Sermon Brief
Date Written: September 10, 2006
Date Preached: September 17, 2006
Where Preached: OZHBC (AM)
Sermon Details:
Sermon Series: Living a Life of Integrity
Sermon Title: Integrity is Humility before God
Sermon Text: Daniel 4:1-37
37 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…
Dan 4:37 (NASB)
Introduction:
Illustration on arrogance/pride vs humility (2 Liter bottle filled with ½ water and ½ cooking oil)
Point of illustration is that humility and pride are NOT compatible.
The Bible calls the believer to have the mind and attitude of Christ Jesus who was willing to set aside position and power to die on a cross for us… Therefore the believer is called to live a humble and submissive life in Christ, where there is NO room for arrogance or pride in the heart of the believer.
We can see in our passage this morning that King Nebuchadnezzar was a man of pride and great arrogance.
2 times the King had witnessed the power of God. Once when Daniel revealed a dream to him and interpreted it, and the 2nd time when Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego were delivered from the fiery furnace. But the reaction we can see from King Nebuchadnezzar was one of temporary amazement but not true belief and submission.
Neb was amazed at the wisdom and power of this God that the Hebrews served, but he refused to believe that this God was Lord to him. He simply believed that he was the most powerful king and that he was all powerful…
This morning I want to look at the plight of King Nebuchadnezzar and I want us to see how it applies to all who refuse to recognize God as Sovereign Lord of their life!
This morning I want to point out 3 things about humility (2 negative and one positive)
1. Lack of humility fails to recognize God for who He is (v.28-30):
Nebuchadnezzar saw how great Daniel’s God was, but he failed to understand the significance of WHO Daniel’s God was.
Many gods, Daniel’s God was merely one of many, a powerful one but one of many… did not make the connection between the natural and the supernatural…
Today we have many who look at creation will reluctantly admit there must have been some force that created this world, but yet they say that our future… our prosperity… our hopes lie in humanity and what we can do for ourselves.
Nebuchadnezzar was in the same frame of mind. He acknowledged a head knowledge of God’s power, but failed to understand and recognize just WHO God was…this was because he was so focused on his accomplishments and his thinking that he could do anything… that it was all because of HIM!
This lack of humility that we accuse the world of having toward God is rampant in the church today as well. When we are caught up in self-worth we lose sight of who God is…
I mentioned several weeks ago that Self-worth was the idol of choice for today’s church and I stand by that statement still today!
Today in the church we plan programs and we attempt our hand at ministries. And it seems that any success that we have is credited to the one who came up with the program… the hard work of those implementing the program… the faithful stewardship of those supporting the program…
Now all those things are wonderful when it comes to a program in our church, but they are NOT the reason behind why a program or a ministry is successful in the church.
Our success… Any good thing we experience… any church growth… any kingdom advancement… God is the cause and driving force behind it!
When we come to the point where God is NOT getting the credit, we have come to the point where our focus is shattered and we are failing to recognize God for WHO He is… our Sovereign Lord who is all knowing, who is all seeing, who is all powerful… and with whom we cannot sustain ourselves!
We must recognize God for who He is and humble ourselves before Him, but if we have a…
2. Lack of humility will lead to punishment from God (v.31-33):
Nebuchadnezzar was arrogant and had NO humility in him and he did not recognize God for WHO He was, and because of this Nebuchadnezzar was punished.
Neb thought he was untouchable and that he was in total control, as we see him bragging how his kingdom was only great because of him. But we can see that God warned Nebuchadnezzar in his dream and through the interpretation of Daniel.
He chose to ignore that warning and so God brought Neb low and humiliated him before the world to reveal who was in control… but Neb is not alone in his humiliation before God…
Illustration:
It reminds me of a story about a man who in the early 1960’s met and married his Bible college sweetheart. He began working with an up and coming evangelist and helped to develop a small Christian network in the upper Mid-West of the USA.
In the early 1970’s he moved to California and partnered with some friends and developed a Christian TV show that became a big hit. By the late 70’s he was on his own and he and his wife moved to Charlotte NC and started their own Christian TV Network and even built a theme park.
The man I am speaking about was the television evangelist Jim Bakker and the network was the PTL network and the theme park was Heritage USA. At one time in the early 80’s this theme park was on par with and was a rival of Disney World itself and the PTL network was the largest in the country.
At the peak of his popularity, Bakker was bringing in about 52 million a year in contributions and was ‘according to his own words’ doing the work of the Lord.
But early in 1987 a scandal broke about his illicit sexual affair with his secretary… this scandal opened the doors to further investigation and led to his arrest, trial and imprisonment on Federal Fraud and Embezzlement charges.
He was publicly humiliated and he was sentenced to 45 yrs in prison and in 1993 his wife divorced him to marry his former business partner.
The Rev Jerry Falwell proclaimed that Jim Bakker was, “…a liar, an embezzler, a sexual deviant, and "the greatest scab and cancer on the face of Christianity in 2,000 years of church history…”
Jim Bakker had gone from the peak of the mountain to the depths of despair in a short time. Richard Dortch, his former business partner said that it was pride and arrogance that led to the secrets and scandals. Dortch also said, “…they didn’t plan the scandal, but that it was the natural result of living for oneself rather than for God…”
This tragedy was a direct result of these people NOT recognizing God for who He was (Sovereign Lord and in control) and themselves for WHO they were (broken and fallen vessels in need of God’s help)
These people felt they were in total control, and their pride and arrogance revealed this… God brought them low because of their pride and arrogance… because of their lack of humility!
As believers, we must understand that if we continue to believe that it is our efforts and our doing that is succeeding… then God is going to humble us before this world.
As believers, we have a choice;
1) We can humble ourselves before God, OR
2) We can be humbled before the world BY God…
Which would you rather happen to you…
But even when we fall and fail God and we are humiliated before the world, all hope is not lost! God uses humiliation as a disciplinary tool to correct us and make us see the error of our way and the correctness of His way, so we can know that even when we fail…
3. True humility will restore you to God (v.34-37):
Here we see that Nebuchadnezzar had been humiliated by God before the world. He had been robbed of his mind and made to live like an animal for a period of time.
The Bible describes that period of time as seven periods of time. The KJV states that seven times shall pass over you. Many theologians make the determination that Neb had to endure this humiliation for 7 years.
Some believe the time period to be another length of time like seven seasons such as Winter, Summer, Spring and Fall. And still others see the time of his humiliation as being a mere footnote and not that important.
Regardless of how you see the time period of his humiliation, the fact remains that God brought him down and humbled him to the point where he was living in the wild like a wild animal.
But in v. 34 we find Nebuchadnezzar narrating this passage and he finally came to his senses (God restored his mind) it was at this time that Neb realized who God was believed! He believed that it was God in control of all things and that regardless of how powerful and mighty Neb thought he was... God was in control.
As believers, the only way we can be in a right relationship with God is to humble ourselves before Him and accept Him as Sovereign Lord of our lives…
The more we resist accepting God’s Lordship of our lives, the more humility God is going to bring into our lives. It is only when you humble yourself before God that your relationship can be right with God.
In 1993, after serving almost five years of his sentence, Bakker was granted parole for good behavior. It was after this that Bakker wrote the book I Was Wrong. It was a book that revealed that he had not preached God’s Word, he had NOT given God the glory and that he had claimed it for himselfl
After his release, Billy and Ruth Graham bought Jim a house and gave him a car. Billy said all along that even though Jim had made a mess of his life, he was still his friend.
Bakker was invited to speak to a Christian leadership conference but was reluctant because he thought, “…people would spit on me…” His fears were quickly done away with as the crowd at the conference understanding his repentant heart gave him a standing ovation welcoming him back into the fold. Bakker was overwhelmed by their generous spirit. Bakker has now remarried and is currently broadcasting the "New Jim Bakker Show" at Studio City Cafe in Branson, Missouri, with his second wife, Lori Graham Bakker, whom he married in 1998. He denounces his past teachings on prosperity, saying they were wrong.
This story has a happy ending but the sad part is that it never had to happen. If Jim Bakker would have acknowledged God’s power and control in his lfie, he never would have had an affair with Jessica Hahn, or tried to cover it up.
He never would have embezzled over 3 million dollars in a hotel scheme. He would have possibly became known as the leading evangelical in our country.
But when his arrogance and pride ruled God out of the picture, he was brought down. And when his spirit was broken and looked up to God for forgiveness and healing, God was there and today Jim Bakker is a forgiven man.
Tradition holds that at this point in Nebuchadnezzar’s life he truly believed in the power of God and began to serve God, but we do not have a record of this. We do know that the captives were NOT released to return to Israel.
We also know that in chapter 5 Neb’s son Belshazzar is acting as if God is NOT all powerful, and we find that it cost him his kingdom before he could ever really get started.
When God brings us low because of our pride and arrogance, it is not so that we can suffer endlessly, but God uses this discipline to shake us at our very foundation to realize that He alone is in control. Once we recognize that fact and repent of our arrogance and pride, God is willing to restore us.
Conclusion:
This morning you have heard how one man thought he was in control and on top of the world, but God revealed to him that what he thought was far from what reality was…
This morning you may be sitting in your pew thinking that you are IN control and that you are on top of the world. You may be on top of the world, but do you recognize the reason you are there… it is God who blesses and it is God who can bring humiliation into your life.
Give God the glory, give God the credit… make Him the Sovereign Lord of your life today! If you refuse to do this, He is going to bring you down… it may not be today, or this month or this year, but rest assured that one day God’s hand will move and those who refuse Him as Lord will be brought down!
The Bible is clear in that we ALL are sinners and that we ALL have fallen short of God’s glory and perfection, which the Bible describes as SIN. The Bible also says that the punishment for that sin… or us falling short is death… a spiritual death that steals the soul and dooms it to be separated from God for all eternity.
In His word, God has said that there is only death, pain and suffering for those who reject Him as the Sovereign Lord of their lives. This judgment will come when the end of time comes, and God separates those who have accepted Him and those who have rejected Him…
The Bible is clear that those who reject Him…
• will be cast into the lake of fire…
• into a place of everlasting darkness…
• a place of weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth…
• a place of NO return…
• a place of NO forgiveness!
If you reject God, if you do not accept Jesus as your Savior, this is where you are headed! But the Good News of the Gospel is that you can be saved from this place of eternal pain and suffering. This morning Jesus is offering salvation to you!
This morning I call on you to surrender your life to God. Give your heart and soul to Jesus so that He can save you from the humiliation and hardship of what God has in store for those who refuse Him.
I call on you to come forward and give your heart to Him this morning. For you to be saved your heart must be truly repentant and you must be willing to turn away from the life of sin you are living right now!
You may be sitting there this morning saying to yourself, “I don’t need God, I am doing ok on my own!” “I want you to understand that is the sin of pride rearing its ugly head in your life! It is the same sin that Nebuchadnezzar was brought to humiliation over. Did you know that Pride is the only disease known to man that makes everyone sick except the one who has it” “Our Daily Bread,” December, 1986.
I want to close with a short story about a pro football player most of us know about! His name is Roger Staubach. Roger led the Dallas Cowboys to a Super Bowl victory over the Miami Dolphins in 1971.
But did you know that he admitted that because he was NOT allowed to call his own plays he thought this was an insult and it really was a source of trial for him. After all, he was the leader on the field and the QB and the QB should be able to call the plays.
But Coach Tom Landry was firm in his belief that he knew better and so he sent in every play that was called. Coach Landry told Roger when to pass, when to run and only in emergency situations could he change the play (and he had better be right!).
Even though Roger considered coach Landry to have a “genius mind” when it came to football strategy, it was Roger’s pride that told him that he should be able to call the plays and run his own team.
Roger would later say, “I faced up to the issue of obedience. Once I learned to obey there was harmony, fulfillment, and victory.” Once Roger learned humility and began to follow orders from his coach, good things began to happen for the Cowboys on the football field.
So what I am saying this morning is that if you are willing to lay aside your pride and step out and come forward with a repentant heart this morning, God has promised that He will forgive your sin, and then He will save you from that eternal place of pain and suffering, and He will give you a home in heaven.
In other words, if you are willing to stop trying to call all the shots for your life and you turn it over to God, good things are in store for you! It won’t always be a fun, happy time because you will come to know some struggle, but you will be a peace knowing that God is caring for you and is there with you.
I pray that you will come as bro Jerry leads us…
