Let us turn again to the part of God's Word that we read, the book of Daniel, chapter four, and we may look again at verse 16. Daniel, chapter four, verse 16. Let his heart be changed from man's, let a beast's heart be given unto him, and let seven times pass over him. Let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be given unto him. We have in this chapter the extraordinary episode in the life of Nebuchadnezzar, not mentioned in the secular records. Not surprisingly, these only boast of the great things. Here's the very reverse, but recorded here in the Word of God, and we're told what the main reason is at least, and that is in verse 17, 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. But Nebuchadnezzar's power was taken away from him, seven times passed over him, and then it was restored again. And God is able to bring such extraordinary things to pass in his providence. But it brings before us also the idea here of the heart of a man and the heart of a beast, the difference between men and animals, mere animals, and the difference of outlook, as it were, the heart of the man and the heart of the beast, men to have dominion over the beasts. That was the creation ordinance or part of it, to have dominion Fowls of the air and the fish of the sea, that dominion in a great measure lost as a result of the fall, but restored far beyond anything that Adam ever had. in the Lord Jesus Christ, made for a little while lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honour, and all things set under his feet, not only the animals, but all things, heaven and earth, all power in heaven and earth given unto him. So men to have dominion over beasts, but Instead, they, as it were, turned themselves into beasts. As Nebuchadnezzar, the heart of a man taken away from him and a beast's heart given unto him. And Asaph speaks of that in the psalm that we were singing. It's on account of his looking at things from a worldly perspective and not going in his heart to God's sanctuary and learning there the slippery places in which the wicked were set and how they were suddenly cast down to destruction. Reflecting on himself, he says, so rude was I and ignorant, and in thy sight a beast. Looking at things, as it were, with the eyes of a beast, rather than with the eyes of a man who is to take the things of heaven into account. And so the work of the gospel, in a way, is to reverse what we have here, to take away the sinner's heart, which is the heart of a beast, and to restore him or exalt him to the heart of a man. And a man's heart is to be in heaven. Adam was made for communion with God. Christ's people are in communion with, truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. But how is that? As it were, human fellowship, that's the fellowship of a man, the one who's the friend of God. But if that's to happen, there must be a great change. The heart of the beast, as it were, must be replaced or turned back to what it should be, the heart of a man. Well, let us endeavor to think about these things. What we need is the The true heart of a man, that is, one who worships God through the Lord Jesus Christ. We need the true heart of a man. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we want to think about three things. And the first is that the life of the beast is under heaven, the heart of the beast. The life of a beast is not concerned with things that were beyond the earth. It's only under heaven. The life of a beast is under heaven. And secondly, that the life of the ungodly man likewise is under heaven, or at least that's how he tries to live. He tries to live as if there were nothing beyond, as if there were no God in heaven. That's how Nebuchadnezzar had been trying to live. The life of the ungodly man is also under heaven. But then thirdly, we want to think about the life of the godly, which is in heaven, is from heaven, and in heaven. It is above. It takes into account the things of eternity, the things of Christ, the things of God. Well, these three matters. And firstly, then, we want to think about the beast. The life of the beast is under heaven. God made the beasts as we have it. Creation, Genesis, chapter 1, the earth bring forth the various things, the beasts that are in the sea and the beasts that are on the land, the formation of the beasts. They made from the dust of the earth. In the same way, when their life is taken from them, they return to the dust, as we do ourselves. Dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt return. But it's noted that the Creation of the beasts is simpler in a way than the creation of man, because the beasts are made by a straight commandment. Let the earth bring forth, and that sufficed, to bring forth a multitude of the beasts after their kind, done by a straight commandment of God, whereas the creation of man was more involved, formed from the dust of the earth. But then we're told that God breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life. And man became a living soul, as if the creation of the one was done from a distance, and the creation of the other, as it were, by the finger of God near at hand. God formed man out of the dust. of the earth. So there's much more attention in that way given to the man. And we know that the body of the beast is wonderful, there's a wonder in these creatures, and there's much of the wisdom and the power of God to be found in all the different creatures that he's made. And the continued astonishment of one discovery after another and how the Lord has so contrived things that some of these animals live in the sea and some live on the land and some in the air and some in places where it's very hot and others where it's very cold and others in darkness and so on. And yet, they're all there, all together. Wisdom of God has brought all these things to pass by a word. Let the sea bring forth, let the earth bring forth these things. But man is different because he's, there's the body there, but there's also the soul. The body shares with the beast in that way, in the wonders, but the soul as well, union between the two, which is incomprehensible to us. And yet, a matter of not just daily experience, but continual experience. We know, it's the most basic thing we know in the whole world, that we, as it were, live in our bodies. Fundamental to everything else. And yet, how this can be is Beyond us, no one can even have any suggestion as to how it can be. And not only the making of the man, but the making of the woman as well, out of the side of the man. But God made the beasts, and they too have a spirit as well. That's another thing that's difficult to say much about. A beast, it would seem then, is not simply a complicated machine or system. It's not just that, but there's something more there as well. There's something that, as it were, drives it, the spirit of the beast. The beast, too, has its body, but there is a spirit there as well, however it acts and judges instinct, it seems to us. follows the promptings, whatever, of its nature. Even those are astonishing. We know with the migration of birds and these other things, how the insects turn into caterpillars and so on. A wonder in all these things, how the Lord causes these creatures to do the extraordinary things that they do. But then the spirit, we're told, when the beast dies, the spirit returns to the earth. Solomon in Ecclesiastes, the spirit of the man goes up, but the spirit of the beast returns to the earth. Nothing prolonged beyond that. So the beast there formed out of the earth by commandment and given a spirit by God, but then returning to the earth a death. And the life of the beast is wholly under heaven. It's here in this world. And we're told about the beasts crying to God for their food in the psalm, but they seek nothing beyond this world. And they're crying to God, it is for food. And nothing more than that. They have no desires, no needs, no instincts, as it were, beyond this world. They will never dwell in another world. This is the world for which they are made. And the things of the world could fully satisfy them. They have no needs or desires that are not satisfiable in this world. If they can get their food and their drink, Perhaps if they needed a den in which to live and a mate that's young, then that's all that they want. They have everything. Because of sin, they may not have these things. The sin of man bringing death and suffering into the world, the curse as a result. ground being cursed and death passing, not only on men, but on the animals as well. We would understand the sin of man, the cause of the death and the suffering in the animals. And so they cannot always get the good things that they would wish, and they suffer much. But they prey on one another as well. But nevertheless, even in this world, The beasts can, from time to time, be happy, have all that their heart could desire. They can be content with what is according to their nature, the desires of their nature. So the life of the beasts then is under heaven. And they take nothing to do with the spiritual world, the world beyond. It's not in their lives and thoughts at all. They're caught up in it. They're caught up in this great spiritual conflict that is going on in the world, just as many people get caught up in wars, the war between Michael and his angels, the devil and his angels. They're caught up in that. But it's, in a sense, nothing to do with them. They have neither part nor lot in it. They are neutral in the matter. And it's not their concern, right and wrong, and nothing to do with them. And in that way, I suppose we could say that they neither support nor oppose. They don't oppose the kingdom of God. They endeavor to live their own lives and follow their own desires in the midst of all these other things. Well, that is the life of the beast. That is the heart of the beast. It is under heaven. Well, here we have Nebuchadnezzar given the heart of a beast. We're saying from the psalm that this gives us a picture of the ungodly man, the heart of the beast, that the man's heart be taken from him and the heart of the beast given to him. Secondly, then, let us think about the life of the ungodly man. And that, too, is under heaven. and in many ways resembles the life of the beast, and in some ways is worse. In some ways it's like the life of the beast, in some ways it's worse. The ungodly man tries to live his life under heaven in the same way, to live as if there were no heaven and no world beyond. He avoids looking up. As it said, lift up your eyes and look up, for your redemption draweth nigh. The act of faith is a looking up to heaven, to look to Christ. As those ones, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. Whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. He must look to him with the eye of faith. But they avoid looking up. They determinedly look down. They don't want to engage with the living and the true God. They may have their idols. Nebuchadnezzar had his God and the false gods and the nations round about. They have their false gods, and many people have their false gods. But they disagree among themselves. They differ among themselves with their false gods. But they agree in this, that none of them want dealings with the true God. None of them want dealings with the God of Israel. They're all united against him. They do not wish to engage themselves. It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. There's a terror. associated with that, the terror of the Lord, that fear which has torment when they think about the things of the living God, they avoid that all their lives, subject to bondage through that fear they have of the living and the true God. And therefore they live as if the sky were a barrier, a shield rather, a shield that protected them from God, as if He was the other side of it, if they think about Him at all, and therefore they were hidden from Him. And He was absent, and therefore they could live without Him. They could do what they pleased. They would not be seen, they would not be called to account. This is the heart of the ungodly man, saying in his heart, no God. Let there not be a God. Let me live here in this world as if there were no God, as if he would not call me to account. As Adam and Eve hid themselves away from God until he appeared to them, the voice of the Lord God in the garden in the cool of the evening calling them to account. And that's the thing they want to avoid if they can, being being seen and being called to account by God and, as it were, in their terms, say, the interfering of God, God interfering in the things of men. And that's why we live in a day which very much denies that, the hand of God. God does act. And he's the one who sends these troubles, hurricanes and wars and diseases, COVID. He's the one who sends these things, the hand of God. But that is not the way men want to think about it. They don't want to be beholden to him or touched by him in any way at all as a beast. They regard these things, in a sense, as the beast does, the beast not tracing it back to God, but looking no further than what is immediately before its eyes. So the ungodly man, in that way, has the heart of the beast. He judges according to this world and according to what he can see, as if there were nothing beyond. Lusts, let them be gratified if possible. Just as the beast has its desires, it seeks to gratify to the man his lusts, the lusts of the flesh and the lusts of the eye and the pride of life. He sees no reason, as it were, why he should not live in that way. It seems a natural way to live for the ungodly man. the life of the hand. Whatever comes to hand, he does that. Whatever he desires, if he can have it, then he will take it. In the same way, if a life is unhappy, well, let it, as it were, be ended. the life under heaven. We're now faced with this assisted dying and that sort of thing. These people are unhappy, so it's claimed, and don't want to live, let their lives then come to an end. The argument of the ungodly, as if there were no God, thinking as if there is no God. They judge in that way. They judge as if there were no God, no judgment, no judgment seat of Christ before which they must appear. So they judge according to this world. They seek the happiness from this world. The ungodly man only sets his heart upon this, the things that are here, the wealth and the pleasures that are here. He knows nothing else or he determines to know nothing else. It's what he seeks after. He can never truly attain it. Only for a little while at the best. The pleasures of sin, which are but for a season. They give him a little bit of pleasure while they last, but no more. There's always something else. There's always a restlessness. There's always a craving. Solomon says, even in laughter, the heart is sorrowful. Even in laughter. Even when the men of this world seem to be happy. You could look into the depths of their heart. You would see a great sorrow there and a yearning for something else, because they are not. Although they're trying to live under heaven, they are not beasts. They're not beasts. They're made as beasts. They made themselves as beasts, but they're not beasts. And there is that in them which cannot be satisfied by the things under heaven. So the beast has no desires that cannot be satisfied with what there is in this world, but the man does, because his soul does not come from the earth in that way by the hand of God, but it comes from above. The spirit will return at death to God who gave it. The soul of man goes upward. And though he tries to live as a beast, he cannot. get away from the reality of his nature. He cannot separate himself from that world of truth and morality, the world above, the things of eternity. And we see that in human life, even when people are living as atheists, as so many people are in Britain at this time, yet the ideas of right and wrong and true and false as well, in their minds and in their mouths continually, in a corrupt form. But they're still there, right and wrong. It's right to do this. It's wrong to do that. There should be a law against that. They have very perverted views of right and wrong. But nevertheless, the ideas of these things, which the beasts don't have at all, are so powerful. in human life. The moral sense, as it were, is as strong as ever. That's why they cannot live as beasts. They're trying to live as beasts, but they cannot. And unlike the beasts, which takes nothing to do with the world, the spiritual world above and the conflict between the kingdom of Christ and the kingdom of Satan. Unlike the beast, they very much involve themselves in that. They cannot separate themselves from it. And they come in strongly, as we find, they come in strongly on the side of Satan. They may not realize that. That's very much the side where their heart is, the carnal mind, not subject to its enmity against God. is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. It's very much on the side of evil, on the side of opposition to God, being itself opposition or enmity to God. And so there's a strong inclination in them to support things that are evil. One might say to support anything that they know that is against God, as they are against God themselves. If their mind is enmity against God, which can never be changed except by divine power, then they will support things that they see to be against God, on the principle, as it were, that anything that is bad for an enemy is to be supported. And so when people propose things that they can see are against the Christian religion, they are very much inclined to favor those things. And that's why the various evils of our generation have so much support in the world. rejection of Christ. If Christ is the King of God's own appointing, God has set upon His holy hill of Zion, making Him both Lord and Christ, then they, in their hearts, reject Him. A strong feeling in their hearts, if they know little of Christ, that the true state of their hearts may not appear. If they know more of Christ and if the authority of Christ, the duty that they have and the worth of Christ is pressed upon them, then this stirs up the hostility in their hearts. We see that in the Jews, we had it in the Acts of the Apostles that when they knew little of the gospel, they were ready enough to hear about Christ as the Messiah. But then as the teaching goes on, then the fierce opposition in their hearts breaks out in persecution against Christ, against his people, against Christianity, against the Christian religion, which they against which they bitterly oppose in its true form. They may support some perverted form, some corrupt form, but in the simple biblical form of a faith in Christ, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, trusting in Jesus Christ and him crucified. In that simple form, they strongly reject that And they become destroyers and persecutors, as Nebuchadnezzar himself was. In the pursuit of his own things, he destroyed the temple at Jerusalem and broken all that down. And so many go to with hammers and axes and break down the carved work of the temple, and many in our day. Dismantling, if they can, the Christianity of Britain not thinking what the consequences may be, as it were, pulling the building down on their own heads as a result. But that's what they're doing, because they're motivated by their hatred of the things of God and the things of Christ. Well, in this way, men make themselves worse than beasts. They may try to live as beasts, but they make themselves worse than beasts. The beasts, as you say, take nothing to do with these moral and spiritual matters. But these ones do, and they show a blasphemous and a lying spirit as well. There's much lying in this matter. The devil was a liar from the beginning, and they're believing a lie. They're deceivers and being deceived. There's a deceiving and a self-deceiving going on in the heart. not receiving the truth in the love of it, not doing that, but turning everything to an evil purpose, as though of the father of the devil. Well, the life of the ungodly man is also under heaven. But thirdly, let us think about the life of the believer, which is above. Nebuchadnezzar's heart was changed from the heart of a man to a beast. Well, the believer goes the other way. He goes, as it were, from the beast that he is by nature, worse than a beast. It's in thy sight a beast. He goes from that to being a true man, born again, so that he can see the kingdom of heaven, the heart of a man. Well, we say that the man unites the world below and the world above. His body comes from below, his spirit comes from above. The breath of life, the spirit of which God breathed in, returns to God, who gave it, the dust of the earth, joined together with the things of heaven, fearfully and wonderfully made. the life of man. He's not to live entirely without this world. He cannot do that. He's to use this world as not abusing it. It's the place that God has created for him to live in, the sphere of his existence. He lives here and he depends upon it and he needs the food and the warmth and the clothing and the light of the sun and all the rest of it. The food for his spirit, if we can put it like that, is from above. The life of the spirit is from above. He's born without that, dead in trespasses and in sins, without spiritual life. Once sin had come into the world and Adam and Eve had died, they passed on that death to their children. Men come into this world without spiritual life, but if they are converted, then they receive that life from Christ. The power that he now has, the Son of Man quickeneth whom he will. He sends his spirit, the spirit of life, into their hearts. Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. He quickens them. that they are alive from the dead and they have a life and that life comes from him. And not only comes from him, but as it were, continues to come from him. He's the ongoing source of it, as it is with the sun. The sun is the source of the heat and the light that we have, but it needs to supply that continually. It's a continual source. It's not that it once sent out heat and light, and that suffices evermore. But it must continue to shine. And so Christ continues to be the source of life for his people. Your life is hid with Christ in God. It's in Christ. He is the provider of it, moment by moment. And in that way, it's said that Christ lives in them. When he imparts life to them, it's his own spirit. And so he is there. He's present with them. He's dwelling in the hearts of his people. And when he appears, it's said that their life will appear. When Christ, which is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. He's the source of their life, and he's the goal of their life. It's not only from him, but it is to him as well, towards him. To me, to live is Christ, Christ living in him, but the desire of his soul being to God's name and to the remembrance of him, the desire of his soul being to Christ. So the life of the believer is from above, and it is upward as well, looking upon those things which are unseen and eternal, living in this world, but taking into account not only the things of this world as the others do, but judging them by the things of the world above. And this requires faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. These things that they cannot see, but faith makes them, as it were, real to them. the substantial, the substance of things, for the evidence, so that these things are before their eyes. Faith takes things that they cannot see and sets them before their eyes, heaven and hell, Christ in glory, the way of salvation, the cross of Christ, the blood of Christ, the fountain open for sin and for uncleanness. These things become spiritual realities to them by faith. And they're looking upon these things, the law of God, taking these things into account while they live in this world. So they use this world, but they do not endeavor to be satisfied with it. They realize, they know that this world is not, there's no intention that they should find their satisfaction here. It's not the purpose of this world at all. that they are seeking something else. As far as this world is concerned, they are sojourners here. They are strangers and pilgrims traveling through it. And inasmuch as it's a world that now lies in wickedness, there are many things in this world which they can have nothing to do. They have to separate themselves, come out from among them and be separate and touch not the unclean thing. Come out of Babylon. When the time comes, you have to separate yourself from Babylon. Go back to Nehemiah and others, Zerubbabel. Go back to Jerusalem. Come out from among them. Babylon's going to be destroyed. The people of God separate themselves from these things. And they seek other things. Their happiness is found above. Seek those things which are above, where Christ is seated. at the right hand of God. Seek the honor that comes from above. Seek the favor of Christ, the approval of Christ. Do those things which you know are pleasing to Him, which are according to His commandments. Live in this world in obedience to Him, knowing that there will be a reward. Moses looked for the recompense of the reward. He didn't want the riches of Egypt, because they couldn't satisfy him and the things that must be left behind. But the favor of the God of Israel, the covenant God, the reward that he is able to give, that is to be sought, and to he himself to be sought. He is that reward. I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. They seek that. They want that. They want, as it were, the creator himself, the son of God himself, to possess him. My beloved is mine, and I am his. So they use this world as not abusing it. It's abused if we set our hearts upon it, if we make idols out of the things of this world, if we, as it were, worship them, thinking that we cannot do without certain things. or that we try to place too much of our happiness in these things. But thou shalt have none other gods before me, says God. And he's a jealous God. And the idols that people set up in their hearts, he casts down as we find. How many of our troubles are to do with that, God casting down idols? These things in which we used to glory, Taken from us, as it were. Taken away. The heart to find rest in God. So they are seeking the things above. They judge according to the things of eternity, the standards of heaven. To the godly, the ending of life is the most wicked and foolish thing, that which may seem reasonable to the natural man with his life under heaven, is to the man who's looking at the world above, is the most foolish thing. Why would a man cast himself, as it were, into hell to escape this world? And why are people so eager to do that? Well, because they're trying not to think that there isn't such a place. But to the one whose eyes are open, there is such a place. Well, he knows that there is such a place with his eyes open. And he does what he can to warn these people and to deter them, not to end their lives and project themselves into everlasting destruction, torments, but to To find even in their present sufferings, and they may not be in fact very bad sufferings even, to find Christ who's able to save to the uttermost. To find Him and to ask Him for help. And depressions and troubles and pain and all the other things. To find their strength in Him. What a change, that man on the cross, he was in as much pain surely as anybody. And yet we would say he, not only he went to blessedness, he went to paradise, but in a sense he died in blessedness. In the midst of all his pain, surely, he'd found salvation at the end of his life. Remember me, Lord, when I comest into thy kingdom. And he had an exceeding great and precious promise. This day thou shalt be with me in paradise. And he had that. to take with him into death, and it was very soon fulfilled to, well, that's what we wish for these people who are seeking to end their lives, that they would not do that, they would leave it in his hands, but that they would find Christ able to save to the uttermost. So the one who's looking on the world above judges by the standards of the world above, endeavors to do that by the standards of the law of God, which will be the law when the books are opened by Christ at the day of judgment, be by the law of God. They receive their direction from heaven. It's Christ who directs them. With mine eye upon thee, sayeth he, will direction show. He guides his people. They are led by the Spirit. As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. The Spirit of God directs them. What to do? By the Word. What gives them understanding of the Word? so that they know what to do in certain difficult circumstances. So the others are led, as it were, by their lusts. They serve diverse lusts and pleasures. But the people of God are led by the Spirit and what is pleasing to Christ, what is to His glory, what is according to His mind and will. They follow that, their life. That's a hidden life. They have that joy which a stranger intermedleth not with. Christ says, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. And every believer, in a sense, has that as far as the world is concerned. The world doesn't know about these things. As it's trying to live under heaven and without God, the believer is feeding upon Christ and being directed by him. And that's where his rest is. his long home or his place of blessedness, to go there, to depart and to be with Christ. His conversation or his citizenship in heaven, that's his home. Going up to Zion, going up to that place where his wellsprings are, all my wellsprings in the, his wellsprings are in Zion. There's a place set for him in my father's house and many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you. That's where the rest is. So thou, my soul, do thou return unto thy quiet rest. So the life of the believer is above. It takes a mighty work, a divine work, to change the heart of a beast into the heart of a man, which is what happens when sinners are converted. The heart of stone is taken away and a heart of flesh is given to them. Their eyes are opened to look upon those things unseen and eternal, to see the King in his beauty, to see Christ, to see that one who is full of grace and truth. What about ourselves? Well, are you a beast or a man in this regard? Is your life under heaven, or is it above heaven? Do you seek only the things that are of this world, or do you seek those things which are above? where Christ is seated. That's what we are to be seeking. That's what we must have, or we will perish. We will be as the beasts that perish, as brute beasts, natural brute beasts made to be taken and destroyed. The beasts perish, but the true believers shall never perish, but have everlasting life. May the Lord bless His word to us. Let us pray. O Lord, help us each one to examine ourselves and to lay hold upon eternal life, to lay hold upon the riches that there are in the Lord Jesus Christ, to find him, that one who is the pearl of great price, who of God is made unto his people, wisdom and righteousness, sanctification and redemption. Grant that he might be said to us, that he might be the priest of our profession, the one who is the King of Righteousness and the King of Peace. Help us to pray for others, many around us here in this world, whose welfare we seek. Remember those that are sick and those that are in hospital. And he or such, we pray thee, O Lord, be according to thy holy will. And grant to sanctify thy dealings with us, that we should not be as ignorant, rude beasts before thee, but as thy people, humbly themselves under thine almighty hand, that thou mightest exalt them in due time. Wash away our sins in holy things. Bless this Sabbath day to us. Help us to thank thee for it, for Jesus' sake. Amen.