Jesus had left the Temple Mount for the last time and he wanted to make people know that Daniel had already given the message and he was only amplifying what the blessed prophet Daniel had already written. I'd like to read the context of that before we go back to the fourth chapter of Daniel. If Jesus did not approve of it, if Jesus did not make it right 100%, you don't wanna have anything to do with it. Beginning now with the 24th chapter of Matthew, and I'll begin reading to put the verse in context. Verse 10, 24, 10. then shall many be offended and shall betray one another. And think about the fact that I would do that to you or you do that to me. What's gonna happen to many people? I read it again. And then shall many be offended. That is, they will stumble and shall betray one another and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall arise and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. Stop. right now make a covenant with God that no matter what other human beings do, you're not gonna let that make your love for Jesus change. People should not be your example. You should go directly. When you become disillusioned, go directly to the throne of God. and talk to Jesus. But he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel, what gospel? The Jesus gospel of the kingdom shall be preached into all the world for a witness to all nations. And then shall the end come. Now here's the verse. Then ye therefore shall, when you shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel of the prophets, stand in the holy place, whosoever readeth, let him understand. I'm not going into what all that verse means, but just know that Jesus, my main purpose, is that you would know that Jesus recognized that Daniel was So when we look at his words, they were not of him. We're going to start, we're gonna remain in the fourth chapter because this is a very important chapter. Daniel begins to, in the 18th verse of the fourth chapter, he begins to handle Nebuchadnezzar's dream. Just before this, in the verses before this, Nebuchadnezzar has walked on the roof of his beautiful palace and he says, look what I've done. Look out what I've done. I really am the head of gold and pride filled him. The sin of pride is one that is rarely preached against and very few people I am nobody. As the Apostle Paul said so vividly, for by the grace of God, I am what I am, period. And you will not have pride when you have that attitude. And so he begins to tell, because Nebuchadnezzar had another dream, God's trying to get through to him with dreams. He calls all of his hacks in like he did the first time, they couldn't answer it, so he finally calls Daniel in. And Daniel says in verse 18, the dream I, Kebukenesha, have seen. Now thou, O Belshazzar, declare the interpretation thereof. For as much as all the wise men of thy kingdom are not able to make known unto me the interpretation, but Daniel, you're able. I have found that you are filled with the ability that I have tried to keep from recognizing. I always call in all my hacks first. Maybe one of them will be able to outdo you, Daniel, but they haven't. You'll make it known you're able. Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, that was the name they had given him in the Chaldean, because as I told you in a previous message, maybe more than one, One of the way of brainwashing the people that they made slaves in captivity was changing their names so that their name meant their God, G-O-D. You don't wanna have a little G-O-D and I could start naming them, but why? But I'm gonna ask God to let you know if you have any false God that you bow down to. that you make bigger and better in your mind and you have more attention to, I'm not gonna tell you, I'm gonna ask the Holy Spirit to let you know, if you have any God, any force that is greater than your love for Jesus Christ. Then Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, was astonished. He absolutely, when he saw the meaning of the dream, he absolutely was shocked. It's good when God shocks you. It's not good when anything else does, but thank you God for astonishing me. He was astonished. He was astonished for a whole hour. and his thoughts troubled him. He did not want to tell Nebuchadnezzar the meaning of the dream that he had had. And the king could tell by his appearance, his countenance. And the king spake and said, Delta Shazar, let not the dream or the interpretation thereof trouble thee. Belteshazzar answered and said, and I hit this last week, my Lord, Now remember that Daniel was written in Aramaic. So the word Lord here simply means that he recognized the authority of the king of Babylon, because God had allowed him to be king of that great kingdom. So he honored the fact that although he was not of God yet, He gave him respect. And I dwelt on that very heavily last Wednesday night. That there are those we are to look up to whether they are worthy of it or not, because God has given them that position. I think I will just diverse a little bit. You know, are you listening? Now you don't have to agree with this. I kind of felt sorry for President Obama. Here he walks out chewing gum and the whole world criticizing for chewing gum. If that's the worst thing he ever did, God bless us America. Okay, now back to the ranch. The dream be to them, this should be shocking to Nebuchadnezzar, the dream be of them that hate thee. One human being hating another human being is such a hellish thing. He said, I want you to know, King, the dream revealed that there are those who hate you because of the position that you have been given. The dream to them that hate thee and the interpretation thereof to them who are your enemies. King, watch out, watch your back because there are a lot of people in the great kingdom that you have who are not your friends, they're your enemies. It's not difficult to know your enemies unless you have some kind of a wrong paranoia about people. You can know who hates you and who loves you and who can at least stand you. The tree that thou sawest, this is what he saw in his dream. It grew, Nebuchadnezzar. It was strong. The height reached to heaven and the sight thereof of all the earth. The leaves of the tree you saw was fair. And the fruit thereof was much, it was abundant. And it was meat for all. It was something to eat, something to nourish. Under which the beast of the field dwelt. Even the beast of the field have been blessed by you being king of Babylon. And upon whose branches the fowls of the heavens had their habitation. And then the knife falls. Verse 22, but that tree Nebuchadnezzar is you. Oh King that art grown and become strong for thy greatness is grown and reached to heaven and thy dominion to the ends of the earth. WHEREAS THE KING SAW A WATCHER. NOW THIS IS NOT, THIS WORD IS NOT USED VERY OFTEN AND SINCE IN AN ARAMAIC IT'S VERY DIFFICULT TO STUDY BUT IT ACTUALLY MEANS THAT GOD HAS SOME SPECIAL ANGELS WATCHING OVER YOU AND HE'S TELLING HIM THE WATCHERS HAVE SEEN SOME THINGS ABOUT those around you, Nebuchadnezzar, whereas the king saw a watcher, some kind of an angelic being, and a holy one coming down from heaven, saying, you cut down the tree and destroy it, lest leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth. even as with a band of iron and brass. He's saying your whole life's going to be cut down. You're going to leave the stump and the roots going into the ground. And so that the bark will not go off and the stump will rot, I'm gonna put metal around it to hold it together so it won't decay. I'm gonna keep your roots and your stump because I know something about your future that you don't know. This is the interpretation, O King. This is a decree of the Most High. which is come upon my Lord. Again, he recognizes him and his authority as the King of Babylon. That they shall drive thee from men. You're going to be driven away. And thy dwelling shall be with the beast of the field. There is a technical names in psychological terms, For what happened to him is when a person begins to believe they're an animal rather than a human being. And this is an insanity that is still around today. You hear about, for example, people going into a school and kill a bunch of kids. Over in Iran, blowing people up. Horrible animal turning into an animal. Could I say this to every one of us? Thank God I'm saved. Because I cannot become an animal. God, if I do, you know I don't have the salvation that Jesus gives. When I act like an animal, They shall drive thee from men and dwell and shall be with the beast of the field. You'll be comfortable around all the wild animals. You'll be right with them. And they shall make thee to eat grass as an oxen. And they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven. And seven times shall pass over thee, seven years. temporary king is put in place during that seven years till thou knowest that the most high god rule the moment you come to the conclusion that you're not an animal but you have that you have realized that the great god of heaven rules in the kingdom of men and he gives These offices of king and presidents and other official government officers, he gives it to whomever he will. Now, you don't have to agree with this, but I believe that God has placed a man in Russia, Putin, in order to let the United States of America wake up because We were meant to be the greatest nation on the face of the earth till Jesus comes back. But that's not what's happening in this country. Oh, Lord God Almighty. And I think about China. I have been reading about the, his name in English is Xi. I thought, dear God, how do you pronounce that? Well, I found out. Of course, I had to look it up. How do you pronounce it in English, X-I? Well, it's pronounced C, S-E-E. And he has a great testimony. I'm not saying he's of God. He started out by, he lived in a cave. I'm talking about the head ruler of China. THE COUNTRY THAT HAS NOW BECOME THE GREATEST ECONOMIC FORCE IN THE WORLD OH I KNOW THEY SAY WE ARE BUT WE'RE NOT THEY HAVE MOST OF OUR DEBT THEY HAVE BORROWED WE HAVE BORROWED MONEY FROM THEM THIS MAN SPENT SEVEN YEARS IN A CAVE AND HE WAS TREATED VERY BADLY He finally was allowed to go to the university and became a chemical engineer before he became the head of China. He's brilliant. And God has put him in charge of those two countries. And we had better know that we are not that great country we once were. God has put some people in our way. And I say, let's stand up, stand up for Jesus. I was shocked. I don't know why, but there's a school system in this country who has made it totally, they've taken every Christian and every holiday that has anything to do with Christianity off their calendar. And that's gonna be more and more and more. Stop it! America, we wanna say God bless America, not God curse America. Whereas they commanded the leaf, and thou commandest to leave the stump of the tree and the roots by thy kingdom shall be sure to thee after thou hast have made known the heaven's new rule. Therefore, O King, because of this, King Nebuchadnezzar, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee. I'm gonna give you some good advice. Break off thy sins and do it, how? By God's righteousness. And who is God's righteousness? The Messiah. The Messiah that even Israel was looking for at that time, and they're still looking for him, but we found him. We found him! It may be, if it may be lengthened by thy tranquility. All of this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar. 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? This is what, this was his pride. This is before he goes the animal route. Therefore the king spake and said, is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom of thy might and thy power and for the honor of thy majesty? While the word was in the king's mouth, while he was bragging on himself, their fellow voice from heaven say, O Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken, the kingdom is departed from thee. Now, Daniel gave him a way out, except the righteousness of God. It's not you that have done these things, it's God who has done them through you. And they shall drive thee from men, and thou shalt be with the beast of the field. They shall make thee to eat grass and an oxen, and seven times it pass over thee, until thou knowest that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and give it to whomever he will. The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from men and did eat grass as an ox. His body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hairs were grown like eagles feathers and his nails like bird claws. And at the end of the days, Nebuchadnezzar lifted up his eyes unto heaven, the real heaven. My understanding returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honor Him that lives forever and ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation. And that's the key. Who is the ruler? Who actually is the sovereign? I'm not. I look back over my life and I thank God that I didn't get to do what I wanted to do. I thank God that he had a way and that way has, I don't know what's good for you or not, but it is for me, brought me right here tonight. And I believe in the sovereign God who says, accept Jesus and Jesus only. I said a lot about Jesus Sunday morning at the eight o'clock service. A man went out, shook my hand and said, when you said that about Jesus, it brought back great memories. Because my mother, he said, never started a conversation without saying Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Let's all get close to him. Let's really snuggle up to him. And he wants to become your friend. Let Him become your friend. As we stand to sing, what a friend. Let's offer up, what a friend. ♪ What a friend we have in Jesus ♪ All our sins and griefs to bear ♪ What a privilege to care We'll allow the last verse to be sung a cappella. That'll be the benediction. Thank you for coming out on this cold night. You have become a part of a local visible assembly of God. And I thank you. I pray it'll be a blessing to you. Let God bless you. And Brother Phil will sing the last verse if you want to join in with him, but you're dismissed. We'll have Charlene Able's funeral service here at 2 o'clock Friday. Pray for her family as they come and gather here at Liberty. You're dismissed after Brother Phil's, while he is singing, and after he is finished singing, the last verse of What a Friend We Have in Jesus. Are we weak and heavy laden, Cumbered with a load of care? Precious Savior, still our refuge. Take it to the Lord in prayer. Do thy friends despise forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer. In his arms he'll take and shield thee. Thou wilt find us soulless there.