Daniel 4

Almost every person has had an embarrassing moment. In fact, sometimes we talk about those things. We'll get together in small groups and say, what was your most embarrassing moment? And those are usually the kinds of things that you can only share with people who are very close to you.

Now, there are some people who want you to be able to share everything about your past with everybody, and I don't think you should. I think it's ridiculous to expect that. I've been to some groups where it's almost like a psychological encounter group. They do it in the name of the Lord. And they say, OK, spill your guts. Tell us everything about you. We want to love you.

No. You have to earn that right. And when you're in the midst of friends that you feel comfortable with, knowing that you will be accepted, and they have something then to share with you and to lavish His love upon you, that's another thing. We all have had embarrassing moments. Few of us will admit them or share them readily, let alone post them publicly so that everyone can read.

How many of you would think of your most embarrassing moment and then take a space out in the Albuquerque Journal, or USA Today would probably better be a better example, and write the nation and tell them about it? That's what Nebuchadnezzar did. He and his pride was elevated. God humbled him. And he wrote [CHUCKLES] a public proclamation equivalent of taking an ad out in USA Today so that the whole known world around Babylon would read it. His whole empire would read it. And really, that's what chapter 4 is all about. It's the only chapter in the Bible written by a gentile king. It's an interesting chapter. It's an interesting newspaper article.

Now, there are other articles in the New and Old Testament written by gentiles. Can you name two books that are written by a gentile? Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts were written by a gentile doctor named Luke. But this was a gentile king who was high and lifted up in his own mind.

We remember, last week we read how this guy made a huge statue, not of somebody else, not of another God, but basically it was himself. Because Daniel said, you, oh king, are the head of gold. He said, head of gold? Nonsense. The whole figure will be of gold, and I'll command people to worship it. And he was lifted up.

And at the end of the chapter, we saw how God humbled him. Here, we see God humbles him again. But this is toward the end of his reign. Though it's chapter 4, this would fit toward the end of Nebuchadnezzar's life. And really, in the Book of Daniel, this is the end of Nebuchadnezzar's life. Because next time we get together, next week, we read about Belshazzar, his successor. But it's the end of his reign.

Nebuchadnezzar was really blessed by God. You know, God loved him enough to break through to his hardened heart. He was the recipient of two dreams. God spoke to Nebuchadnezzar first about the succession of world kingdoms. Here, he speaks about a humbling experience predicted.

God spoke to him by a miraculous way when he threw these three Hebrew guys into the fire, and they were miraculously preserved. And he said, oh, praise be to the God of Heaven. And anybody who doesn't worship the holy God or says a bad word against the God of Israel, we'll burn him to death. I mean, he was really zealous. God spoke to this man. God was gracious with this man.

In chapter 4, we read about his insanity. It seems that would be the best word to describe it. A weird condition happens to him because of his pride and his being exalted. Basically, he has chosen to live at the level of an unthinking animal. And so God lets him experience the lifestyle of an unthinking animal. And he grows insane. Lest you think that this is something that the Bible just invented as a fanciful tale, if you were to read the archives of ancient Babylon, you would find this record confirmed by ancient Babylon.

Actually, we should reverse that. We should say that there have been some tablets that have been found in Babylon saying that Nebuchadnezzar went nuts. And they have been confirmed by the Bible. You know, a lot of times, we'll say, well, has that been written anywhere else besides the Bible? I mean, how do we know it's true? It's just written in the Bible. And people applaud. And we say, well, there's been an archaeological discovery that validates this. Oh, OK, well, if heathens say it, I guess it must be true.

But I think it ought to be reversed. I think you ought to take everything that's written and match it up to the scripture, not vice versa. Now, there's plenty of archaeological proof that the Bible is written. Go to Israel sometime if you're a skeptic. I don't think you can walk away from the nation of Israel and still be a skeptic in view of all the evidence, down to the very detail.

But I don't think that the archaeological evidence validates anything. The man of faith was miles ahead of the unbeliever. He knew it was true all along. That's why people have trouble with the Book of Daniel. It is so detailed. And if you are a historian that rules out the possibility of God and the miraculous, you have to say it was written later because it's too detailed. How could anyone write about these things in advance?

Well, have you ever thought about a God who lives in Heaven, and who can reign over the affairs of men, and give those things to people? Pff, that's nonsense, they say. That's the only logical and suitable explanation in view of the evidence. But we won't get into that. Let's get into our story tonight.

Versus 1 through 3-- [COUGHS]

Pardon me. It's the cough thing again. It came from China. It's just my souvenir I brought home-- and verses 4 onward tell the story of what had happened after his little introduction. Actually, the introduction is really the conclusion. He just starts out by praising the Lord. Because though he went crazy, God restored him and taught him a valuable lesson.

Actually, there have been many monarchs, in viewing the history of the world, who have gone rather crazy. I don't know if it's just a thing of being in a position like that or not. But there is a story of a Bavarian king in the 1800s named King Otto of Bavaria. He said his favorite pastime was to go around to all the pieces of furniture in his house, and open the drawers, and speak to the imaginary spirits that lived in each one. That was his pastime. And his other pastime was to shoot one peasant a day. The guy was nuts.

Nebuchadnezzar's problem has been medically documented, as we'll read about and I'll show you later. But it stems from his pride and his unwillingness to listen to the voice of God. And so God had to break him.

I heard a story of a man in England who couldn't sleep at night because he believed that there was a man under his bed. And so several times a night, he'd get up, and he'd look. And he wouldn't see anybody. He'd wonder where the guy was hiding while he was looking. He'd get back in bed thinking, oh, he left the closet again. He's under the bed.

So finally, he went to a psychiatrist. And the psychiatrist said, well, I think I can help you. And I think this will take a long time. You have to pay me $25 a week, and it'll be 10 weeks, 10 sessions. And the guy thought, that's nonsense. I can't afford that. And he left and never came back.

And one day, he was walking the streets. And the psychiatrist found him on the streets and said, hey, whatever happened with that problem? You never came back to see me. He said, well, a friend of mine's a carpenter, and he solved the problem a lot easier. He just came in and cut the legs off the bed, and now that guy can't even get under my bed anymore.

Nebuchadnezzar the King, that kind of says it all. That's how the government was run. He was numero uno. He was in charge. He had the last word. And he ruled with an iron hand. And if you made him mad, he would either burn you, make your houses a dung hill and kill your family, or roast you in a hot oven, or, like Zedekiah, put out your eyes.

He was the king. He was the monarch. And he had so much power, unchecked, without any accountability, that it turned on him. As we said last week, power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. That is why our founding fathers in the United States refused to bring up a kingdom in this country. They had come from a kingdom in Europe in England. And they saw all of the problems that brought. And they thought, you couldn't find a monarch that you could trust to rule.

And really, they're right because man is imperfect. But we have found that every form of government is inadequate, be it a monarchy or be it a democracy. They thought that the answer to the monarchy is a democracy. Let the people rule. Huh. Well, look at our nation. We have proved that man is incapable of governing themselves. Don't blame the Democrats. Don't blame the Republicans. It's the sinful heart of man. No party can adequately control or govern the sinful heart of man. We have proved that over and over again.

There has been no adequate form of government. And there never will be until there is a kingdom theocracy. In the Millennium, Jesus Christ will rule with a rod of iron, an iron-fisted rule in righteousness though. You can trust that monarch. It won't go bad on him. The power won't get to his head.

And that's going to be glorious when Jesus Christ is the boss. And if you don't like what Jesus said, tough toast. It's a time of submission. And if you love him, it'll be a glorious submission, and you'll be able to see righteousness rule over all the earth. Every decision made politically, governmentally, from the top, will be a righteous decision. And that's going to be out of sight.

Nebuchadnezzar the King, this is his declaration, "To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in the earth, peace be multiplied to you. I thought it was good to declare the signs and wonders that the most high God has worked for me." Now, this sounds radically different from the Nebuchadnezzar we have read about in the last few chapters.

In fact, compare that verse, and go back to chapter 3 for just a moment, and look at verse 7. The declaration we read is, "At the time when all the people who heard the sound of the horn, flute, harp, and lyre, and symphony with all kinds of music, all the people, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden image which Nebuchadnezzar had set up." But verse 6, "Whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning, fiery furnace." He exalts himself, commands to be worshipped. You don't do it, if you worship any other God-- we read about as we read on-- you will be Post-toasted.

What a radically different statement than in chapter 4, "I thought it good to declare the signs and wonders the most high God has worked for me." You know, God is able in His grace to reach down and touch anybody, anybody. I have seen God touch and save some of the most radical characters. In fact, as you look at them, you think, no way. His heart is so hardened, it can't be broken. And then you'll see him several years later, and he has this meekness about him and humility about him. You think, well, what happened to you? I believe in Jesus now.

I went to my high school reunion. Oh, that was so great. It really was great. My 10-year reunion, that was back in '83. My 20-year is coming up. And I'll never forget walking in there, seeing some of the guys who hadn't changed much. There were a few guys who, it looked, had worn the same clothes since '73. They hadn't really changed. They looked the same. Go, [MUMBLES]-- kind of talked the same. And it's like deja vu.

But then I saw some characters that just blew me away. I went up to one guy named John Booth, who used to just beat people up when he really had nothing else to do. He just liked doing that. He could do it to almost anyone. He was a big weightlifter, and he liked to push his weight around and just pick fights-- mean guy, party animal.

And of course, I was wondering how they'd take me, and got back to the high school, and I saw Booth. And I said, Booth, what are you up to these days? For Christ's sake. What are you up to? I said, I'm a minister of the gospel. Really? Praise God. I've been born again the last 10 years. I mean, you think, you? You mean, God could save you? I mean, I believe he could, but he did? God can save anyone.

We have a good friend of ours in Tokyo. In fact, I just saw him a few weeks ago, named Mike Kahama. He shared at the church. He's an elderly gentleman now, very humble, very meek. But God changed him to get him that way. One time he was a kamikaze pilot in World War II for the Japanese army. He had such hatred, especially toward Americans. Hatred filled his heart.

His mother was a Christian-- prayed for him. He wanted nothing to do with God. He was anti-God, anti-Christ. And all he wanted to do was serve his country. And he decided he would give his life by flying a kamikaze mission, flying his airplane into an American battleship. He was ready for it. Two weeks before his mission, the war ended.

After the war, he kind of wandered the streets of Tokyo, went from bar to bar, still hardened, until one evening, at a bar, through a series of incidences due to the prayers of a godly mother, he surrendered his life not to the Japanese government but to Jesus Christ. And today, now in his late 60s, he's become a Calvary Chapel pastor in Tokyo. We ordained him a couple years ago. And he's serving the Lord. God touched his heart.

Nebuchadnezzar, I love this chapter. You know the guy who said, I'm going to burn you to death. Here, he says, Praise the Lord. Can you imagine what people thought reading this thing. Is this the Nebuchadnezzar we know?

Now listen to verse 3. "How great are his signs and how mighty his wonders. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation." That doesn't sound like Nebuchadnezzar. It sounds like King David in the Psalms. But this is Nebuchadnezzar.

Now here's the story. "I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at rest in my house." Now, notice, at the beginning of the story, how many pronouns are used for himself-- I, me, mine. That's how he lived his life, by the way. His life revolved around himself. He was in charge. He wanted the benefits for himself. He lived for himself. And that's how he testifies in his testimony.

"I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at rest in my house, flourishing in my palace. I saw a dream which made me afraid." This guy dreams a lot. "The thoughts on my bed, the visions of my head troubled me." Therefore, I issued a decree to bring in all the wise guys-- I mean, the wise men of Babylon before me that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream.

Dreams have been used to get God's message across at different times in different generations. Jacob was spoken to by God in a dream when he was leaving his home, escaping the wrath of his brother Laban after taking the birthright-- or excuse me, on his way to his Uncle Laban in Padan-aram. And he was out in the wilderness. And he laid his head on a rock, and he saw a vision of angels going up and down on a ladder. And he woke up and went, whoa. Probably he said that, but we know what he did say. He said, "Surely, the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not." God spoke to him in a dream.

Joseph was one that God gave the gift of interpretations of dreams. The dreamer of dreams, he dreamed about his brothers, and about his father and mother, and the future. And God gave him the gift of interpretation that he used in Egypt.

Of course, we know in the New Testament that famous dream that Pilate's wife had concerning Jesus. Remember, Jesus stood before Pilate. Pilate didn't know what to do with Jesus. And Pilate's wife-- her name, I don't know, Mrs. Pilate-- came and said, honey, leave him alone. Man, I'll tell you what. I have had dreams about this character. I think he's a righteous man, and we shouldn't touch him. But Pilate didn't listen to his wife. He should have. And God spoke in a dream.

I, personally, I don't think, have had God speak to me in a dream. Now, I'm open. I am a little hesitant to name every dream that I have as "God spoke to me in a dream" because, sometimes, I'll eat pizza late at night and have dreams. And I wouldn't want to blame my pizza dream with onions on God unless I really knew it was from him.

Now, some people, I believe, God speaks to through dreams. I don't want to close that door and say, oh, that didn't happen. That doesn't happen now. It happened then, but I won't give God the freedom or the liberty to do or say what he wants to. Now, God can do whatever he wants.

Now, I have seen people that I believe God has legitimately spoken to in dreams. However, if God speaks to you that way, don't get too spiritually puffed up. Because God spoke to a heathen king in dreams several times. So it doesn't mean that you're more spiritual. It could mean, actually, that you are harder-headed, and God has to use a dream to get through to you. God can't simply nudge you by His Holy Spirit. You're not listening. So it's like, well, in his conscious state, I can't get through to him. I'll try his subconscious state when he's in alpha dream state. I'll speak to him in a dream.

But God can speak any way he wants to. We should never limit that. Hebrews 1:1 tells us, "God, who at different times in different ways spoke in times past through the prophets to our fathers, has in these last days spoken to us by his own dear son." God spoke through dreams, visions, earthquakes, the audible voice of the Lord himself. There's numbers of ways. We shouldn't limit God. We should trust God, even when he doesn't give you a detailed description of what your life is going to be this next week or month.

Now, wouldn't it be wonderful, we think, if God would just come to us in a dream and kind of lay out our life for us, or come to us in a vision, lay out our life for us. Actually, I'm glad he doesn't. It would scare me to know what my future holds. I would rather simply know the one who holds my future, and let him unfold it for me, and just rest in his arms.

I believe father knows best. And he doesn't have to consult with me what he wants to do with my life. I've already given him the control of my life. I've laid it down. I've become his servant. And whatever he wants to do, by life or by death, is his business. It's my business only to obey. I don't want to know.

Oftentimes, Christians will speak about fleecing the Lord. That is, they get into a tight spot where they do not understand what God wants them to do. They wonder what the will of the Lord is in a certain situation. So they say, since God hasn't shown me, I better lay out a fleece before the Lord.

What they're speaking about is an Old Testament story that happened to a man by the name of Gideon. God called Gideon to deliver the nation of Israel, which you'd think would have been good enough. If God spoke to me-- I don't know. I would think that if God spoke to me and I heard his voice audibly, that would be sufficient for me.

But it wasn't sufficient for Gideon. He said, oh, God, OK, I'll do it. But I want to know if you really spoke or not. So he laid out a fleece of lamb's wool on the threshing floor overnight. And he said, God, if it's really you and you really want me to do it, let there be dew in the morning everywhere on the land but the fleece be dry. And God, in his graciousness, accommodated him. He woke up in the morning. There was dew everywhere. The fleece was dry.

Now, you'd think that would be enough, wouldn't it? But he said, well, you know what? Maybe just some natural phenomenon happened that I'm not aware of then. So I'll try it again. God, listen. If it's your will this time, I'll put the fleece out, and let it be soaked with dew and the ground be dry. And God was gracious, and it happened. And so he went to deliver Israel. And that was really neat that God did that.

And so some Christians say, I better lay out a fleece to the Lord. Those are questionable and very subjective. For instance, let's say you come up with a plan you believe is the will of God. And you say, well, if plan A happens to be God's will, then I'm going to trust that my phone will ring at 9:30 in the morning. Well, all right, let's say the phone rings at 9:35 in the morning. Is it then not God's will, or is it indeed God's will? You've got that margin. Do you call and check the operator to see exactly what time it is? What if it's 9:37? Where do you draw the line? Those things are too subjective.

In the New Testament, we have an advantage over Gideon that he didn't have. The spirit of God rested upon kings and certain prophets in the Old Testament but never dwelt within them. The Holy Spirit lives in each one of you tonight. More than guidance-- and that's often what we seek for. God, give me guidance. You've got something better than that. You've got a live-in guide.

Think about that. If you went to a foreign city, would you rather have someone give you a detailed set of directions to get somewhere or a guide come and say, I know the way myself. I'll take you there. I'd rather have the guide. You have a guide book, and you have a built-in guide.

And if you trust in the Lord, God said, he will never let you be put to shame. And you will find as you lean on him that your life will naturally become the unfolding of his will. And I think that tonight we ought to really rest in that rather than looking for supernatural things, though we should be open and never closed to them. My point is some people live in the twilight zone. And if it's not some supernatural, eerie manifestation, dream, or vision, or fleece, they feel cheated. They feel cheated.

Well, the Bible says, we live not by sight but by faith. There are some things God won't allow you to see and God won't reveal to you. And he'll say, son, just trust me. Oh, but, come on. I am your servant. Reveal it to me. No. I've got your hand. I'm Dad. I won't let you fall down and get killed. Trust me.

You can't walk by sight. In fact, I'll blindfold you on this one. You must now walk by faith. That's a harder walk, but it builds up your faith. Because when you learn to trust God in those times and God pulls through, you think, wow, it paid off walking by faith. I'll do that more often. That's how God would have us to live.

Anyway, he was having his dream. God did speak to this hard-headed king and hard-hearted king-- called in the wise guys. In verse 7, the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, the Jeanie Dixons, the Edgar Cayces, they all got together-- the soothsayers. "I told them the dream, but they did not make known to me its interpretation." Why? They were charlatans, that's why. They couldn't pull it off.

"But at last, Daniel came before me, his name Belteshazzar, according to the name of my God." But notice the footnote. "In him is the spirit of the holy God. And I told the dream before him saying, Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy God is in you and no secret troubles you, explain to me the visions of my dream that I have seen and its interpretation."

Now, Daniel wasn't around. Why? Why didn't Daniel come in at first? Well, a couple of suggestions-- number one, he was out of town on business. He was very important to the king. Or could it be that the king on purpose didn't call for Daniel? I think so. I mean, come on. Daniel was the only one, and the king knew it, that could interpret the dream.

He had been through this before. This is a flashback. He had a dream about a great image one time. He forgot his dream, called everybody in. They couldn't pull it off. They couldn't tell him his dream nor the interpretation. Daniel came in, grandstanded the whole scene. Nebuchadnezzar just went, wow, God lives in you, man. And he exalted him.

Why didn't he call for Daniel at first? Because the interpretation Daniel had to his first dream was not very satisfactory with Nebuchadnezzar. Because Daniel said, King, live forever. You're the head of gold. But somebody's going to come after you who's going to take your place. Ooh, he didn't like to hear that. And so in defiance, he built a gold image and made people worship it.

He didn't want to call Daniel in because he had the sneaking suspicion that this dream was again God telling him he's going to be ousted, and so don't even bring the bearer of bad news in. You know, it's like the prophets in the Old Testament. Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, the people nor the kings liked them because they preached the truth. Their sermons cut to the heart. They wanted somebody to pat them on the back and say, you know, children of Israel, oh, you've fallen a little bit, and so you have a few idols at home, but don't worry about it. God understands. He's a big God. And you just go ahead and serve Him any way you feel like you'd like to.

That's what they wanted to hear. Instead, the prophets came in and said, oh, you don't want to turn from your idols? Well, all right, God is going to send you into the land of idolatry, idol land. He'll even give you an e-ticket for all the rides. And you'll go into Babylon for 70 years. You'll be captive until your heart cries out to God. How dare you say that to us? We didn't want to hear that. Well, it's the truth.

Nebuchadnezzar didn't want to hear it from Daniel. But finally, Daniel gets taken in. And the king says, these were the visions of my head while on my bed. And they were not visions of sugar plums dancing in his head. He said, "I was looking, and, behold, a tree was in the middle of the land in the midst of the earth. Its height was great. The tree grew and became strong. Its height reached to the heavens. It could be seen to the ends of all the earth."

This was quite a tree. "Its leaves were lovely. Its fruit abundant. And in it was food for everyone. The beasts of the field found shade under it. The birds of the heavens dwelt in its branches. And all flesh was fed from it. I saw in the visions of my head while on my bed, there was a watcher, a holy one, coming down from Heaven. And he cried aloud and said, 'Chop down the tree, and cut off its branches.'"

And you can see why king was troubled. He had this sneaking suspicion that he probably was involved in this somehow. They said, "Chop down the tree. Strip off the leaves. Scatter its fruit." And all the environmentalists, of course, at that time would have gotten quite upset. "And let the beasts get out from under it and the birds from the branches. Nevertheless, leave the stump and the roots in the earth bound with a band of iron and bronze in the tender grass of the field. Let it be wet with the dew of Heaven."

Now, notice this strange, subtle but definite change of pronouns here. "Let it be wet with the dew of Heaven. Let him graze with the beasts." You see the change from "it," the tree, to "him." He talks about the tree and, in the midst of it, says, "Let him graze with the beast on the grass of the earth. Let his heart be changed from that of a man. Let him be given the heart of an animal. Let seven times pass over him."

Hear the pronoun change? What heart has ever had-- or what tree has ever had a heart? But see, its figurative. The tree is Nebuchadnezzar. That shouldn't surprise you. Oftentimes in the scripture, people are seen as trees. "Blessed is the man who doesn't walk in the counsel of the ungodly," someone says, "nor in the counsel of sinners," and so forth. "Let him meditate day and night," in the word of the Lord. "He will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water."

Nations are seen as a tree. Ezekiel 31 describes Egypt being cut down like a tree is cut down for harvest. "This decision," verse 17, "is by the decree of the watchers and the sentence by the word of the holy one." Angels, this angelic being that Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream-- it's interesting to know that God has messengers, administrators of his business upon the earth.

I don't know if you think much about this. But God has angels. I believe in the ministry of angels. I believe in guardian angels. Not trying to get superstitious on you, but it says in the book of Hebrews that angels are ministering to serve those of us who are heirs of God's salvation. I like that. I like that. It's better than an insurance plan.

God has his angels looking over me. Now, I'm sure that I have given some angels some ulcers. If I could, if that were possible, I'm sure I would. As I get on my motorcycle, oh, great, there he goes. Quick. Double up the angels. This guy's kind of nuts. Quick. Follow after this guy. He's traveling on those airplanes again. Double up on him.

But God has been gracious. I believe, as I've said, that you and I are invincible when we do God's work, until God's done with us. And then when God's done with us, who wants to hang around anyone? Let us be used constantly for God's glory. Let our lives be squeezed to every drop in the use of the service of the master. And when he's done with us, great. Why prolong it?

"The sentence of the word of the holy ones--" hm. They watch everything you and I do. Peter tells us that in his epistle. Think about that. Do you really have privacy? It's been said quite accurately, secret sin upon Earth is open scandal in Heaven. Oh, you might think that you can hide things from people, but God's hosts of Heaven and God himself, like in a great theater, can look down and see every thought, every action.

And God weighs the hearts of men. And one day, we'll all stand before God individually. I like that. I'm glad about that, by the way. I'm glad that I won't have to stand before man. Because only God sees all. He sees the motivations. He sees into our hearts. I'm glad that I'll only stand before God. And all of us will.

Anyway, "In order," verse 17, "In order that the living may know that the most high rules in the kingdom of men, gives it to whomever He will, sets over it the lowest of men." This is one of the key verses of the scripture, by the way. Three things emerge in that verse. First of all, "the most high rules," God rules. This universe does not get away from his control. God doesn't throw up his hands and say, oh, it's just out of control. I can't handle it. He's in perfect, sovereign control.

Yes, he has allowed Satan, in his usurping of the earth, to have a certain amount of power. Why his leash is so long, I'm not quite sure. But in his leash being long, it permits man to exercise volition, to have the free right of to do whatever he wants to, to make his own choices, free will. And God lets us have free will. He lets us have free will so that we can love him by choice or turn away from him by choice.

And God will respect our choice. That's necessary in any kind of a relationship, to respect a person's choice. I respect the choice of a believer when he says, I'm following Jesus with all of my heart. And I respect the choice of an unbeliever who turns from God just as much. You have that right. As a human being, God has enabled you and endowed you with inalienable rights. You have the right of choice.

And I respect that right. I'm not going to be a dictator and demand you follow Jesus. I will entreat you to. I will beg you to. I will invite you to. But if a person says, I don't want anything to do with God-- hey, man, I'll respect your choice. I respect anybody's choice to do whatever they want to do.

It's not a good choice. In fact, it's a very foolish choice in light of all that God would want to do for you. But God respects that choice. And because God respects it, so do I. But God still rules and will have the ultimate last word. "And though a person," Psalm 2 declares, "will shake his fist at God, God will laugh from Heaven and have them in derision." God will have the last word. And God will judge.

Secondly, not only does God rule in the kingdom of men, He gives it to whomever He will. That's a tougher pill to swallow. Romans 13, "We are to submit to authority because all authority is from God. And the people who sit in authority have been given that position by God." That's hard for us to swallow.

The next phrase is even tougher. He sets over it the lowest of men. This should humble every Republican and every Democrat vying for office. I made it. I'm the new politician. Well, he sits over it the lowest of men. Don't blame the politicians. You voted for them. It's tough to make decisions over men and women who, by and large, have sinful hearts. There is no righteousness with which to work-- tough making those choices. But God still rules, gives it to whoever He will. Sets over it the lowest of men. Amen.

"This dream, I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. But you, Balt speaking to Daniel, "declare its interpretation. Since all these wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known to me the interpretation, but you're able, for the spirit of the holy God is in you." And Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar-- that's his Babylonian name-- was astonished for a time, and his thoughts troubled him. So the king spoke and said, "Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation trouble you." And Belteshazzar answered and said, "My Lord, may the dream concern those who hate you, and its interpretation concern your enemies."

Can you hear in Daniel's voice the love and the respect he had for this pagan, godless king? Did Daniel say, all right, all right, it's kind of neat to know that this wicked king is going to be wiped out. I hated this guy for a long time, and now he's going to get his. Listen to him. He says, oh, it hurt his heart. He had respect. I think they had a rapport going. I think he saw the truth that God rules, and God set Nebuchadnezzar in this position, and who am I to touch it? Because God put him in this position, oh, may this not concern you, King Nebuchadnezzar, though he knew it would.

Now, this is an interesting mix here. He had compassion, and concern, and rapport for this king, yet that did not keep him from telling him the truth. He didn't hold back the true vision that God told him to speak. It's a hard position to tell people in this world the whole gospel, the whole truth, nothing but the truth, but they need to hear it. God loves you, has a wonderful plan for your life. And we wish we could stop right there.

The whole truth is God loves you, has a wonderful plan. However, if you reject him, reject God's only solution for your sins, which is Jesus Christ-- I know you don't like to hear that. I know you'd like to think there are many ways to God. But there are not many ways to God. There's only one way to God that he himself has established. I didn't make the rules of the game.

He has declared that no one can come to him except through Jesus. And he's the only way, truth, or life. If you reject that, you've rejected God's solution, insulted God, and you'll have eternal punishment. That's hard to love a person and yet tell them the whole truth. But Daniel declared everything to him in this vision. He didn't hold it back, though I'm sure it could have been a temptation.

The tree that you saw, which grew and became strong, whose height reached up to the heavens, which could be seen by everyone, the leaves were lovely, fruit abundant. The beast of the fields hung out under it, and the birds were inside of it. Verse 22, "It is you, oh, King." And you know right now, Nebucha-- and I'm sure he's just going, oh, I knew it. That's why I didn't have him come in the first time to interpret the dream. I knew something like this would happen.

"It's you, oh, King, who have grown and become strong, for your greatness has grown, reaches to the heavens, your dominion to the end of the earth." He was ruler over all the world. And as much as the king saw a watcher or holy one come down from heaven saying, chop down the tree. Leave the stump and the whole thing until seven times pass over him.

"This is the interpretation, oh, King. This is the decree," verse 24, "the most high, which has come upon my Lord, the king. They shall drive you from men. Your dwelling place shall be with beasts of the field, and they will make you eat grass like an ox. They shall wet you with the dew of Heaven until seven times pass over you, until you know that the most high rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever he chooses."

Seven times, what does that mean? Well, in Babylon in that day, there were seen as two seasons in the year, winter and summer. So seven times seven seasons would be three and a half years. That's probably it. What's really interesting and really wild is in the Babylonian secular records, there is engraved in stone the fact that for a four-year period Nebuchadnezzar was not ruling in the kingdom.

Isn't that interesting? For four years, the secular records say, Nebuchadnezzar, for some reason-- it doesn't say why-- wasn't ruling. That was left absent from the record as to why. But he wasn't occupying the throne in his own kingdom. The prophecy was seven times, seven seasons, probably three and a half years. Some say seven years, probably three and a half years. They'll drive you from men and this weird, weird thing.

In other words, Nebuchadnezzar, you have lived apart from God. You have thrown God out of the scene, which means you have lived on the level of an animal. You see, animals live on the level of instinct. They wake up from their sleep in the morning, and they have the instinct, I'm hungry. I must-- cats think, there's a mouse. I must kill that mouse to satisfy my hunger and my curiosity. But they live by instinct. They live to satisfy bodily appetites. That's their whole life.

Therefore, a man or a woman living only to satisfy bodily appetites, be it a sexual drive, a food or drink drive, a drive for feeling good emotionally and physically, is living at the level of an animal. That's not how God wanted you to live. It's not how God intended man to live.

He intended man to have a spiritual connection with his creator, a satisfaction knowing the purpose for which you were created, to have a plan and a purpose and live with dignity. Nebuchadnezzar threw God out. Therefore, God said, well, all right, you have reduced yourself to living as an unthinking animal. Now he'll have self-fulfilled prophecy-- until you know that the most high dwells in the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever he chooses. God's going to teach him a lesson. But when he comes out of this lesson, he'll be wise.

There was a woman who visited Switzerland. On her tour, she went out to the country, took a walk, and noticed a shepherd. It was a beautiful sight. And if you've ever been to the Swiss Alps or the Austrian Alps, oh, the fields, the livestock, it's magical.

And she was out there, and she noticed a shepherd tending his sheep. But over off to the side on a little bit of hay was a sheep not moving. And she went closer and noticed the little lamb had a broken leg. And she thought, oh, poor little lamb. It's got a broken leg. How'd that happen?

The shepherd said, I broke it. You what? I broke its leg. I broke its leg and stuck it over there. Well, why would you do that? Well, see that little lamb that looks so innocent? That was the worst lamb I had in my flock. It was always disobedient. I would call. It would go the other direction. In fact, he was getting so bad, he was so disobedient, he was leading other sheep astray. So I broke its leg, put it over there.

She was still stunned, as many of you are right now. Shepherd said, you see, ma'am, I went the next day to feed that little sheep, and the sheep tried to bite me, so I didn't feed it for two days. By the time I approached the lamb after the third day and started giving its food, it licked me, cuddled up to me, and took my food.

Now, you might think I'm a cruel shepherd. But that little lamb, after this, will become the most obedient, the model of devotion to my flock. After it's healed, it will become the model. In fact, it will probably become my strongest leader in this flock.

The sheep learned obedience out of suffering. And I'm not saying that everything that happens in life is because God is after your case. But God, in his love, disciplines us. He knows what you need. And sometimes you need to go to the woodshed. And God's a good father. And if you had a father who never whipped you, you wouldn't have a very good one. A good father would tell you to obey, and then he'll whip you. And then after he whips you, he'll love you. And out of sometimes your suffering, the greatest obedience comes.

Nebuchadnezzar was this wild little sheep leading the world astray, but God knew how to get through to him. Don't worry about people who you think are beyond God's reach. They seem like, here's Nebuchadnezzar. He's out of touch. Nobody can reach him. Look, this high and lofty leader, nobody can get to him. Heh. God can get to him. And God got to him and humbled him.

Go to verse 27. "Therefore, oh, King, let my counsel be acceptable to you. Break off your sins by being righteous in your iniquity, by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps there may be a lengthening of your prosperity." The Bible says, "He who covers his sins will not prosper. He who forsakes his sin and confesses them will find mercy." And so there's this pleading. Please, turn from your sin. Get right with God, buddy.

I love that. I love that about Daniel. He was able to mix compassion and confrontation together. The church needs that. If you see a brother overtaken in a sin, you who are spiritual restore such a person in the spirit of meekness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.

It seems like one of two things occur when we see brothers living sinful lives-- or sisters. Number one, we don't want to confront them at all. Leave it alone. Just don't see it. Or we want to chop the tree down. We don't do it in a spirit of meekness. But you can combine confrontation with compassion to restore him in the spirit of great meekness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. You'll have health. Daniel was one of those.

All right, we have a few minutes to just peruse this. All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of 12 months, he was walking around his royal palace of Babylon. Now imagine he's walking on the terrace. Babylon was a seventh wonder of the world, hanging gardens, walls 60 feet around the city, 15 on each side, 85 feet thick or equivalent of a six-lane highway, 250 feet tall-- 300 feet tall, excuse me.

Imagine a six-lane highway 300 feet tall around the city. Chariot races were conducted on top of the city. 250 watchtowers stood 100 feet above that 300 foot wall. It was incredible. It was impregnable. And Nebuchadnezzar looked at it and went, all right. The king spoke saying, is this not the great Babylon that I have built for a royal dwelling in my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?

Um, that was a boo-boo, Nebuchadnezzar. Now, you could have looked at it and taken a few pictures of it. But when you started taking the credit for it, well, the word was still in the king's mouth. A voice fell from heaven. King Nebuchadnezzar, "to you it is spoken, the kingdom is departed from you. They shall drive you from men. Your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make you eat grass like oxen. Seven times will pass over you until you know that the most high rules in the kingdom of men gives it to whoever he chooses."

That very hour, the word was fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from men, ate grass like an ox. His body was wet with the dew of Heaven, until the his hair grew like eagles' feathers and his nails like birds' claws. The spirit of Euell Gibbons came upon him, and he was driven out, eating all the natural things.

Now, actually, a strange condition happened to him. Medically, this would be called zoanthropy or, more definitely, lycanthropy, where he believed he was this animal, and his body underwent strange changes. Dr. RK Harrison, at an institution, a British institution, wrote about a patient when he said, "His daily routine consisted of wandering around," and this is another person in Britain in 1946, "wandering around the magnificent lawns with which the otherwise dingy hospital situation was graced. It was his custom to pluck up and eat handfuls of grass as he went along. He never ate institutional food."

Well, I can understand that. I've been in some of these hospitals. And even airplanes, you kind of-- you know, you want to fast and pray on those things. "His only drink was water. The writer," him, "was able to examine him cursorily. And the only physical abnormality noted consisted of a lengthening of the hair and a coarse, thickening condition of the nails. Without institutional care, the patient would have manifested precisely the same physical conditions as those mentioned in Daniel, chapter 4, verse 33." So it happened to him, and it's been documented in other times.

But that's not the important thing. The important thing is God got his attention. "At the end of the time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes to Heaven." Oh, see, he was lifting down his eyes at his kingdom. Now he lifts up his eyes to Heaven. "My understanding returned to me, and I blessed the most high, and praised him, and honored him who lives forever and ever."

Some people have hard heads, and God needs hard methods to get through to them. Jonah, though a man of God, was hardened, disobeyed God, but God got through to him. Do you ever worry about people who you think are disobeying God? God's big enough to wrestle them.

And if you're disobedient to God tonight, you can go your mile. And he'll be very patient with you. But you're messing with the wrong guy. You're in for quite a wrestle, quite a fight. Because God loves you so much, he will send his hound of Heaven, the Holy Spirit, to get your attention until you surrender, until your heart becomes so hardened you become reprobate, as the Bible says, for the spirit of God will not always strive with man.

But until you reach that God-awful point, God will wrestle with you because he loves you, and he knows what's best for you. To resist against God is to resist your own good. Nebuchadnezzar found that out. He praised God. And he says in concluding this chapter concerning God, "His dominion is everlasting dominion. His kingdom is from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. He does according to His will. And among the inhabitants of the earth, no one can restrain his hand or say to him, what have you done?

At the same time, my reason returned to me. And for the glory of my kingdom, my honor, my splendor returned to me, my counselors and nobles restored to me." I don't know if I'd consider that a great honor considering most of them weren't worth their weight. "I was restored to my kingdom and excellent majesty was added to me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol the King of Heaven, all of whose works are truth, and his ways are justice. And those who walk in pride he is able to abase."

Talk about humility. This was a public proclamation for the world to read. Imagine putting that in a public newspaper. Hey, guys, just want you to know, I've been nuts for three and a half years. I thought I was an ox. And I'm your king, who am in charge of everything you do. You know, that is humility. But his point was, God abases those who are prideful.

Your testimony can be a powerful tool to win people to Christ. Nebuchadnezzar wrote a testimony here because he knew that people reading this could be helped. He wanted them to skip the aggravation of being prideful against God. So he wrote this letter.

I heard a story of a funeral that was conducted by the late, I would consider great, Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse, former pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the funeral of this beloved, deceased believer, a letter was handed to him, a letter that this deceased man wrote before he died to be read at his funeral.

He took the letter. Dr. Barnhouse opened it up and read the letter per the request of the man. Now, he said, this is a letter given to us by this man, and he asked that it be read at his funeral. Here it goes. Now, he said in his letter, some things like, Mac, we played golf for 10 years, and yet you've consistently rejected Jesus Christ. I know that, right now, you're in the audience looking at my casket, wondering about me. Why haven't you accepted Christ? And George, you know, for years, you've hardened your heart. Why haven't you received God's mercy and grace?

Now, you can imagine these guys just kind of wincing and getting a little like, I gotta get up and leave. What a wise thing to do, by the way, to let the-- because you're there. You think, oh, he died, and you want to respect that person's wish. And yet when he's preaching the gospel to you, you just can't get up and leave. He being dead, yet dead, yet speaketh.

Nebuchadnezzar has since passed from the scene. But he was a man who attained more than any of us will ever attain. He was the world dictator. And yet he learned that you can't outsmart God, and it's foolish to be in a prideful position and say, I'm going to hold onto my life, and go for my own glory, and do my own thing, and forget God. He found out that that's to live like an animal.

And tonight, if Jesus Christ isn't the very center core of your life, you're living in the animal kingdom. You say, well, that's OK. I believe in evolution. Well, that's all right, but God has a better plan for you. I know I didn't evolve from a monkey. You might think you have, but I know I didn't.

And a lot of us Christians don't believe we have. We believe that God created us. And more than that, that same creator wants to have a personal, intimate relationship with each human being. And it's kind of foolish, don't you think, for you to harden your heart, and yet you see so many believers around this room tonight, all of whose life has been changed, and for you to think, oh, it's just a joke. It's a pipe dream. Yeah, but they all have the same testimony. They were lost, but now they're found.

And you see something in their life tonight that you cannot throw out the window. Their lives have been changed. Look at them. They're filled with joy. They're here because they love Jesus. And the thing that God did in their lives, he wants to do in your life tonight. And it's foolish, don't you think, to hold onto your pride and not surrender your life to Jesus when, for some reason, you're here tonight, and you're hearing the gospel.

And I believe God has an appointment with you, and he wants you to surrender tonight. So do that, would you? Surrender your life tonight, if you haven't, to Jesus Christ. Oh, but I'm religious. Well, Nebuchadnezzar was. He had all of the gods of Babylon around him. Oh, but I believe in the true God. Yeah, but the devil believes, and he trembles. James said that.

Have you committed your life to Jesus? Do you know the forgiveness of sins, your guilt alleviated? Are you sure that, if you die tonight, your name's written somewhere in the log book of Heaven and that, if you died, you'd see Jesus face to face, and he'd say, hey, come on in, man.

More than that, do you know that you can have life not only after death but during your life? You can have it right now, abundant life, Jesus called it. It's more than just, after I die, somewhere in the sky, in the sweet by and by, I'll play a harp. No. You can know that eternal life now. You can know his hope and joy tonight. I challenge you to throw the towel of your pride away and come to Jesus tonight.

Would everybody bow their head and pray with me? Heavenly Father, you're in this room, and you're the most important person. And as we read tonight, your watchers see there's no privacy at all. More than that, you, oh, God, read the thoughts of every man and woman in this room. And could it be, Lord, that you'll recall those thoughts back to them one day as they stand before you?

Now, Lord, in this time of our lives being weighed in the balances, we pray that hearts would be convicted, and you'd convince those who haven't surrendered to you of your love, and tonight you'd rescue them. As your heads are bowed and your eyes are closed, do you want to surrender your life to Jesus?

I'd like you to make a step. First of all, I'd like you to raise your hand up in the sky, up in the air. If your desire is to give your life to Jesus tonight and know his forgiveness and his love, his plan for your life, if you want that kind of life to begin tonight, just raise up your hand. Say, Skip, here's my hand. Pray for me before you closes this service. Raise it up if you want to know Jesus tonight as your Lord and Savior. And keep it up. God bless you over there. Anyone else in the back? God bless you and you over here. Anyone else? Raise up your hand--