Kingdoms Of The Heart

Disclaimer:

Due to the large amount of sermons and topics that appear on this site I feel it is necessary to post this disclaimer on all sermons posted. These sermons are original to the author and the leading of the Holy Spirit. While ideas and illustrations are often gleaned from many sources including those at Sermoncentral.com, any similarities and wording, including sermon titles, that may appear to be the same as any other sermon are purely coincidental. In instances where other minister’s wording is used, due recognition will be given. These sermons are not copyrighted and may be used or preached freely. May God richly bless you as you read these sermons. It is my sincere desire that all who read them may be enriched. All scriptures quoted in these sermons are copied and/or quoted from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible.

Pastor James May

KINGDOMS OF THE HEART

Daniel 2:31-35, "Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces."

King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream, or should I say a nightmare. He awoke the next morning to a troubled spirit. All during the long night he had tossed and tumbled upon his bed. Perhaps he even woke up a few times in a cold sweat. The Bible doesn’t describe that night in great detail except to say that Nebuchadnezzar’s heart was troubled because of the dream he had dreamed. The worst part of it was that even though he knew that this nightmare had some great significance, he could not remember what the dream was and this troubled him ever the more.

Being king of a vast domain with absolute power over men, he determined to force his soothsayers and wise men to ease his troubled heart. He wanted answers and he wanted them now so he called forth his wise men and gave them an ultimatum. The demands that he made of them were impossible for men to carry and the penalties for failing to do them were death, not only for them but for their families as well. This meant that every living member of that family and the family tree would cease to exist.

King Nebuchadnezzar commanded them to do two things. The first command was that he wanted them to tell him what he saw in his nightmare. The second command was that they give him the right interpretation of what he had seen in that dream. Can you imagine the panic in the hearts of those wise men? Who can tell another man what he has dreamed. This was one magic trick that they couldn’t perform. Pulling a rabbit out of a hat or doing some trick of illusion with smoke and mirrors wouldn’t help them now.

In Daniel 2:10,11 we can read the desperate answer that these wise men gave to the king after he had stated his demands.

Daniel 2:10-11, "The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king’s matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean. And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh."

Then Nebuchadnezzar grew angry and commanded that every wise man in Babylon would be put to death.

I want you to know that Satan has no mercy upon those who allow him to rule over their hearts and lives. He is like Nebuchadnezzar who held sway over his kingdom with absolute power. There was no one on earth at this moment in history that could challenge his authority and no one who could stop him from doing exactly what he wanted. His reign was not pure in the moral sense, but in his power to rule, his reign was like pure gold for there was no power over him.

Among those wise men that were condemned to die were four captured men from the tribes of Israel. They are names that familiar to everyone who has any knowledge of the Bible and its stories. Along with Daniel there were three of his fellow slaves who were named Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah, better known as Shadrach, Mechach and Abednego who were to later defy Nebuchadnezzar and be cast into the fiery furnace.