Turn with me to the book of Daniel chapter four. Daniel 4. I have truly enjoyed this study in Daniel so far. I believe everything that our Lord did with this King Nebuchadnezzar and for Nebuchadnezzar, I believe it's so beautiful and so amazing, truly so amazing. He is a pattern just like the Apostle Paul was a pattern of how God saves all of his people. Nebuchadnezzar had to be broken. He had to be broken. From all of his pride and his arrogance and self and sin and all of God's people do. We all do. We all have to be broken. Even though we can't relate to what it would be like to be pretty much the most powerful man in the world at that time, there are a lot of things about his life that are very different from ours. But even so, we can relate to how God saved him. We can very much relate to that. He's going to tell us in this chapter just that, how God saved him. and what the Lord taught him through his dealings with him. And I want to get right into it because I want to look at the whole account here. So look with me at verse one, chapter four, verse one. We looked at these first three verses already, but let's read these again. It says Nebuchadnezzar, the king unto all people, nations and languages that dwell in all the earth. Peace be multiplied unto you. Peace with God. The Lord has dealt with him. The Lord has broken him. And now, you know, instead of going to war against everyone and being a tyrant over his own people, he says, peace, peace with God, peace through Christ, peace in the blood of the lamb, peace. Verse two, I thought it good to show the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me. He said, the Lord has laid it on my heart to declare to you all of God's dealings with me. And I thought about this, all of us could declare God's dealings with us. You could look back on your life. I could literally stand here and just tell you the story of my life. Tell you all of God's dealings with me. He brought me here. He stopped me from this. He allowed me to do that. He And that's what he's saying. I thought it would be good for me to just tell you exactly how my life went, how God dealt with me. Verse three, how great are his signs and how mighty are his wonders. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and his dominion is from generation to generation. He said, this is the knowledge and the understanding and the belief that God has brought me to. How great are his signs? How mighty are his wonders? His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. His dominion is from generation to generation. That's what he taught me. Nebuchadnezzar said, this is how he did it. Verse four. I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at rest in mine house and flourishing in my palace. He said, I was fine. That's where this whole thing starts. I was fine. I was at rest in the house that I had built, slumbering at ease. I was fine. That's where men and women are in false, self-made, self-righteous religion. That's where people are. That's where everybody is. And it just kills me for men and women. They're just fine. They're out there just fine in need of nothing. Man thinks that he's built his own spiritual house by the deeds of his own works. You know, I built this house and man is happy in it. He's happy in his self righteous house in man's eyes, in man's heart. He thinks he's flourishing in his own works. And people do. They think they're flourishing in their works. Man, I got so many good works. But all that man has built for himself is a sandcastle. And the only hope that man has is if God in his mercy will come and knock it down. That's the only hope man has. If God will come and knock it down and leave man in the dust and put man in a position where all he can do is cry out to God Almighty for mercy and help, help me. Nebuchadnezzar said, that's what he did to me. That's the very thing he did to me. Verse four, I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at rest in mine house and flourishing in my palace I saw a dream which made me afraid and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my heart troubled me. He had another dream. The Lord troubled him. The Lord put fear into him. That is the beginning of wisdom. I have so many conversations with people who are afraid of their standing before God, afraid of the fact that they're still just as sinful as they used to be. And that's the beginning of wisdom. That's the beginning. That's the beginning evidence of salvation. Fear, trouble, worry over the condition we see ourselves to be in. Worry. Verse 6. Therefore made I decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known unto me the interpretation of the dream. He did what all men and women naturally, but wrongly try to do. He sought his own remedy for his soul's trouble. And that's what people foolishly try to do. There is trouble in their guilty conscience and they think, I'm gonna remedy this. I'm gonna bring relief to my soul. Not realizing that the harder they try, the more they make it worse. Nebuchadnezzar is about to find out that remedy from this kind of trouble is something that only the Lord God of heaven can do. Only God can do this. Verse seven, then came in the magicians The astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers, and I told the dream before them, but they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof." They couldn't last time, they couldn't this time. False religion does not know what the problem is. Therefore, false religion does not know what the remedy is. That's so true, isn't it? False religion does not know what the soul's trouble is. Therefore, false religion doesn't know what the answer for the soul's trouble is. False religion is no help to men and women at all, none. Verse eight, but at the last, Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my God and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. And before him, I told the dream saying, isn't it human nature to seek the counsel of God last? Isn't that human nature? Honestly, we will go to every avenue that we think we have until finally all of that is, it comes to nothing, and then we realize, why don't I take my burden to the Lord and leave it there? You'd think we would learn. But I haven't. I haven't yet. But that's what he did. Verse 8, at the last, Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my God, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods, And before him I told the dream, saying, O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof." Tell me the truth, that's what he said. Tell me the truth. The high and holy God always puts His people in the place where they say, tell me the truth. Tell me the truth. God's people want the truth. They love the truth. I'm done with all these lies. Just tell me the truth. Verse 10. Thus were the visions of mine head in my bed, I saw and behold a tree in the midst of the earth and the height thereof was great. He said, I dreamed about this great tree. Verse 11, the tree grew and was strong and the height thereof reached unto heaven and the site thereof to the end of all the earth. He said it covered all the earth. Verse 12, the leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all. The beast of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the bowels thereof, and all the flesh was fed of it. It was a provider for all. It was over all. In verse 13, he said, I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and behold, a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven. He didn't realize it at this moment, but God showed him a messenger who God's Holy Spirit was with. A messenger that God's Spirit was with. Verse 13, I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed and behold a watcher and in holy one came down from heaven. He cried aloud and said thus, you down the tree and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves and scatter his fruit. Let the beast get away from under it and the fowls from his branches. Nevertheless, leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass 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 in the grass of the earth. Let his heart be changed from man's and let a beast's heart be given unto him and let seven times, and most of the commentators say that's years, seven years pass over him. He said, my heart is troubled because I had a dream of this great provider, great provider for the people and things of this earth. And a messenger who God's spirit was with came and said, cut it down. Level it with the grass and empty it of all of its strength, all of its knowledge, all of its so-called power and provision. Empty it and cut it down. Now this is mercy. That's what this is. This is grace. God's mercy and grace. He said, cut the whole thing down and let nothing of it remain except the root. the root of the matter. Any idea what the root is? That root of Jesse? That root out of dry ground? That's Jesus Christ. That's what happened on the cross of Calvary. We were cut down. We were cut down by the judgment and wrath of God to the point that now, thank God, all that remains in God's people is the root. That's all that remains. Verse 17, the watcher 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 basest of men. He said, all this will happen to the intent for the purpose of declaring and revealing and proving that there is only one ruler in the kingdom of man. It's the most high, the most high God. And he gives that kingdom to whoever he will. He sets up and He tears down whoever He will. Even those who think they are great mighty trees, He will prove to them they're the basest of men. He said, all this is going to happen to the intent for the purpose of showing God's absolute sovereignty over all things, including you and me. Verse 18. this dream I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Now thou, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation thereof, forasmuch as all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the interpretation, but thou art able, for the Spirit of the holy gods is in thee." Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonished. for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. He was in this just state of astonishment for one hour, and he was troubled by what he saw, and he was troubled to tell this king the truth of the matter. This thing of declaring the truth to people, this is a troubling matter. This is a troubling matter. This is troubling business. This really is. It's so serious. It is so serious. It's so critical. I was thinking today on this and on this subject and I was thinking about how things come up in our life that worry us. All right, I'm up here right now giving a speech. What if you had to give a speech tonight? How would you prepare for it? How would you think about it and worry about it? Or whatever the case may be. We put so much focus and attention and preparation into the things of this earth, but man gives no thought and no worry and no preparation and no effort into eternity. Eternity is coming. And God has ordained this means of someone telling himself and everybody else the truth of eternal matters. And it's weighty. I thought about Daniel here. For one hour, he was astonished by what he saw. Astonished by what the end was. And it troubled him. And this is troubling. It's so serious. It's so critical. And people don't care. And this was troubling. Men and women don't care. Men and women are not burdened by it, and that makes us burdened for them. It makes us so burdened for them. We know, but for the grace of God, a very crushing end is coming to people. You know, we all have people in this world we live with and work with, and a crushing end is coming to people. One that no man or woman is ever going to recover from. Never. And it's so burdening, it's just so troubling. Verse 19, Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, he was astonished for one hour and his thoughts troubled him. The king spake and said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream or the interpretation thereof trouble thee. What he's saying is, just tell me, what is it? Belteshazzar answered and said, My Lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies. The tree that thou sawest, which grew and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth, whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, And in it was meet for all under which the beast of the field dwelt and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation. It is thou, O King. Thou art the man. That's the message of the true messenger to every man and woman on this earth. Thou art the man. Thou art the woman. You're the sinner against God. I'm the sinner against God. Verse 22, it is thou, O King, thou art grown and become strong for thy greatness is grown and reacheth unto heaven and thy dominion to the end of the earth. And whereas the king saw a watcher and an holy one coming down from heaven and saying, Hew the tree down 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 times pass over it. This is the interpretation, O King, and this is the decree of the Most High which is come upon my Lord the King, that they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beast of the field, And they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know how that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. He said, God is going to bring you down. And I'm gonna tell you this, I'm gonna tell me this. I'm gonna tell everybody here this. It's troubling, it's burdening to tell it, but it has to be told. God is going to bring you down. God is going to bring us down, either in judgment or mercy. Either in judgment or mercy. I don't want us to sit under the gospel for 50 years and miss Christ and end up in judgment. We need mercy. We need mercy from a sovereign God. Every soul is coming down before this God. This is the most high God. Every soul will be bowed down. Every knee is going to bow. Every knee in this room, every knee in this city, every knee in this world is going to bow, either in judgment or mercy. Either in judgment or mercy. There is one Sovereign. There's only one Most High God. Jesus Christ is His name. Beside Him, there's no other. Either in judgment or mercy, we're all gonna bow to Him. I pray it's mercy. I'm praying for you in me that it's mercy. I pray it's mercy. I pray it's mercy for our children. I have a child sitting right here. I want mercy on that child. And I want mercy on your children. I pray it's mercy. I pray God in mercy will break us and bring us down to bow to Him, to praise Him, to glorify Him, to honor Him for who He is and for what He's done for sinners like us, but for who He is. The Most High. Verse 24 says, This is the interpretation, O King, this is the decree of the Most High, which has come upon my Lord the King, that 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 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 ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots, Thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule. He said, after God brings you down and humbles you and teaches you and reveals to you the truth of the absolute sovereignty of Jesus Christ over everything concerning you. After God reveals to you that you're in His hands, you're not your own, you're bought with a price, His price, the payment of His price. He said, once God tears you down and causes you to see that, He's going to build you back up. But this time you won't be built up on yourself. You'll be built up on Christ. You'll be built up on the knowledge and the wisdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. Built up on the substitution and the satisfaction of the Lord Jesus Christ. Built up on the solid foundation of the solid rock of Christ. Verse 27 says, Wherefore, O King, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquility. He said, Wherefore, believe this declaration, turn from all your idolatry, and worship and serve the true and living God. This is the only hope we have. It's the only hope we have. I say that to every soul here, turning from ourselves to Jesus Christ, denying self, pleading Christ, faith in who he is. Faith in what he's done, that's the only hope we have. Lord, turn us and we'll be turned. If you will turn us, we will be turned. Now look at verse 28, it says, all this came upon the King Nebuchadnezzar. God's word always stands, always. Sometimes because it's not executed speedily, our sinful flesh begins to doubt it. And it starts to think that it's forgotten or lost. It's not. Not one word of his will ever return void. God's Word always stands. Verse 28, all this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar at the end of 12 months, one year later. From the time Daniel said this, one year later, at the end of 12 months, he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. The king spake and said, is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom By the might of my power and for the honor of my majesty. Amazing, isn't it? Oh, we of little faith. Oh, how we forget God's word to us. How ignorant we are to God's word to us. How soon we forget what he has to say. How often pride and arrogancy, it just consumes us. It pours out of us. How often we think we're something when we're nothing. Verse 30, the king spake and said, is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power and for the honor of my majesty? While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven saying, O King Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken, the kingdom is departed from thee. And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beast of the field. They shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar, and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws." God's Word is certain. This man was driven out into the field to live in a field. And everything about him just became matted. He became a lunatic. God's word is certain. He said, if I have spoken it, I'll do it. But that's where our assurance comes from. The certainty of his promise. His judgment is certain. Nebuchadnezzar is finding that out right here. But thank God, he is also about to find out that his mercy is certain. His mercy is certain. You cry out for mercy? You cry out for mercy in the blood of Jesus Christ, and you will have it. It's certain. I tell every person here, I tell our children, I tell every soul here, you cry out to Jesus Christ for mercy in his sin-cleansing blood, and you'll have it from the depths of your soul. You'll have it. His mercy is certain, His grace is certain, His salvation is certain. He said, if I've spoken it, I'll do it. He will bring down who He has promised to bring down. But thank God, He will lift up who He has promised to lift up. He will raise up at the last day who He has promised to raise up. And right here in verse 34, Nebuchadnezzar said, He did exactly what He said He would do to me, and then He did exactly what He said He would do for me. Verse 34, at the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored Him that liveth forever. whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation. He said, at the end of the days, I lifted up mine eyes unto heaven. God is going to bring all of his people to a place where they say, I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help. Who's in the hills? Who is our help? Jesus Christ is. My help cometh from the Lord. He said, at the end of the days, I lifted up mine eyes to heaven. My understanding returned to me. He said, God taught me something. And this is what I learned. Through everything God brought me through, everything He taught me, my understanding returned to me and I blessed the Most High. And I praised and honored Him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion. and His kingdom is from generation to generation, and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. And He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay His hand or say unto Him, What doest Thou? At the same time, my reason returned unto me, and for the glory of my kingdom mine honor and brightness returned unto me, and my counselors and my lords sought unto me, and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment, and those that walk in pride he's able to abase." You know that we can't just read over those verses and leave it there. That's the culmination of the story. That's the part that I wait to get to and the part that I quote all the time. But you also know we're out of time. So we're going to look at this Sunday morning. We're going to spend some time seeing what God taught Nebuchadnezzar and everything that he did to him. everything that he did for him, what he saw when he had Christ revealed to him, what he saw when he had the truth revealed to him. He learned the same thing that all of God's people learn, and it's this right here. God is God. Man is nothing. Christ is all. And Lord willing, that's what we'll look at on Sunday. All right, let's all stand together.