now you will remember in chapter
2 that he had already interpreted a dream for King Nebuchadnezzar. Why he comes in last, I don't
understand. You'd think he would be the first
person Nebuchadnezzar would call upon. But no, he comes in last. But at last, Daniel came in before
me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my God,
in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. And before him I told
the dream, saying, O Balthasar, which is Daniel, master of the
magicians, because I know the spirit of the holy gods is in
thee, and no secret trouble of thee. Tell me the visions of
my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof. Thus
were the visions of my head and my bed. I saw and behold a tree
in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great.
The tree grew and was strong, and the height thereof reached
unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth.
The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and
it was meat for all. The beasts of the field had shadow
under it, and the fowls of the heavens dwelt in the boughs thereof,
and all flesh was fed of it. I saw in the visions of my head
upon my bed, and behold, a Watcher and an Holy One came down from
heaven. He cried aloud and said thus,
You down the tree, and cut off his branches shake off his leaves,
and scatter his fruit, let the beasts get away from under it,
and the fowls from his branches. Nevertheless, leave the stump
of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass
and the tender grass of the field, and let it be wet with the dew
of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass
of the earth, let his heart be changed from a man's, and let
a beast's heart be given unto him, and let seven years pass
over him. This matter is by the decree
of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones
to the intent for this purpose, that the living may know that
the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men." and giveth it to whomsoever
he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men." And Nebuchadnezzar,
you're an example of this, where he set up over the kingdom the
basest of men. Now, the Most High ruleth. Now, this is a statement regarding
the sovereignty of God. God is God. That's all the sovereignty of
God means. God is God. He rules. God does as he pleases. God does only as he pleases. And God does always as he pleases. Like David said, the Lord is
in the heavens. Our God is in the heavens. He
hath done whatsoever he hath Please, God's will is always
done. Somebody says, I refuse to believe
that. God's will is being done. Even
when you say that, God's will is being done. Proverbs 16.1
says the preparations of the heart in man and the answer from
the tongue is of the Lord. God's will is always What doesn't
man have a will? Yeah. He does. And God's will is sovereign over
man's will. Let me show you that in the scripture.
Hold your finger there in Daniel 4 and turn to Acts chapter 4. Acts chapter 4. Verse 24. This is the early church. This is right after Pentecost.
And listen to what the early church had to say. And when they
heard that, They lifted up their voice to God with one accord
and said, Lord, thou art God, which has made heaven and earth
and the sea and all that in them is, who by the mouth of thy servant
David hath said, Why did the heathen rage? And the people
imagined vain things. The kings of the earth stood
up and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and
against his Christ. They were against him. They wanted
to put him out of business. For of a truth against thy holy
child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate,
with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
that's everybody, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined
before to be done. Now when that man, whoever it
was, and I hope the Lord saved him, I hope the Lord said, I
hope I see this man in heaven. But that man who, when our Lord
was down on that cross and he took a hammer and a nail and
drove it through his hands, that was the will of the Lord being
done. Now, he was doing it out of hatred
for Christ. He was doing it because he had
no love for Christ. He was doing it because he was
a cruel man and he didn't care. But understand this. Everything
he did was neither more nor less than what God's hand and what
God's counsel determined before to be done. God's will is sovereign
over man's will. Somebody once told me, well,
God, in his sovereignty, decided to let man's will be free. That's
foolishness. God's will is sovereign over
a man's will. Now, here's the natural man's
response to that. Well, if you're telling me that
God's will is always done, and that God is the first cause behind
everything, even bad actions, how in the world can God hold
me accountable for doing something that He determined for me to
do? If He determined for me to do that, how can I be held accountable?
How can I be held responsible? You know, Paul anticipated that
in Romans chapter 9. Well, turn with me there. Romans
chapter 9. I love this passage of Scripture. Romans chapter 9, beginning in
verse 18. Well, no, let's begin in verse
16. So then, it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that
runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. For the Scripture saith
unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up,
that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might
be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy
on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will," what's it say? Thou wilt say then unto me, why
doth he yet find fault? For who has resisted his will?
How can he punish me for something that he ordained for me to do? How can he hold me accountable
for that? If he purposed it, if it was
necessary that I do it because it was all his sovereign providence
that it happened, how can he hold me accountable? Look at
the way Paul answers this. Nay, but O man, who are you to reply against
God? Since when do you have the ability
or even the moral authority to stand in judgment over what God
does and say this is right or this is wrong? Who are you to
reply against God. Shall the thing formed, say to
him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the
potter power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel
unto honor and another unto dishonor? Now that's God's way of answering
that objection. And you know, I'm so fine with
that. He's the Lord. I'm a sinful stupid person. And that's me. Number one, I'm
sinful. And number two, I'm stupid. I
don't understand what all the Lord's doing. I don't need to.
But he does. And I really believe that whatever
he does is right and just. And I'm so fine with this. I
love it this way. I wouldn't want it to be any
other way. I love the fact that our God controls everything. And all these men who have such
high opinions of themselves, They're nothing more than puppets
in God's hand doing God's will. And I'll tell you this thing
about being puppets. I don't know how many times I've heard
people say, well, you're, you're nothing more than a puppet. If
you, if what you believe is true, you're nothing more than a robot.
I've got no problem with that either. I really, I want to be
God's robot. Program to do God's will. I love that. That's what I want.
I don't want to be left to myself. I don't want to have a free will.
I want his will to be done. I want him to control everything
and order my steps in his word. That's the desire of every believer. Now. Nebuchadnezzar was going
to be taught this lesson to the intent that he might know who
rules in the kingdom of men. Now, verse 18. In this dream,
I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen, now thou, O Belteshazzar,
declare the interpretation thereof, forasmuch as all the wise men
of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the interpretation,
but thou art able, for the spirit of the holy gods is in thee."
Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonished for one hour,
and his thoughts troubled him. The king spake, and said, Belteshazzar,
let not the dream or the interpretation thereof trouble thee. Belteshazzar
answered and said, My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee,
and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies. The tree that
thou sawest, which grew and was strong, whose height reached
unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth, whose
leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and it was meat
for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon
whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation,
it is thou, O King, that art grown and become strong. For
thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion
to the end of the earth." This tree was King Nebuchadnezzar.
And you know, every king, the president, every king in a foreign
country, doesn't matter who it is, they're the people that God
has put into place. Period. It's always been that
way. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter 45 for a moment. Isaiah chapter
45. You know, I love the sovereignty
of God because I love the God who's sovereign. I do. I love the God of predestination. I love predestination because
I love the God of predestination. I love God as He is. I love His
sovereignty. I love it. Love it. Look here in Isaiah 45. Same
thing. Thus saith the Lord to His anointed,
to Cyrus, this is another king, whose right hand I have holden
to subdue nations before him, and I will loose the loins of
kings to open before him the two-leaved gates, and the gates
shall not be shut. I will go before thee, and make
the crooked places straight. I will break in pieces the gates
of grass, and cut and sunder the bars of iron. And I will
give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places,
that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by
thy name, am the God of Israel. For Jacob my servant's sake,
and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name.
I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me." You
don't know I'm doing this. I'm doing it for my lek's sake.
And God does everything for his lek's sake. He does everything
for his people's sake. And he makes Cyrus this mighty
king. Cyrus doesn't know it. Cyrus thinks he's somebody. He's
nobody but a puppet in God's hands. Look what he says in verse
5. I am the Lord. And there's none else. There's
no God beside me. I girded thee, Cyrus, though
thou hast not known me, that they may know from the rising
of the sun and from the west that there's none else beside
me. I'm the Lord, and there's none else. I form the light and
create darkness. I make peace and create evil.
I, the Lord, do all these things." Back to our text, verse 23 of
Daniel chapter 4. And whereas the king saw a watcher,
and an holy one, coming down from heaven, and saying, Yew
the tree down, and destroy it, yet leave the stump of the roots
thereof in the earth, and even with a band of iron and brass
in the tender grass of the field, and let it be wet with the dew
of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field,
till seven years pass over him. Now this is the interpretation,
O king. And this is the dupree of the
Most High, which is come upon my Lord the King, that they shall
drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts
of the field. And they shall make thee to eat
grass as an oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven,
and seven years shall pass over thee, till thou know that the
Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever
he will. And whereas they commanded to
leave the stump of the tree roots, thy kingdom shall be sure unto
thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule."
Now this is decree, but look what he says next. Let my counsel be acceptable
unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine
iniquity by showing mercy to the poor, if it may be a lengthening
of thy tranquility." And my marginal reading says, a healing of that
error. Now, God says, this is what's
going to happen. This is what's going to happen. This is decreed.
Now, you reform, and maybe you'll find mercy. Now what I thought
about, when I thought about this, the sovereignty of God, God has
decreed everything that's going to happen. Now, when he said
this, here's an example. Remember Jonah, the second time
he comes to Nineveh, and he preaches in 40 days, this city is going
to be overthrown. And what did the king of Nineveh
do? Do you remember? He didn't say,
well, let's go ahead and party for 40 days because there's nothing
we can do about it. Let's have a good time while we can. And
then the disaster is going to happen. No, he called a fast
and he had everybody to be in sackcloth and ashes. He said
it could be that the Lord will repent and have mercy on us.
And when he did that and humbled himself, that city was shown
mercy, wasn't it? Now, this thing of God's absolute
sovereignty is never to be viewed in a fatalistic fashion. If it
doesn't make me seek to do what's right, I haven't understood it
at all. If I look at the sovereignty
of God and look at everything in a fatalistic view, I've missed
it altogether. He says to King Nebuchadnezzar,
break off thy sins by righteousness and not iniquity by showing mercy
to the poor. It may be a lengthening of thy
tranquility. Now, all this came upon King
Nebuchadnezzar. And 12 months later, a year later,
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? What an arrogant, what a stupid
thing to say. He should have known better than
this. He had learned something about who God is, but he acts
like a beast, making a stupid, arrogant, prideful statement
like that. You know, pride is the most stupid
sin in the world. It's the most groundless sin
in the world. So what happens? 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 beasts of the field. They shall
make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven years shall pass over
thee, until you know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom
of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will." Now, so much for his
honor and majesty. As far as Nebuchadnezzar goes,
look what happened. was the thing fulfilled upon
Nebuchadnezzar, and he was driven from men. He was given the heart
of a beast. He couldn't even think straight.
He just had to live out in the woods and have the dew of heaven
on him. He didn't have a bath for seven
years. His fingernails were not clipped. His toenails were not
clipped for seven years. They looked like bird claws.
Verse 33, the same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar,
and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as an oxen. His
body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown
like eagle's feathers, and his nails like bird claws. Seven
years like this. That's a long time. Seven years. And at the end of the days, verse
34, 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. And all the inhabitants of the
earth, including me, Nebuchadnezzar is saying, are reputed as nothing. Nothing. You know what's amazing about that?
It's these same nothings he sent his son to die for. But anytime I get a high view
of myself, Remember, this is what you see your calling, brethren,
how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not
many noble are called, but God has chosen the foolish things
of the world to confound the wise and the weak things of the
world to confound the things that are mighty and the base
things of the world and the things which are despised that God chosen.
Yeah. And the things which are not. Nothing. To bring to nothing. the things that are, that no
flesh should glory in his presence. All the inhabitants of the earth
are reputed as nothing, and he doeth. You see, he's got the
power to do. He's all-powerful. You know,
I've got all kinds of things I'd like to do, but I don't have
the power to do them, don't have the ability to do them. But whatever
he wills to do, he has the power to do because he's all-powerful.
He's omnipotent. He doeth according to his will. In the armies of heaven, up there
with the angels, whatever's going on up there, it's his will being
done. And among the inhabitants of the earth, everything that's
going on down here, He is in control of, and none can stay
His hand. Nobody can stop Him. His will
cannot be thwarted, and nobody can say to Him, what doest thou?
You know, the Lord's authority is such that He says, I don't
answer to you. You know, my dad used to say
to me, and oh, it used to make me so mad. I get mad thinking
about it. I didn't say it, because I knew
what would happen if I did. But he'd say, do it because I
said it. There doesn't have to be another reason. Authority
speaks. Now, the Lord's authority is
such that he doesn't owe an explanation to me or you or anybody else.
Somebody says, well, we need to, you know, God needs to prove,
God doesn't need to prove anything to you. He's God. I think, well, none can say he
is and. We're saying to him, give an
account for what you're doing. I love it when those fellows
say, who gave you the authority to do this? Remember that when
the Pharisees came up to the Lord, they said, who gave you the authority
to do this? He made a whip and drove them out of the temple.
Who gave you the authority to do this? He said, well, let me
ask you a question. He said, the baptism of John,
was it of heaven or from men? And they reasoned within themselves.
Well, if we say from heaven, he'll say, why didn't you believe
him? And if we say of men, the people will stone us because
they counted John a prophet. So they said, we can't tell.
He said, I'm not telling you either. I'm not telling you about
what authority I do these things. He's the Lord. None can stay
his hand. None can thwart his will or keep
his will from happening or saying to him, what doest thou? Verse
36. At the same time, my reason returned. unto me. Do you know anything
short of this is utterly unreasonable? It really is. Now, when the Lord
gave him grace to see that the most high rules at the same time,
my reason returned unto me and for the glory of my kingdom,
mine honor and my brightness returned unto me and my counselor
to my Lord sought unto me and I was established in my kingdom
and excellent majesty was added to me. I was put back in place.
Now, I, Nebuchadnezzar, Praise and extol and honor the King
of Heaven, all whose works are truth. Everything he does, it's the
truth. When we talk about the sovereignty
of God, that's the truth. Notice what else he says, though.
I love this, too. All whose works are truth and
his ways judgment. Absolute justice. And what I
got to think about when I thought about all his ways judgment,
The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ is the most just thing that there's
ever been. What justice is displayed in
the cross where God has made a way to be just and yet justify
the unjust? What absolute justice? Grace is righteous. The way he
says it's righteous grace. There's no darkness in it. There's
no Satan's sin is altogether righteous. Oh, all his works
are judgment. Judgment and justice are the
habitation of his throne. That's who he is. And those that walk in pride, he is able to abase. To say that God is sovereign
is to say that God rules. It's saying He rules in the kingdom
of men. I love to think about His sovereignty
in creation. I think it's wonderful to think
there was a time when there was nothing but God. There wasn't
any angels. There wasn't any universe. There wasn't any matter.
There wasn't any material. There wasn't any space. All there
was was God in the eternity of His glorious person. And He willed
it. And all of a sudden the universe
is brought into existence. There was nothing. He willed
it. And there it was. Isn't that glorious? I love to
think of His sovereignty in Providence, how He controls everything. He
controls the weather. He controls inanimate objects. He controls matter. He controls
plant life. He controls animal life. He controls
men. Every man's in His hand. Thou
has given Him power over all flesh. He controls unbelievers.
He controls believers. He controls angels. He controls
demons. He controls Satan. He controls
everything. He's sovereign in His providence. He's sovereign in His salvation.
He gives it to whomsoever He will. Now, let me close with
this. What is our attitude about this? The sovereignty of God. I mean,
you're not even left with another option. What is our attitude
about this? Well, I hope my attitude is the
same as the Lord's. when he said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord
of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from
the wise and prudent, and revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father,
for so it seemed good in thy sight. And you know what? If
it seems good in his sight, it seems good in my sight, too. Let me give you six things this
ought to produce. First, fear. Fear. Who shall not fear thee,
O Lord, and glorify thy name? Secondly, trust. He who is sovereign is too wise to err, and too kind
to be cruel, and whatever my situation is, it's best. Oh, may the Lord give me grace
to always trust, to never worry, to never murmur. God is sovereign. Thirdly, obedience. That is the
child of godly fear and trust. Obedience to Him. And fourth,
entire resignation to His will. Samuel says to Eli, God's going
to kill your boys. How does he answer? It's the
Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good. Can't you rest in that? It's
the Lord. Fifth, joy and thankfulness. I tell you what, the sovereignty
of God is something we rejoice in and we're happy about. And
we're thankful because concerning everything, concerning everything,
the Lord says, be of good cheer. Itai. Itai. Be not afraid. And last, worship. There came a and worshiped him, saying, Lord,
if you will, you can make me clean. You'll only worship a
sovereign. If you have any ability to control
him or manipulate him, you won't worship him. You'll only worship
an absolute sovereign. The most high rules in the kingdom
of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. And we rejoice. Let's pray together.