Sermon Tone Analysis

! Introduction:

This chapter records the second of Nebuchadnezzar’s three dreams.

Daniel interprets this dream also.

!! A.           Introduction to Nebuchadnezzar’s Proclamation.

In our lives there may be people we think that there is no way that they could be saved.

Chapter 4 of Daniel is a testimony of someone who you would think there is no way this guy would ever be saved.

Nebuchadnezzar tells us the story of his conversion.

During this study I want you to think of someone that you may have written off in your prayers thinking that there is no way this person is going to be saved.

This chapter is an official Babylonian document, written by the king himself.

It is the story of his conversion.

Keep in mind that it was written seven years after the experience itself, so that vv.

1-3 and 37 are Nebuchadnezzar’s public testimony of what God did to him and for him.

!!! 1.            Nebuchadnezzar Praises the Most High God (v.1-3).

!!!! a)            Declaring what God has done.

!!!!! (1)           This guy sounds like the apostle Paul or Peter here in the beginning of this chapter.

Praising and proclaiming God’s signs and wonders.

!!!!! (2)           Note: this is written to /all /peoples, nations and languages, race color and creed that dwell on the earth.

It is though he saying that “it’s his privilege to report to everybody the gracious miracles that God had done for him.”

!!!!! (3)           Nebuchadnezzar had been touched by the God of Wonders and cannot keep it in, so his desire is to tell everybody the great things that God has done for him.

!!!!! (4)           And if you have been touched by the God of Wonders you can’t but help tell the world the great things that God has done:

*It is as though he is saying what Peter and John said in Acts 4:20,* “For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard”, in other words “we cannot be quiet about our God!”  "For the love of Christ compels us” (2 Corinthians 5:14, NKJV)

 

!!!! b)            Declaring God’s everlasting kingdom (v.3).

!!!!! (1)           Now, in his first dream that was interpreted by Daniel, where he saw this image with the head of gold and chest of silver, stomach of brass, the interpretation of that dream was that though he was the head of gold his kingdom was to be replaced by an inferior kingdom of the Medes and the Persians.

!!!!! (2)           And, after a succession of world dominating empires, God would ultimately establish a kingdom that would never end, the reign of Jesus Christ.

And, he saw this in the vision.

And, it was interpreted for him by Daniel.

And, yet though he acknowledge that there was no God like the God of Daniel that was able to reveal secrets and to tell dreams and so forth, yet it seemed that he did not truly in his heart submit to the interpretation of the dream because he wanted to feel that his kingdom was an everlasting kingdom.

That his dominion was over all.

!!!!! (3)           Do you think that your kingdom is over all?

Do you think that you can truly live your life the way that you want and it will never end? 

*Listen to what Jesus* "Said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.

“For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?

Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

" (Matthew 16:24-26, NASB95)

"Then Jesus went to work on his disciples.

“Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead.

You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am.

Don’t run from suffering; embrace it.

Follow me and I’ll show you how.

Self-help is no help at all.

Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self.

What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself?

What could you ever trade your soul for?" (Matthew 16:24-26, The Message)

 

The way you /see/ your life /shapes /your life.

!!!! c)            Life on earth is a temporary assignment.

!!!!! (1)           Compared with eternity life is extremely brief.

*Earth is a temporary residence, you won’t be here long, so don’t get too attached, Jesus said:* "Beware!

Don’t be greedy for what you don’t have.

Real life is not measured by how much we own.”

And he gave an illustration: “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops.

In fact, his barns were full to overflowing.

So he said, ‘I know!

I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones.

Then I’ll have room enough to store everything.

And I’ll sit back and say to myself, My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come.

Now take it easy!

Eat, drink, and be merry!’

“But God said to him, ‘You fool!

You will die this very night.

Then who will get it all?’

“Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God" (Luke 12:15-21, NLT)

*We need to pray* "Lord, help me to realize how brief my time on earth will be.

Help me to know that I am here for but a moment more."

(Psalm 39:4, The Living Bible)

*James says that *"You’re cheating on God.

If all you want is your own way, flirting with the world every chance you get, you end up enemies of God and his way."

(James 4:4, The Message)

*Listen to what Paul says in 1 Corinthians* "Those in frequent contact with the things of the world should make good use of them without becoming attached to them, for this world and all it contains will pass away."

(1 Corinthians 7:31, NLT)

 

!!!!! (2)           So, in a declaration that his kingdom would be an everlasting kingdom, he built that huge image of gold, all gold, but now God has shown to him some signs and some wonders.

These signs and wonders cause him to understand and to acknowledge that God’s kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, not mine.

So, now he tells the story.

These are the signs and the wonders that God showed to me to make me understand the fact that His kingdom is the everlasting kingdom.

!!! 2.            At rest and flourishing (v.4).

!!!! a)            A False Rest and False Security.

!!!!! (1)           Nebuchadnezzar was resting because he had conquered the world.

He had led his armies into battle successfully and without fear.

!!!!! (2)           It was at a time of peace and prosperity that God sent this dream to the king, for this dream was really a divine warning to him that his sins were going to catch up with him at last.

*There are those who have a false security: *"I make this covenant and this oath, not with you alone, but with him who stands here with us today before the Lord our God, as well as with him who is not here with us today (for you know that we dwelt in the land of Egypt and that we came through the nations which you passed by, and you saw their abominations and their idols which were among them—wood and stone and silver and gold); so that there may not be among you man or woman or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations… and so it may not happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall have peace, even though I follow the dictates of my heart’— as though the drunkard could be included with the sober.

“The Lord would not spare him; for then the anger of the Lord and His jealousy would burn against that man, and every curse that is written in this book would settle on him, and the Lord would blot out his name from under heaven."

(Deuteronomy 29:14-20, NKJV)

*The writer of proverbs says* "There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death" (Proverbs 14:12, NKJV)

 

!!! 3.            God Interrupted His Rest (v.5).

!!!! a)            His thoughts and dreams were troubling and upsetting him.

!!!!! (1)           The person that you think right now is so closed to responding to the Gospel is in reality like Nebuchadnezzar.

Either going through presently or will be eventually facing internal struggle and troubles.

!!!!! (2)           It is when this wicked world is resting in “peace and safety” that God’s judgment will fall (1 Thes.

5:3).

The only true safety and rest is in Jesus Christ.

!!!!! (3)           In verse 8, Nebuchadnezzar clearly says that Bel is /my god/, not the Lord God.

What he had saw previously with Daniel and the three Hebrew young men was enough to impress him, but not enough to convert him.

!!! 4.

Not learning the lesson (v.6-9).

!!!! a)            The summoning of the wise men (v.6-7.

!!!!! (1)           Remember their boast in chapter 2: “Show us the dream and we will explain it.”

Well, the king did show them this dream but they could not explain it.

!!!!! (2)           The worldly-wise make their boast of great wisdom, but they cannot understand or explain the things of God

*Remember what Paul said, that* "The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one."

(1 Corinthians 2:14-15, NKJV)

 

!!!! b)            The summoning of Daniel (v.8-9).