The book of Daniel chapter 4.
If you have a few Bibles and you want to, you'll find it on
page 967. 967. Daniel chapter 4. I've got several Scriptures to
turn to during the message, so if you will and would like to
follow me, keep your Bible handy. I want to read verse 17 of Daniel
chapter 4. I want to break right in here
upon a letter that this great king Nebuchadnezzar had written.
We'll look at it this morning. In verse 17 he said, 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." This letter here from Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon,
that he wrote, he wrote it to describe the signs and great
wonders and miracles that God did towards him and what God
taught him from it. You see here in verse 1, what
a vast kingdom this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had. He said
here in verse 1, Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations,
and languages that dwell in all the earth, peace be multiplied
unto you. What a great and vast kingdom
this man had that when he wrote a letter, I don't know what kind
of a mail system they had, but he sent these letters, these
decrees out to all the nations under the heavens that he ruled
under. And look back in chapter 2 and
look at his authority. Look in chapter 2 and look in
verse 37 and verse 38. Look at the authority that had
been given this man. Here Daniel is speaking to him
in verse 37 of chapter 2. And he said, Thou, O king, art
a king of kings. For the God of heaven hath given
thee a kingdom, and power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever
the children of men dwell, the beast of the field and the fowls
of the heaven hath he given unto thy hand, and hath made thee
ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold."
And look what he says in chapter 5. Daniel says this to Belshazzar,
the king's grandson. And look how he describes the
great power and authority that God had given this king. In chapter
5 and look in verse 18. Thou, O King, the Most High God,
gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father, thy grandfather, a kingdom and
majesty and honor and glory. And for the majesty that he gave
him, all people, nations, and languages trembled and feared
before him. Whom he would, he slew, In whom
he would, he kept alive. In whom he would, he set up.
In whom he would, he pulled down. Some have suggested that this
was probably the greatest ruler as far as ruling over the mass
of people and the authority that he had in all the history of
the world up until this time. And the kingdom that he had built
was amazing. Babylon was the capital of His rule. And look here in chapter 4 and
look in verse 30 at what He says concerning His city that He built. The king
spake, King Nebuchadnezzar 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,
this great Babylon." Now, you would have to know something
about what this place looked like where Nebuchadnezzar was
standing. He'd come out of his palace and
was standing upon the wall overlooking the city of Babylon that he had
built. I read the eyewitness account
of a man who had actually seen this city during its heyday before
it was destroyed. And we have different accounts
of this city that actually seen. Nothing exists of it now but
a bunch of rubble that they dig up on occasion. But the city
was 60 miles around the inside of the walls. 15 miles on each
side. 15 miles, 15 miles and 15 miles
made up this city. Within the city, there was streets. There was 25 streets running
north and south. There was 25 streets running
east and west. They crossed each other. At the
end of every street, there was brass shining gates, 100 gates
in these streets. Each street was 150 foot wide
and 15 miles long. The walls of that city could
be seen from miles away. The walls were 300 feet high. The walls were 85 feet thick. He had his two palaces where
he and his wives lived. They didn't measure his dwellings
in square feet. They measured it in square miles.
His palaces were three square miles in area. Within these palaces,
they tell us, was the hanging gardens. The one man bore witness
that when he saw these gardens, they did indeed look like mountains. They were built on terraces,
one terrace on top of another. Each terrace was planted with
trees and all kinds of vegetables and shrubs from other nations.
And the terraces rose one upon another one until they came up
to the half of the wall, 300 feet. It was called one of the
wonders of the world. And here stood this king looking
out over his city, and no wonder he gloried. Wouldn't it be difficult
to have any humility after knowing that your hand had built this,
after knowing that you ruled over all the known world at that
time? But Babylon was not only thought
of highly by him, listen to what the Bible says about this Babylon. Isaiah calls it Babylon the golden
city. Jeremiah says Babylon, the glory
of kingdoms, the beauty of the chaldees' excellency. Isaiah
said it's the lady of kingdoms. Jeremiah said it's abundant in
riches. The praise of the whole earth,
he called it. Is not this great Babylon? That was the king's estimation
of it. This king was taught some valuable
lessons, though, here in our text this morning. He said God
had taught him this, the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of
men, and setteth over it whosoever he will, and he setteth over
it the basis of men. This is what God taught this
king, and this is what this king's written to teach you and me this
morning. We're told this, that all through
the Scriptures, that God reigneth, aren't we? God reigneth. But you know, we all have to
learn that by experience. This was a king that learned
this by experience. Now, if you'll read the context
of chapter 4, let me tell you about this context. Here is a
man who had a dream. And he saw in his dream this
vision, this huge tree. And it grew up and it filled
the earth. And its limbs reached to the end of the earth. It could
be seen every place. The birds lodged in the branches
of it. The fowls of the heaven were
fed by this tree. And all people came and rested
under this tree and was fed by the fruit of it. Then he heard
this voice from heaven saying, cut the tree down. Shake all
the fruit loose from it. And make everybody get away from
under this tree. Just leave the root. Just leave
the root. And Nebuchadnezzar had no idea
what this dream meant. He called in all his philosophers
and called in all his musicians. And they said, we can't interpret
this dream. You know, when God sends a word, the natural man
can't understand it. It takes the Holy Spirit, it
takes the man of God to preach and interpret it, doesn't it?
So it's no mystery to us when He called in the musicians, they
couldn't understand the interpretation of this dream. But there was
a man who had the Spirit of the living God in him. His name was
Daniel. And he came in and he interpreted
this dream for this king. And I want you to look at the
interpretation of it. Look in verse 20. The tree that
thou sawest, which grew and was strong, whose height reached
into the heaven, and the sight thereof to the ends of 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, thou art grown and become strong, for
thy greatness is grown and reaches into the heaven and thy dominion
to the ends of the earth. And whereas the king saw the
watchers and the holy one coming down from heaven and send you
down the tree and destroy it, yet leave the stump of the roots
thereof in the earth. 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 beast
of the field, till seven years pass over him. This is the interpretation,
O King, and this is the decree of the Most High, which is come
upon my Lord the King. 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 an oxen, and they shall wet
thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over
thee till thou know that the Most High rule in the kingdom
of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. And whereas they commanded
to leave the stump of the tree's root, thy kingdom shall be sure
unto thee after thou hast learned that the heavens do rule. Wherefore,
O king, let my counsel be accepted unto thee, break off from your
sins by righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to
the poor, if it be a lengthening of thy tranquility." And look
at this, it came to pass upon the king Nebuchadnezzar at the
end of twelve months, he walked in the palace of the kingdom
of Babylon. The king spake and said, is this not great Babylon
that I have built for the house of my kingdom? by the might of
my power and for the honor of my majesty, while the word was
in the king's mouth, there felt 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 like an oxen, and seven years
shall pass over thee, until thou knowest that the Most High ruleth
in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. The
same hour was the thankful field upon Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven
from men, ate grass like an oxen, his body was wet with the dew
of heaven, till his hair was grown like eagle's feathers and
his nails like bird claws. And at the end of the days, I,
Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes into the heavens. And my
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
world are refuted as nothing, and he doeth according to his
will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of
the earth. And no man can stay his hand, or say unto him, What? doest thou." Now that was the
lesson that he learned. And Daniel said to him, this
is what's going to happen to you. You're going to lose your
kingdom. You're going to be driven out and eat grass like an oxen.
You're going to be wet with the dew of heaven. Your fingernails
are going to grow out like bird claws and your hair like eagle
feathers until you know. Until you know. Three times he
says this in our chapter. Three times he says this. He
says, this is a lesson to all the living that they may know
the most high rules in the kingdom of men. And he says, Nebuchadnezzar,
this is a lesson that you must learn until you are restored
to your kingdom, that the most high rules in the kingdom of
men. And boy, did his opinion of himself
ever change. You know, we'll never change
our opinion of ourselves until God humbles us. And those who
walk in pride, He's able to abase. When He humbles us and shows
us who we are in the light of who He is, then we'll come to
the correct opinion of ourselves. Here's this man says, look at
me. Look what a king I am. Look at my majesty. Look at my
glory. until God humbled him and showed
him that you are no different than the beast that eats grass
and is wet with the dew of heaven. If I just pull back my hand and
remove my support, you are no better than the beast, you are
no different than the beast. And he went around on his all
fours and they fed him with grass as an option until the time that
he lifted up his eyes back to heaven. And here is what he said,
I am nothing. I'm nothing. All the inhabitants
of the earth, including me, are nothing before this eternal and
living God. That's the lesson that he learned. The Most High God ruled in the
kingdom of men. We're told this all through the
Scriptures, and this is my first point. that I want us to look
at this morning and consider. I have three little simple points
here in this verse 17. And the first one is this, this
is a lesson that everybody needs to learn. This is a lesson God
taught this king. This is a lesson that the children
of God especially needs to know and remember. And it's this,
the most high rules in the kingdom of men. Now, we're told this
in so many places in the Scripture. But what happens, you see, we
read through the Scriptures and we don't stop to consider what
they say. This verse that God rules in
the kingdom of men is a passage and a concept that's revealed
to us all through the pages of Scripture. Let me read you some
that I've written down. Let the heavens be glad, and
let the earth rejoice. And let men say among the nations,
The Lord reigneth. Let men say among the nations,
The Lord reigneth. And here's David saying about
it. Saying praises to God. Saying praises. Saying praises
to our King. Saying praises. For God is the
King of all the earth. Seeing ye praises with understanding,
God reigneth over the heathen. God sent it upon the throne of
His holiness." Listen to how he says it again. The Lord reigneth. He is clothed with majesty. The
Lord is clothed with strength. Wherefore He has girded Himself.
The world also is established that it cannot be moved. And
listen to this passage. The Lord reigneth. He is clothed
with majesty, the Lord is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath
girded himself. The world also is established
that it cannot be moved. Why? Because he reigneth. Thy
throne is established of old, thou art from everlasting. The
floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their
voice. The floods have lifted up their waves. But what does
it matter? The Lord on high is mightier
than the noise of many waters. Yea, the Lord our God reigneth. Listen to this passage. Say among
the heathen that the Lord God reigneth. The world shall be
established that it shall never be moved. He shall judge the
people with righteousness. The Lord reigneth. Let the earth
rejoice. Let the multitudes of the islands
be glad. The Lord reigneth, let the people
tremble. He sits between the cherubim,
let the earth be moved. The Lord is great in Zion, and
He is high above all gods. Listen to what Isaiah said to
the church. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of
them that bring good tidings, that publish peace, that bringeth
good tidings of good, that publishes salvation, that saith unto Zion. What is the message to Zion?
What is the message the church needs to hear? Say unto Zion,
Thy God reigneth. But somebody says, I don't understand
all the ins and outs. I don't either. But he said,
say it. And sometimes during our dark
valleys, sometimes during our difficult hills, this is a comfort
to God's children. God reigneth. Thy God reigneth. I think it's very telling that
the Holy Spirit closes the book of Revelations with this passage.
And a voice came out of the throne saying, Praise our God, all ye
His servants, all ye that fear Him small and great. And I heard,
as it were, the voice of great multitudes, and the voice of
many waters, and the voice of mighty thunders. And they were
all saying, Hallelujah, for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. So I come here this morning and
I tell you, the Lord rules in the children of men. But that's
difficult to get in your heart. That's why we're told this over
and over again, that He reigns. It's not a matter of how many
times the Lord says something in His Word, men read right over
it. Haven't we did that? Haven't
we been guilty of that? Nebuchadnezzar was the same way,
we're told here in our text. He was at rest in his house and
prospering in his kingdom until God took hold of him to teach
him a lesson, to humble him and to teach him this valuable lesson. Nebuchadnezzar, you're not ruling. Nebuchadnezzar, I'm God. Nebuchadnezzar, I'm ruling. You're
not ruling. He taught him that by experience. Aren't we just like that? Every
one of us are living our lives, we're going along our merry way,
making our decisions, and we think that we have something
to do with it, don't we? We don't have a thing to do with
anything. We're nothing, are we? Our Lord is ruling, our God
is ruling in the kingdom of men. Saul of Tarsus was killing Christians.
and thought he was doing the will of God. He thought he was
something. Until on the road to Damascus,
the Lord Jesus humbled him in the dust and showed him, Saul,
you're nothing, and I'm everything. You're nothing at all, and I
am all in all. There was a time in my life,
until recently I guess, that I thought I could do something
to get God's attention. And it still gets in my poor,
miserable, wretched, wicked heart that I can do something to merit
forgiveness. That I can do something to earn
my salvation. If I get in trouble, I just think,
if I can pray hard enough, if I can be honest enough, if I
can humble myself enough, surely I can get God's attention. Brothers
and sisters, I'm like Paul John Warburton. The longer I live,
the more I see. If salvation, if my salvation
has anything to do with me, if it's what I can marry, if it's
the power that I can exert, if it has anything to do with me,
if Jesus Christ is not everything upon His throne, and if He's
not doing everything in me, then I'm undone forever because I'm
absolutely nothing. And I think the longer I live,
the more God teaches us this. Doesn't He teach you this? That
we're nothing. That we're nothing. It's only
when we see we're nothing that we see that He's everything. God rules. God rules. You know the Bible doesn't say
that just because it needs to fill up space. What does it mean
when He said, the Most High ruleth? in the kingdom of men. Does He
really rule? Is He God? In what sense does God rule?
Some people and most people, even the religious people, Christians,
will agree with these first two points very readily. God rules
in creation. He made it by the word of His
power, and He rules it. He said, lift up your eyes on
high and behold who hath created these things. And if we'll be
honest and let our conscience answer that, what will we say? God created all this. God made
it by the word of His power. He hung the stars in the heaven.
He put the moon and the sun there. He created the heavens and the
world. He brings out their host by number,
and by the greatness of His power, not one of them fails. Man tells
us, well, God didn't create this. All this evolved. Who is man? Who is man? He's nothing. We just read that in our text,
didn't we? He's nothing. All the nations before God as
nothing. Listen to this. They are counted
nothing to Him and less than nothing. Can you get lower than
nothing? Less than nothing. And vanity,
they're empty. Why would we listen to some old
gray-haired, bearded man that says all of this must have evolved
and he's dead and rotting now? And we should take His Word over
the Word of God who rules in the kingdom of men? Does God
rule in creation? As He created everything that
we see in the thrones and the minutes, He's created it all,
brothers and sisters. He's done it all. He's created
all things. He rules. He rules in providence,
does He not? He says here in our text, He
rules in the kingdom of men, not just over it. But He rules
in it. God has come right down among
all the nations in every decision that men make in their back rooms.
Every compromise, every thought, every motive, every word, every
need that everybody makes in this world and does, who controls
it? Who rules over it? Who permits
it? Who wills it? Who's purposed
it? Well, they got together, somebody
said, in the back room in the darkness of night and made their
decision. I tell you somebody knew about
it. I tell somebody that willed it and brought it to pass, and
that's God. He rules in the kingdom of men. We call ourselves superpowers,
don't we? Superpowers. Don't you laugh
when you hear that. If you've not laughed before,
the next time you hear some little wormy man get up and say, we're
a superpower, laugh at him, would you? The U.S. is a superpower. What they really
mean, I'm a superpower. Russia, they say, is a superpower.
And China wants to be a superpower. North Korea wants to be a superpower.
Iran wants to be a superpower. What is man? He's nothing. He's nothing. There's only one
power that sets up nations and pulls down nations, and that's
the eternal God. All the inhabitants of the earth
are counted as nothing, and there is one who rules, and that is
the Most High God. Most people will agree with that
if they've got any sense at all, that God rules in creation. He
rules in providence. But here's where you're going
to lose some people. He rules in salvation. He rules in the
kingdom of men. I love how Nebuchadnezzar said
it here in our text. You want to go back and read
it again in verse 35? Look at this. All the inhabitants
of the earth are reputed. They're counted as nothing. And
He doeth according to His will. in the armies of heaven and among
the inhabitants of this earth. And no man can stay his hand
or say to Him, What doest Thou? Some men will say, Yes, He rules
in creation. He rules in providence. But boy,
when it comes to salvation, what do they say? I'm not for sure.
I'm not for sure. Does God rule in salvation? Does He rule in your salvation? Do you think he's sitting up
in heaven waiting until you make a decision? He's not. He's not sitting up
in heaven waiting on men. Can I show you a verse of scripture
if you want to mark that? Just one verse of scripture over
in the book of John. Chapter 5 and verse 21. John's gospel chapter 5 and verse
21. Look at this. Speaking of the
will of the Son of God, who is God, isn't it difficult sometimes
when you read the Old Testament and you have a great king like
this that comes to the knowledge of the truth that God rules,
isn't it difficult sometimes to insert Jesus Christ in there? The most high rules in the kingdom
of men, who is the most high? Jesus Christ. Is He not? Did He not say before ascending
to heaven, all power is given to me in heaven and earth? That
sounds like a superpower, doesn't it? Did He not say, the Father loveth
the Son and hath given all things unto His hands? Sounds like He's
the possessor of all things, doesn't it? Did Paul say that
He must reign? until He has put all enemies
under His feet, physical enemies and principalities and powers,
even death and sin and devils will be put under His feet. Who
is this Most High? It's the triune God. It's Jesus
Christ, the Son of God. Look here what he says in chapter
5. And look in verse 21. As the Father raiseth up the
dead, and quickeneth them, as the Father gives life to whom
He will, even so the Son quickeneth who? Who does He quicken? Whom He will. He doeth according to His will. You know the Bible says that
salvation is of the will of God. Ain't this amazing that you read
the Bible and it's never attributed to the will of man? And yet,
you listen to religion of our day and they attribute it. Well, why isn't that person saved
or that person saved? Well, God has given us free will,
you see. Why do we have all these wars and sickness? God has given
us free will, you see. And to attribute everything to
the will of man. What is man? Nothing. He's nothing. This is where God
brought Nebuchadnezzar to. All the inhabitants of the world
are refuted as nothing, as He showed you that. As He showed
you that. Until He brings us to see that
we're nothing, we'll never appreciate nor understand that it's the
Most High who rules and how necessary it is for Him to rule. Even in
salvation. Because if you're nothing, you
can't attribute one hair's breadth to your salvation, can you? If
you're nothing, you can do nothing. Oh, we need somebody to come
to us, don't we? even when we're dead in sins. I plead with lost
men. I plead with them to seek the
Lord while He may be found. The day of grace is coming to
an end. I tell people that and you do.
We pray for them. And all the time knowing them,
if it's not the will of the Son of God to come to them and give
them life, they'll perish in their sins. They'll perish in their sins.
He doeth according to His will. And I tell you the joy that I
take from that is tremendous. When I find myself in the Lord
Jesus Christ, knowing that it was God's will to save me. It
was God's will to choose me. It was God's will to send His
Son to redeem me. It was God's will to send His
Spirit to call me and quicken me. And when I remember and believe
that I'm saved by the will of God, that thrills my soul and
fills me with confidence. And I don't know nothing, brothers
and sisters, any more amazing to think that this God that made
Himself known to this great King, that stripped this King and humbled
Him and sent Him out to eat grass like an oxen, to teach Him that
He's nothing and God is everything. I don't know anything more wondrous
and mysterious to believe and know that that same God who is
over all and rules all, came down to this world and took our
humanity to Himself and suffered for our sins and died to reconcile
us to Himself. Isn't that wonderful? Isn't that
wonderful? Can you hardly believe it? Oh, what a salvation is this
that the eternal God, the mystery of mysteries, great is the mystery
of Godliness, God was manifest in the flesh. What God? This
God. This God that rules in the kingdom
of men. And nobody moves, and no worm
rises out of its hole, or a bird flies through the air apart from
this God that reigns in the children of men. Our second lesson that he learned
was this, and he tells us here in our text. And he giveth it
to whomsoever he will. Isn't that amazing? God rules
in the kingdom of men, right in the midst of the kingdom.
I'm not about to get on a plane and go over to North Korea. I'm not about to get on a plane
and go over to China, especially go over there and steal something
and get myself put in jail. That's pretty dumb, ain't it?
But if I find myself in China, I find myself in Iran, here's
the comfort that I have. God rules here just as much as
He rules in Springport and Newcastle, Indiana. And He's given that kingdom to
them just like He's given this kingdom to us here. China is ruled by the Chinese. Why is that? God gave it to them. Iran is ruled by the Iranians. Russia is ruled by the Russians.
Why? God gave it to them. Nations should be careful about
trying to overthrow another nation. I'd be very careful about that.
I think we've been sort of presumptuous about that ourselves here in
this country. We should be more careful trying to overthrow a
nation because if God has given that people, that nation, you
may not overthrow it. There's been some pretty tiny
nations that's whipped big nations because God said, I gave them
that, you better not mess with them. Ain't that what He told
Israel? Don't you mess with that nation. Don't you mess with Edom. I give them that mountain, and
you can't take it. It's theirs. And when God gives a country
away and gives it to another people, you can't stop Him, because
it's His. Noah had three sons, and God
gave Ham the land of Canaan. And Ham, through his wretchedness
and sin, filled his cup up with iniquity, and God took the land
of Canaan away from him and gave it to Israel. Then when Israel
so sinned against God with its idolatry, the Lord took it away
from them and gave it to Nebuchadnezzar to ransack. Then He gave it to
the Medes and the Persians and then to the Greeks and then to
the Romans. This is a great nation you and
I live in. And the Indians sometimes get upset with the white man
because the white man took it from the Indians. Who did the
Indians take it from? And you know something else?
When God is pleased, He'll dispose us. And He'll give this nation
to somebody else. That's the way He rules. That's
the way He does things. You say, Bruce, why does He do
that? Because it's His. It's His. He gives it to whomsoever
He will. That's pretty plain, isn't it?
That's pretty plain. The same God who gives life and
breath and movement and food and raiment and health. and everything
else as gifts from His bounty. He gives countries to whomsoever
He will. And here's the third lesson that's
to be learned in our text, in chapter 4 and verse 17. And look
at this. I wish some politicians were
here this morning to read this too. And He set up over it the
basis, the lowest of men. Boy, God taught this king a lesson,
didn't He? Here the king was out there, and man, look at me. Look at me, who I am. Oh, look
at my glory. Look at my match. Look at my
clothes. Just look at me. Don't you know
if they had mirrors back then, he stood in front of one quite
often. Look at me. Just look at me. Can't you imagine after God humbled
him and some poor pauper came before him? and started bragging
on him, Old King lived forever. Oh, I just adore you. Look at
you. You're the greatest man that's ever... You're this and
you're that. Can't you imagine in the back of his head he's
thinking this? I'm nothing. I'm base. I'm low. And if God removes his
hand, I'll go out and eat grass like an ox. Who are these politicians, brothers
and sisters? When you write to one of them,
they want you to use the most honorable pence. If you ever
write to the president, be sure and put the most honorable president. That's what they want to be called.
And you know something? That's fine. Because God has
told us to pray for them. I will, first of all, that prayers,
intercession, and supplications be made for all men, especially
for kings and for those who are in authority." Lord, why do you
want us to pray for those base men? Because they think they're
something. And they think they're upholding
the country. And they need your prayers. Because
the devil is fighting against them to do that which is evil
and wicked. And they're so proud. And if
you don't pray for them and I don't answer your prayers, there's
no telling which way the country's going to go. If the Lord said over this nation,
honorable men, strong men, just men, it wouldn't surprise me
at all that this nation could stand 400 years. But when he
sets over idolaters, when he sets over fornicators, and drunks,
and blasphemers, and hypocrites, and compromisers, when you look
at them then, what do you say? Oh Lord, surely you rule in the
kingdom of men. Or this nation could have never
stood so long. We shouldn't be too bad. We shouldn't
be too hard on these politicians. You know it. Don't be too hard
on them. You can't say anything worse
about him than God has described him. Base. Look up the word. Go through
the scriptures and look what it means. He's chosen the base of
this world. They're nothing. But what are
we? When the church starts complaining
about our poor politicians, why don't we turn our eyes back on
the church? How's the church doing, by the way? We've got
more life than the silly politicians, don't we? How are we doing, brothers
and sisters? Oh, base politician, but oh,
how the church has abased itself so often. Aren't you glad, brothers and
sisters, that there's a kingdom, another kingdom, that is not
like the kingdoms of this world, Look over here in the closing
in chapter 2. This same king had another vision. And he saw
this monster of an image appear to the man and his head was like
gold and all his arms and his chest was like silver and his
belly like brass and his legs and feet were iron and so forth.
And there was another kingdom. There was another stone come
out of a mountain and it hit this image and began to just
tear him all to pieces. And look what he says about this
image in verse 44. And in the days of these kings
that I've just described, shall the king of heaven set up a kingdom. God has a kingdom. Isn't that
amazing? God has a kingdom. He said, My
kingdom's not of this world. How do you get into that kingdom?
You're barred into it. Who set it up? The Lord God Himself. And look at this, it shall never
be destroyed. Where is Babylon? Where is great
Babylon? It's gone. Rubbish. You can't find it. We're the kingdom of the Medes
and Persians. They're gone. We're Alexander the Great's kingdom. They're gone. We're Rome. They're
all gone, brothers and sisters. And these little kingdoms, since
the day of our Lord, have risen and fell, built up and destroyed. But here's one kingdom that will
never be destroyed. And here's a kingdom that shall
not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces
and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. And that's the kingdom of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Are you in that kingdom? Bless
your heart, are you in the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven?
That's the only kingdom that's going to stand. This great God
is going to get hold of this earth someday and shake it. He's
going to shake it until everything starts shaking loose. He's going
to shake it until there's one thing standing. And you know
what that'll be? The kingdom of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And if you're in that kingdom, you shall stand. Bless His name.