Daniel 6 Nebs Pride Notes
SERMON NOTES
Subject: “Heaven Rules”
Speaker: Dr. A. Burge Troxel
Date: January 14, 2007
Scripture: Daniel 4:1-37
Introduction:
Don’t forget that Heaven Rules!
It is pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began. - C. S. Lewis
Did you hear about the clever salesman who closed hundreds of sales with this line: “Let me show you something several of your neighbors said you couldn’t afford.” - Anon
4825 “Tops” In Humility
The late Prof. Irwin Edman of Columbia University once had a chat with a French monk who bemoaned the fact that his order was not as famous as the Jesuits for scholarship or the Trappists for silence and good works. “But,” he added, “when it comes to humility, we’re tops.”
—Leonard Lyons
Dr. H. A. Ironside felt that he was not as humble as he thought he ought to be. Showing his concern, he asked an elder friend what he could do about it. His friend replied, “Make a sandwich board with the plan of salvation in Scripture on it and wear it, then walk through the business and shopping area of downtown Chicago for a whole day.” Ironside followed his friend’s advice. Upon completion of this humiliating experience, he returned to his apartment. As he took off the sandwich board, he caught himself thinking, “There’s not another person in Chicago that would be willing to do a thing like that.”
I. God Warns that when Anyone Forgets that Heaven Rules They will be Humbled.
A. Neb – Dan 4:1-23
Daniel 4:2
“It is my (Neb’s) pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me.
Daniel 4:3
“How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; his dominion endures from generation to generation.”
Daniel 4:17
“The decision is announced by messengers, the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of men.”
Daniel 4:22
“you, O king, are that tree! You have become great and strong; your greatness has grown until it reaches the sky, and your dominion extends to distant parts of the earth.”
Daniel 4:23
“You, O king, saw a messenger, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, ‘Cut down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump, bound with iron and bronze, in the grass of the field, while its roots remain in the ground. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven; let him live like the wild animals, until seven times pass by for him.’”
B. Other OT Examples – Isa 2:11, 13:11, 23:9, Prov 16:18, 18:12a
Isaiah 2:11
“The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled and the pride of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.”
Isaiah 13:11
“I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins. I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless.”
Isaiah 23:9
“The LORD Almighty planned it, to bring low the pride of all glory and to humble all who are renowned on the earth.”
Proverbs 16:18
“Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”
Proverbs 18:12a
“Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, . . .”
II. Being Humbled is Horribly Embarrassing Experience
A. Neb – Dan 4:29-33
Daniel 4:29-30
29Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, 30he said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?”
Daniel 4:31
The words were still on his lips when a voice came from heaven, “This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you.”
Daniel 4:33
“Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like cattle. His body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.”
B. Other OT Examples – Prov 11:2a, Ex 10:3, 2 Chron 26:16a, 21, Isa 13:19, Ez 32:12
Proverbs 11:2a
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, . . .
Exodus 10:3
So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, “This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, so that they may worship me.
2 Chronicles 26:16a
“But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall.
2 Chronicles 26:21a
“King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a separate house—leprous, and excluded from the temple of the LORD. . .”
Isaiah 13:19
“Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms, the glory of the Babylonians’ pride, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah.”
Ezekiel 32:12
“I will cause your hordes to fall by the swords of mighty men— the most ruthless of all nations. They will shatter the pride of Egypt, and all her hordes will be overthrown.”
C. Modern Examples – Hitler, Hussein, Nixon, Clinton
Adolph Hitler
Saddam Hussein
Richard Nixon
Bill Clinton
A minister, a Boy Scout, and a computer expert were the only passengers on a small plane. The pilot came back to the cabin and said that the plane was going down but there were only three parachutes and four people. The pilot added, “I should have one of the parachutes because I have a wife and three small children.” So he took one and jumped.
The computer whiz said, “I should have one of the parachutes because I am the smartest man in the world and everyone needs me.” So he took one and jumped.
The minister turned to the Boy Scout and with a sad smile said, “You are young and I have lived a rich life, so you take the remaining parachute, and I’ll go down with the plane.”
The Boy Scout said, “Relax, Reverend, the smartest man in the world just picked up my knapsack and jumped out!”
III. However, If One Repents, They will be Restored
A. Neb Encouraged to Repent – Dan 4:26-27
Daniel 4:26
“The command to leave the stump of the tree with its roots means that your kingdom will be restored to you when you acknowledge that Heaven rules.”
Daniel 4:27
“Therefore, O king, be pleased to accept my advice: Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your prosperity will continue.”
B. Other OT Examples – Deut 8:16-18, 1 Ki 21:29, 2 Chron 12:12, 32:26, Prov 29:23
Deuteronomy 8:16
He gave you (Israel) manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you.
Deuteronomy 8:17
“You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.”
Deuteronomy 8:18
“But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.”
1 Kings 21:29
“Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself, I will not bring this disaster in his day, but I will bring it on his house in the days of his son.”
2 Chronicles 12:12
“Because Rehoboam humbled himself, the LORD’s anger turned from him, and he was not totally destroyed. Indeed, there was some good in Judah.”
2 Chronicles 32:26
“Then Hezekiah repented of the pride of his heart, as did the people of Jerusalem; therefore the LORD’s wrath did not come upon them during the days of Hezekiah.”
Proverbs 29:23
“A man’s pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor.”
C. Neb Restored – Dan 4:34-37
Daniel 4:34
“At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation.”
Daniel 4:35
“All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: ‘What have you done?’”
Daniel 4:36
“At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before.”
Daniel 4:37
“Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.”
Our Nation Has Forgotten God
We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven. We have been preserved, the many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to God that made us It behooves us, then to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.
President Abraham Lincoln’s Proclamation for a National Day of Fasting, Humliation and Prayer, April 30, 1863
Conclusion:
1. If we through pride forget that Heaven Rules, we will be humbled. – Jas 4:6
James 4:6b
“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
Sportscaster and former baseball great Ralph Kiner tells the following story: After the season in which I hit 37 home runs, I asked Pittsburgh Pirate general manager Branch Rickey for a raise. He refused. “I led the league in homers,” I reminded him. “Where did we finish?” Rickey asked me. “Last,” I replied. “Well,” Rickey said, “We can finish last without you.
A Christian minister once said, “I was never of any use until I found out that God did not intend me to be a great man.
2. If we repent, we will be restored. – Jas 4:10
James 4:10
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
3. Salvation requires a humble spirit – Luke 18:11-14
Luke 18:9
“To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable:”
Luke 18:10
“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.”
Luke 18:11
“The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.’”
Luke 18:12
“I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.”
Luke 18:13
“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’”
Luke 18:14
“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Paul W. Powell once observed, “Pride is so subtle that if we aren’t careful we’ll be proud of our humility. When this happens our goodness becomes badness. Our virtues become vices. We can easily become like the Sunday School teacher who, having told the story of the Pharisee and the publican, said, ‘Children, let’s bow our heads and thank God we are not like the Pharisee!’“ Today in the Word, March 1989, p. 38.
An article titled “The Art of Being a Big Shot” was written by a very prominent Christian businessman named Howard Butt. Among many other insightful things he said were these words:
It is my pride that makes me independent of God. It’s appealing to me to feel that I am the master of my fate, that I run my own life, call my own shots, go it alone. But that feeling is my basic dishonesty. I can’t go it alone. I have to get help from other people, and I can’t ultimately rely on myself. I’m dependent on God for my next breath. It is dishonest of me to pretend that I’m anything but a man—small, weak, and limited. So, living independent of God is self-delusion. It is not just a matter of pride being an unfortunate little trait and humility being an attractive little virtue; it’s my inner psychological integrity that’s at stake. When I am conceited, I am lying to myself about what I am. I am pretending to be God, and not man. My pride is the idolatrous worship of myself. And that is the national religion of Hell! [from an undocumented source]
A Prayer of Faith
“Dear Lord, I now confess that I am a sinner who has sinned against You. I understand and believe that Jesus Christ, God’s Son, died on the Cross for all of my sins and rose from the dead. I do now receive Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. Thank You, Lord, for forgiving my sin and giving me the gift of Eternal Life. Amen.”
Humility; cf. self-important, pride
First Sermon
The young seminarian was excited about preaching his first sermon in his home church. After three years in seminary, he felt adequately prepared, and when he was introduced to the congregation, he walked boldly to the pulpit, his head high, radiating self-confidence.
But he stumbled reading the Scriptures and then lost his train of thought halfway through the message. He began to panic, so he did the safest thing: He quickly ended the message, prayed, and walked dejectedly from the pulpit, his head down, his self-assurance gone.
Later, one of the godly elders whispered to the embarrassed young man, “If you had gone up to the pulpit the way you came down, you might have come down the way you went up.” The elder was right. God still resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.
Prokope, Vol. No. 3, July-September, 1997
[1]
Cannot be Proud
“They that know God will be humble,” John Flavel has said, “and they that know themselves cannot be proud.”
Quoted in MBI’s Today In The Word, November, 1989, p.20
[2]
Quotes
• God pickles the proud and preserves the foolish. - Anon
• Pride is the dandelion of the soul. Its root goes deep; only a little left behind sprouts again. Its seeds lodge in the tiniest encouraging cracks. And it flourishes in good soil: The danger of pride is that it feeds on goodness. - David Rhodes
• God wisely designed the human body so that we can neither pat our own backs nor kick ourselves too easily. - Guideposts
• There is perhaps no one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride. Beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive. Even if I could conceive that I had completely overcome it, I should probably be proud of my humility. - Benjamin Franklin, from his autobiography
• Pride is the only disease that makes everyone sick but the one who has it. - Anon
• “Be not proud of race, face, place, or grace.” - C. H. Spurgeon
Source unknown
[3]
[4]
Self-Important, cf. humility, pride
We Can Finish Last Without You!
”
Source unknown
[5]
Proud of Our Humility
[6]
The Higher the Bamboo Grows, the Lower It Bends (Matthew 20:28)
A government official who came into President Lincoln’s office was startled to find the chief executive shining his shoes. “Sir,” he gasped, “surely you do not polish your own shoes!” “Of course,” replied the humble President. “Whose do you polish?” The greatness of a man is evidenced by his humility. In the words of an old Filipino saying, “The higher the bamboo grows, the lower it bends.” All of this is illustrated in the life of Jesus. “Jesus did not come to be served but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28). The highest title God ever allows in His church is “servant.” Am I willing to serve people as Jesus did? I know, I cannot die for people to save them as Jesus did, but I can “die to self” to enable me to tell people that Jesus died for their sins, and thus serve them in the greatest way possible. When I humble myself, then God will give me the grace to grow into maturity where, I like the tall bamboo, can lower myself to serve those of “low esteem.” Notice, “Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited” (Rom. 12:16). How tall are you spiritually? Tall and flexible enough to serve people in all kinds of situations?
[7]
Pride Goeth before a Fall
The Emperor Justinian built the Church of St. Sophia, that gem of human architecture. He collected marble and treasures from all over the world to make it beautiful. At last the moment for dedication arrived. The words uttered by Justinian seemed full of humility as he said that all had been done for the glory of God. But as he allowed his eyes to drink in the beauty of the building, he could hardly contain himself. Someone heard him whisper, “Solomon, I have surpassed thee.”
[8]
2304 Humility Is
Humility is perfect quietness of heart. It is to expect nothing, to wonder at nothing that is done to me, to feel nothing done against me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me, and when I am blamed or despised. It is to have a blessed home in the Lord, where I can go in and shut the door, and kneel to my Father in secret, and am at peace as in a deep sea of calmness, when all around and above is trouble.
—Andrew Murray
[9]
2315 Epigram On Humility
• True humility is not to think low of oneself but to think rightly, truthfully of oneself.
• ”
• It is possible to be too big for God to use you but never too small for God to use you.
• God had an only Son, and He was a missionary and a physician. A poor, poor imitation of Him I am, or wish to be.
—Livingstone
• A hundred times a day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am receiving.
—Einstein
• There is no king who has not had a slave among his ancestors, and no slave who has not had a King among his.
—Helen Keller
• Second street is the first street in America. According to R. L. Polk & Co., publishers of city directories, Second Street is the most common street name in this country. Park Street is in second place. Third Street is third, Fourth is fourth, Fifth is fifth, Main is sixth. First Street?—it’s seventh.
[10]
[11]
The story is told of two brothers who grew up on a farm. One went away to college, earned a law degree, and became a partner in a prominent law firm in the state capital. The other brother stayed on the family farm. One day the lawyer came and visited his brother, the farmer. He asked, “Why don’t you go out and make a name for yourself and hold your head up high in the world like me.” The brother pointed and said, “See that field of wheat over there? Look closely. Only the empty heads stand up. Those that are well filled always bow low.”
Said differently, “The branch that bears the most fruit is bent the lowest to the ground.”
[12]
An ardent music lover unexpectedly met the great Johannes Brahms. On recognizing the composer the man asked: “Master, would you please write here a small portion of a masterpiece and sign it so I can have a precious memory of this fortunate encounter?”
Brahms took the pencil and paper, scribbled the initial bars of The Blue Danube by Johann Strauss and signed: “Unfortunately not by me, Johannes Brahms.”
[13]
There is an old ditty that goes: “It needs more skill than I can tell / To play the second fiddle well.”
In a similar vein, Leonard Bernstein was once asked which instrument was the most difficult to play. He thought for a moment and then replied, “The second fiddle. I can get plenty of first violinists, but to find someone who can play the second fiddle with enthusiasm—that’s a problem. And if we have no second fiddle, we have no harmony.”
[14]
[15]
Corrie ten Boom was once asked if it was difficult for her to remain humble. Her reply was simple. “When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday on the back of a donkey, and everyone was waving palm branches and throwing garments on the road, and singing praises, do you think that for one moment it ever entered the head of that donkey that any of that was for him.”
She continued, “If I can be the donkey on which Jesus Christ rides in His glory, I give him all the praise and all the honor.”
[16]
[17]
.
[18]
fight with Joe Frazier thus:
There seems to be some confusion. We’re gonna clear this confusion up on March 8. We’re gonna decide once and for all who is king! There’s not a man alive who can whup me. (He jabs the air half a dozen blinding lefts.)
I’m too smart. (He taps his head.)
I’m too pretty. (He lifts his head high in profile, turning as a bust on a pedestal.)
I AM the greatest. I AM the king! I should be a postage stamp—that’s the only way I could get licked!
P.S. Ali lost to Frazier!
[19]
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[1]10,000 Sermon Illustrations, electronic ed. (Dallas: Biblical Studies Press, 2000).
[2]10,000 Sermon Illustrations, electronic ed. (Dallas: Biblical Studies Press, 2000).
[3]10,000 Sermon Illustrations, electronic ed. (Dallas: Biblical Studies Press, 2000).
[4]10,000 Sermon Illustrations, electronic ed. (Dallas: Biblical Studies Press, 2000).
[5]10,000 Sermon Illustrations, electronic ed. (Dallas: Biblical Studies Press, 2000).
[6]10,000 Sermon Illustrations, electronic ed. (Dallas: Biblical Studies Press, 2000).
[7]AMG Bible Illustrations, electronic ed., Logos Library System; Bible Illustrations Series (Chattanooga: AMG Publishers, 2000).
[8]AMG Bible Illustrations, electronic ed., Logos Library System; Bible Illustrations Series (Chattanooga: AMG Publishers, 2000).
[9]Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations : A Treasury of Illustrations, Anecdotes, Facts and Quotations for Pastors, Teachers and Christian Workers (Garland TX: Bible Communications, 1996, c1979).
[10]Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations : A Treasury of Illustrations, Anecdotes, Facts and Quotations for Pastors, Teachers and Christian Workers (Garland TX: Bible Communications, 1996, c1979).
[11]Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations : A Treasury of Illustrations, Anecdotes, Facts and Quotations for Pastors, Teachers and Christian Workers (Garland TX: Bible Communications, 1996, c1979).
[12]Michael P. Green, Illustrations for Bilical Preaching : Over 1500 Sermon Illustrations Arranged by Topic and Indexed Exhaustively, Revised edition of: The expositor's illustration file. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1989).
[13]Michael P. Green, Illustrations for Bilical Preaching : Over 1500 Sermon Illustrations Arranged by Topic and Indexed Exhaustively, Revised edition of: The expositor's illustration file. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1989).
[14]Michael P. Green, Illustrations for Bilical Preaching : Over 1500 Sermon Illustrations Arranged by Topic and Indexed Exhaustively, Revised edition of: The expositor's illustration file. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1989).
[15]Michael P. Green, Illustrations for Bilical Preaching : Over 1500 Sermon Illustrations Arranged by Topic and Indexed Exhaustively, Revised edition of: The expositor's illustration file. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1989).
[16]Michael P. Green, Illustrations for Bilical Preaching : Over 1500 Sermon Illustrations Arranged by Topic and Indexed Exhaustively, Revised edition of: The expositor's illustration file. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1989).
[17]Michael P. Green, Illustrations for Bilical Preaching : Over 1500 Sermon Illustrations Arranged by Topic and Indexed Exhaustively, Revised edition of: The expositor's illustration file. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1989).
[18]Michael P. Green, Illustrations for Bilical Preaching : Over 1500 Sermon Illustrations Arranged by Topic and Indexed Exhaustively, Revised edition of: The expositor's illustration file. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1989).
[19]Michael P. Green, Illustrations for Bilical Preaching : Over 1500 Sermon Illustrations Arranged by Topic and Indexed Exhaustively, Revised edition of: The expositor's illustration file. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1989).