Sermon Tone Analysis

A small country church had lovely Christmas tradition of staging a Living Nativity scene on the front lawn of their church.

It became the talk of that small town.

A visitor from a big city was driving through town stopped and admired the performance, but something bothered him.

The three wise men were carrying garden hoses, and they wore fire helmets.

The visitor couldn’t imagine why they were included in the nativity scene.

He walked up to one of the church ladies and asked this question.

“Why the fire hoses and helmets on the three wise men?” he asked.

The church lady shook her head in disgust and replied, “You City Folks just don’t read the Bible!”

The visitor told her he had read the story many times but couldn’t recall anything about firemen in the Bible.

The lady pulled her Bible out from under her arm and riffled through the pages, finally jabbing her finger at one particular passage.

Putting the Bible right up in his face she said:

“See, city boy, it says right here, ‘The three wise men came from afar…’ ”

We have been in a series called “No Eye Has Seen”.

Our primary verse has been:

I want to spend some time talking about God’s sovereignty.

Sovereignty refers to dominant power or supreme authority.

In a monarchy, supreme power resides in the "sovereign", or king.

In modern democracies, sovereign power rests with the people and is exercised through representative bodies such as Congress or Parliament.

The Sovereign is the one who exercises power without limitation.

God is sovereign over everything.

The scriptures confirm that God is without limitation.

or

God is great and worthy of our praise and adoration.

He is greater than any earthly king, politician, celebrity, or military leader.

There is none greater.

God is Sovereign.

This should give us comfort.

Comfort because God is not like men who desire power and authority to prove their strength and power.

God is sovereign and looks on people with love and compassion.

When we read our key scripture we take heart in the fact that God in His sovereignty has prepares good things for those who love Him.

What an amazing thought, that God who created everything and knows the details of the entire universe, cares for each soul.

This thought should humble us.

We should be thankful and grateful to such amazing grace.

Yet our nature is corrupt.

Humanity is constantly trying to usurp the sovereignty of God.

Power and Pride corrupts the heart of man.

For over two decades a defiant, cocky man by the name of Napoleon created turmoil in Europe.

Despite only being 5 feet 2 inches, he caused great trouble for all the people around him.

In a bid to regain some of the power he had lost due to a forced exile, Napoleon led his armies in a swath of devastation across the battlefields of Europe.

On June 18, 1815, Napoleon and his armies faced the allied armies of England, Prussia, Russia, Austria, Belgium and The Netherlands, led by the Duke of Wellington.

This was the infamous Battle of Waterloo.

Before the battle started Napoleon, speaking to of his commanding officer, said “We will put the infantry here, the cavalry over there, and the artillery in that spot.

At the end of the day, England will be at the feet of France, and Wellington will be the prisoner of Napoleon.”

The officer responded, “But, we must not forget that man proposes and God disposes.”

With his typical arrogance, Napoleon stood as straight and as tall as his 5-foot-two-inch frame would allow and replied, “I want you to understand, sir, that Napoleon proposes and Napoleon disposes!”

Victor Hugo, the writer, wrote these words concerning that battle,

“From that moment Waterloo was lost, for God sent rain and hail so that the troops of Napoleon could not maneuver as he had planned, and on the night of the battle it was Napoleon who was prisoner of Wellington, and France who was at the feet of England.”

Pride will convince us that we have all the answers and that we know better than our Sovereign God.

Christmas is coming and it’s a time that can either remind us of the sovereignty of God or the sovereignty of our pride.

There’s a battle building in the weeks to come.

We are all going to face a Waterloo moment this Christmas.

Are we going to remember that man proposes and God disposes or are we going to be like Napoleon and pridefully forget that God is Sovereign.

Our main focus in scripture will be Daniel 4:28-34 today.

It deals with this issue of sovereignty and I believe it will help us keep our focus on what matters most as we prepare for the end of the year.

Power Comes from God

In his day, Nebuchadnezzar was the most powerful man in the world.

He ruled the mighty kingdom of Babylon and was unrivaled in power and military might.

The Bible tells us that God gave the nation of Israel into his hand!

Nebuchadnezzar was at the pinnacle of success and power because the Lord allowed him to be in that position!

There is no such thing as a self-made man!

We are nothing more that what God in His Sovereign will has allowed us to be.

It is sheer pride for anyone to brag about his/her accomplishments!

After all, without God, you would be in Hell this morning.

He deserves glory for everything we have and are today!

While Nebuchadnezzar was a great and powerful king, he was a shameful man in the sight of the Lord.

You see, he was in power and in control.

He was living independently of God and cared nothing for God or His will.

This could picture any of the billions of lost people on this globe today.

They have life, emotion and intellect, but they are dead to God and to spiritual issues - that’s why we read in:

People take life for granted.

They ignore God and His plan of salvation.

They march stubbornly on to Hell where eternal separation from God awaits everyone of them.

We may be in control of our lives, but if we die without Jesus and end up in Hell, what have we accomplished?

Sadly, there are many “professing Christians” who act this same way.

They call all the shots in their lives without regard for God and His will.

In truth, they live as if God were dead!

“Professing Christians” who insist in going on in their sins, who refuse to repent and humble themselves before the Lord are deceiving themselves!

They are certainly not humble and broken before the Lord.

Nebuchadnezzar, and the billions of others just like him, refuse to acknowledge God in their lives.

He thought he had power, but really God was and is the only one who is ALL POWERFUL.

God is sovereign.

God Gives Free Will to All People

We can forget that God is powerful because He has given us free will.

In other words, we have been given the God given right to chose the path we will take through this world.

It will either be a path that brings glory to the Lord, or it will be a pathway of shame.

One that will eventually face the wrath of God.

For, regardless of how strong our resolve, there will come a day when God’s will will be done in every life!

Nebuchadnezzar came face to face with God in his interaction with Daniel in chapter 2 when Daniel interpreted a dream that came from God.

He received great light and had the opportunity to turn to the God.

But that’s not what he did…He worshipped Daniel - the one who interpreted a dream - not the one who GAVE the dream!

If you read chapter 2 you’ll find that he went so far to say that God was just one God among many others.

After he experienced the light of God, his heart was still hardened against the things of God.

He was simply indifferent!

Many are in this same shape today.

They are cold to the things of God.

They see His light, they feel His tug, yet they refuse to bow before Him in repentance.

This is a dangerous place to be!

We must not be guilty of taking the things of God for granted!

One day, they will not be around.

In Hell, there will be no preaching, no godly praying, no songs sung and no love of God drawing you unto Himself.