God’s Glory among the Nations

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The news isn’t always so good, though. When you turn on the TV, I can’t even watch the news on TV anymore. Christian’s sitting there shaking her head.

It sends my blood pressure through the roof when I watch the news on TV. I heard amens there. It sends my blood pressure through the roof.

I can’t watch it. If I want to know what’s going on in the world, I’ll check out the news on the Internet or even on Twitter. I used to make fun of people who got the news off of Twitter, But I found out about them getting bin Laden about an hour before it came out on the national news network.

So I can’t make fun of Twitter anymore. Anyway, I’ll check out other sources for my news because if I try to watch it on TV and listen to it on the radio and read the newspapers like I used to do, I used to soak up all the news that I could. It’s just overwhelming all the bad news anymore.

You turn on the TV from day to day, and I mean, think of the last few weeks we’ve had hurricanes. They said we’re going to wipe out the East Coast. There was an earthquake in Washington, D. C.

I couldn’t help but think somebody in Washington is doing something that they shouldn’t. But we’ve got hurricanes. We’ve got earthquakes.

I think there was a tornado somewhere last night. You look at the news and people are running around scared that the dollar is going to bottom out and we’re all going to be broke. National debt, $14 trillion.

I can’t even fathom what a trillion looks like. We’ve got $14 plus trillion in the national debt. China’s developing weapons that can hit us from where they are.

North Korea’s trying to get nuclear weapons. You hear some of these scientists talk about global warming’s just going to burn us all up, or it could have the opposite effect, and it could melt the glaciers and freeze us all to death. They don’t know.

All these bad scenarios, you turn on the news, and it’s just doom and gloom all the time, isn’t it? Occasionally, the local news will throw in some kind of cute story about something nice that happened, but for the most part, it’s doom and gloom on the news and the TV, and it’s just overwhelming, isn’t it? Maybe I’m the only one, but I feel overwhelmed sometimes.

The world just feels like it’s out of control, doesn’t it? Sometimes the world feels like it’s out of control. Even in our personal lives, the world can feel like it’s out of control.

Now, I had a good week this week, but there have been other weeks where there was nothing I wanted to do but go back to bed and say, somebody else, you deal with this because it’s out of my control. But the world just feels like it’s out of control sometimes. And I’ll admit, there have been times that I find myself worrying myself sick over either the things in my life or things that are going on in the world around me and just threaten about it, like I said, until I’m just going to make myself actually physically sick.

Anybody else admit to worrying about the things that are going on in our world today? And God forbid I should watch the History Channel and be scared to death over the doomsday scenarios. The doomsday scenarios that they say are going to happen, and I’ll get all worked up and nervous about it and where the world’s headed, and then I think, wait, I’ve read the book.

That’s not how it’s going to be. the world just feels like it’s out of control. And we need some place secure to turn to.

Amen? And what really helps me in not feeling like the world is out of control sometimes is to remember the God that we serve. And to remember that we serve a sovereign God.

That we serve a God who’s not caught off guard by any of these things. A God who from eternity past looked and saw all the things that were going to happen and sees them now as though all of human history is just a snap. Just a blink of an eye to God.

And he sees it, and he knew all of it was going to happen. And I don’t know about you, but as the world gets crazier and crazier, I take great comfort in the fact that we serve a sovereign God. And this morning, I want to start what will be a few-week series on Sunday mornings about the sovereign God we serve.

And I think you all know this by now, but I want to make sure it’s clear. I’m not coming at this from a Calvinistic perspective that God decrees. You know, we’ve talked about that before.

But my understanding of God is that we serve a God who is so sovereign that He can allow freedom and free will and His sovereignty not be threatened by that. That some things happen because God causes them to happen, and some things happen because God permits man to cause them to happen. And some things are just the consequence of living in a fallen, sinful world.

But I want us to talk about the sovereign God that we serve. And you may think, why are we spending so many weeks then, the next few weeks? why are we spending so much time talking about the sovereignty of God?

That’s just theology. It doesn’t help my everyday life. It does.

First of all, because it’s talking about the character of who God is, and it’s important that we know who God is. It’s important that we give him the credit that is due. But also, it has a practical application in our lives that once we understand the will of God and how he works and what his plan is, we might not be so anxious about our own lives.

We might not be so anxious about what he’s doing in our little corner of the world. We might learn to trust him just a little bit more. And so for the next few weeks, starting today, I want to talk about God’s sovereignty and God’s plan, God’s will, what God’s plan is for all of these crazy things that we see happening.

Because see whether he causes it or he just allows it to happen, God does have a plan. I hear people say God has a, I think it’s what the four spiritual laws that says God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. Okay, I understand what they’re saying, but we get too concerned about what God’s plan is for my life, what God’s plan is for me, as though God’s plan revolves around me.

What we need to understand is that regardless of my life or your life, God has a plan. And we’re just fortunate that our lives get to be a part of that plan. So instead of figuring out God’s plan for our lives, we need to figure out where our lives and the things around us fit into God’s plan.

And that’s what we’re going to be talking about, God’s will and God’s plan for the world over the next few weeks. And this morning I want to start about talking about God’s will for his glory. that God’s will is for him to be glorified among the nations.

The things that happen, the good and the bad, the events of the world, all eventually will lead to God’s ultimate glory because he’s deserving of it. I started thinking this morning, glory is one of those churchy words that we use that people outside these doors don’t always understand. Some of us may not even understand.

I thought, okay, I know what glory is. I’m familiar with the concept, but I’m not sure I could really define it, so I had to look it up. And it basically just boiled down means praise or honor.

It’s kind of like praise or honor on steroids, I guess, because it’s so much more than that. And God is worthy of glory. He’s worthy of the ultimate honor, the ultimate praise, the ultimate respect.

Every good thing that we have to say and to offer belongs to God. And that’s what I want to talk about this morning, that God’s will is going to work all of this out for his own glory eventually. Let’s look at Daniel chapter 5, and we’ll look at the story of a king who learned this the hard way, that God works things together for his glory.

Daniel chapter 4, verse 1, says, Nebuchadnezzar, the king, unto all people, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth, peace be multiplied unto you. I thought it good to show the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me. 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. So Nebuchadnezzar, this great king of Babylon, the one we’re going to talk about who didn’t get it, here he starts out and says, I thought it was a good thing to write to all the nations and people and languages and write and tell you how amazing, how incredible, how powerful, how glorious God is. It sounds like Nebuchadnezzar gets it, but it wasn’t always this way.

We start into verse 4, and we can kind of see it as a flashback that Nebuchadnezzar has. He’s writing here in verses 1 through 3, let me tell you what I have to tell you, and in order to do that in verse 4, let’s go back to the beginning of the story. Verse 4, I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at rest in mine house and flourishing in my palace.

So he’s in a place of ease. He’s one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful man in the world at that time. Healthiest, has the most influence, the most subjects, and he’s got a life of ease there in the palace.

He’s got it made. There’s nothing that can touch him, nothing that can mess with the good thing he’s got going for himself. So he just enjoys it and sits back and relaxes.

He’s at ease in the palace. He’s flourishing. He’s prospering in every imaginable way.

Verse 5, I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions in my head troubled me. Therefore made I a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known unto me the interpretation of the dream. 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. So in the midst of this ease that he’s got for himself, as we’ll find out, God sort of breaks into his world. God sort of intrudes and interrupts into the glorious world that he’s made for himself.

Interrupts this with a dream that’s so bad that it troubles him. And he calls all the magicians and the soothsayers, basically the psychics of their day, he calls them together and he wants an interpretation for the dream. And you would think by now he would have learned better because this isn’t the first time he’s had a dream.

And it’s not the first time that they were unable to give him the interpretation. But he calls them together nonetheless, and he tells them the dream, and they’re not able to make known the interpretation. Verse 8, 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. . .

First of all, he has renamed, after he has taken Daniel into captivity, he’s taken him away from his homeland and into captivity, He’s basically now a servant of this foreign pagan king. And he’s not only taken him into captivity, uprooted him from everything in his life, but he’s also changed his name and said that his name will be Belteshazzar because the spirit of the holy gods is in him. So Nebuchadnezzar is somebody who, as we’ll see if we look back, he’s somebody who already has some familiarity with the true God, but he still has reverence in his heart for these pagan gods that the Babylonians worshipped.

In whom is the spirit of the holy gods? And before him I told the dream, saying, O Belteshazzar, meaning Daniel, 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 in the interpretation thereof. So he calls Daniel, and he calls him by his pagan name, And he says, come and tell me the answer to my dreams, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you.

This is crazy, because this is not the first time he’s dealt with Daniel. We can look back at the previous three chapters, and we see interactions between God and Nebuchadnezzar that involved Daniel. After he brings them in, there’s the fact that he’s got a dream that bothered him before in chapter 2.

He’s had a dream that bothered him before. he called in all of the magicians and the soothsayers. Nobody could tell him what the dream was or the interpretation, and so he decides he’s going to have them all executed until somebody stands up and says, Daniel can tell you.

And Daniel, by the power of God, comes in and tells him not only the interpretation of the dream, but the dream itself, and tells him the interpretation because God enabled him to do that, something that the magicians couldn’t do. Then as we turn forward, there was the instance of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who refused to bow down before the statue, and God delivers the three from out of the fiery furnace after they said that he would. Then there was the first one of all that’s in chapter 1, where the king brings these Hebrew servants in together and says, you all are my servants now, you’re going to eat what I eat and do what I do.

And Daniel says, no, let us stick to the foods that we’re used to, and God will prosper us. It’s a great story. I encourage you to go back and read it.

But basically, a wager of sorts is made. And they eat basically vegetables and water while the rest of the king’s servants eat these meats and these rich foods. And at the end of the time, they’re better off than the king’s other men that have eaten these rich foods.

And they realize that it’s because of the power of God that’s preserved and prospered them. And so this is at least, getting back to chapter 4, this is at least the fourth encounter that Nebuchadnezzar has had with something supernatural involving God. At least the fourth.

And he’s still turning to his pagan magicians and soothsayers and sorcerers and all of these kind of people. 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.

The tree grew and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth. The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all. The beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it.

I saw in my visions of my head upon my bed, and behold, a watcher and a holy one came down from heaven. And this watcher he’s talking about is yet another spirit in this Babylonian pantheon of these pagan gods that they believed in. Yet another spirit that’s come down, and he thinks the Spirit is telling him things, when really it’s God giving him this dream.

And so what he’s basically told Daniel so far is that I saw this tree that was a tall, majestic tree, and the leaves had shade enough for all the animals and all the birds of the air roosted in the branches, and everybody was able to eat the fruit of it. And he said, and then the watcher came. Verse 14, he cried aloud and said, Thus, hew down the tree and cut off his branches and 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 the 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 beasts 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 pass over him.

So he’s told then that in the dream, this tree is going to be cut down. They’re going to strip all the leaves off the branches. The tree is going to be cut down.

The beasts of the field are going to have to find shade elsewhere. People are going to have to find food elsewhere. This tree is going down, and they’re going to cap it off with a band of iron.

And what I find is interesting, he’s so puzzled by this. It says, let his heart be changed from a man’s, and let a beast’s heart be given unto him. When’s the last time you heard of a tree with a human heart?

I don’t know how that would work. Christian watches a lot of those medical dramas where they deal with some of the weirdest cases. and I know it’s made up, but they deal with some of the weirdest medical cases.

And even in some of those bizarre things, I’ve never seen anybody talk about attaching a human heart to a tree. And yet, he’s told here in his dream that from this tree, let his man’s heart be taken and turned into the heart of a beast. So it should be, maybe I’m being too hard on him because I have the luxury of knowing how the story ends, but I would think it would be kind of obvious that this tree would then be representative of a person, would just be my guess. Let his heart be changed from man’s, and let a beast’s heart be given unto him, and let seven times pass over him.

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. This dream I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Now thou, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretations thereof for as much as all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the interpretation that thou art able for the spirit of the holy gods is in me.

There he goes again with the spirit of the holy gods stuff. So he’s finished telling Daniel the dream. He said, I had this dream of this mighty tree, and the tree was going to be cut down, and its human heart was to be turned into that of a beast, and it was so that all the kingdoms of the world would know that the God of heaven rules over his kingdom, basically.

Gee, I would think the interpretation would be pretty clear. The king is having a dream that the heart of a person would be changed to the heart of a beast so that the world would know that God rules over the tree’s kingdom. And yet he’s still stumped, no pun intended, he’s still stumped by the meaning of this tree dream.

Verse 19, then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonished for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. He’s not astonished because he’s having trouble coming up with the interpretation. He’s astonished because he knows exactly what God means by this dream and doesn’t quite know how to break it to the king because things are not good for him.

And the king spoke and said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream or the interpretation thereof trouble thee. Belteshazzar answered and said, My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies. He says, before I tell you what the dream means, king, just let me say I wish that this dream was about your enemies.

Wish it wasn’t about you, but it is. 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 meat for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation. This tree, he describes it again, and he says, this tree, verse 22, it is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong, for thy greatness is grown and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth.

So the tree represents King Nebuchadnezzar, and the tree is about to be cut down. Can that mean anything good for Nebuchadnezzar? No.

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, and even the 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 beasts of the field until seven times pass over him. This is the interpretation, O king, And this is the decree of the Most High, which has come upon my Lord the King. They that shall drive thee from men, or that they shall drive thee from men in thy dwelling, shall be with the beasts 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, until thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.

So what he said so far is this tree represents you, and it’s to be cut down, that means that you are to be made like an ox of the field. When this heart is given from a man to a beast, it means you’re going to be like the oxen of the field, and you’re going to eat the grass, and you’re going to be wet with the dew of heaven, and you’re going to be this way until it says, seven times shall pass over thee. And I don’t know exactly what length of time that means seven times, but what I did find interesting is that seven is the number of completion or perfection in Hebrew numbering.

And so until the time is complete, Until God says, it’s time, what you’re going through is complete, I’ve accomplished what I want to do, you’re going to be like an animal. In order to show you, until you 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 says, the stump is left there, God leaves the stump there, and that’s to show you that once you recognize that God rules over you, your kingdom will be restored to you.

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. And what we see here is something incredible that Daniel, in spite of every wicked thing that this king has done, and everything that this king has done to him personally, taking him away from his people and making him basically a slave, a well-treated slave, but a slave nonetheless, he still loves this king enough that he’s pleading with him to turn to God and recognize him now to turn away from his sins by righteousness, it says, and his iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, that perhaps God will lengthen his time of tranquility, that maybe God will spare you for a little while. And because Daniel prayed it, God granted him, I believe, a little bit of time to do this.

In verse 28, it says, all this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar at the end of 12 months. So between this dream happening and what’s about to happen next, God has given Nebuchadnezzar 12 months that he didn’t deserve, And I really believe it’s because Daniel prayed on Nebuchadnezzar’s behalf. And God listened to Daniel.

At the end of 12 months, he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. This is incredible. 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?

This great kingdom, this Babylon, isn’t it great that I have made for myself and my kingdom? He goes back to thinking he is the master of his world. Verse 31, while the word was in the king’s mouth, while he was in the middle of saying this stupid, stupid thing, there fell a voice from heaven saying, O King Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken, the kingdom is departed from thee.

This voice comes down out of heaven and says, Nebuchadnezzar, you’ve already been told, now your kingdom is taken away from you. And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee until It would be pretty scary to hear that coming from a voice out of heaven to say, you’re about to be an animal until you realize that God rules over you.

And when you realize that God rules over you, then you can rule again. The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar, and he was driven for men and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven until his hairs were grown like eagle’s feathers and his nails like bird’s claws. And at the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, so he’s speaking again, starting in verse 34, And 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.

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? So he was turned into, I mean, he wasn’t turned into an ox, but even in his human form, he was compelled, he was powerless to resist this. He got down on all fours, and he began to eat grass like an ox, and he lived outside.

He was wet with the dew of heaven, and he lived that way until the Bible says his hair had become like eagle’s feathers, and his nails had become like bird’s claws. He lived out there a long time as an animal. And it says that one day he looked up to heaven and everything was restored to him. And he realized at that point that God ruled over him.

That as powerful and as mighty as he thought he was, as glorious a king as he thought he was, that there was a king that was higher than he. One who ruled over him. And he ruled only according to the will of God.

He ruled only as long as God wished him to rule there. And as soon as God willed it, he could remove him from the kingdom, remove the kingdom from him, and put somebody else in his spot. It talks in one part of this passage about having the basis to rule over them.

The lowest of the low God could put on the throne if he chose to. And he said he realized that all the inhabitants of the earth are like nothing to God. That doesn’t mean that God doesn’t care about us, but that means the truth is not up for a majority vote.

It’s what God says it is. It means that all the collective power and might and imagination that we can come up with all together as a human race cannot rival the living God. We’re like nothing compared to him, and nobody can stay his hand.

Nobody can stop his hand from accomplishing what it chooses to do, and nobody can question him saying, what do you think you’re doing? At the same time, my reason returned unto me, and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honor and my brightness returned unto me, and my counselors and my Lord 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 is able to abase.

He said, everything was restored and returned to me, and now I praise the King of heaven because I recognize him for who he is. All of his works are true, all of his ways are judgment, and anybody that walks in pride he is able to bring down. And so we have a story of a king who thought he was an ox.

A king basically who was too big for his britches. And God said, if you don’t recognize that I rule over you and you don’t start acting according to my will, I will show you who’s really in charge here. And he had to because the king was so full of himself, he wasn’t going to get it any other way.

But at the moment the king submitted to God, God restored everything to him just as he had promised in this instance. Now, what can we learn about God’s glory from this passage of Scripture? The first thing that we learn about God’s glory is that God is glorified when men submit to and rely on Him.

If we look at verses 20, starting back at verse 25, he says that all of this will be done. The only reason God is having to go through this, having to do this, I should say, and the only reason that Nebuchadnezzar has to go through the things that he has to go through is in order to get him to submit to God’s sovereignty, to get him to glorify God for who He is. And Daniel gives him the out here.

Daniel says, maybe God will prolong your tranquility if you’ll just get rid of your sins and follow righteousness, get rid of your iniquities and show mercy to the poor. If you’ll just follow God, if you’ll say God is in charge and do things His way, maybe He’ll prolong your kingdom. That’s all God is looking for here.

God is glorified in us when we submit to Him and when we rely on Him. If Nebuchadnezzar had submitted to God’s will and relied on him instead of being the master of his own kingdom in his mind, he wouldn’t have had to go through any of this. Daniel interprets the dream, telling Nebuchadnezzar, as I said, that the only reason this is going on is because you’re not glorifying God, and you can fix this by submitting to God and by relying on him.

Daniel spells it out for him, and yet he refuses to do it. And that’s a truth that we can learn for our lives and for the way God works things together in the world as well, that God is glorified when His people will submit to and rely on Him instead of ourselves. If we walk around and we rely on ourselves, if we walk around and we do things our way instead of submitting to God’s way, we don’t glorify Him.

We can say, yeah, we’re Christians, I serve God, I love God, but if our actions don’t show it, if our actions don’t show a life that is submitted to the one true God, we are not bringing Him glory. We are not bringing Him glory. And we can look to the world and say, why don’t they live right?

We can look at our culture and say, why is it so messed up? Why does nobody live right? Why does nobody have morals anymore?

But folks, it’s not up to the lost and sinful world to bring God glory. That’s our job. And ultimately, they will be called to account just as we all will.

They will be called to answer for the things that they’ve done and not bringing God glory. But folks, His glory ought to start with His church. And if we will not live lives that are submitted to God, if we will not affirm our reliance on the living God, how can we expect them to?

But when we will live lives that are different from the world outside of here, and we should, they should see us living differently, not in a way that we lord it over everybody and pretend that we’re better than them, but live humble lives that show that we are submitted to God and doing it His way and relying on Him for everything and see Him as the master of our world, not us. We bring glory to God in doing that because the world sees that and recognizes that’s not the normal way to live. That’s different, and they take notice.

And when they see God at wor

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