Sermon Tone Analysis

/A Tree Standing Tall and Proud!/

Dan 4:1-18, 20-27

 

          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."[1]

That was his last famous words, for it you remember your history it was under Justinian’s watch; that the Roman Empire was incurably divided, never to return to its greatest again.

The bible says that;/ Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

(Pro 16:18)/

          The same can said for all who follow the way of pride!

Pride always leads to destruction, whether in involves a empire, a kingdom, a family, a nation or for our interest tonight; a person!

Chapter 4 of Daniel is exclusively devoted to another terrifying dream of the wicked king Nebuchadnezzar.

This dream unlike that of Ch. 2 addresses not to the kingdom as a whole in the relation to world history but is personalized to Nebuchadnezzar himself.

Don’t let the style of chapter 4 throw you off.

Chapter 4 is just one part of Daniel that isn’t written in Hebrew or Aramaic it is written in Chaldean!

Plus it is written after the fact of the results of the dream, by Nebuchadnezzar himself or at least by taking the king’s diction.

V1-3 is sort of like a prolong reflecting the King’s newfound respect for the God of heaven after this ordeal.

V4- 18 is the dream that the king had.

The dream consisted of a tree tall, healthy, sturdy, just towering over people, animals and reaching unto heaven.(11-12)

Then the king seen two “watchers” come down from heaven and pronounce judgment on this tree, v14.

Yet, though the tree was cut down, there remained the stump of it in the ground, v15a.

The rest of v15 seems different because it is referring to a person and not a stump.

V16 we see the pronoun “His” used so this is a giveaway that this is a man, whose going to go through what seems to be a short term insanity; living like a wild beast.

V17 reveals why this change is going to come over this man.

It was to show; /“that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.” /

          It was given to show the king that there was another king, a king of kings; ---God!

Daniel was a little taken back, for Daniel must have realized what was about to happen to Neb.

Daniel gave the interpretation with a broken and troubled heart, v19.

By the way, it isn’t easy to tell someone that they are in the wrong and will suffer if they don’t get right with God.

Don’t mistake a spirit of “openness or honestly” for being an “I’m glad God is going to get you” attitude; because they are not the same.

Some preachers can cry like babies while preaching against sin and speaking about consequences, yet not every preacher can.

That’s more of a person’s personality than anything else.

But for those who can’t cry at the drop of a hat, there heart is probably just as broken and unsettled as the guy who can cry buckets of tears.

The test of a person, preacher, and prophet of God is not so much personality as it is truth!

/Pro 27:5-6 “Open rebuke is better than secret love.

Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.”

/

/ /

          I don’t suppose a doctor would brake down and cry every time he says to a patient that they have cancer.

Maybe if that person were a close friend.

But if he showed any emotion or not; would the truth be any less of the truth?

No.

 

          Daniel reveals some hard news to swallow, that the tree in the dream that reached unto heaven and then was cut down and the person that is going to have a short bout of insanity is none else but King himself, v19-22!

Neb.

was about to learn that he wasn’t a self made man after all; but in reality, God allowed him to be king, if for no other purpose than to further God’s will in the earth.

That might be a little deep for some of us; yet it is the truth.

And be to honest with you; sometimes I think the average Christian doesn’t want to believe that God is still in control even when they aren’t.

Because to believe that God is in control even when we aren’t; means we have to trust someone outside of ourselves, not for our soul mind you, but for the food we eat and the water we drink; the things that we think life is all about!

They feel awkward, because they have never gotten past, “Dear Jesus, please save me,” in their relationship with God.

But the fact of the matter remains that God is in control whether we believe it or not, whether we live like it or not, God is.

And when you are in control you can do whatever you want to get your point across; that’s what God is about to do with Neb.

Because of the pride of life; Neb.

thought he was in control until he was taught otherwise.

I.

Neb.’s

Pride and his Procrastination   v28-33

 

         Daniel warned him that the fallen tree was him and that if he didn’t put God in his proper place; then all these things would come upon him.

A.

Pride

          Some might think that God is being to harsh on Neb, after all, Neb.

wasn’t throwing any parades for himself, or declaring any holidays in his honor, as we could find in the text.

That’s right.

Yet we forget that God doesn’t look to outward to base his decisions on, he looks straight to the heart!

And what God sees here in Neb.’s

heart is about to land him in some big time trouble.

God knew it was in his heart and eventually in came out, V30-31!

Look what the king said.

/“Is not this great Babylon that I have built…?”/

Jesus said, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.”

And it doesn’t take to see what in his heart, which is pride.

Did you know that pride is not like any of the other sins.

It may not be a big difference but it is a difference; a person may know that they are stepping into some sin that has been spelled out for them, and the know it and yet do it any way.

But pride, has a sort of blinding effect on the individual, to where they don’t realize that is sin until it is too late.

Someone once said, “that pride is the hypodermic shot that God always a person to give themselves to deaden the pain of being a fool.”

Pride has caused some of the godliest men of the bible to fall into sin.

Abraham’s pride caused him to lie about his wife.

David was victim of his pride when he numbered the children of Israel and paid dearly for it.

If you remember any about pride, remember this.

That pride turned an angel into a devil.

Lucifer said, that he would be like the most High, Isa.

14; 14 and God kicked him out of heaven.

Pride can spoil your sacrifice and gifts that you use for God, and all that labour and service and what you give is all in vain!

Be careful not to tot your own horn!

I like what one person said, “You can let others praise you, but just don’t believe them.”

If there is anything that repulses God; it is pride!

Because of that God is attacked to humility, brokenness.

/Isa 57:15  For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

/

/ /

          We could go on about pride and how it works to unravel our lives yet we can’t, but note this when you feel like patting yourself on the back.

Any good thing in you, or about you, is there because of God!

 

B.

His Procrastination  v29

          Did happen to catch that in v29, /“//At the end of twelve months…” /

          God gave him a year to get right and come clean before God would take action.

Neb.

probably by this time had forgot all about that dream and Daniel coming to him.

Neb.

procrastinated and let the window of getting right about his pride close and now the Lord has no choice but to go ahead and afflict him.

There are some verse you as a Christian ought to know by heart, they are 1 Cor.

11; 30-32.

I personally think these verses have kept me from the wood shed so to speak with God.

What do they mean?