He Judges Sin part 1
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Hubris = excessive pride or self-confidence...
Characterizes many leaders throughout world history...
And, in many ways, it is becoming a predominate characteristic of our modern society...
What does the Bible say about hubris?
Pride goes before destruction,
and a haughty spirit before a fall.
When pride comes, then comes disgrace,
but with the humble is wisdom.
One’s pride will bring him low,
but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.
But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”
For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.
Clearly we see in Scripture that pride is a grave sin that brings hardship along with it.
Difference between being proud vs. pride...
For the next two weeks we are going to consider the truth that God will always bring judgment upon sin.
The sin that ties both passages together is pride.
God will bring judgment upon the sin of pride.
This is important for us to know for two reasons:
Resisting pride in our own lives...
Finding hope in the midst of those whose pride threatens God’s people today...
Turn to Daniel 4:1-37
Body
Body
Read Verses 1-3: A Changed Man
These verses are shocking, because of the change we see in Neb…
Either the Neb. from chapters 1-3 experienced as life-changing event that completely changed his belief system...
Or, this might not be the Neb. of the first three chapters...
Historically, three of Neb. descendants ruled for relatively short reigns after Neb. died.
Then a man named Nabonidus led a plot to kill the last of Neb’s descendants to sit on the throne and then assumed the throne.
He may have started calling himself Neb in order to identify with the greatest king of Babylon.
Interestingly, Babylonian history tells us that Nabonidus did disappear for seven years, presumably with a health issue.
Regardless, the point will remain the same.
What happened?
Explain Verses 4-9: What Happened?
Neb. has a dream that made him afraid.
Again, he calls all the tricksters, who can’t help.
Then he calls Daniel, who can.
And he relates the following dream…
Read Verses 10-17
Neb. has this very confusing dream of a great tree that once stretched from the ends of the earth, and up to the heavens.
But a decree comes from an angel that the tree is to be chopped down.
Then the scene shifts to a man who is given the mind of a beast and forced to live in the wilderness to live like an animal.
Explain Verses 18-27
At first Daniel is reluctant to tell the interpretation, because he knows it’s not good news for Neb.
In part because telling Neb. bad news could result in bodily harm...
But also, because Daniel was committed to supporting the king, despite the fact that Neb. was a godless man at this point...
Sometimes in life we will find ourselves working for, or under that leadership of, people who are not good people...
We need to do our job to the best of our ability, honoring God, not sinning, but also honoring those God has put over us.
Daniel exemplifies this.
Daniel tells Neb. that Neb. himself is the great tree.
His empire was mighty and ruled the known earth at the time.
But God would remove him from his position of power and drive him to the wilderness, having lost his mind.
Even after this bad news, Daniel still encourages the king to repent of his sin.
Read vv. 26-27
What was Neb. sin? Pride.
He believed that he was the most high, sovereign ruler, and failed to acknowledge that God was in fact, Sovereign over all!
Read Verses 28-33
The key verse of this section is v. 30:
“Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?”
Babylon was an amazing city…Hanging Gardens...
At this point, Neb. was the unquestioned ruler of the mightiest empire the world had seen up to this point...
Why was this such a big deal?
What Neb. was doing was putting himself on the throne of the Most High God, instead of recognizing that God was really the only One with the right to that position.
Look at the term used for God here, “Most High God”:
The name “Most High God” is used for the first time in Daniel in this chapter.
Many of the names for God have to do with His character and His actions (Redeemer, Judge, Righteous One, Comforter, etc.) but the ‘Most High God’ deals with his position.
Neb. believed that his position was as most high and sovereign over all, not that the Only True God was.
Make no mistake about it, this will happen to individuals, to churches, and to nations today if we don’t guard against it.
When we fail to give God the glory for what He has done to bring us to where we are today, then we will falter and fail.
God’s judgment comes in a flash. Neb. kingdom is taken away from him and he is forced to live like an animal in the wilderness.
Understand clearly, God is taking Neb. from the highest of high positions on earth, to being lower than the animals (lower, because an animal is designed to act like and animal…humans are not!)
“Dr. John Gerstner, professor emeritus of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, was once teaching on the depravity of man, and to make his point he compared men and women to rats. After he finished his address, there was time for questions, and a member of the audience who was offended by his comparison asked the distinguished professor to apologize. ‘I do apologize,’ said Dr. Gerstner. ‘I apologize profusely. The comparison was terribly unfair ... to the rats.’ He then went on to show that what a rat does, it does by the gifts of God that make it ratlike. But when we behave like rats, we behave worse than we should and even worse than rats.” (Borrowed from James M. Boice in Daniel: An Expositional Commentary, pp. 52-52)
In Romans we see that God gave people over to their sinful desires.
In Romans and today we see this very clearly as people go from one stage of depravity to even more vile sorts of deprived behavior. Eventually, people are no longer convicted of these sins, but actually promote these behaviors as normal and natural, even teaching others to follow their lead!
If we set our lifestyle and behaviors up against God’s will as revealed in His Holy Word, what we are saying is that God should accept my behavior; i.e. I am in a position to tell God what is right and wrong. When we do, be assured, judgment is coming!
Read Verses 34-37
In these verses we see Neb. both restored and converted.
And as is the case with all restorations and conversions, praise follows!
Key is end of v. 37: “and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.”
So What?
So What?
The challenge of this passage is clear:
Who sits on the throne in your life? And who gets the glory in your life?
If it’s not the Most High God, then you will fall.
You can tell me what you want, but He knows.
This morning, I want you to know that your life can be restored through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ…
Finally, it is vitally important for us to remember that those who are over us, who so often are driven by hubris, will eventually face the judgment of God.
Our calling is to trust the Lord, pray for people, and to do the job that God has given us right now to the best of our abilities. Let God deal with God-sized tasks…we need to focus on fulfilling His calling for our life.
