Daniel 4 True Faith Pt. 1: Faith is a Gift

Patton Shinall

Daniel • Sermon • Submitted 2 years ago

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True faith is a gift of God’s grace to free us from sin and worship Christ alone as Savior and King.

Notes

Transcript

Intro

How amazing is God’s grace?

We talk about grace, sing about grace. and love grace.

But what can happen is that God’s grace becomes familiar. Becomes just a little bit common.

We become a Christian, start growing in Christ and we forget just how woefully lost and sinful we were.

And when God’s grace is small, our worship is small.

So just how great, how big, how wonderful is God’s grace?

God’s grace is so great that even the most wicked vile sinner can be saved in Jesus Christ.

And God shows us that in the life of one of the most wicked and pagan kings the world has ever known, Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon.

We are going to be in Daniel 4 for a few weeks, and here’s the Big Idea I want you to take away from this today...

True faith is a gift of God’s grace to free us from sin and worship Christ alone as Savior and King.

It is nothing we earn. Nothing we deserve. It does not come from us.

It is all the power of God to save sinners.

Let’s start with point number 1...

I. Faith is a Gift

Daniel 4:1-3 King Nebuchadnezzar to all peoples, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you! It has seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God has done for me. How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion endures from generation to generation.

The beginning of this story actually starts with the end of this story.

Nebuchadnezzar, this wicked, pagan king of Babylon, the epitome of the Kingdom of Darkness, sends out an edict to everyone in his Kingdom, praising the majesty of God.

Last time Nebuchadnezzar sent out an edict to all peoples, nations, and languages it was to command them to worship the golden image that he had set up or be burned alive in a fiery furnace.

This time though he calls all peoples, nations, and languages to worship the Most High God.

What’s changed?

I believe, Nebuchadnezzar got saved.

That this pagan king repented of his pride, and put his trust in God alone for mercy and grace.

Now I’ll tell you. There is disagreement on that fact. It is not 100% clear whether or not Nebuchadnezzar, truly, was saved.

In fact, this passage is the last time we see Nebuchadnezzar in Scripture.

After all, he had given professions that looked a lot like faith before in chapters 2 and 3.

Who’s to say that this is not another false confession?

That Nebuchadnezzar didn’t actually put away his gods and his pride, and worship God alone?

And while I don’t think we can make a definitive claim one way or the other because only God knows, I do think there are some good reasons to think that maybe Nebuchadnezzar was saved by the grace of God.

One reason is that in this story, it does look like Nebuchadnezzar repents.

His main sin was his pride and rebellion against God.

That he exalted himself and his kingdom over God and His.

And in this story, we see that God humbled Nebuchadnezzar.

And after God humbled him, Nebuchadnezzar recognized that God, not him, is the Sovereign One of the universe, and instead of praising his own name and his own glory, Nebuchadnezzar praises God’s.

That, to me, looks like faith.

But even if Nebuchadnezzar, as an individual was not saved, one of the things that God is doing in this story is showing us a picture of redemption.

Spiritually, we are all Nebuchadnezzar because Nebuchadnezzar represents a broken Adam.

The way Daniel talks about Nebuchadnezzar are echoes of what Adam was supposed to be.

God created Adam in His image, and God created him to have dominion over all the earth.

To reign and rule over all the fish of the sea, all birds of the heavens, and all beasts of the field, under God.

That as a king under God, Adam would subdue the earth, work the ground, and cultivate the world to be the Kingdom that God made it to be.

To have dominion and take the Kingdom of God to every single corner of the earth.

And Daniel talks about Nebuchadnezzar like that.

In Daniel 2:37-38 Daniel said You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory, and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all.

Even in our passage, Nebuchadnezzar has a dream of a great tree. In Daniel 4:10-12 I saw, and behold, a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great. The tree grew and became strong, and its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth. Its leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all. The beasts of the field found shade under it, and the birds of the heavens lived in its branches, and all flesh was fed from it.

And when Daniel interprets the dream for Nebuchadnezzar he says Daniel 4:20-22 The tree you saw, which grew and became strong, so that its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth, whose leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in which was food for all, under which beasts of the field found shade, and in whose branches the birds of the heavens lived— it is you, O king, who have grown and become strong. Your greatness has grown and reaches to heaven, and your dominion to the ends of the earth.

Do you see how God talks about Nebuchadnezzar the way He talked about who Adam was supposed to be.

Dominion over the earth. Over birds and beasts. Shade and food, Blessing! for all things in his kingdom.

But obviously, there’s something wrong. Nebuchadnezzar is a wicked pagan king.

He doesn’t exercise dominion for the Kingdom of God to cover the earth. His dominion is for the Kingdom of Darkness.

He’s a broken Adam.

And that’s why God talks about him this way. As the Jews and saints of the Old Testament would read this, Nebuchadnezzar as a broken Adam would drive a longing in their hearts for the True Adam.

The True Messiah, the promised King of David, who would rule the earth according to God’s Word.

Who would bring blessing, peace, justice, righteousness, the Kingdom of God over every inch of the earth so that everywhere, from sea to sea to the ends of the earth, God would be worshiped and we would live with God forever in His Kingdom of Light and Life instead of Adam’s broken Kingdom of Darkness and Death.

That’s Jesus. He’s the True Adam and He is the King of the True Kingdom.

So whether Nebuchadnezzar was saved individually or not, as the broken Adam ruling over a broken Kingdom, he shows a picture of God’s Redemption of Adam, of all humanity, in Christ.

Adam was created in the Image of God to have dominion over all the earth. He was created for glory. He was created to glorify God and rule a Kingdom that in every way, everywhere honored God.

But in pride, Adam stepped out from under God’s authority and tried to be a god of his own.

The serpent promised you will be like God knowing good and evil. In other words, Adam, you can say what is good. You can say what is evil. You can say what is best. And you can be your own god to live and rule according to your own authority. Not God’s.

And that’s what Adam did. He took the fruit. He ate. And he fell from glory.

And that’s exactly what we see with Nebuchadnezzar.

Daniel 4:29-33 At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, and the king answered and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” While the words were still in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, “O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken.

The kingdom has departed from you, and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. And you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.” Immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from among men and ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagles’ feathers, and his nails were like birds’ claws.

All of this is in fulfillment of the dream Nebuchadnezzar had about the tree.

We are going to look at the dream in more detail in the coming weeks, but in that dream, the glorious, great and mighty tree, that represented Nebuchadnezzar, was cut down.

And it had all of its leaves and fruit torn off and all the beasts that rested in the shade and all the birds that lived in its branches were scattered.

And after Nebuchadnezzar, as the tree, was cut down, he was humiliated.

In the dream an angel said Daniel 4:15-16 Let him be wet with the dew of heaven. Let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth. Let his mind be changed from a man’s, and let a beast’s mind be given to him; and let seven periods of time pass over him.

Nebuchadnezzar became insane. Just as God had promised, He was driven to live with the beasts of the field. To became like an ox. He ate grass. Slept outside. Until seven periods of time passed over him.

In other words, until God accomplished exactly what he wanted to, which apparently took a long time because his hair grew as long as eagles’ feathers, and his nails were like birds’ claws.

And we are told exactly what God wanted to accomplish.

Verse 32 until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom He will.

God wanted Nebuchadnezzar to know God is King. Not him.

God rules over all things. Not him.

To God alone belongs the glory. Not him.

Like the first Adam, Nebuchadnezzar exalted himself in pride, and made himself equal with God.

That’s what he’s been doing all throughout the book of Daniel.

Remember the dream from chapter 2. Nebuchadnezzar saw a great statue made of four metals representing the kingdoms of men.

This statue was struck with a stone that was cut out of a mountain, but not with human hands, and when the stone struck the statue, it shattered it to pieces.

It became dust and blew away in the wind never to be seen again.

And then that stone began to grow and it grew into a mountain that filled the whole earth.

That stone was Christ and His Kingdom.

And the reason why that dream terrified Nebuchadnezzar was because the dream was certain and its interpretation was sure.

Nebuchadnezzar and his Kingdom would be shattered by Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God.

All of his glory would be smashed into pieces become nothing but dust blown away by the wind.

It terrified him because it was a direct assault on his pride. In his mind he was equal with God, and here God was saying, No. You’re not even close.

Likewise in Daniel 3, made himself equal with God again.

He created a golden image. A huge 90 foot tall statue that mimicked the one he saw in his dream.

And the reason he made it gold was because he was the head of gold, and he commanded all people, nations, and languages to worship it.

So with this statue Nebuchadnezzar was saying, the glory belongs to me. God thinks He can set up kings and tear down kings?

I can set up gods.

Even right before Nebuchadnezzar became a madman, he reveled in his pride.

At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, and the king answered and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?”

Nebuchadnezzar stood on the roof of his royal palace and gloried in himself.

And make no mistake, there was much to glory in.

From the rooftop he could see the wall of Babylon which was so large, a chariot drawn by four horses could turn around on top.

Everything about the city screamed power and wealth. It had a ziggurat which was like a great pyramid, great buildings, beautiful gates made of every color of gem, and even the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

Nebuchadnezzar’s wife came from the mountains and Babylon was built on a plain. And Nebuchadnezzar built these gardens to make it look like a mountain was coming out of the earth. It was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

And Nebuchadnezzar looked at all of this and said, “Look how great I am. Look at everything I’ve built by my strength. Look at all my glory!”

Isn’t this the sin of Adam come to full fruition. To build a Kingdom and have dominion over everything on the earth, not for God. Not for His glory. For our glory.

Nebuchadnezzar is a broken Adam, just like all of us are broken Adams.

We might not have a kingdom like Nebuchadnezzar, but in our sin, don’t we stand on the rooftop of our own lives and glory in ourselves.

As sinners we build our lives, our kingdom for us. We determine right and wrong and we rule our life like tyrant kings who say to God, “Not your will, but my will be done.”

That’s what sin is. And ultimately sin is our way of trying to build our own little kingdoms where everything serves us, and our will, and our desires, and not God’s.

And what happens because of sin? Well were made for glory. We were made in the Image of God for the glory of God.

But because Adam exalted himself, and tried to make his glory equal to the glory of God, he fell.

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 6:23).

He was cast out of the garden.

And in him, all of us are cast out of the Kingdom. We are dead in our trespasses and sins.

And Nebuchadnezzar gives us a picture of what this fall turns us into. What this pride, this rebellion against God ultimately does to us.

O, King Nebuchadnezzar, The kingdom has departed from you, and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. And you shall be made to eat grass like an ox…and Immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from among men and ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagles’ feathers, and his nails were like birds’ claws.

Nebuchadnezzar was cast out of the Kingdom. He was driven out from among men and lived with the beasts of the field. He ate grass like an ox.

Nebuchadnezzar had made himself equal with God, and so God made him less than a man. He became a wild animal.

Now this is important, and I don’t want you to miss it.

If this is a picture of redemption, a picture of how God redeems a broken Adam and restores him to glory, then there is a real sense in which living a sinful life is insane.

Is no better than living like a beast because living for sin, and pride, and our own glory, means we are living for something far less than what God had made us for.

God made us to glorify Him.

God made us to love Him and obey His commands.

But because sin, we've all fallen short of that glory.

Sin makes us less than human. Broken. Marred. Lost. Cast out and driven from the Kingdom of God.

That’s the Fall. That’s what our sin does. That’s what happened to Adam. That’s what’s happened to all of us. And that’s what’s happened to Nebuchadnezzar.

And without God’s grace, we are lost and without hope.

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools...And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done (Romans 1:21-22, 28).

We became slaves to sin. Mindless beasts always falling short of glory God created us for. Broken Adams, every last one of us.

But God in His grace saves us.

Daniel 4:34 At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever.

At the end of the days means at the end of the seven periods of time. At the end of the fullness of God’s judgment and discipline.

And the order here is significant. Nebuchadnezzar 1. Lifted his eyes, 2. His reason returned to him, and 3. He blessed, praised, and honored God.

After the seven periods of time had ended, Nebuchadnezzar looked up and lifted his eyes to heaven.

And remember where Nebuchadnezzar’s eyes were at the beginning of this judgment. He was on his roof, overlooking His Kingdom, glorifying himself.

And it was not until he lifted his eyes to God, that his reason returned to him.

Nebuchadnezzar could not save himself. He could only be saved when he stopped looking at himself and he started looking to God for mercy and grace.

This wasn’t Nebuchadnezzar just looking at the sky. This was Nebuchadnezzar looking to heaven, to the place of God’s Kingdom where God alone rules and reigns over all things, as a plea to save me.

Save me from my beastly life. My pride, arrogance, and glory stealing. You God be my king.

And God saved him. And immediately Nebuchadnezzar worshiped God.

But God didn’t just save him. He redeemed and restored him.

Daniel 4:36-37 At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and splendor returned to me. My counselors and my lords sought me, and I was established in my kingdom, and still more greatness was added to me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.

So let’s follow the road of redemption here.

Nebuchadnezzar represents a broken Adam.

So what that means is that Nebuchadnezzar gives us a spiritual picture of Adam’s Fall from glory.

When Adam fell in His sin, spiritually speaking he became an animal.

He was no longer free to glorify God as a man. He was enslaved to sin. He was enslaved to all of his passions and desires. Forced to live all of his life for no greater purpose than his natural instincts.

And just like Nebuchadnezzar was driven out of the the Kingdom, so Adam was driven out of the Garden and the Kingdom of God.

Lost and hopeless. No longer under the shelter of God’s loving care, but outside to be covered by the dew.

By representing a broken Adam, Nebuchadnezzar represents all of us. He represents everyone who is in Adam, dead in their trespasses and sins.

Every single person, who tried to make themselves equal with God by their sin, pride, and rebellion.

All of fallen humanity who fell short of the glory of God.

But the good news of the gospel is that is not where the story ends.

God redeemed Nebuchadnezzar.

At the same time Nebuchadnezzar looked to heaven for mercy and praised God, at the moment, Nebuchadnezzar repented, He says 1. my reason returned to me, and 2. my kingdom returned to me.

Reason

Remember how we said living in sin is living like an insane animal.

We live a life that is debased in mind, futile in our thinking, given over to do what ought not to be done (Romans 1:28).

But when God gives us saving faith, he restores us to wisdom. To know God, His will, and how to live it.

He frees us from sin so that we can again glorify Him as men and women made in His image.

Kingdom

But that’s not all. God doesn’t just free us from the insanity of our sin. He also brings us back into His Kingdom.

When Nebuchadnezzar fell, he was driven from the kingdom

When Adam fell he was driven from the Garden and the Kingdom of God.

But when God redeemed Nebuchadnezzar, God brought him back.

And when God redeems us, broken Adams who have no right to live under and enjoy the blessings of the Kingdom of God, God brings us back.

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:13-14).

And in Christ, the True Adam who obeyed at the tree of his cross and rose again three days later, we will never be driven from the Kingdom again we are forgiven once and for all.

In the True Adam, we are born again New Adams to walk with God like Adam did before the fall.

To glorify Him and advance His Kingdom and Dominion, to bring every square inch of this earth under Christ, and His Kingdom, and His Authority.

God takes broken Adams, and restores us to life before the Fall.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Grace

But how? How does God redeem us?

Nebuchadnezzar was literally insane. Like a wild animal. There was nothing he could do to save himself.

In the same way, we are dead in our trespasses and sin.

The only way God redeems us, the only way we can be saved, is by the powerful work of God’s sovereign grace.

We see this in Nebuchadnezzar.

He had the mind of a wild animal. No rational thought. No way to figure out how to get out of this. Completely enslaved. You might as well say he was dead.

And when does he change? When he looks up to heaven. Now remember, he had the mind of a wild animal. He was just going about living like an ox.

And oxen look up.

But what was different? God restores him.

That’s how Nebuchadnezzar sees it my reason returned and I blessed the Most High.

He’s the one that returned my reason to me.

And what’s more is we are specifically told that Nebuchadnezzar’s redemption occured after the seven periods of judgment.

What that means is that there was a predetermined, set number of days Nebuchadnezzar would be insane.

That means until the day that God had determined him to repent, Nebuchadnezzar would never have repented.

He only repented when God gave him the gift of faith by His own sovereign grace.

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Here’s what we’ve been driving to this whole sermon. Your faith in Christ is a gift.

Completely unmerited, completely undeserved. It itself is a work of God’s grace.

You see, here’s how some people think salvation works.

We are dead in our trespasses and sins, and one day we hear the gospel, the message that Jesus Christ lived a perfect sinless life, died in our place for our sins on the cross, and rose again from the dead three days later conquering sin, Satan, and death to give us eternal life.

We heart that gospel, we put our faith in Jesus, and then God saves us.

But that’s not how it works. Regeneration precedes faith.

We do not decide or choose to worship Christ by our own will or in our own power.

Left to ourselves we would never choose Christ because we were enslaved to our sin.

But God makes us alive and gives us Faith by his grace.

In other words, you hear the gospel. You could have heard it a hundred times before but because you were dead in your sin, it always fell on deaf ears.

Until one day, God gave you eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to listen.

He took out your heart of stone, and He gave you a heart of flesh, he made you born again, and from that new heart you repented and believed in Jesus Christ.

Now this is difficult because A. It assaults man’s pride to know that we contribute nothing to our salvation except the sin that needed it.

And B. all of it, Regeneration, faith, being born again, happens on top of each other. They all happen Instantaneously.

What we are talking about is which one causes the other.

Do you put your faith in Christ and because of that faith God gives you a new heart?

OR Does God give you a new heart and because of that new heart you have faith.

Ephesians 2:8-9 is clear. By grace you have been saved, through faith. And this.

What is the this? Is it grace? Saved? Faith? What?

Well every rule of Greek grammar will tell you that the this in this passage has to be the word faith.

So Paul is saying, by grace you have been saved through faith. And this faith is not your own doing.

Literally, in Greek it says this faith is not from you.

It is the gift of God.

To see the Kingdom of God, Jesus says you must be born again.

In response, Nicodemus says how can a man be born when he is old?

And Jesus said unless you are born of water and the Spirit you cannot enter the Kingdom of God.

That does not mean, that you must be born physically, like when someone’s water breaks, and you must be born spiritually.

Jesus is reminding Nicodemus the promise of the New Covenant where God promised that He would sprinkle clean water on us and put His Spirit within us.

Jesus’ point was, it takes a miracle of God. Just like you contribute nothing in your physical birth. You contribute nothing in your spiritual birth. You do not give birth to yourself.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit (John 3:6).

In the same way, Faith is not something we can will in ourselves. Dead men cannot hear. They cannot believe. They cannot put their trust or faith in anything. They are dead. And that’s what it means to be dead!

But what does it say in verse 4? Ephesians 2:4-5 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.

God makes us alive. He gives us a new heart. He gives us faith to believe so that we might be saved.

Why? Not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Wasn’t that our problem in the first place? Our pride?

But if God saves us in response to our faith, then theologically faith itself becomes a work that earns God’s salvation.

God saves us on the basis of something we do, putting our faith in Christ.

And if that is true, then salvation is no longer by grace alone.

We are saved by grace through faith. Not by faith.

If it was up to us to will ourselves to faith, then what’s the difference between us and somebody else?

Are we smarter? We could just understand the gospel? And if so, where did that intelligence come from? Did we earn it or was it given to us?

Are we better? More moral? Spiritually in tuned?

We wouldn’t put it in terms like that but how else would you explain it?

Whichever way you look at it, if God saves us in response to our faith then there is some good in us or some work we’ve done that earned our salvation.

But no. From beginning to end, all of our salvation is a work of God’s grace because even the faith we have to believe in Christ is a gift of God’s sovereign will.

Its not the result of works so that no one may boast.

Or like Romans 9:16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.

Like Nebuchadnezzar, we were dead in our sins. Futile in our thinking and our foolish hearts were darkened.

We were blind to Christ, and enslaved to our sin.

But God, being rich in mercy, gave us eyes to see.

One day we were just looking up at the sky, chewing on grass, content in our sin. Then, all of a sudden, boom!

We heard the gospel, but this time we heard it with faith.

God quickened us. He gave us a new heart. He made us alive, Convicted us of our sin, and gave us faith in Christ.

We were saved by the gift of God’s sovereign grace.

Why? So that we would not look at ourselves and say look at all this that I have built.

But that we would look to God and praise him for his glorious grace.

Now anytime you talk about election like this, about how our salvation is a work of God’s sovereign will and grace, what can happen is some people star to worry.

How do I know that I’m saved? How do I know that God has given me the gift of faith?

We are going to look at this more in depth next week when we look at the fruit of faith, but I don’t want to leave people hanging. I don’t want to leave them wondering the rest of the week, am I really saved?

And even for all believers Paul commands us Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves (2 Corinthians 13:5).

So what does true faith look like. This will be quick. Point number 2...

II. Faith Worships Christ as Savior and King

This is not the first time Nebuchadnezzar had praised God. But what was the difference?

Let’s look at the other 2.

Daniel 2:47 The king answered and said to Daniel, “Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.”

Remember the context of this story. God gave Nebuchadnezzar a dream about Christ smashing the Kingdoms of men and growing His Kingdom until it fills the whole earth.

And Nebuchadnezzar gives lip service to this. God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings.

None of this is an expression of any faith. Its more like Nebuchadnezzar is just stating a fact. God is a King and He is the King of kings.

Then, after Nebuchadnezzar saw God save Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego through Christ walking with them in the midst of the fire, he said...

Daniel 3:28-29 Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.

Nebuchadnezzar recognizes God as a Savior, but He’s Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s Savior.

But instead of worshiping Him, Nebuchadnezzar just say no one say anything against Him.

This is why mere profession will never save you.

You can say all the right things, even know all the right things, but without faith you will not be saved.

That takes us to chapter 4. And one of the main reasons I think Nebuchadnezzar really did get saved.

Daniel 4:34, 37 At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation...Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.

Like we said earlier, Nebuchadnezzar had no doubt in his mind that God delivered him from his insanity. That’s why he blessed the Most High.

Now Nebuchadnezzar was saying, God isn’t just a Savior. He’s my Savior. He delivered me.

And then he said, I honor him who lives forever because his dominion is an everlasting dominion. He is the King of heaven and His Kingdom is over my Kingdom and the Kingdoms of this world.

Nebuchadnezzar repented of his sin and worshiped God as Savior and King.

That’s what true faith looks like.

True faith repents of sin, and is a personal faith in Christ alone as the Savior and King of all of your life.

Savior

When Christ is your Savior, he is all of your righteousness.

His sinless life, sacrificial, death, and bodily resurrection is your only hope for forgiveness and grace.

We don’t try to earn God’s love through good works. Through constantly working day after day trying to make up for all our sins.

On the contrary, we rest in Christ.

His death became our death. He paid the penalty of our sins.

His life becomes our life. We have eternal life in him.

True faith that worships Christ as Savior says Jesus died for me.

King

What about Christ as King?

When Christ is the King of your life, you live all of your life for Him.

This is what is lost in many churches today. Everyone loves Christ as Savior. Everyone wants a Jesus that will forgive them of their sins.

But Christ must also be Lord of your life.

His Word, His commands, is the rule of your life.

When Christ is your King you obey His commands.

Jesus said If you love me, you will keep my commandments (John 14:15).

If Christ is King of your life, that means you aren’t in charge anymore. He is, and you live all of your life for Him and do what he says.

And true faith says this is a joy because his commandments are not burdensome (1John 5:3). They are our life.

True faith worships Christ as Savior and King.

Questions

How do you know if God has given you the gift of faith?

Do you believe that God is Holy?

Do you believe that you are a sinner? That you’ve disobeyed God and deserve His wrath?

Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God?

That God sent Him into the world to live a sinless life and die on the cross for your sins?

Do you believe that Jesus rose from the dead 3 days later?

Is Jesus your King and Savior?

Do you love Him and want to live all of your life for Him?

Then you are a Christian! And God has given you the gift of saving faith.

Conclusion

True faith is a gift of God’s grace to free us from sin and worship Christ alone as Savior and King.

Nebuchadnezzar shows us a picture of how God redeems broken Adams in Christ.

When we were dead in our trespasses and sins, we were completely lost, hostile in mind, futile in our thinking, and darkened in our dead stony hearts.

We had no hope.

But God in His grace redeemed us.

Through the gospel, He took out our dead stony hearts and gave us the gift of faith.

Because we were enslaved to sin, we would never have come to God unless he came to us first.

And through faith, God redeemed us by the precious blood of Christ to free us from our sin to worship Christ alone as the Savior who died for us and the King who rules over us.

Let’s Pray

Scripture Reading

Colossians 2:9-14 “For in [Christ] the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.”

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