The Most High God (Daniel 4)
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CPT: The Israelites in captivity should know that God is the ruler over all earthly kingdoms, and he gives them to anyone he wants.
Purpose: The church needs to look up to our heavenly kingdom.
CPS: The Most High God has authority over all, therefore trust in God's authority.
Introduction
We serve a God that has authority over all things. We can trust in the authority of God.
I come from a profession where I was used to being the authority figure. As a police officer, I would put on that blue uniform, and that uniform would carry with it a sense of authority wherever I went, simply because I was wearing that uniform. Some people saw that uniform and was glad I was there, others were not, but it was a sign of authority.
Most 911 calls, my authority there meant something, but not always. My partner and I received a call one day for a vicious squirrel. We thought this was the most ridiculous thing. How vicious could this squirrel be? So we got into the apartment, and the whole family was gathered together in the kitchen. The father was there, along with the family, and you know, no judgment, but we looked at the father and was like, “You couldn’t get rid of this squirrel?”
So we got into the room, and we were looking for this demon squirrel. They said, “He’s behind the dresser!” So we pulled back the dresser, and this red-eyed demonic squirrel looked up and said, “Hssss!”
We were like, “Woah!” and jumped back. We eventually got him out of the room.
You see, the squirrel could care less what uniform we were wearing. The squirrel didn’t care about our authority. The squirrel just cared about his little kingdom behind that dresser.
We are going to learn today about a king who was a lot like that squirrel, who only cared about the beauty of his kingdom, and is judged. In fact, he gets the mind of an animal, and this happens because God wants to show him a lesson, namely:
“The Most High is ruler over human kingdoms. He gives them to anyone he wants.”
This verse repeats in Daniel 4 three times, and is the theme of this chapter. I wrestled with this verse this week. What does it mean that “The Most High is ruler over human kingdoms. He gives them to anyone he wants”? How are we to understand this?
We are continuing our Daniel series. We are in Daniel 4.
Scripture Reading
Daniel chapter 4 is written from the perspective of King Nebuchadnezzar. This is the last time we will see the king in this book. Daniel records a proclamation of the king in this chapter.
1 King Nebuchadnezzar, To those of every people, nation, and language, who live on the whole earth: May your prosperity increase.
2 I am pleased to tell you about the miracles and wonders the Most High God has done for me.
3 How great are his miracles, and how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an eternal kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation.
After this, the king tells of a dream. This is the second time in the book of Daniel that God reveals things to the king through a dream. This is a dream that frightened him. He gets all the wise men together to tell him the dream’s interpretation, but they weren’t able to interpret it for him. Finally, he brings in Daniel, who he calls Belteshazzar, and tells him the dream. That brings us to verse 10.
10 In the visions of my mind as I was lying in bed, I saw this: There was a tree in the middle of the earth, and it was very tall.
11 The tree grew large and strong; its top reached to the sky, and it was visible to the ends of the earth.
12 Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit was abundant, and on it was food for all. Wild animals found shelter under it, the birds of the sky lived in its branches, and every creature was fed from it.
13 “As I was lying in my bed, I also saw in the visions of my mind a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven.
14 He called out loudly: Cut down the tree and chop off its branches; strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the animals flee from under it, and the birds from its branches.
15 But leave the stump with its roots in the ground and with a band of iron and bronze around it in the tender grass of the field. Let him be drenched with dew from the sky and share the plants of the earth with the animals.
16 Let his mind be changed from that of a human, and let him be given the mind of an animal for seven periods of time.
17 This word is by decree of the watchers, and the decision is by command from the holy ones. This is so that the living will know that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms. He gives them to anyone he wants and sets the lowliest of people over them.
“The Most High is ruler over human kingdoms. He gives them to anyone he wants.” We will see that a couple more times.
Daniel hears the dream, and it alarms him. Then he gives King Nebuchadnezzar the the interpretation of the dream.
20 The tree you saw, which grew large and strong, whose top reached to the sky and was visible to the whole earth,
21 and whose leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant—and on it was food for all, under it the wild animals lived, and in its branches the birds of the sky lived—
22 that tree is you, Your Majesty. For you have become great and strong: your greatness has grown and even reaches the sky, and your dominion extends to the ends of the earth.
23 “The king saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, ‘Cut down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump with its roots in the ground and with a band of iron and bronze around it in the tender grass of the field. Let him be drenched with dew from the sky and share food with the wild animals for seven periods of time.’
24 This is the interpretation, Your Majesty, and this is the decree of the Most High that has been issued against my lord the king:
25 You will be driven away from people to live with the wild animals. You will feed on grass like cattle and be drenched with dew from the sky for seven periods of time, until you acknowledge that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms, and he gives them to anyone he wants.
26 As for the command to leave the tree’s stump with its roots, your kingdom will be restored to you as soon as you acknowledge that Heaven rules.
27 Therefore, may my advice seem good to you my king. Separate yourself from your sins by doing what is right, and from your injustices by showing mercy to the needy. Perhaps there will be an extension of your prosperity.”
28 All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar.
29 At the end of twelve months, as he was walking on the roof of the royal palace in Babylon,
30 the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great that I have built to be a royal residence by my vast power and for my majestic glory?”
31 While the words were still in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven: “King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared that the kingdom has departed from you.
32 You will be driven away from people to live with the wild animals, and you will feed on grass like cattle for seven periods of time, until you acknowledge that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms, and he gives them to anyone he wants.”
The king is then judged and has the mind of an animal. He goes out, starts eating grass like a cattle, lives out in the field, hair and nails start growing long, looks like a wild person, until the time of his judgment was completed.
At the end of his time of judgment, it says his sanity was restored. Look to verse 34.
34 But at the end of those days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven, and my sanity returned to me. Then I praised the Most High and honored and glorified him who lives forever: For his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation.
35 All the inhabitants of the earth are counted as nothing, and he does what he wants with the army of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth. There is no one who can block his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”
36 At that time my sanity returned to me, and my majesty and splendor returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and my nobles sought me out, I was reestablished over my kingdom, and even more greatness came to me.
37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt, and glorify the King of the heavens, because all his works are true and his ways are just. He is able to humble those who walk in pride.
God is able to humble those who walk in pride. Let’s pray.
Pray
There are three times where this verse is repeated,
“The Most High is ruler over human kingdoms. He gives them to anyone he wants.”
This chapter speaks about this clash between human kingdoms and God’s sovereign rule. It makes the point that God is the final authority. There are just two points here.
First,
The Most High God is the final authority over all kingdoms.
The Most High God is the final authority over all kingdoms.
State the point; Anchor the point; Validate the point; Explain the point
Text: Daniel 4:10-12; 22; 29-30; Gen. 11:4; Rev. 18:1-3; Dan. 4:17; Ps. 22:27-28; Ps. 145:13; Is. 40:10; 2 Chron. 20:6; Ps. 47:7; Pr. 3:19; Heb. 4:16; Ps. 59:13; 66:7; Matt. 4:8-10; 2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:1-2; John 16:8-11; Dan. 2:44
God revealed things to King Nebuchadnezzar about his kingdom. The ultimate lesson was that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms. He gives them to anyone he wants. Still, prideful sin filled Nebuchadnezzar's heart as he admired the greatness of his kingdom. Human kingdoms ultimately fail because of the sinfulness of human hearts.
God tells Nebuchadnezzar that he is ruler over human kingdoms. God rules through his eternality, his power, his wisdom, his grace, and his judgment.
Satan, the "god of this age" and the "prince of the power of the air," deceives the unbelieving world. God has judged Satan and his demons. The unbelieving world is heading towards that same judgment. The Spirit of God has come to convict people of sin, righteousness, and judgment.
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a. King Nebuchadnezzar and the beauty of Babylon.
This is our last time we will see King Nebuchadnezzar in the book of Daniel. In the book of Daniel, God reveals things to King Nebuchadnezzar through dreams, at least two times in his life.
In Daniel 2, God revealed something about his kingdom and other kingdoms throughout history, and dream that ultimately revealed the power of God’s kingdom. In this dream, we will also see this clash of kingdoms, a clash of man’s kingdom versus God’s kingdom.
In the first part of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, God describes things about the vastness of the kingdom of Babylon. In Daniel 4, verse 10:
10 In the visions of my mind as I was lying in bed, I saw this: There was a tree in the middle of the earth, and it was very tall.
11 The tree grew large and strong; its top reached to the sky, and it was visible to the ends of the earth.
12 Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit was abundant, and on it was food for all. Wild animals found shelter under it, the birds of the sky lived in its branches, and every creature was fed from it.
God illustrates the kingdom of Babylon as a large tree. It is great and strong, giving shelter to those who live in it. Daniel describes the meaning of the dream to King Nebuchadnezzar as the following:
22 that tree is you, Your Majesty. For you have become great and strong: your greatness has grown and even reaches the sky, and your dominion extends to the ends of the earth.
During the time of Nebuchadnezzar, the kingdom of Babylon was the strongest, largest, and mightiest kingdom on earth. King Nebuchadnezzar conquered large nations and was an amazing builder. He had brought items from the temple in Jerusalem to Babylon, along with Israelites. He had defeated the Egyptians in battle.
One person wrote, “Under Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon became one of the wonders of the world.” He built a large ziggurat, another place called the Ishtar Gate, and is credited for building the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, which is known as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
With all of this building, and with power safely in his control, he described the beauty of Babylon and the greatness of his power in verse 29:
29 At the end of twelve months, as he was walking on the roof of the royal palace in Babylon,
30 the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great that I have built to be a royal residence by my vast power and for my majestic glory?”
The pride of his heart ultimately leads to a judgment from God, where he believes himself to be an animal for a time, before his sanity was restored. The message in this text points to the weakness of human kingdoms. Human sin ultimately leads to the downfall of all human kingdoms.
b. The weakness of human kingdoms
The city of Babylon is a picture in Scripture of the weakness of human kingdoms, kingdoms which ultimately fall under the consequences of human sin. Babylon first appears in Genesis 10:10, under Nimrod, who is described as a powerful hunter. But it is best known for chapter 11, where people attempt to build a tower to the heavens, which is known as the Tower of Babel. Their heart sounds like the heart of Nebuchadnezzar. In Genesis 11:4,
4 And they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Let’s make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered throughout the earth.”
You can hear their heart in that verse, “Let’s make a name for ourselves!” It sounds like Nebuchadnezzar’s words, “Is this not Babylon the great, that I have built?” That city is Genesis becomes Babylon, because that’s where languages were confused.
Eventually Babylon is destroyed, as predicted by the prophets Daniel, Isaiah (Isaiah 13:19-20), and Jeremiah. Then it appears again during the tribulation period. It appears that during the seven-year tribulation period in the book of Revelation, the city of Babylon is rebuilt and is a center of commerce. But it shows the weakness of human kingdoms, which are kingdoms ultimately under demonic control. Look at Revelation 18, starting in verse 1:
1 After this I saw another angel with great authority coming down from heaven, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor.
2 He called out in a mighty voice: It has fallen, Babylon the Great has fallen! She has become a home for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, and a haunt for every unclean and despicable beast.
3 For all the nations have drunk the wine of her sexual immorality, which brings wrath. The kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown wealthy from her sensuality and excess.
This is the weakness of human kingdoms, that because of our sin nature, we ultimately fall under the weight of our pride and our excess. Human sinfulness in human kingdoms become homes for demons, sexual immorality, and wicked sensuality.
c. God tells Nebuchadnezzar that he is ruler of human kingdoms.
Now there is an interesting thing repeated in Daniel 4, which becomes the theme for this chapter. There is a judgment coming upon Nebuchadnezzar, a judgment that will lead to him having the mind of an animal. But there is a purpose to this judgment, and its something repeated in verse 17, verse 25, and verse 32. In verse 17,
17 This word is by decree of the watchers, and the decision is by command from the holy ones. This is so that the living will know that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms. He gives them to anyone he wants and sets the lowliest of people over them.
“The Most High is ruler over human kingdoms. He gives them to anyone he wants.”
This statement is repeated in verse 17, 25, and 32. What does this mean? What does it mean that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms? In what way does God rule?
There are five elements of God’s rule that I believe is evident in this chapter. Nebuchadnezzar speaks about them in verses 3, 34 and 35.
34 But at the end of those days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven, and my sanity returned to me. Then I praised the Most High and honored and glorified him who lives forever: For his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation.
35 All the inhabitants of the earth are counted as nothing, and he does what he wants with the army of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth. There is no one who can block his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”
First,
i. God rules through his eternality.
i. God rules through his eternality.
Nebuchadnezzar states that, unlike his, God’s dominion is an everlasting dominion. The psalmist wrote about the eternality of God’s rule,
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; your rule is for all generations. The Lord is faithful in all his words and gracious in all his actions.
Due to the eternal nature of God, that he is not bound by time, but exists from everlasting to everlasting. Because of his everlasting nature, his rule does not change.
ii. God rules through his power.
ii. God rules through his power.
Nebuchadnezzar asks, “Who can block his hand?” The prophet Isaiah described God’s power as,
10 See, the Lord God comes with strength, and his power establishes his rule. His wages are with him, and his reward accompanies him.
That chapter shows a beautiful picture of the Messiah, speaking about the rule of Christ. You can also see God’s rule through his power in 2 Chron 20:6
6 He said: Lord, God of our ancestors, are you not the God who is in heaven, and do you not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in your hand, and no one can stand against you.
God rules through his power. Third,
iii. God rules through his wisdom.
iii. God rules through his wisdom.
Nebuchadnezzar states that God does what he wants, and establishes those he wants. He does all these things in his rule through his wisdom. The psalmists said,
7 Sing a song of wisdom, for God is King of the whole earth.
In the book of Proverbs,
19 The Lord founded the earth by wisdom and established the heavens by understanding.
The rule of God is established through his wisdom. It is a wisdom that we need. Fourth,
iv. God rules through his grace.
iv. God rules through his grace.
Nebuchadnezzar describes the mercy of God who restored his sanity to him. The Bible describes the rule of God as one characterized by his grace. The writer of Hebrews wrote,
16 Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.
God’s rule is established by his undeserved favor and grace. Last,
v. God rules through his judgment.
v. God rules through his judgment.
The consequences upon Nebuchadnezzar were a result of God’s judgment upon him. The psalmist wrote,
13 Consume them in fury; consume them until they are gone. Then people will know throughout the earth that God rules over Jacob. Selah
In chapter 66, the psalmist wrote,
7 He rules forever by his might; he keeps his eye on the nations. The rebellious should not exalt themselves. Selah
In all of Nebuchadnezzar’s understanding of God in chapter 4, the rule of God through his eternality, his power, his wisdom, his grace, and his judgment are evident.
I’m still left with some questions marks on that verse,
“The Most High is ruler over human kingdoms. He gives them to anyone he wants.”
I’m left wondering, because how should we understand God’s authority over human kingdoms? Human kingdoms are in quite a mess today.
d. The state of human kingdoms today.
The influence of Satan over human kingdoms today is not just in Babylon. It is evident in any nation in the world where people exist. We see it in America, in the Middle East, in China, in Russia, in any place where people are. Satan has influence over human kingdoms.
Look at the temptation in Matthew 4, starting in verse 8.
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.
9 And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you will fall down and worship me.”
10 Then Jesus told him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”
Satan shows Jesus all the kingdoms in the world, as if to flaunt it before the Creator. “Look at all these kingdoms that you created. I am in control of all of them now! Do you want them back? Worship me, and I’ll give them to you.”
Are the kingdoms of the world under the influence and rule of Satan?
i. The influence and rule of Satan.
Take a look at how Satan is described in 2 Corinthians 4, verse 4.
4 In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Satan is described as the “god of this age.” Unbelievers have minds that are blinded by the lies and deception of Satan. The influences of this world are meant to drive people further away from God and further into a life of rebellion against God. Satan wants people to rebel against God.
Again, look at the demonic influence of the world in Ephesians. Paul is describing what happened to believers. In Ephesians 2, verse 1:
1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins
2 in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient.
What are the ways of the world? It is being dead in your trespasses and sins, just like Satan, who is “the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient.”
So again, how are we to understand this verse,
“The Most High is ruler over human kingdoms. He gives them to anyone he wants.”
Well, we live in a world influenced by Satan. Satan is under God’s judgment, and in the same way, human kingdoms, who are filled with people living “according to the ruler of the power of the air,” are kingdoms that fail because they are under God’s judgment.
ii. The judgment upon Satan and the world.
The Lord says the Spirit of God will convict people about judgment because of their connection with the ruler of this world. Look at John 16:8-11:
8 When he comes, he will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment:
9 About sin, because they do not believe in me;
10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me;
11 and about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.
The Holy Spirit of God convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. It is a world under the deception and control of Satan that is in desperate need of the gospel, which the Spirit of God uses to convict people of their need for him.
e. The clash of human kingdoms versus God’s kingdom.
Daniel 4 is all about this clash of human kingdoms versus God’s kingdom. Human kingdoms ultimately seek more glory for themselves because they are filled with people under the deception and lies of Satan. They love statements like, “Look at how good we are,” and bathe in the excess of their immorality, sensuality, and excess.
f. The final authority of God’s kingdom.
Yet, human kingdoms will always fall. They are temporary. Nebuchadnezzar is dead and gone. Genghis Khan is dead and gone. Hitler is dead and gone. Putin will one day be dead and gone. But as Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream in Daniel 2:44
44 “In the days of those kings, the God of the heavens will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and this kingdom will not be left to another people. It will crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself endure forever.
God’s kingdom has the final authority.
Heading: When I used to work as a Police Officer, people would wonder if I was afraid for my life. You walk around in plain clothes, out with your family, and you wonder if someone is going to recognize you, someone you arrested. You know, I arrested a lot of people, and I gave a lot of people summonses and things like that. You don’t remember everyone, but you don’t know who remembers you. I would walk around off-duty with my off-duty gun on my side, and it used to annoy me, because there was always a gun around because I was the one carrying it!
But after I became a Christian, it came down to who has the final authority. I would say that I am invincible until God decides to take me home. Why is that? Because he is the one with the final authority. He has the final authority over our lives, and over every kingdom.
The Most High God is the final authority over all kingdoms.
Transition
The final authority of the Most High God is worthy of your praise.
The final authority of the Most High God is worthy of your praise.
State the point; Anchor the point; Validate the point; Explain the point
Text: Dan. 4:34-35, 37; Heb. 2:14-15; 1 Cor. 15:20-26; Ps. 18:3; 1 Peter 2:9
The works and ways of God show the glory of God's final authority. God shows two ways of his final authority over the earth: The cross and the resurrection. The cross shows God's final authority over death, and the resurrection shows his final authority over life. Christians may physically die but are spiritually alive through being born again in Jesus. The final authority of God is worthy of our praise!
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a. The works and ways of God shows the glory of his authority.
Nebuchadnezzar has an everlasting dominion, an eternal kingdom. Then he says this about God in verse 37:
37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt, and glorify the King of the heavens, because all his works are true and his ways are just. He is able to humble those who walk in pride.
God is able to humble those who walk in pride. But what is Nebuchadnezzar proud about? It is the same thing that humans struggle with, a pride about their own perceived power. It is the perceived power that humans have over themselves, believing that they are what is most important. When you combine that, and multiply it by thousands and millions, it is the perceived power of human kingdoms thinking that they are the final authority.
But God is the final authority. That is the final answer to that verse,
“The Most High is ruler over human kingdoms. He gives them to anyone he wants.”
The final answer to this statement from God is that no matter what authorities we put up, God is the final authority. The New Testament gives us a couple of ways to see God’s stamp of his final authority over the world.
b. The cross shows God’s final authority over death.
The New Testament defines death through two ways, our physical death and our spiritual death. Our physical death is obvious, but our spiritual death is apparent by our own sinful nature. Without Christ, we are all spiritually dead. That is our natural state.
The Bible says that everyone who physically dies in spiritual death is headed towards a conscious, eternal place reserved for the devil and his demons, a place described as a lake of fire and called the second death (Rev. 21:8).
Those in spiritual death are walking lockstep with devil, heading to the same place. A eternal death is a scary and terrible thing. Here is the thing,
The cross shows the final authority of God over death. Through the cross, Jesus broke the chains of death that were holding us back. Look at Hebrews 2:14,
14 Now since the children have flesh and blood in common, Jesus also shared in these, so that through his death he might destroy the one holding the power of death—that is, the devil—
15 and free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death.
The cross cast a final judgment on the devil, and showed the final authority of God over death. Because of the cross, there is freedom because we don’t have to live in spiritual death. We can have new life, which the Bible calls being born again.
c. The resurrection shows the goodness of God’s final authority.
Finally, the resurrection shows the final authority of God to give people new life. Christians physically die, but are spiritually alive because they have been born again in Jesus. Take a look at 1 Corinthians 15, starting in verse 20:
20 But as it is, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man.
22 For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
23 But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; afterward, at his coming, those who belong to Christ.
24 Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he abolishes all rule and all authority and power.
25 For he must reign until he puts all his enemies under his feet.
26 The last enemy to be abolished is death.
i. Christ is the firstfruits of resurrection. (20-22)
Jesus’ resurrection shows the supernatural power of God to give life. In the same way that the judgment of God came through our disobedience in Adam, the resurrection of life came through Jesus Christ. Jesus is the firstfruits of this promise, that in Jesus we have new life and a future with God. Look at verse 23.
ii. Christ will resurrect all who belong to him at his coming. (23-26)
Here the final authority comes and resurrects all who belong to Jesus. The promise fulfilled in Jesus, he comes at his second coming and resurrects all who belong to him. The Bible says, “Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! The second death has no power over them.”
The Bible says that because of Jesus, God’s people will be with Christ forever in the millennial kingdom and the new heaven and new earth. Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise and shows the final authority of God over life and death.
d. The final authority of God is worthy of your praise.
Where are we left with the verse that was said to Nebuchadnezzar,
“The Most High is ruler over human kingdoms. He gives them to anyone he wants.”
We are left at a place of praise. God is worthy of all our praise, because he has the final authority. He listens to us when we call to him, and he has the final authority to save. The psalmist said,
3 I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I was saved from my enemies.
The Lord hears when we cry out to him. He hears us when we repent, when we come to him in faith, and he has the authority and power to give us new life in Jesus, because he has the final authority.
We are blessed by God to be chosen by him.
“The Most High is ruler over human kingdoms. He gives them to anyone he wants.”
It is good that God has given the Son those who belong to him. It is so good to be in Jesus. Peter says this,
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
If you are in Jesus today, God has rescued you from the second death. He has called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light. The final authority of the Most High God is worthy of our praise.
Heading: An old hymn goes like this:
Familiar Quotations Thomas Ken (1637–1711)
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow!
Praise Him, all creatures here below!
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host!
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!
Praise God for his mercy! Praise God for his grace! Praise God that he has chosen his people, that he has rescued us, and that we are his! Praise him because he has the final authority.
Conclusion
The Most High God is the final authority over all kingdoms.
The final authority of the Most High God is worthy of your praise.
Conclude
Have you heard the message today and realized that you need Jesus? Are you ready to put your faith in Jesus? We want to pray with you, and celebrate your new life. Please see one of our pastors after the service.
Blanks: final authority; kingdoms; worthy of your praise.
Prayer
Last Song
Doxology
24 “May the Lord bless you and protect you;
25 may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
26 may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.” ’
24 Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, without blemish and with great joy,
25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen.
You are dismissed. Have a great week in the Lord!
