Robert Morris – The Seduction of Pride – The Kings of Babylon

all right we're beginning a new series if you want to turn to Daniel chapter 1 we'll be in Daniel again the notes are I think notes get away people calm they're a new version but that's the quickest way that takes you right to him but we're gonna begin a series called the keys of Babylon and this is something that jumped out at me at Christmas when I was just reading The Book of Daniel there were four kings of Babylon during the Exile the Exile is the 70 year time when God took Israel out of the land of Israel and took him captive into the land of Babylon now please hear me because I really want you to hear what my burden is God was disciplining or correcting his children for something but he was not punishing them God does not punish if you have a version that uses the word punish it's incorrect he disciplines and there's a difference he doesn't punish us because he already punished his son on the cross for our sin but he disciplines the Bible says as a loving father some of us did not have loving discipline growing up so because of that we don't understand what that means hopefully you're in a healthy body now hopefully if you've been attending here you've had someone in your life that has lovingly corrected you in an area and you've walked away feeling adjusted and that you needed that adjustment but you also felt loved so that's what God does so I want you understand God took Israel out of the land for seven years and so many people think he was punished you know he did it for their good because they had not let the land rest every seven years like they were supposed to and for those of you who are mathematicians you've already figured out now how long they went he took him out for seven years they missed 70 Sabbath's because every seventh year you're supposed to let the land rest and they missed 70 every seven years so seventy times seven is 490 so they did they went 490 years without letting the land rest now just a little question if you went if you did something for 490 years would you begin to think that you were getting away with it not with God and it's again not because of him it's for your good because scientists have told us if you don't let the land rest it becomes less and less fertile Israel today could be a barren wilderness if God had not allowed the land to catch up and the rest you see them saying so anytime God is adjusting you he's doing it for your good and for the good of your descendants that's what you need to know but during that time when God is adjusting something in your life Satan is always attacking so that's how I got the idea for this series is that God was adjusting Israel and yet these four keys each of these Kings the enemy was trying to bring something in to put something in the Israel so that when they left Babylon they would actually take some babbling with them well y'all follow me okay and so I'm going to show you for each of them and so it's it never can hazards the first Belshazzar was a second Darius and then Cyrus and Cyrus is a surprise it's gonna be really that's down I almost want to preach that one now but I can't cuz he was the fourth one okay and there was a person who actually God gave as a leader to all four keys all four of them for seven years because he was a teenager when he went into exile and that's Daniel so that's how we have the Book of Daniel so we're gonna be talking about that some that God is still doing something and one of the things that God is doing even when he's correcting you is he still protecting you and providing for you during that time because think about you we have two famous stories in Daniel while they were being corrected by God where God still protected his people very famous even people who don't go to church know these two stories Daniel and the lines then and Shadrach Meshach and Abednego in the fire and that amazing so if Daniel is actually it's just a really really cool book so I'm pretty excited about I also wanted to say something about this they were imprisoned they were in bondage they were in captivity for 70 years physically but God didn't want them to be taken captive spiritually and that's what the enemy was trying to do so when I was praying over this our newest campus our Cofield campus God gave me a word for you guys and that is that you can be in captivity physically but you don't have to be in bondage spiritually you can be free spiritually and even go me gave me a scripture 2nd Timothy 2:9 Paul said I am suffering and have been chained like a criminal but the Word of God cannot be chained so we're gonna talk about like so the title of today's message is the seduction of pride the attack of the enemy that came through Nebuchadnezzar was pride by the way pride is what caused Lucifer to fall pride is how Adam and Eve were attacked Lucifer said if you eat this you'll be like God and Lucifer even attacked Jesus with pride of course it didn't work with Jesus because he said if you are the son of God he tried to get him to fall too bright so pride is one of the first attacks that comes against God's people so here are three ways that tries tried pride tries to Sadducees alright here's number one not giving God the glory you will allow pride a foothold a stronghold in your life by not giving God the way so Daniel chapter one verse one in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah never Canessa king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it now watch this first carefully and the Lord gave Jehovah CIM king of Judah into is hand the Lord gave the king of Judah into Nebuchadnezzar's hand life because he was disciplining his children he was going to let the land rest for the future good of his pick of his people of his children right but the Lord did this but Nebuchadnezzar did not give God glory for it see that's right so let me give you another definition of pride pride is not giving God glory for everything you have in your hand everything you have in your hand God put there and when you begin to think that your intellect or your ability or your smartness or your training or your skill earned it now we do try those things but but listen you got to remember you didn't choose your genetics you didn't choose your quotient of intelligence you may have been proved your intelligence you may have worked very hard and studied very hard but you didn't choose what IQ you started with and the ability to learn you didn't choose that you didn't choose your environment you didn't choose in which country you were born you didn't choose any of that so everything that we have comes from God not recognizing this is not giving God the glory now again we work so I just want to show you one of my favorite verses 1st Corinthians 15:10 says by the grace of God I am what I am and His grace toward me was not in vain on the contrary I worked harder than any of them and he's talking about other apostles in this context then watch what he says though it was not i but the grace of god that is with me okay this is one of the first scriptures i memorized i read it to you in the ESV because i just wanted to see the work harder for the other new king james that i memorize it says more abundantly I laboured more abundantly I thought worked harder might help translate a little bit easier but it's one of the first scriptures I memorized and here's the reason I thought to myself I remember by God's grace by God's grace I've been able to do what I've been able to do and I thought this years ago but I've worked very hard and then I love how Paul ends but really it wasn't me that worked it was God's grace working you said I'm saying that's like so let me say this way I work very very hard on sermons I realize I think the most important thing that God's called me to do is teach people the Word of God I think that's the most important thing teach you the Word of God and teach people around the world the Word of God however it goes I have so many pastors to tell me they preach my the sermons that I preach they take the outlines I kind of do the background study I'm like the research assistant for thousands of pastors around the world you know which is great but here's my point I work very very hard but I watch God there and God's grace put his hand on the servants and listen there's nobody more surprised when it's a good sermon than I am okay sometimes even when I say something like a moment ago I said something y'all didn't know what he wasn't in my notes you thought I wrote it because you think I'm but I thought I thought I just had the thought just a moment I thought that was good god that was good that was really I was really good so when you don't give God the glory that's what Daniel did so here's what Daniel here's what I miss what never ignores you here's her here's how Daniel gets included and Shadrach Meshach and Abednego and I'm going to tell you in a moment Daniel is his Israeli is his Hebrew name Shadrach Meshach and Abednego were actually their Chaldean names which Chaldea conquer Babylon Nebuchadnezzar was a Chaldean King and a lot of people don't realize that Chaldea by the way is that where God called Abraham out of he was born a Chaldean and God called him out of there and that's where the Hebrew nation came from so but here's how these young me and these four young men that God uses here's how God began a process of ice because Nebuchadnezzar was trying to put pride into their life Satan was trying to do it through Nebuchadnezzar okay now we stopped in verse two a moment ago and Daniel 1 look at verse 3 the the key instructed ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs to bring some of the children of Israel and some of the king's descendants and some of the nobles young men in whom there was no blemish but good-looking I probably would have been taken if I'd that's not that funny I don't think you should have left at that I think I thought you she got she was said oh yeah sure sure of course gifted in all wisdom yeah I probably would've been - yeah possessing knowledge and quick to understand yeah it's like my resume all right I'm y'all know I'm joking who had ability to serve in the king's palace watch and whom they might teach the language and the literature of the Chaldeans the language and the literature now just once you know that Satan is always trying to teach the next generation a different language and a different literature now I want you to think about it even now he's changed the meanings of words in our language and he's trying to tell the next generation that that's not what our founding fathers meant and our founding fathers did mean for us to be a nation that his fruit has freedom of religion not freedom from religion so that's exactly what he's trying to do so you see it right there Nebuchadnezzar and then if you look at verses 6 & 7 you see where they got their names from from among the sons of Judah where Daniel Hananiah Mishael it is Michel it is a man's name not Michel but it is Michel this instance there is one that's translating Michel it's a little different in Hebrew and Azariah now you're saying I don't know who those are so you'll that's that shadrach music male 2 then the chief of the units gave names he gave Daniel the main belt to Shaz or to Hananiah Shadrach to Michel Misha and to Azariah Abednego Shadrach Meshach Abednego I heard one young pastor preached on my Shack yo Shack and a bungalow so nabuchadnezzar then has a dream and he calls the wise minion and he says tell me not only the interpretation of the dream but tell me the dream which shows the pride that he walked in because he did not recognize the supernatural he thought if you're intelligent you should be able to do this intelligence had nothing to do with it and so they said well what you're saying is impossible so he actually sends out an edict which many of you will know for every young me and all these wise men to be killed and they go to get Daniel Shadrach Meshach and Abednego to kill him and Daniel said we'll hold on why we gonna get killed he said well because none of the wise men can tell the King his dream and Daniel says well my god Ken so they bring Daniel in front of the key this is Daniel chapter 2 now verse 26 the key answering said to Daniel whose name was built to shadow are you able to make known to me the dream which I've seen and its interpretation now watch this are you able to do this are you able to do this Daniel answered in the presence of the king and said the secret which the King has demanded the wise men the astrologers the magicians and the soothsayers said they cannot declare to the king they can't do it but listen when he says there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets you see you see the ballots listen the balance is what he's saying is listen no God can do it but he can use me so there is a point of what I call false humility there's a point of saying there used to be this little expression in the body of Christ years ago it's all God it's all God well it's just all God and it was really false humility and so I have I have a friend of mine that you probably remember he's been here several times to sing his name - Steve Breen he has many many number-one hits on the radio and he told me this story one time we were having lunch he said I kind of got in that the whinny was going through the body price of just saying it's all God it's all God and he and I were talking about when people come up and say like to me after service they'll say good sermon and what I say is thank you because I worked hard on it I didn't I did my best but God actually anointed it but I still worked art and they said so I'm sorry so the correct responses thank you not it's all God because we did have a part but anyway Steve say one night and when he walked off the platform this guy said to him brother that was good just like that and Steve said well brother it was all God and the guy said well it wasn't that good in other words if it had been all God it would really be true but you had a part I knew your part was okay but God's part was great all right so not giving God glory here's number two seduction of pride not rejecting the glory of men not rejecting the glory men because men will try to give you glory now yes it's okay to honor someone but there's only one person who gets glory and we're gonna read in just a moment where he says I don't share any of it either I won't share glory with anyone and that's what Lucifer tried to do was take glory and that's why it fell from heaven so Daniel interprets this dream part of this dream is about goal of a figure of a man and about it's the kingdom and he talks about the future kingdoms and goes all the way down the feet of play all right if you remember the dream so then Dan looked watch what Nebuchadnezzar does so that I read you that well the last verse of chapter two it talks about him in terms of training and Nebuchadnezzar puts out an edict to all a Babylon to worship the god of Daniel that's the end of chapter 2 chapter 3 verse 1 Nebuchadnezzar the King made an image of gold whose height was 60 cubits that's 18 inches of cubit so that's 90 feet and it's with six cubits so that's nine feet so it's nine feet at its base 90 feet tall now this is a ten to one ratio to give you some sort of a analogy the Washington Monument has a ten to one ratio as well it's 555 feet tall with a 55 foot base now again though it would be six times larger than this okay but 90 feet tall 9 feet wide at the base so many people have said if this was the thing an image of Nebuchadnezzar it would have been a really tall skinny dude you know and but we don't really know what it was but most believe it was made of gold and the image the dream that he had was had a gold head and he said this is you so many people think that if they at the top of this monument was an image of Nebuchadnezzar you understand I'm saying we don't know for sure but that's what most people think and that's how Shadrach Meshach and Abednego comes in because Nebuchadnezzar puts out then a command for everyone when they play the music to turn and face this image and bow down and worship notice again immediately he what he wants to draw attention to himself by the way this happens a lot in scripture Paul and Barnabas go to this town there's a crippled man who's been crippled from birth so it's not like something happened he was born crippled and he gets healed in Jesus name they start bowing down to Paul to Barnabas and saying the gods have come down to us and they started giving him Greek names of gods Paul and Barnabas tear their clothes and said no we're just being don't worship us they reject the Lord when the angel is taking John around in heaven and showing him things in chapter 22 the John says I turned and I prostrated myself before this angel and this angel said don't do that because I'm not worried that he worship only worship God so there's something you can do that allows pride in your life Daniel Shadrach Meshach Abednego could have done it they could have done it and that is when people started giving glory to them they could have taken that glory the understand I'm saying Daniel by the way was made ruler under Nebuchadnezzar overall a Babylon when he never took pride so he Bey he builds this big deal he says everybody has to bow down Shadrach Meshach and Abednego don't bow down they get reported so he gives him a chance he brings him in he says is it true you're not gonna bow down and they said yes he says I'll give you one more chance to bow down now listen what he says Daniel 3:15 but if you do not worship you shall be immediately cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace now watch the pride and who is the God who will deliver you from my hands he didn't thank God for what God put in his hand and he didn't thank God for the power that God put in his hands Daniel 3:19 then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury because they said we're still not gonna bow and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach Meshach and Abednego he spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated I'll explain you in a moment how they did that well let me just go out let me I'll tell you now no no no poverty no one read the next verse in table Daniel 3 21 and 22 then these me on that Shadrach Meshach and made me go we're bound in their coats their trousers their turbans and their other garments it's important to notice they went in with the with their clothes on because when they come out their clothes don't even smell like smoke and they were cast in the midst of the burning fiery furnace therefore because the king's command was urgent and the furnace exceedingly hot the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach Meshach Mineo so let me explain you about this fire it was a round hole in the ground most believed they found things like this about 20 feet round and it was about 20 feet deep so that that's where they could cast people people that defied the king it was like a dictatorship people who defied the king we're casting this fiery furnace yet going out the side of it was a slope that sloped all the way up to the ground so that every now and then they could walk down into it and clean it out if they needed to do things and put stuff in it and this is how they were cast into it but they were also they walked Shadrach Meshach Abednego walked out of the fire now they'd weren't worried about anybody walking out because once you were cast in you were gonna be killed you know so they weren't about that the way they heated it seven times more is they had trees in Babylon at that time that burned hotter than other trees and they saved those lists if you remember a few years ago we had a fire west of here at Possum Kingdom lake and the mountain Cedars caught on fire and that one of the reasons they couldn't put the fire out and like they wanted to was because they burned hotter than normal trees oak trees or something so that said that's the way they did this so they cast season and made the fire so hot that the men casting them in at the mouth of the entrance were burned and killed immediately they were they were killed so that's what that's why the Bible tells us that all right so verse 24 then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and he rose in haste and spoke this the reason is because they're still alive and they're actually walking around in the fire and saying to his counselors did we not cast three men into the midst of the fire they in turn said to King trokey listen what Nebuchadnezzar says look he answered I now see four men loose walking in the midst of I remember they were bound the only thing by the way think about this when the enemy tries to kill you the only thing that gets burned or the door the ropes that were holding you about they're closing get burned but the ropes that were holding them burned up but they didn't hurt them at all I see four men loose walking and that's the fire and they are not hurt and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God now so Jesus is in the fire with you by the way yeah if you ever go through a fire Jesus is with you and you're not gonna get burned here's what really blew me away is I've been studying this Nebuchadnezzar is not Jewish he's Chaldean yet God actually keeps trying to get through to Nebuchadnezzar these things keep happening because Nebuchadnezzar puts out decree after this the the god of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego or the true is the true God and from now on everyone has to worship Him well he'd already done one about the god of annual which was the same God obviously okay but he turns away again are you gonna see it on the next point he turns away again it just blows me away we talk about our God is the God of the second chance it's a wonderful saying but really he's the god of the second million chance and he does that with all of us and it's not just his chosen people here is a heathen named Nebuchadnezzar God's protecting his people Nebuchadnezzar has actually killed some of the exiles and tortured them and God is still trying to reach him so I'm telling you no matter what you've done in your past no matter how bad you've been God still loves you and God is still trying to reach you I think about this I think about this because in my own life I used to be a very prideful person very prideful very arrogant all of us have dealt with it to some degree I'm sure but when I was probably in my mid-20s or so maybe late 20s somewhere on there I think mid 20s this will tell you again aged me a little bit but there was a fad or fashion for lizard-skin shoes see some of you just got aged too because some of you should have went really I didn't know that but you lived through it all right so it was like if you have if you could afford lizard skiing shoes that was a sign to everybody that you you know you were successful and so I remember thinking I wish I could but I can't there's no way you know well fortunately I had this friend there bought some lizard skiing shoes there were too tight for him so he gave them to me I started wearing those lizard skin shoes everywhere I knew when people saw me with those they thought now there's a guy that's made you know one Saturday I go to the car wash and I wear my lizard skin shoes to the carwash hoping they don't see me get out of my Ford Fairlane 500 by the way and that has a dent in the rear left quarter but I walk in and it's one of those where you stand at the window you know all the way down and as soon as you walk in there's a guy shining shoes and so I think I'm gonna get my shoes shined and let everybody see how nice my shoes are you know so the guy shines my shoes and then I start walking down this long blind where everyone is standing at the window everyone is standing at the window watching the cars go through and they would when I would walk by they would turn and immediately look down at my shoes and then they would watch me as I walked by like this and I remember thinking they're looking at how naughty that guy must have really shined them well I'm gonna have to when I get to the end them I have to look down well when I got to the end of the aisle I looked down and what I realized is that that guy that shined my shoes had turned my pants legs up like this and forgotten to turn them down I could make a whole nother part here that pride looks silly doesn't it okay here's the third point a seduction of pride is not speaking humbly I had to train myself to speak humbly because I spoke rightfully you can train yourself now Nebuchadnezzar has another dream in Chapter four and the dream is about him and the dream is that he's going to actually God's going to humble him so and then he says in 12 months this is going to happen now watch watch what happens and the way God humbles in most of you know is he he became like he law he went crazy and he ate grass like a wild beast for seven years seven years that was his punishment I was his discipline or punishment really because he wasn't a believer Daniel 4 verse 29 at the end of the 12 months he was walking about the Royal Palace of Babel and this is Nebuchadnezzar the King spoke saying is not this great Babylon that I have built for roiled Welling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty notice who the prideful words while the word was steel in the king's mouth a voice fell from heaven saying King Nebuchadnezzar to you it is spoken the kingdom has departed from you and they shall drive you from the end and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field they shall make you eat grass like oxen seven times or seven years shall pass over you until you know that the most high rules in the kingdom of men and he gives it that's the implication of Eve because we're already going like the Most High whomever he chooses that very our the word was fulfilled concerning that become misery now why am i saying that's so important to speak humbly because of this scripture Matthew says for work whatever is in there for them when the mouth speaks it speaks out of the abundance of the heart so I saw something this week in this scripture I never seen I'd seen it but I hadn't seen it you know how you know that okay the word abundance in other words we all say stupid things right we all say prideful things I have even been a literal son literalist with this verse sometimes and gods had to correct me on it like Debbie might say something and she'd say but I didn't mean that I'd say yeah the Bible says out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks they ought to be I mean mad at her so so it must be in your heart the game out your mouth you know okay so we all say stupid things well I'll say prideful things but what we say in an abundance is what is in an abundance in our heart that's the key in other words we all were still we're all struck humans we all still make mistakes but if there's an abundance of prideful statements coming out of your mouth then that needs to tell it you know there's an abundance of pride in your heart and God's going to deal with it he always always always humbles these are the ones that exalt themselves always that scripture we had a guy on our staff who's not on her staff anymore because because of pride and I couldn't deal with it we will try to try to try to deal with it but he was speaking one time to some pastors who come in to learn something that we've some ministry that we do and he said he pastor Robert told me one time that I'm the most valuable employee he has well I don't think he thought about was that one of my son's was sitting in the class and had observed several prideful statements from this person so he went to him afterwards and said hey I just wondered because I that statement doesn't sound like something my dad would say cuz he just doesn't say someone's the most valuable he just doesn't say that he believes every person is valuable no matter what their job is they're out here so he sighs just wondered when my dad said it of course the guy gets real flustered then you know and he says well I don't really remember when he said it and then he said this because both of my sons Josh and James had had worked here at the church and Josh is Austin now James still works here but then he's made this statement he said what he must consider me his most valuable employee because he put both his sons under me well first of all I didn't put both my sons under him because I don't dictate where my son's workers ever have 600 on staff so I don't do that you know that it's just they're not under my purview I have a leadership team around me that's the people I work with so I saw it just go ahead and pay so it was my son James if you if you wanna if you ever when someone say something straightforwardly to you just go counsel James okay he'll he can be very straightforward and he said so this guy said what he must think I'm the most valuable employee because he put both of his sons under me and James said well he also took both of his sons out from under you so what does that say about you but here's what he did when my son told me about it and told me about other prideful statements I started listening and I said to those that had oversight of him I think there's pride in his heart and we've got to deal with us because we got to help him so we tried and we tried and couldn't deal with it and and now he's not here anymore here's the point if there's an abundance of something in your heart it's gonna come out your mouth and went and their door is I'm telling you this is because if you have a problem speaking pridefully then you know you don't just have a problem speaking it you know you have a problem in your heart you need to allow God to deal with it so here is what I love about this story Nebuchadnezzar let me show you the end of it verse 34 Daniel 4 verse 34 and at the end of the time seven years I never can assure watch lifted my eyes to heaven and my understanding returned to me immediately soon as he turns to God as soon as he turns to God God he'll sue and I blessed the most high and praised and honored him who lives forever his Dominion is an everlasting Dominion his kingdom is from generation generation all the inhabitants of the earth were 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 by the way you notice that he got a pretty good revelation that God's got he at the same time my reason returned to me and for the glory of my kingdom and what he means by that is the responsibility that God's given me I was restored to my kingdom and excellent Majesty was added to me now I never can has her praise and extol and honor the king of heaven all of whose works her truth and his ways justice and those who walk in pride he is able to put down God restored this prideful man no one takes something else God restored this prideful man and God will restore you prideful people - all you got to do is turn your eyes to heaven that's it just turn your eyes to heaven

Channel: gatewaychurchtv

Views: 175,161

Rating: 4.8476191 out of 5

Keywords: gateway, Gateway Church, gatewaypeople, Sermon, Jesus, God, Dallas, Texas, The Kings of Babylon, The Seduction of Pride, Robert Morris, Pastor Robert

Id: PVLzlKXIPJY

Length: 36min 29sec (2189 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 11 2019