Lesson 5: “From Pride to Humility” - 3ABN Sabbath School Panel - Q1 2020

the Bible tells us in the beginning was the word and the Word was with God and the Word was God it says to receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls and to be diligent to present yourself approved to God rightly dividing the word of truth join us now for the 3abn Sabbath School panel our study today is The Book of Daniel [Music] hello and welcome to 3abn Sabbath School panel this is going to be a blessed study I already know already because we're going to be looking at lesson number five and we look at lesson number five we're going to be looking from pride to humility so this is really going to be some interesting things that I know that you'll want to be involved with so anyway pray you're having a blessed day and you're really excited about spending this time with us because we're definitely excited about spending this time with you and study you have other choices I know but you've made the choice to be here and study with this panel today and we thank you for that again we're going to be looking at the the subject pride to humility and I think as we look at this I think we're going to learn some things and maybe even about ourself and I'm gonna just encourage you make sure you get your your your guide it's very very important to get that guide I know when I do study I like to have a guide some things I can go by and if you don't have one I'll tell you how you can get one right quick then you'll get more information on it just a little bit later you can download these at ABS g dot adventist dot org and that's a BS g dot adventist dot org so you can get these studies and you get them into your home and you can fill them out and work right along with us here and we'll have more on this later but be sure and again I've heard sayin I think it's very good if you if you're not if you can't do that and maybe you don't know how to do it visit your nearest Adventist Church and not only will they be glad to give you the study guide but I think they might even invite you to fellowship lunch that would be good all right praise God I want to just introduce our panel again for the faithfulness and the work that h1 do and it is work and to my left is pastor John Lowe McCain always a pleasure to work with you thank you we have been enjoying our journey through Daniel and I don't think 2 is going to be any different amen I like that all right next to you is sister Shelly Quinn we always have fun on this panel and it's great to study even though it is work it's great to study - yeah absolutely Pastor Ryan day next to you I'm excited to be a part of this panel as always amen and down the end holding it all together I always love open up the word of God and learning from you amen and while you're down there would you have opening prayer for sure Holy Father we come before you in the name of Jesus praising you that you are our God we thank you for your word and right now as we open up your word we do open up our minds and our hearts to receive what you have for us speak to us just now in Jesus name Amen amen praise the Lord you know we're gonna do the memory first like the memory verse Daniel 4 verse 3 if anyone has that or you've got any opening your Bible read along with us here this is Sabbath afternoon open up your book said how great are his signs and how mighty his wonders his kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom and his Dominion is from generation to generation if I've asked the question who's basically speaking here what would our answer be recognized Nebuchadnezzar good that's a good answer I think that's a right answer here but notice that this is the the kings after his mind is restored right that he's restored he's giving praise to the king of King and Lord of lords and patriarchs and prophets 5 - 5 21 says he became a humble child of God Wow God was working all along wasn't for sure we're going to be looking at their Saturdays afternoon just a little synopsis real quick pride pride is a dangerous word dangerous thing when used to elevate man it leads to downfall of men and to Lucifer his angels being expelled from heaven so this is something I'm gonna spend a little time on on my part of it too and I think we need to spend because the word pride sometimes we forget anytime anything that lifts us up rather than lifting up the name of Jesus I want to spend and I pray that you are - you're taking a notebook and pencil and paper because we'll go quickly right on into Sunday's lesson this time is just fleeing right by us right now lesson number five is not this the babylon the great lesson number five what happens at King Nebuchadnezzar and why right quick the same thing we just talked about a moment ago pride issue this ride came in and when pride comes in it is a destroyer it can hurt you it can tear a church apart I can tear tear a family apart individually it can tear us apart even though it's just a simple little word it's like oh well we can have maybe there's such a good thing you think pastors good pride such a thing I'm setting him up I don't know no there's no such thing as good pride okay anything that we had need to be gauged by the Word of God isn't it you know we probably in in the Word of God we long as it comes to godly thing I want to read a few passages quickly about pride because we can see and then I want to just go and if we have time to be on guard because this there's so much to cover of what happens here with Nebuchadnezzar is just so much but again pride is the issue we can learn about never can read about it but how about this thing called pride and then I want to look at maybe about 15 if I can quickly signs that you may have pride and maybe we don't know it so it might be very interesting the pride in proverbs 11:2 said pride cometh notice and then shame pride comes first and then shame in proverbs 16:18 we know if pride cometh before what comes before destruction our burbs 2923 man's pride shall bring him low Isaiah 25 11 he gods shall bring down those their pride examples of that just quickly Jeremiah 48 29 says the pride of Moy and you can look right now I mean this to go on and on and on pride of Sodom the pride of Israel the pride of the Philistines we noticed that the pride of Assyria it could just go on and on and on their downfall was because of pride they lifted themselves up as Nebuchadnezzar instead of lifting up the god of heaven which is this lesson the first part here brings him down right insanity he's like the beasts of the field because God wanted to get his attention and God got his attention now let's look at these that's 15 if I can just get through them real quickly on it about signs that maybe we need to be on guard that maybe pride as an issue and it's so subtle sometime that we don't realize that maybe it is pride number one now I look I read some of these and I felt guilty as sin I feel like they stepped on my toaster because I didn't realize maybe that's what it is but I looked at number one assuming you already know something when someone is teaching think about it assuming you already know so why listen right you already know that's a sign of pride to seeing yourself as too good to perform certain tasks it could be pride well that's not my job well I'm not gonna you know the stool stops up don't call me you know get somebody else to do come on let's just get down to it this could be well that well that's somebody else's job that's not mine right that may be something there we need to look at number three being too proud fool boy to ask for help man I think I've been more directions directions well I don't never ask direction because I never get lost let's face it up as long as I have gas in the car right and I'm still able to drive around like well I can find my way out there this is part of being too proud to ask for help this could be dangerous and I'm told that a lot of times do because I'll try to lift something or do something or build something and my wife will say call somebody and ask to help I can do it I could I just think well that's I just want to okay number four feeling the need to consistently teach people things you know if you feel a need that you always need to teach somebody something maybe that's a sign of pride because well this is what all the lesson is about is Nebuchadnezzar of what happened to him and the kingdom of Babel and then all these other kingdoms this little thing called pride number five talking about yourself a lot there's no one else to talk about and you talk about yourself a lot what a lot of people allow things to talk about in the world for sure number six thinking you are better than others because maybe they just have less than you have or not quite as high a position maybe as you might have thinking you are better than others surely none of us would do that but that's the sign of a pride of course number seven when you disregard the advice of others see me that could be a pride issue a prideful if we disregard that's why we the Bible says we need to come on with counsel counsel together and to listen not that you can always take everybody's piece of advice right you know I always listen to my mother's advice and I'll tell you why is because I knew she had my best interest at heart that's right she might say well somebody said that that and I might think hmm I'm not sure they have my best interests at heart but when she said something I knew she did but I was not always able to go along with that but I you could you could trust that number eight when you are consistently critical of others yes you find somebody this critical of others a lot of times it's cause maybe it's a it's maybe surprise is you number nine consistently neat you have consistent need for attention and affirmation or Santa my to affirm you so if you're always I need attention or you know you need have that desire all the time maybe maybe we need to look at it maybe it's something inside and maybe it's something that itself there number 10 able to receive constructive criticism yeah a lot of times people say I'm just going to give you you know constructive criticism and it's like be struck to you there's a way to give it isn't that right - and sometimes what even that raises our pride level sometimes even the way spoken rather than just listen first and to go on number 11 notice this overly obsessed boy with our physical appearance could be a form of the form of pride number 12 unwilling to submit to Authority that's some time we have to fight that 113 ignoring some time when people are trying to talk to us we just ignore them because they don't have anything to say worth listening to hmm could be sign of pride 14 justifying I felt this one / justifying our sin instead of admitting it making justification well I did it because I didn't want to but I did because he or she and so sometimes we justify rather than the Bible is very clear we come to God and we confess that sin he's faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all and right I'm not saying that's an easy thing to do it's never easy to admit that we're wrong especially to our fellow men and women you know on church family but God says to bring it to him and if we've wronged our fellow man go to them also don't justify number 15 I'm going to say this is name-dropping and what does that mean name-dropping that means using people some people use people to try to climb up a ladder or they use their name or they try to get in on a conversation to make other people think that they're just as important or have that same position well that's a lot right but there are P these are just simpler maybe little simple signs of what we call pride but the results are not simple they can be devastating that's right we can as it were being out to lose our mind and maybe not just for seven years as Nebuchadnezzar but maybe it may not ever come back so we need to be careful decisions and choices that we make and be sure that we that the member protects their in daniel that we looked at daniel for verse 3 we want to say it as nebuchadnezzar said it at the end result as he just simply said how great basically how great is God notice that his kingdom has dominion from generation to generation this is should be our attitude I think as we pray come to our senses we consider just some of these things here don't take it all personal but I've seen several that fit me and I don't mean for them to be but they just made it had an application there and if even it's just a little bit I want to get rid of that I want to submit it to God and I want him to take that because I don't want to miss heaven because I'm too prideful to work with something too prideful to take advice too prideful that I know everything and before anyone ever speaks so you know I want this to you know be said in my heart and life to be ready when Jesus come Pastor John Amen amen mine is Monday warned by the Prophet we find examples in Scripture david and jonathan is one we find examples all throughout the bible they had em a m-- to not a.m. Elijah came to a have you find his continual rebuke throughout the bible and will find in many cases when the rebuke is received then a person comes to the place where they repent and they acknowledge their sin and then God restores them this is an amazing chapter and Daniel for because you think in the midst of this amazing display of power and wealth and fame and notoriety that one of the things we have to guard against and you see this in history we are most vulnerable when we when we are at our height in our successes there's a story in Isaiah 6 I read this a number of times and for years it eluded me when Isaiah said in the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting on his throne high and lifted up and always wondered why did he say in the year that King Uzziah died why couldn't he have just said I saw the Lord sitting in his throne well when you study the life of Uzziah in the book of 2nd chronicles you find that he became king when he was he became the king when he was 16 he reigned for 52 years until he was 68 and it was in the closing moments of his life you find two lepers that are famous in the Bible naman was a leper and Uzziah became a leper now use aya as long as the Lord prospered as long as he put the Lord first the Lord and made sure that he never came in last and what happened to Nebuchadnezzar here though as a Nebuchadnezzar put himself first and he eventually came in last and only second to Solomon was the man Uzziah his pride got in the way and he went from being a king to attempting to be a priest and God never appointed him a priesthood he wanted to the temple and began to burn incense that God never of God never anointed him to be a priest and then when the rebuke of the of the priest about 80 priests came and knocked on his door if 80 elders or 80 church members he looked through the people saying pastor John open this door right now you think I'm in trouble and they rebuked him and then when they rebuked him the Lord chased him out of the sanctuary and the Bible said leprosy broke out on his forehead because that's where his issue was pride filled his heart and eventually he suffered the fate of a leper he died in a leper colony and that's how his life ended so Uzziah was now the vision was given to Isaiah because Uzziah had forfeited what God intended to give to him and that's why Isaiah said in the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord and so we'll find out one of the one of the prideful determinations one of the prideful evidences in Nebuchadnezzar's life was the way he dealt with those who will beneath him and what I want to point out right now is a Daniel chapter 4 verse 27 you know I have to say this not tongue-in-cheek would have to say this with a heart of humility but very direct when you are in the position where God has prospered you be careful how you talk to people that are not as fortunate or as well-established materialistically or financially or in a place of notoriety be careful how you deal with those who you may consider small because we are all precious in the sight of God and before we're done the lesson I will show you that the measurement of the judgment is not just going to be the knowledge we have about our doctrinal position but how we deal with those less fortunate and that has always been an issue in the book of James it talked about the wealthy how they ignore the cry of the poor that are reaping their fields in the Bible says their cries have entered into the ears of the lord of the sabbath he's heard their cries so be careful look at daniel 4 verse 27 daniel not only interpreted dreams well somebody also pointed to nebuchadnezzar to understand where his heart was in the sight of god he says therefore o king let my counsel be acceptable to you break off your sins by being righteous and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor perhaps there may be a lengthening or prolonging of your prosperity I've often seen throughout history that people that have lost their prosperity have become it's because they have worshiped to their prosperity and forgotten God the Lord warned us against that even in the book of Deuteronomy he said when you have lived in your house as you eat and you're full you have all these things be careful lest you forget that the Lord is the one that gave you the power to get this wealth and so we have to be very careful even as those who know and understand the truth that this measurement of pride as you pointed out pride affects everyone at every level now but mostly the greatest effect is when you have a lot oh the rich fool he had a whole lot and he said I have so much stored up for many many years and that night the Lord said fool tonight your soul is required of you so be careful when your possessions possess you that's what happened to Nebuchadnezzar but we find here look at proverbs 14 verse 31 the warning that was brought out proverbs 14 verse 31 he who oppresses the poor reproaches his maker but he who honors him has mercy on the needy no that's what this is saying when when the poor are when we deal unjustly with the poor we are in fact dishonouring God but when we honor God we will have mercy on those who have knees it's showing that the presence of God is in our heart it's governing our response to those who have a need Babylon was built on the shoulders of the poor a great many great empires were built on the shoulders of the poor I make reference to America it was built on their shoulders and many of them of the modern things we have here over the last two or three hundred years was built on the shoulders of those who came over on slave ships and but then when you have a society a society that gets well established and fails to acknowledge the needs of those who built in many of the infrastructures of the nation we find that pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before fall so it to be very very careful I want to point out very carefully here in proverbs 22 verse 16 the obligation that we have to the poor the Bible says he who oppresses the poor to increase his riches and he who gives to the rich will surely come to poverty so don't pad the pockets of those who are already already wealthy in negligence for those who are poor proverbs 22 verse 22 do not rob the poor because he is poor nor oppress the afflicted at the gate and you find that oftentimes in many of the cities in the Bible the poor waited at the gate the they waited there because as people walk into the city they looked at the affluent and they said help you know give me arms I need food Zechariah 7 verse 10 another another very important injunction do not oppress the widow or the fatherless the alien or the poor let none of you plan evil in his heart against his brother the Lord is saying you're going to be accountable for the way that you feel towards other people but look at the measurement and Jesus establishes this beautifully in his own life he talked about in the generation in the regeneration in the judgment here is the standard one of the standards by which we're going to be judged Matthew 25 verse 34 then the king will say to those on his right hand come you blessed of my father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world for I was hungry and you gave me food I was thirsty and you gave me drink I was a stranger and you took me in I was naked and you clothed me I was sick and you visited me I was in prison and you came to me look at the measurement then the righteous will answer Lord when did we see and he mentions all these things and he says as much as you've done it unto the least of these my brethren you've done it unto me but look at the converse verse 44 then they also will answer him Lord when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or in prison and did minister and did not minister to you then he will answer them saying assuredly I say to you you did not do it as much as you did not do to the one of the least of these you did not do it to me and these will go away into everlasting punishment but the righteous into everlasting life so I want to also point out one more thing that the whole basis of the way that we often deal with people is we have our God's mixed up we can't serve God and money at the same time right matthew 6:24 no one can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other you cannot serve God and Mammon Nebuchadnezzar served Mammon Nebuchadnezzar served Marduk naviga never served his pride and God brought him to the place of humility mm okay we're gonna take a short break we'll be right back in just a moment [Music] ever wish you could watch a three-bean sabbath-school panel again or share it on Facebook Instagram or Twitter well you can by visiting three avian Sabbath school panel comm a clean design makes it easy to find the program you're looking for there are also links to the adult Bible study guide so you can follow along sharing is easy just click share and choose your favorite social media share link save a life for eternity welcome back 3bn Sabbath School panel we're going to go right directly to Tuesday's less than sister Shelly Quinn yes - the most high rules and when you think about chapter four the most amazing thing of chapter four is this new vision that dream that Nebuchadnezzar has had and he's dreamt of this large tree that's reaching to the heavens spreading out its branches everybody's coming out from underneath it and all of a sudden it's gonna get chopped down and he's troubled so he talks with Nebuchadnezzar I mean with Daniel and Daniel tells him hey that tree is you you know that the leaves were lovely this fruit was abundant but then he says in as much as he's explaining all of this he says inasmuch as the King saw a watcher a holy one saying chop down the tree and destroy it but leave it stump and root in the earth bound with a band of iron until seven times pass over he's saying hey King this is you seven years you're gonna be driven out into the fields so despite the interpretation of the dream and it you know Daniel is saying you need to repent that's right you know I mean he's telling him seek God for forgiveness yeah Nebuchadnezzar is still just a narcissistic I started to say fool but maybe that's not the right thing to say but God delays his sentence for a whole year he's giving nebuchadnezzar a chance and when the king is so fully consumed with pride then it's time for the Disciplinary measure so look at this Daniel 428 all this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar and at the end of the 12 months this is after Daniels told him the interpretation I'm sorry Daniel for verse 28 okay all this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar at the end of the 12 months this is after Daniel has told him the interpretation of the this new dream he was walking about the Royal Palace of Babylon the King spoke saying it's not this great Babylon that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty you know Nebuchadnezzar had built one of the seven wonders of the world for his wife he had a 400 foot mountain that had flowing waters coming down at Hanging Gardens this was a place of respite it was supposed to be for a time of refreshing so here he is now he's looking he built at least three castles he's looking around and he's thinking I'm the man right but he failed to give God that's right he is you know God is ultimately the giver of every good and perfect gift and for his pride for him totally ignoring what God all these opportunities God is giving him judgment Falls so let's look at verse 31 Daniel 431 while the word was still in the Kings mouth oh I did this all by my mighty power for my honor and glory a voice fell from heaven King Nebuchadnezzar to you it is spoken the kingdom has departed from you yes justice was before they shall drive you from men your dwellings shall be with the beasts of the field they shall make you eat grass like oxen and seven times that means seven years shall pass over you until you know that the most high rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever he chooses that very hour verse 33 says the word was fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar he was driven from men he ate grass like oxen his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like Eagles feathers and his nails like birds claws there is a rare mental disease called boy Anthropy and I read a case recently I mean a recent case of someone who had this they're out in the fields eaten grass they think they're cattle and and they're their males that were thickened out just like the king Nebuchadnezzar so this isn't some fairy tale this stuff happens now this is the interesting thing I just have to say his punishment could have been averted I mean God warned him he forewarned him with this dream Daniel told him the interpretation of the dream and often the prophecies of doom are conditional remember when Hezekiah was on his death or deathbed and the prophet comes to him and says hey the Lord says get your house in order you're going to die and he turns his face he's praying and he's begging the Lord well that word didn't come because the prophet comes back and says okay God's heard your prayers he's gonna add you know more years to your life think about when the Ninevites and Jonah three they truly repented here God had told Donen go in there and tell him I'm gonna wipe out their City hmm but they repented God then repented Malachi 3:6 as I am the Lord I changed not he does not change in his care factor in his being in his righteousness is nature Hebrews 13:8 says Jesus is the same yesterday today and forever so but he will change sometimes it's like a parent says I'm gonna spank you oh no mommy please don't I'm gonna be a good girl okay mommy doesn't follow through because you've reversed your action right so this is what God will often change his intended actions toward humans who changed their response to him right Jeremiah I just want to read this real quickly before we go forward Jeremiah 18 7 and 8 the Lord is speaking Jeremiah 18 and we'll read verses seven and eight God says the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom to pluck it up to pull it down and to destroy it if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it now jump let's look at verse 9 the instant I speak concerning a nation and a kingdom to build in the planet this is the Lord speaking if it does evil in my sight so that it does not obey my voice then I will relent from the good that I said I was gonna do it so now let's return to Daniel 4 verse 26 the purpose of the vision was to teach Nebuchadnezzar that heaven rules right so verse 26 in as much as they gave the command to leave the stump and the root of the trees your kingdom shall be assured to you after you come to know that heaven rules nebuchadnezzar learned but he learned the hard way hey you know God had to deprive him of his authority let him be out in the fields for seven years but he did learn total dependence upon God that is what humility is all about its total dependence upon God so let's look at verse God's larger purpose that was in Daniel 4:17 we're going to back up here when he did express this decree we see the larger purpose this decision daniel says is by the decree of the watchers and the sentence by the word of the Holy Ones in order that the living may know that the most high rules in the kingdom of heaven gives it to whomever he will and sets it on the lowest of men the lesson we all need to learn God is sovereign yes and we've all been given free will but God still rules over the earth I want to add just two to your list of pride prejudice is pride mm-hmm now that if you are prejudiced against Sydney peoples against any people group that's probably think you're better than them but here's the one that's the clincher well the Lord once spoke to me because I was kind of offended something somebody had done this is many years ago and I heard this so clearly he said the spirit of offense is the spirit of pride who you think about that for a minute you cannot be offended if your pride hasn't been wounded so what we need to do is learn God's plan is that we would live in total dependence upon him that's true humility as Jesus had praise the Lord so this entire chapter is powerful as you continue to see what he's going through but my favorite part of it is the end the my favorite part is to see the powerful conversion of this man and how it came about obviously we know that he's out in the middle of a field he's eating grass like an animal like a cow his body is hair you know please I think the Bible says it's like the feathers of an eagle I mean this man is as a mess but yet God says God has mercy on him a man because he turned his ways and how did that come about well Wednesday's lesson is entitled lifting eyes toward heaven so I'm gonna read the closing verses of Daniel chapter 4 so we're gonna start with verse 34 and read through verse 37 so the Bible says starting with verse 34 and at that time excuse me at the end of the time I Nebuchadnezzar lifted my eyes to heaven and my understanding return to me and I bless the Most High and praised and honored him who lives forever or his Dominion is an everlasting Dominion and his kingdom is from generation to generation all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing he does according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth no one can restrain his hand or say to him what have you done well at the same time my reason returned to me and for the glory of my kingdom my honor and splendor returned to me my counselors and Nobles resorted resorted to me and was restored to my kingdom an excellent Majesty was added to me now I Nebuchadnezzar praise an exotic stole and honor the Kingdom a king of heaven all of whose works are truth I love that and ways are justice and those who walk in pride he is able to put down I just want to say offset as we reading through this you could see a drastic not just a small not just a short but a drastic change in his attitude yeah he goes from you know me me me me III my kingdom - hey this guy's got a better Kingdom night he's mightier than I he's more powerful than I and so the focus goes from self to God just as John the Baptist said he must increase and I must decrease that happens right here in the life of King Nebuchadnezzar and I also would like to make mention here that you know we can see now that his his focus is on the important aspects of what it means to live for this mighty God as he says here in the end his works are true that his ways are justice God is a merciful God manly you can read this entire story and it just it's overflowing with mercy and grace but at the same time we also have to make very clear that while God is a merciful God he is a gracious God he's a God of justice yes he's a God of justice and he will do what is necessary to get a hold of our attention and in this case we would say this is pretty extreme ended up in a field eating eating grass like a like a cow that's pretty extreme and it's powerful to kind of look in hindsight of this because you might say to yourself you know how did the king get to this point because again he was given three opportunities to recognize and and and to clearly understand who God is for who he is I'm reference Daniel chapter one he found the Hebrew boys ten times wiser through that experience you would think wow these guys are Wow who is this God you serve but but evidently that wasn't the case so that he goes on in Daniel chapter two and God shakes his life up with the dream and of course out of this dream I could just imagine as Daniel is telling him the what not only what he dreamed but the interpretation of this dream you know they probably had to pick this brother up off the floor because he was just stunned and who is this God you serve but it still wasn't enough and then we go on to Daniel 3 which is what we studied last week he saw the Son of God deliver the three Hebrew children from the fire and not only did he see them he see God delivered them from the fire he saw God in the fire a man you would think man surely that's enough but that's simply not the case and there's someone that says oh how can you experience all of that and it not be enough well there was an interesting quote here if I can find it this comes from prophets and kings page 519 it is written here concerning the memory of his dream fading from his mind she says he lost confidence in the interpretation of the dream mentioned in Daniel 2 and jested at his former fears and so what does God about to do God is about to wake him up he's about to say hey man let me clarify Who I am in your life let me show you who I really am because we have to take in consideration Nebuchadnezzar's concept of God was that of the Chaldeans as found in Daniel chapter 2 verse 11 which was a totally transcendent God who is uninterested in human affairs so each and every one of those powerful acts I could just see him as this is a pretty cool God it's a really nice guy wow what a powerful God but still there was that disconnect he couldn't quite put it together who is this God you see the ancient gods the pagan gods were conceived of or conceived of self-serving despots and tyrants who did not care about human beings except to have them cater to their every whim and fancy and that's exactly how he was viewing God up to this point but seven years in a field would change that and so we see that God shows him exactly who he is slowly but surely the Hebrew God changes the Kings concept of himself he became to see that God wanted to communicate his will to human beings and trying he saw an I made a list here of powerful things here that we can to gather from this he came to see as God and see him as a God who is interested in human affairs generally and specific persons in particular in fact he came to realize that the Hebrew God was interested in saving him a man he slowly came to realize that God is not only the high and lofty one but it's also with those of humble and contrite hearts that is God is concerned with his earthly children he saw this clearly when Jesus himself came into the furnace to deliver his servants from certain death now that's got to be powerful a powerful witness indeed he saw the Hebrew God as the patient and long-suffering God who does all in his power to save and we see that through this story through this very story God was not willing to give up on Nebuchadnezzar just as he's not willing to give up on you he's not willing to give up on us he's going to do everything he can to reach us on our level to wake us up to shake us to say hey I'm here I'm here to serve you I'm here to be your God if he would allow me to God even gave the King 12 months as Jill or excuse me Shelley clearly mentioned God even gave the King 12 months after the dream to repent in order to avert punishment and that's a good example that classical prophecy that was studied from lesson 1 of this series and the fact that it was conditional God was willing to wipe away all of that and not have him go through any of that if only he would have turned from his pride and he would have lived and given his heart to the Lord but of course through it all we see that this king finally truly is converted and I have to mention as to how this comes about which is the title of this lesson because we know that it all came about once he lifted his eyes you know there there truly there is life in a look toward heaven Amen there is life and a look at our Savior we would just lift our eyes and place them on Jesus as Jesus said put first the kingdom of God if we would just lift our eyes towards heaven as King Nebuchadnezzar did I think all of us many of us would see a major conversion and an experience in our life I think of 1st chronicles chapter 16 verse 11 and I chose the NIV version of this because it clearly communicates what the original says and it says look to the Lord and his strength seek his face always yeah and I think of you know there's some Bible characters that their life was changed when they had a when they had a look towards heaven or a look towards their God I think of Abraham in Genesis 13 verse 14 on the establishment of that beautiful covenant that the Lord made of him he said there assisting the Lord said to Abram after a lot had separated from him lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are so take your eyes off Babylon because God called Abraham out of Babylon take you take your eyes off Babylon and put it on God's kingdom also think of Moses when Moses looked into that burning bush he was looking into the very very presence and very face of the Lord and we know that Moses also had that experience with the serpent in the wilderness remove the Serpent's that came about the kingdom what did he have to do he put it on a pole and how were the children of Israel saved simply by looking in faith they were saved I think of David I love this scripture Psalm chapter 1 23 verse 1 and 2 I love this unto you I lift my eyes he says o you who dwell in the heavens behold as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters as the eyes of a maid to the hand of their mistress so our eyes look to the Lord our God until he has mercy on us I think of Isaiah pastor you mentioned it earlier he had an experience in which he looked and saw God seated high on his throne he saw his majesty his righteousness and then he saw his dirtiness and what was his response woe is me Lord I am undone I am a man of unclean lips conversion came out of that we also see Zechariah again in Zechariah 5 verse 5 chapter 5 verse 5 lift up your eyes the Lord said to him Jesus he's in lifting his eyes to heaven Jesus lifted his eyes to heaven to pray to his father in John chapter 17 and of course we know that Jesus says if I am lifted up I will draw all peoples to myself lift your eyes to heaven my friends behold the Lord's majesty below behold his righteousness and we shall and can be converted just as Nebuchadnezzar was a man powerful study I'd just been so blessed listening to each one of you the Holy Spirit's working to convict my own heart and those areas that he says Jill I want you to grow here what I love is that God uses the gentlest means possible to get our attention that's right now in Nebuchadnezzar's case he used some gentle means and then some not so gentle means and then we saw some pretty we could say Stern or fierce measures because God loved Nebuchadnezzar and he wanted him saved in his kingdom and what a merciful God we serve he could have said okay we're just leaving him and he can stay in his pride and I'm done with his room but yet he loved him enough yes even though he went through this hardship that it brought about his conversion so on Thursday we look at humble and grateful I have the same verses that Ryan had so I'm not going to read them again we're going to instead trace the steps of Nebuchadnezzar's conversion and then we will look at how we know that Nebuchadnezzar was really converted the lesson talks about that other stay blessed so let's trace the steps in his conversion now and everyone's conversion there's many steps you could say it doesn't just begin with initial there's many steps and of course in his there's I'm sure more than what I'm going to say but as I read the Scriptures I find at least six steps in his conversion the first step is that God brought pastor Ryan god-fearing men to the kingdom of Babylon God knew that Nebuchadnezzar had no contact with anyone except for those pagan gods and the Chaldeans and their wisdom so God brought god-fearing man this would be Daniel and his three friends to the kingdom of Babylon step number two we see in Daniel chapter one that God enabled Daniel and his friends to stand for principle now this the King seemed very ignorant of their God at this time and as you read Daniel 1 you kind of see that but he somehow recognizes the superior wisdom and knowledge that Daniel and his friends possessed now he doesn't really know the purpose and the reason behind that but he still sees that these men are superior and I would imagine that somehow in his mind he thought what's going on here number 3 Daniel chapter 2 God sent the dream of the image and the interpretation now we know there's many reasons for the sending of that dream but I think one of them is that the king could learn that God is all-wise and that he is able to foretell the future we see Nebuchadnezzar's response in daniel 246 he falls prostrate on the ground before daniel so he's not a he's not honoring God at this point he's honoring a man but he does acknowledge God in the next verse verse 47 he says truly your God is the god of gods so he acknowledges at this point that God is all-wise and able to foretell the future and Daniel 3 as you talked about Ryan it goes a step further he learns that God is not only all-wise but God is all-powerful God can deliver his children now he acknowledges God in Daniel 328 Nebuchadnezzar spoke saying blessed be the god of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego he sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him so you can see Nebuchadnezzar's knowledge of who God is in his character is growing as it were but we also see in verse 29 that he pronounces a punishment against those who don't serve this God so really he's not converted at this point you can clearly see that that he does not understand who God is then God sent the dream of the tree that we've been talking about here in Daniel chapter 4 this is a warning to Nebuchadnezzar and we know Daniel for occurred several years after Daniel chapter 3 God had given him time and then we get to Daniel 4 and as Shelley you brought out there was the 12 months that he had Daniel appealed to him please would you break off your sins please would you repent and he hardened his heart and pride against the Most High God and then the sixth step that I see in his conversion is actually the fulfillment of the dream we could say that's judgment that came against him you know you think about the children of Israel they did not follow God and they worshipped other gods the heathen gods and what happened they were brought into the land of captivity here in Babylon for the seventy years as a result now God had called through the prophets to the children visitor before that time there had been a measure of repentance and then backsliding and then a measure of repentance and then backsliding and then God used even stronger measures that was the 70 years captivity to get their attention so the same thing with Nebuchadnezzar God used pretty strong measures in order to get his attention all that happens to the King is not for his ultimate destruction but it is for his deliverance it's for his salvation it's for his Redemption and restoration the King decides to trust this God with his life which man can allow Christ to come in and change him I love those references you used Ryan when he lifted his eyes up to heaven so how do we know that Nebuchadnezzar was truly converted there's probably many but I can think of at least seven number one he referenced this chapter his pride in his mistakes now the lesson brought out that ancient monarchs would rarely write anything derogatory against themselves if you read the ancient royal documents they always glorify the king that's just how the ancient kings would do it but he is the author of Daniel for he and Daniel but portions of it are written by Nebuchadnezzar and it's very clear that he points out his faults and his failures and his pride against the Most High God number two he desires to share this God with others now not in the way that he desired to do it before where he says I'm going to cut you in pieces so it wasn't that type of desire he wanted them to know this God for themselves he wanted them to acknowledge him and to understand him and to know him so that's why he wrote this letter to all of his subjects I think at first Peter 2:9 we are called to proclaim the praises of him who has called us out of darkness into this marvelous light no sooner does one accept the Lord Jesus Christ into their heart then they become a missionary as soon as we make Jesus the Lord of our lives we want to go in town we want to tell what he has done in our lives and I see Daniel for is his go and tell Nebuchadnezzar wants to say this is who I was this is how far I had fallen this was my arrogance against the God of heaven and yet in his mercy he brought judgment on me so that I could repent and I could follow this God with all my heart so he wanted to share this with the subjects of his kingdom number three we see his praise of God and Daniel 434 you talked about that how he identifies God as being eternal living forever he says at the end of the time I Nebuchadnezzar lifted my eyes to heaven and my understanding returned to me and I blessed the most high and praised and honored him who lives forever and he honored him because his Dominion is an everlasting last in Dominion and his kingdom is from generation to generation number four he recognized who he was in relationship to who God is I think everyone on the panel has referenced that today as well as Isaiah six where Isaiah all of a sudden recognized who he was in relationship to God who was high and holy and lifted that's right he recognized who he is I think conversion begins at that place yes you know recognizing who is God Who am I in contrast to who God is right we have to recognize that before we even realize our sin and our desire to come to him and repent and of course we know it is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance right so it's not only and it's not something we conjure up in ourselves God is the one who brings us to that place of recognition of who he is God is the one who brings us to recognition of who we are in our sinfulness he is the one who draws us to Christ in repentance he's the one who puts that in our heart so I'm so thankful for that number five he acknowledges the sovereignty of God and Daniel 4:35 the second part he does according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of Earth he recognized that God is sovereign over all that is a reoccurring theme actually throughout the entire Book of Daniel number six he recognizes the Justice of God now you can recognize God a sovereign but to recognize that he is just and what his ways are truth in his ways are just finally number seven I want to read this quote from sister white this is prophets and kings 521 the once proud monarch had become a humble child of God the tyrannical overbearing ruler a wise and compassionate King he who had defied and blaspheme the God of heaven now acknowledged the power of the Most High and earnestly sought to promote the fear of Jehovah and the happiness of his subjects under the rebuke of him who is king of kings and Lord of lords Nebuchadnezzar had at last learned the lesson which all rulers and I'd say everyone needs to learn that true greatness consists in true goodness mm-hmm and praise the Lord well what a mountain of information you know and there's much more some like we feel like we just scratched the surface don't weave these things because we have just a limited amount of time and sometimes people will write and say well why didn't you cover this and cover that well that's some of your homework too but just you know the Holy Spirit impresses all the vast amount of information kind of condensed it down in about ten minutes sometimes difficult to get under the guidance of the Holy Spirit praise God okay we got a few moments left some last thoughts Pastor John well the key to what I saw in Nebuchadnezzar's treatment of the poor I leave you with this thought treat others the way you would like to be treated Isaiah 58 verse 6 to 8 is this not the fast that I have chosen to lose the bonds of wickedness to undo the heavy burdens to let the oppressed go free and that you break every yoke is it not to share your bread with the hungry and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out when you see the naked that you cover them or cover him and not hide yourself from your own flesh that means your own family then your light shall break forth like the morning your healing shall spring forth speedily and your righteousness shall go before you the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard amen amen I think James 1:17 this is every good and perfect gift comes from the father of heavenly lights in whom there's no variation and there is no shadow of turning let me tell you something hmm pride is a deception everything that we have comes from God's providential hand so there's no room for boasting wrong it doesn't matter what you have God is the giver of every good and perfect gift and pride can harden your heart and drive you crazy just like it did with Nebuchadnezzar yeah absolutely you know as I was going through my lesson about Nebuchadnezzar listing his eyes I thought of John chapter 3 where Jesus is communicating the salvation clearly so communicated to nebby air to Nicodemus and Jesus says something there in verses 14 and 15 and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so must the Son of Man be lifted up that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life I think that we still have that today if we'll just lift our eyes to heaven we've been talking about the problem of pride here sin originated in self seeking with Lucifer but Christ is the perfect example of self-sacrificing love yes Lord this is little quote here from my education 177 and 178 just a couple lines that he set above the cherubim he guides the affairs of the earth he overrides all for the accomplishments of his purpose hey man so I just want to encourage each one of you if you want to keep your mind then dedicate it give it to Jesus Christ give it to Jesus Christ next week when we come together we're going to be on less than number six from arrogance to destruction god bless you we'll see you next time [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Three Angels Broadcasting Network (3ABN)

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Length: 58min 30sec (3510 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 27 2020