God’s Knockout Punch

All right, we are in part three, or part four rather, of our series on the book of Daniel. We've been walking through the book of Daniel. And to start off this message, this is Mike Tyson. Mike Tyson. Boop!

We're waiting for the picture. Okay, okay. There he is! Look at that guy. Bam!

You know, knockout punch. This is Mike Tyson. If you're under 30, you may not know who he is. My son would probably be like, who? Mike, who?

Right? And if you know anything about Mike Tyson, he was one of the greatest sports heroes in the 80s through 85, 90. He was kind of the king, much like Michael Jordan. He was the guy. He had this whole string of heavyweight challenges from 85 to 90 where he, I mean, no kidding, he knocked out people, about 10 people he knocked out in less than a minute.

In fact, there was Mike Tyson's Punch-Out, man. That was the game of the day. If you went to an arcade for just two bucks, you could probably play all day long. That's not true anymore. I was at an arcade not too long ago, and it's like $10 a game.

I mean, I can't even afford to play Mike Tyson's Punch-Out if it was available today. But he was so rich, and he had been so prosperous that, no kidding, his Ferrari ran out of gas, and he left it on the side of the road never to return to it. That's how wealthy this guy was. And at the peak of his career, Iron Mike squared off with this no-name fighter named Buster Douglas. And when I say he was a nobody, I mean he was a nobody.

Nobody knew who he was. It wasn't even supposed to be a challenge. In fact, Tyson had knocked out so many opponents in the previous matches. This would, if this were to even last, he would certainly be defeated. In fact, Mike was so confident in his abilities and in his career and in his success that he partied the night before the fight.

Just went out and did his own thing. And you guessed what happened. Buster Douglas won by knockout in the 10th round. It was literally a plot from Rocky III where Rocky gets fat, doesn't take care of himself, and walks out in the ring with Mr. T, and he beats him, of course.

And then Mick dies, and it's just a terrible situation. This kind of came to life during that time. By the way, after this fight, Tyson's career went rapidly downhill. In fact, we didn't, in fact, he's got a fight coming up. So maybe he'll have a resurgence.

We'll see. But Mike Tyson's life is an illustration of a tragic truth. Defeat is difficult, but success can be fatal. Defeat is difficult, but success can be fatal. So in Daniel 10, Nebuchadnezzar was suffering from a bad case of success.

He had an unfortunate self-defense. He had the almighty . . Actually knock them out, okay? Let's just say this is a fight.

God versus Nebuchadnezzar. And as you see, and as all of you know, if you've read the story and you've walked through, that God has given them ample opportunity to turn to him. Round one, we see Nebuchadnezzar is suffering from a bad case of success, and God prospered Daniel and his friends after they defied the king's orders to eat defiled foods forbidden by Jewish law. And of course, Daniel and his friends ended up being healthier and brighter. And in that encounter, he acknowledged, surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings, meaning that your God is better and higher than my gods, because look what's happened here.

That doesn't make any sense. But this didn't quite convince him. In round two, God gave Daniel the ability to do what none of Nebuchadnezzar's wise men could do is that's to reveal a dream to him. You know, Nebuchadnezzar had this dream of this gigantic statue warning Nebuchadnezzar not to set up his kingdom independent of God. Of course, in that encounter, he acknowledged that there is something special about Daniel's God, but not quite knocked out yet.

In ground three, Nebuchadnezzar was a little dazed. Yes, but not completely knocked out. And in fact, he set up this statue, as we learned last week, this 90 foot statue, this golden statue, and to put his God, his kingdom above any of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and Daniel's gods. But they refused. But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow down to this God.

And what we see is that they were thrown, these teenagers were thrown into a fiery furnace. And there was a fourth individual in there. They called him the son of God. He was like the son of God. And they come out with not even a hair singed and not even a bit of smoke on their clothing.

And Nebuchadnezzar looks at them and says, blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. There is no other God who is able to rescue in this way. In other words, this God is one of a kind. This is like, this is not a God I've ever heard of before. But round four opens and we see Nebuchadnezzar is still fighting.

Take a look. Let's go through chapter four, verse one. If you have your Bibles, open it up. Chapter four, verse one, or you can follow along in your notes. And it says, to those of every people, nation, and language who live on the whole earth, may your prosperity increase.

I am pleased to tell you about the miracles and wonders of the most high God has done for me. And how great are the miracles and how mighty his wonders. His kingdom is an eternal kingdom. And his dominion is from generation to generation. And verse four, it says, I, Nebuchadnezzar, by the way, this is a chapter in the Bible written by a pagan king.

God uses pagan kings even to communicate his word, right? Isn't that cool? God is an eternal kingdom. And it says, I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house, flourishing in my palace. And I had a dream, and he said, and it frightened me.

And as was the custom, he brought in all of his soothsayers and dream interpretation people, and they all came into, and they were probably fearful of what he was going to do, because they knew he put people to death that couldn't interpret this dream. But, finally, Daniel named Belshazzar, after the name of my God, but the Spirit of the Holy God, which is in him, came before me and told me the dream. And here it goes. There was a tree in the middle of the earth. It was really big.

It was tall. It was reaching to the heavens. In verse 11, its top reached to the sky, and it was visible to the ends of the earth. Its leaves were beautiful. Its fruits was abundant, and on it was food for all.

And wild animals found shelter under it. The birds of the sky lived in its branches, and every creature was fed from it. And then Nebuchadnezzar said, while I was admiring the tree, this messenger came down from heaven and began to speak to me. It said this, cut down the tree and chop off the branches. Strip off the leaves and scatter its fruits.

Let the animals flee from under it and the birds from its branches. But leave the stump with the roots, let him be drenched with the dews of the sky, and share the plants of the earth with the animals. Verse 16, let his mind be changed from that of a human, and let him be given the mind of an animal for seven periods of time. And this is so that the living will know that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms. He gives them to anyone he wants, and he sets the lowest of people over them.

Now, verse 19 says that when Nebuchadnezzar told Daniel this dream, Daniel was deeply troubled. In fact, he says, you know, I don't really want to share this interpretation. Here's what he says in verse 19. My Lord, may the dream apply to those who hate you and its interpretation to your enemies. By the way, you might notice the love that Daniel actually had for Nebuchadnezzar.

It's interesting, the dynamic here. Like, he was legitimately concerned. He loved Nebuchadnezzar as a person. Now, he didn't approve of his actions. He didn't approve of his gods.

He didn't approve of the way he lived. But he had a genuine love. He was actually living out that Jeremiah 29 to make your homes in Babylon and let the land flourish as a result of you that live, you, God's people that live in Babylon. He was actually living that out. So Daniel said, please, Neb, don't let me share.

I don't want to share this dream with you. And Nebuchadnezzar, who had also learned genuinely to trust Daniel, he really loved and trusted Daniel, responded in verse 19, Belshazzar, don't let the dream or its interpretation alarm you. Just tell me. And in verse 22, you have... You have become great and strong.

This is the interpretation. Your greatness has grown and even reaches the sky. And your dominion extends to the ends of the earth. You have the greatest kingdom that's ever been on the face of the planet. But God has issued a decree from heaven that because of your pride, you, like this tree, are going to be cut down.

Verse 25, you will be driven away from people to live with the wild animals, you will feed on grass like cattle, be drenched with dew from the sky for seven periods of time until you acknowledge that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms. And he gives them to anyone he wants. And then verse 26, as for the command to leave the trees stump with its roots, your kingdom will be restored to you as soon as you acknowledge heaven rules. And Daniel pleaded with the king, repent, please repent, turn your life over to God. Just give it to God.

27, therefore, he said, may the king heed my advice. Separate yourself from your sin by doing what is right. Just repent. Just repent to the Lord is what he's just begging him here. He's begging that of them.

And from your injustices by showing mercy to the needy, and perhaps there will be an extension of your prosperity. But sadly, Nebuchadnezzar didn't. And so, verse 29, at the end of 12 months, this is 12 months later, as he was walking on the roof of the royal palace, admiring the beauty and admiring the majesty of his kingdom, what I've done and what I've set up, what I've accomplished, the king explained, is this not Babylon the great that I have built to be the royal residence of my vast power and for my majesty and my glory? While the words were still in the king's mouth, a voice came from heaven, King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared that the kingdom has departed from you. You will be driven away from the people to live with the wild animals, and you will feed on grass like cattle for seven periods of time until you acknowledge that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms, and he will give them to anyone, there goes that phrase, anyone he wants.

And at that very moment, the message against Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. God gave Nebuchadnezzar 12 months. He gave him a warning. Now imagine Nebuchadnezzar's like, well, time's passing, time's passing, time's passing. In fact, he gave him more time than that.

Three different other occasions, he demonstrated that he is the God, that Yahweh is the God of all gods and Lord of all lords, and yet it's not enough. And finally, God said enough is enough, and he cast this thing upon him, this insanity that came upon Nebuchadnezzar. How about you? Has God been warning you of something? Are there things in your life that God has over and over and over, in His grace, been trying to demonstrate to you, to show you, to give you chance after chance, 12 months, 12 years, whatever it might be, an extended amount of time, and you have walked in disobedience long enough?

Have you walked in sin? And the hour very well may come that He sends something upon you to break down your foundations, to bring you to your knees, to rock your world. And so it happened with Nebuchadnezzar. And it says, seven periods of time, he ate grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with dew from the sky, until the hair, his hair was literally like eagle's feathers, and his nails as long as claws. Oh, we're dark here.

Okay. All right, what happened? I'm gonna keep preaching. Can y'all hear me on camera over there? Amen.

We're not exactly sure what this seven period meant. Scholars say that seven periods of time could be, you know, seven years. But what we get from this, that it was a long period of time, that God, that it took just long enough, it took as long as it needed to, for God to show Nebuchadnezzar, to help him realize that God is on the throne, and He isn't. And during the seven seasons, the miniest of kings of Babylon were reduced to, the miniest king of Babylon, the miniest king in the world was reduced to shambles. He was a groveling madman.

And he lived outside, ate grass like a cow. In fact, this wasn't like a no-shave November, guys, okay? Where you're, yeah, thank you. Yeah, yeah. Pop on some lights there.

There you go. You can pop on those back lights, too. We don't need the... Sometimes these things happen in mobile churches here. We got all kinds of connections here.

And believe it or not, believe it or not, this is actually a mental condition that's classified boanthropy. It's a mental disorder that psychologists use where people think that they're animals or they're a cow, and they actually eat, you know, like a cow and act like a cow. And God was using Nebuchadnezzar to give us a picture of what happened to humanity when we rebel against God. He's showing us what God does. And this is not just true of individuals.

This is true of society, that God gives us the whole of society. Apostle Paul says that professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. Professing themselves to be intellectual and current and knowledgeable, professing to be wise, they became fools. And we say things like the human race is nothing more than products of random chance. That some people even say, like, we came from crystals somewhere with aliens.

I don't know. It's just insanity, you know, what we're saying and we're thinking about where we came from. That you're going to charge the son of Ricardo Daubas, yeah, you know. I think there's a lot ofmania across here else than we can talk about it. This is really good to theizadoềnDirector is those who have him to do that.

That we came from nothing. That something came from nothing. Or we say things like, if you're an advanced sophisticated parent and you think that your ten-year-old boy is really a girl trapped in a boy's body, we push hormone therapy on them and irreversible surgeries to make them what they think they are or what we think they are. And we call it hate crime if we refuse for them to do that to children. That's insanity.

That's what we call insanity in the name of intellectualism, in the name of current society, in the name of the Babylonian ideal. So this is not just Nebuchadnezzar. This is the whole race of humanity that God is speaking to. It's about you. It's about me.

It's about us. So let's stop here for a minute and reflect. Because really what this chapter is about is pride. It's about the deep roots of pride. I told somebody in a group, in a Bible study group at one point, you know, I think pride is the source of pretty much everything.

And in their prideful way, no, it's not, it's not. You know, and they get all mad at me. It's not pride. It could be this and this and this and this. Oh, you're being prideful because you'd hate to be called out about pride.

And in this chapter, we see pride, pride's roots, pride's fruits, and then pride's cure. So we're going to deal with those three areas, pride's roots, pride's fruits, and pride's cure. And hopefully I'll be able to give you the cure at the end here. Pride's roots, if your ears are open and your heart's open, there you go. So pride's roots, first of all, a failure to see that every good thing comes from God.

That's your first root. A failure, every good thing comes from God. In verse 30, Nebuchadnezzar explains, Is this not Babylon the grape that I have built to be a royal residence by my vast power and by my majestic glory? And there is no acknowledgement of anything that has to do with God. Nothing.

Nothing comes from God. It all comes from me. There is an acknowledgement that it's all about Him. Look at this. So God says, You think, Nebuchadnezzar, that you are God?

Do you think that you're all... I'm getting ready to show you. I'm getting ready to give you a knockout punch that you'll never forget. I'm getting ready to show you. Every talent that you have, every breath that you breathe, every ounce of strength and every gift that you've been given, it all comes from me.

He sets up and tears down whomever He wants. That's what God does. Americans in particular believe in this myth, and I'm going to hit on some hearts here today, of the self-made man. You know, I rule my kingdom. I set up my throne.

I work hard. Many of us look at what we've done and what we've accomplished, and I worked for all of this, and I deserve it. Look at what I created. created this vast power and this majestic glory that's all around it. Think about it for a minute.

Think about it for a minute. The biggest factor contributing to your success, you really have no control over, where you were born, as a result of where you were born, how you received your education, the society you were born into, the influences, even your gene pool, the fact that you were able to do mathematics or you're able to do science or you're able to do literature or whatever. Whatever your giftings are, it's God choosing who you're going to be born into. What family, what gene pool you have. The most fundamental, determinative factor in your life, you had no control.

You may have worked hard, and don't get me wrong, there's great things about working hard. I think everybody needs to work hard, do their part, and we live in a free economy, a society that allows you to do that. Those are good things. But we took the gifts of God, He gave us, and we utilized them. Your whole life is a big footnote saying, this came from God, not my doing.

That's your life. So pride's first root is a failure to see that everything we have is a gift from God, and it's always accompanied by the second point, the foolish assumption that good life will last forever. Oh, this is going to last forever. Man, this is not an American sermon here, right? We're taught that the good life, this is the good life.

This is what America's about, having a good life. But Nebuchadnezzar assumed he was safe, and relatively speaking, he was. I mean, Nebuchadnezzar was, in his time, the most powerful man. In fact, historians will tell you he was one of the most, of the five most powerful men that ever lived. He was one of those people.

He was very powerful. It was an architectural wonder. It was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom. It was built on this great terrace. It had hanging gardens on both sides of the Euphrates, connected to an underground river, 400-foot-tall waterfall coming off of his palace.

The city was ornamented with gold and jewelry. As mentioned a few weeks ago, the famous historian Herodotus said that those who visited Babylon, he visited Babylon, he said he'd never seen anything like it. He'd never seen so much gold in his life. And he made Babylon virtually impossible to penetrate. He built a wall around Babylon that stretched 56 miles, 800 feet high and 300, excuse me, 80 feet wide and 300 feet high in some places.

They raced chariots around the wall. That's how massive this thing was. If anyone should have felt secure about the future, it would have been Nebuchadnezzar because, look, you can't fire me because I'm my own boss. I'm the boss of the world. And you can't make me go bankrupt because I have all the money in the world.

I'm completely secure. I am God. But you and I both know that God has a way. It doesn't matter how powerful you are, how secure you've built your bank accounts, how you've set up, He has a way. You might be sitting on top of the world, but enough savings, you can have all of the savings you want.

You can be anybody, but everything can change in a moment. Everything can change in a moment. Just three words, you have cancer. You know, the builder of the Titanic famously boasted, not even God could sink this ship. There was a mighty Civil War general that boasted that he never lost a battle, and he never did, but he died of a tick bite.

Maybe you're young with so much talent. Everybody's telling you the world is your oyster. You know, maybe it's happened to you this year that maybe the spouse says it's over. You know, just like that, out of the blue. I've seen the grownness of man, the most strategic and most powerful of man cry by hearing those statements.

I can't continue to do this marriage. Or maybe it's it's happened through something happening with one of your kids, and there's no pain like kids' pain. Y'all know that. There's nothing like that. Do you realize how fragile the whole ecosystem is?

You can watch documentaries on this. I was watching a documentary that said the right solar flare aimed at the right place could destroy the whole humankind itself in less than eight minutes. We'd have eight minutes, and then we're all gone. A comet or an asteroid or an earthquake, and it can be gone all of a sudden. Maybe it's mental health that just comes upon you like Nebuchadnezzar, just out of nowhere.

Maybe it's someone saying the words longshoremen strike, and everybody run by TP at the grocery stores. I mean, come on, guys. What is toilet paper going to, how's that going to save you from anything, especially when it's shipped within the nation? It's not even coming from overseas. Going back to insanity, right?

Insanity. You know who you are in here, right? You're those people going to the gas station when things happen like that, you know, filling up bags of gas when there's a shortage of gas. The point is, we're not as unpenetratable as you think, folks. Part of Satan's lie in the Garden of Eden is that you will not surely die.

See, it's a lie that he whispers in our ear every day, that you won't surely die. It's not that we don't know the existence of death, but he helps us forget about it because of all the good things in life, right? Right? Unless you have the Son of Eden, what does that mean by that? And that's the salary of the God.

And get Давайте's married, right? And that's a lie that you know. No longer you want us, no longer than ever, but in that 62nd. Utilize me at verse 34th in the illinois. And he voir it in the early sv recess.

And actually, It takes that thought away from us, the reality that we forget about. So right now, you might walk out on the roof and look over your kingdom and say, Wow, I've really done something here. Look at what I've built, the glory and the enjoyment of all that I have. And one day, just like that, with the prick of God's finger, it could be all gone just like that, with the snap of God's finger. It could be gone like that.

Pride's roots are a failure to recognize everything that you have. Every breath that you have is a gift from God. And the second is the foolish assumption that it will all last forever. Pride's fruits. And I'm going to give you six of these real quick here.

There are several fruits that we see here. Competitiveness. With pride, we become competitive. Nebuchadnezzar's language was filled with boasting, right? It was I, I, my, my, nobody compares to me.

The surest sign that you've eaten the fruit of pride, that you always compare yourself to others. Yeah, I don't mean a healthy desire to do your best and to have some kind of competitive nature in that sense. But I'm talking about the quickest indicator, as C.S. Lewis said, is that you have pride, your pride is, the greatest indicator of pride is that when you compare yourself to somebody else, that, that, that's, that's, here's what he said in, in mere Christianity.

If you want to find out how proud you are, the easiest way is to ask yourself, how much do I dislike it when the other person snubbed me or refuses to take any notice of me or patronize me or show off? The point is that each person's pride is in competition with everyone else's pride. It is because I wanted to do or to be the big noise of the party, and I am so annoyed at someone else being the big noise. Two of a trade, a trade never agreed. Pride is essentially competitive, is competitive by its very nature.

Their pride is competing with yours. How dare they take my attention? I want my somethingness. They can't have that somethingness. It makes you mad when you see somebody else getting the glory.

And the irony is they don't even know it. We don't even know it when we're prideful that way. It's blind. C.S.

Lewis says it's a silly disease because those who suffer most from it never know it, but they make everyone else around them sick. John Calvin said it best. Nebuchadnezzar's insanity gives us a picture of blindness, the blindness of human pride. It does. And when someone is insane, they don't know that they're insane, but everybody else does.

Right? So that leads to ingratitude. So we go from competitiveness to ingratitude. The Apostle Paul said it best in Romans. So that leads to ingratitude.

So that leads to ingratitude. So that leads to ingratitude. So that leads to ingratitude. Thank you. They did not glorify God as God, nor were they thankful.

Ingratitude. See, gratitude is a sign of humility. You recognize everything you have, every gift that you have comes from God. You know you don't deserve it. How would I even deserve this job?

How would I even deserve these children? How would I even deserve this family? That's what gratitude does, but ingratitude does the opposite, which leads to its ugly twin brother, entitlement. Pride says, I deserve good things. Look at what I've done.

Look at me. I work hard. I did something good. I did something difficult. I did something special.

I sacrificed myself. You know, I gave my time. I gave my energy. I, I, I, I deserve. I deserve the glory.

I deserve the praise. I deserve the appreciation. I need more money. I need a better marriage. I deserve a better marriage, right?

I, I, I, I, I, I, I. And it just goes on and on. And when your life is going well, pride says, this is what it should be. And I'm proud of myself. And when it goes poorly, this isn't fair.

I work hard. I do everything right. And I deserve. Why, why, why, God? And we blame God.

And we blame everybody else. And we blame the situation. And we blame the husband, the friends, the pastor, and, but ultimately God, right? By contrast, when things go well, when you're humble, you say, wow, this is a gift from God. God blessed me with this.

I don't deserve this. And when things go bad, you're like, well, maybe God is just teaching me something here. Man, this is, this is, this is tragic, but glory to God. He's trying to show me some new things. He's trying to open my eyes up to some new things in my life and the life around me.

Maybe God is directing me. See, pride leads to entitlement, but humility leads to gratitude. Number four, overconfidence. A fruit is overconfidence, a fruit of pride. See, Nebuchadnezzar, I call him Neb, just, just to be quick.

Cause there's Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar. Y'all learned that last week. If y'all are here, can I just call him Neb? So if you've been following along, I'm just been calling him Neb. Neb believes his kingdom will last forever, ever, ever, ever, ever.

Amen. But as James says in the New Testament, don't be arrogant and clear tomorrow is going to be great. You know, people are like, we're going to do this. We're going to do that. I'll go do this and do that because you don't know what tomorrow holds.

I'm going to, I'm overconfident about tomorrow. There's nothing wrong with a good, healthy unction of confidence. Some of us need more confidence, but pride is overconfidence. And he says, you know, tomorrow, tomorrow you may be gone is what James was saying. He says, it's like a vapor, like life is like a vapor in the wind.

It's like a flower that just fades away. It's here today and it's gone tomorrow. Just a slight, the slightest whiff of God's hand. Thishoo man is delicate. Right again.

Not completely. It's gone. That's how fragile life is. So we should live day to day. If it's God's will, may tomorrow be great.

May we accomplish much tomorrow. And that's what James is saying. And then the fifth one is self-will. The overconfidence leads to self-will. Neb isn't afraid to go into the future without God because he believes he has all he needs to make life work.

But God is about to show him he is foolish. Another wealthy king, King Solomon, said it like this, the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. That healthy fear of God to recognize it's like oxygen. Hey, you know, I fear that to be without oxygen. If I don't have oxygen, I'm not like scared of oxygen, but I fear to be without it because without it I can't live.

And God's the same way. I'm terrified to think of being in a place where I don't have God guarding my present and holding my future. How would I ever walk into anything not believing that, that he's given life and blessing in every moment of my life, that I have to depend on him. He is the air I breathe. I fear not being in the presence of God.

I fear being without God. It's not my will, it's God's will. I want God a part of everything. I fear getting separated from him. And then six, stinginess and exploitation.

See, Daniel pleads with Neb, separate yourself from your sins by doing what is right and from your injustices by showing mercy to the needy. It's significant that Daniel puts repentance in terms of a new attitude towards those in need and those that are poor. Because a sure sign of pride is callousness to those that are in need. That those around you, you're doing so well, you don't even see. You're blinded to everything and anything around you.

See, entitlement is a sign of pride. Advocating for the needs of others is a sign of humility. It's humility. So in Nebuchadnezzar, you see roots of pride and you see the fruits of pride. Now the cure, the cure for pride.

Now this one's pretty short. For Nebuchadnezzar and for many of us, when pride gets out of hand, suffering and failure. Suffering and failure. Those are hard words to hear, aren't they? And maybe that's happening to you right now.

Maybe you're going through some suffering. Maybe you've experienced some failure. But realize that failure by itself is not enough. Because if you're just doing failure by itself, you're going to be bitter. You're going to be resentful.

It's not going to make any sense to you. But God's Spirit has to awaken you to your failure. And walking in the light of God, you see that your failure and your suffering. There's more. God is basically taking his finger.

And putting it up under your chin and pointing you up to heaven, saying, you need to look at me. Stop looking down. Look up at me. John Calvin said, Nebuchadnezzar's insanity alone didn't wake him up. God's Spirit had to give him eyes to see.

Verse 34, it says, but at the end of those days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven. That's the look of repentance. And my insanity returned to me. Is that happening to you right now? Do you hear the voice of God calling you to repentance, look up to me?

If you're going through suffering, if you're going through times, is he saying, how much more are you going to have to suffer, my friend, before you turn to the God of gods, the Lord of lords, who is there to receive you in his grace? Neb's final statement here is one of the most stunning declarations of humanity anywhere in the Bible. He says this, the most high God lives forever. Hallelujah. Now he wasn't used to saying that to anybody else because everybody said that to him.

Oh, King, you live forever. But Nebuchadnezzar now says that belongs only to God. We're all temporary. We're all just vapors in the wind. We're kingdoms that are like sand castles on the beach.

We're just so temporary. I love the quote that the great Mark Twain said, the world laments you for an hour and it forgets you forever. That's our kingdom. Our kingdom will be forgotten. Yes, you might live for some time in memories of those who love you.

And maybe if you've accomplished something great in your life, maybe for a little while, for a few years, but ultimately, ultimately it's forgotten. But verse 34 says this, an everlasting dominion and his kingdom is from generation to generation. That means trying to erect a life independent of him is like a kid trying to build a sand castle in a hurricane. Only one kingdom will last forever and that's Jesus's kingdom. That's the only kingdom that will last forever.

And the only thing done through his power will last. You need him. You can't fix your marriage. You can't make your kids turn out right. We can't even build this church without the power of God.

God being a part of what we're doing. His everlasting dominion, his kingdom from generation to generation to generation, it will last forever. Any work we do outside of God is in vain. Every good work we do, every motive, every ministry we do, it's in vain if it's not in God. And it says on in 35, all the inhabitants are before him as nothing.

God's not impressed by bad things. God’s not impressed by America. He‬s certainly not wild by our church and our talents and our money. He has no need for any of those things. And our greatest achievements are of no consequence to Him.

He does what He wants with the army of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth. I want you to listen to this and listen to this clearly. The armies of heaven. He‬s fully in charge of history. Armies of angels move at His command.

As do the smallest molecules. God can call them all forward. Not a sparrow falls from the sky. Not a hair falls from your head without Him knowing. That‬s how He is.

We‬re just inhabitants of earth. God is in control. And then He goes on to say there is no one who can block His hand. There is no power that can‬ He is irresistible. He is irresistible.

No one ultimately will frustrate His purposes. It may seem like the church is being defeated. It may seem like the kingdom of God is being defeated. In your context. In your time.

In your world. In your country. But ultimately, God will win in the end. He is working in the background. He is moving in the background.

And we need to have a healthy fear that no one can block the plans, the hand of God moving. And in the end, we will see that He is God. No one can frustrate His purposes, not Nebuchadnezzar, not Hitler, not Hollywood, not Washington, not the UN, not Satan, not Trump, Biden, Harris. None of those things. Nobody can frustrate His plans.

People, settle down. God is in control. He does whatever He pleases. God does whatever He wants. And all His works are true.

And His ways are just. Verse 37. In the end, we'll see that God was just and true in all that He did. And it is our complaints that are foolish. The complaints we have towards God.

The questioning. We feel so justified to ask Him these questions. The God of the universe. And our God is so gracious. He listens to them.

But God, you know, what are you thinking, God? How dare you have this happen to me? How dare you put me in this situation? We do that to God. But when our eyes are open to see what God is really up to, which one day they will be, we'll feel so foolish.

We'll feel so ridiculous. We'll seem like a three-year-old child asking our parents why we can't cross the street in busy traffic. That's God. The prophet Isaiah said it like this. The wisdom of the wise will pay.

The intelligence of the intelligent will vanish. The ignorance of man will be brought low, and human pride humble. The Lord alone will be exalted in that day. Do you trust Him? Do you trust Him?

And in verse 37, ending verse 37, He is able to humble those who walk in pride. He is able to humble those who walk in pride. The mightiest of men and women ever to walk the face of the earth. On the final day, will find themselves laid low and crumbled to the ground. Just like that dream in week two.

God will one day rule the universe. He already does. But in reality, we will see His face, and every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess one day that Jesus Christ is Lord. Amen. Every knee will bow.

Every ruler of this earth will see God as He truly is. And that is the conversion testimony of the richest, most powerful, most wicked king in ancient history. Hallelujah. He is able to humble those who walk in pride. And it blows my mind that one day in heaven, I'll be able to meet Nebuchadnezzar.

And call him brother. Hallelujah. What about you? Has He humbled you? Are you listening to Him?

Is this story for you today? Because the worst thing is for you to enter eternity unhumbled. For God to wake you up through some tragedy in your life right now that you're going through, it's much better than facing the wrath of terror that is to come if you're separated from Jesus from all eternity. So where are you at? Jesus is the true king.

This is really the method of the story. This is the message of the story. This is what we see. Jesus is the true king that every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that He is Lord. He is the one.

Even though He walked His whole life in submission and humility, as we see here, we see the shadows of Jesus come out. This is the message. At the end of His life, God drove Him into the wilderness, as Nebuchadnezzar was driven into the wilderness, to suffer and die like a beast on the cross. And because of that, He can forgive us of our sins. It doesn't matter how evil we are.

Nebuchadnezzar being that example. And restore us from our insanity. Do you remember the little phrase, but leave the stumps with the roots? The stump with the roots can grow again. You know, if you leave stumps in the ground, they grow again.

And Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom, once you realize... who God was, they grow again. Well, when Jesus died on the cross, His life was pulled up by the roots so that He could forgive you and restore you, that your life could be restored and that tree can grow in your life again to everything you are supposed to be. And if you let Him, He will do that. If you let Him today, He will do that.

And so now, He calls you from your insanity. Where are you? Are you ready to receive Him? Are you ready to confess your sin to Him? If you've walked away from Him, are you ready to walk back to Him?

Because this pain in your life that you're going through, if you're going through pain, He is not trying to punish you for your sins. He just, that's not what He's doing. He's trying to wake you up. He's trying to wake your heart up. So my question for you, if you're going through something in your life, are you ready?

Are you ready to receive Him as your Savior? Are you ready for Him to rescue you from the fiery furnace? That's the message of Jesus. Nebuchadnezzar's story is the message of Jesus Christ. I want to give you an opportunity today.

And I don't know where any of you are in your spiritual wall. God hasn't given me some kind of message saying this one, this one, this one, this one. This is between you and God. If you're here today and you heard this message, you're just like, wow, how did He know my, how did He know my, my, my stuff? It's not me.

It's God. So today, God has given you that opportunity to make your life with Him, to put your authority under His authority. And there's no better place you could be. The whole world could fall and burn to the ground. But God's grace is so good.

Would you bow your heads? Father, we thank you for your spirit, Lord. And we know that it's moving in the hearts of people today. If you're here today and you want to give your life to Jesus or you want to rededicate your life to Jesus, would, would you just confess right now? Lord, I have lived in sin.

I have rebelled against you. I have done things that are unspeakable towards your name. But today, Lord, I release it to the cross. I realize that the cross of Jesus Christ saves me from my sin. I believe that you died on the cross so that I could have life.

And I could have life to the full. And I no longer have to live in sin. I no longer have to live in the depths of darkness, Lord. I no longer have to live in defeat. I no longer have to live with shame.

I no longer have to live in hurt. But I can depend on you today. So, Lord, come into my life. Come into my heart. I make you, Lord, over me.

Save me by your grace, Lord. I've rebelled against you, Lord. I was a follower of you once, but I slid out, and I slid away, and God, it's just no good over here. I come back under your authority today, Lord. I rededicate my life to you today, Lord.

I give my heart to you. I give everything to you today. Thank you for saving my soul. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sin. Thank you, God, that you did it even when I didn't deserve it.

In Jesus' name. Amen. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Give God a praise.

Hallelujah.