Daniel chapter 4, I will be reading verses 1 through 37. Here, for this is the word of the Lord. 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 works! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and His dominion endures from generation to generation. I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and prospering in my palace. I saw a dream that made me afraid. As I lay in bed, the fancies and the visions of my head alarmed me. So I made a decree that all the wise men of Babylon should be brought before me, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream. Then the magicians, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers came in, and I told them the dream. But they could not make known to me its interpretation. At last Daniel came in before me. He who is named Belteshazzar after the name of my God, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods? And I told him the dream, saying, O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you, and that no mystery is too difficult for you, tell me the visions of my dream that I saw in their interpretation. The visions of my head as I lay in bed were these. 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. I saw in the visions of my head as I lay in bed, and behold, a Watcher, a Holy One, came down from heaven. He proclaimed aloud and said thus, Chop down the tree and lop off its branches, strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beast flee from under it and the birds from its branches. But leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze amid the tender grass of the field. 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. The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, the decision by the word of the holy ones, to the end that the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men, and gives it to whom he will, and sets over it the lowliest of men. This dream I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. And you, O Belteshazzar, tell me the interpretation, because all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known to me the interpretation. But you are able, for the spirit of the holy gods is in you. Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was dismayed for a while, and his thoughts alarmed him. The king answered and said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream or the interpretation alarm you. Belteshazzar answered and said, my lord, may the dream be for those who hate you, and its interpretation for your enemies. 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 which was food for all, under which beasts of the field found shade, and 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. And because the king saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, Chop down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, in the tender grass of the field, and let him be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven periods of time pass over him. This is the interpretation, O king. It is a decree of the Most High, which has come upon my Lord the King, that you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. You shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and you shall be wet with the dew of heaven. And seven periods of time shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men, and gives it to whom he will. And as it was commanded to leave the stump of the roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be confirmed for you from the time that you know that heaven rules. Therefore, O King, let my counsel be acceptable to you. Break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your prosperity. All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar at the end of 12 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. At the end of the day 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. All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing. And He does according to His will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. And none can stay His hand or say to Him, what have you done? 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 Lord 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. Thanks be to God for His holy word. We have all heard the famous phrase, which is a biblical saying, pride comes before the fall. This is the story of mankind since the fall in the Garden of Eden. Now, this is what we expect in every man's story at some point. Man's pride sets him up for a fall. Pride sometimes expresses itself in being stubborn. At least that's what our wives tell us, right? So the one who thinks that he is the greatest thing since sliced bread will soon find out he is just like everyone else and is subject to the same infirmities. But our difficulty is moving beyond the fall. What happens next? Has God made a way back from the fall? The Christian believer needs to be reminded with a story that teaches there is more beyond the fall. God in his grace has made a way back from the fall. No matter how far you have fallen away from God, there is always the hope of restoration. Consider the case of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. Babylon, which was the center of ungodliness and paganism. In these first four chapters of the book of Daniel, Daniel and his three friends have been witnesses and mediators of the one true God of Israel to Nebuchadnezzar. He has already been warned once through a dream. He has seen the divine miracle of the three young men being delivered from the fiery furnace by the power of God. This is so in light of another phrase, I guess, three times a charm. Because here, Nebuchadnezzar recounts when he came to his senses, and he begins with the end. There is what movie reviewers call a spoiler at the beginning of the chapter. This chapter begins as a letter written by the king to his people, the nation of Babylon, praising God, the God of Israel, for what he has done for them. It says, 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. This tyrant of a leader went from demanding that his people worship his false idol, this image that he made out of gold, to saying, peace be multiplied to you. Then he speaks of where he found his peace, in the God of Daniel, the God of Israel. Nebuchadnezzar here becomes a witness to the faith. Now, Nebuchadnezzar has praised God before. He praised Him after the first dream was revealed to him back in Chapter 2. And he praised Him after the three young Jewish men were delivered from the fiery furnace in Chapter 3. So, what makes this praise any different? Some would want to speculate exactly when Nebuchadnezzar was converted. I'm not sure exactly when. But what I do know is that the pattern of behavior that was found in Nebuchadnezzar is often found in many of us. He praises God one minute, then he returns to his false gods the next. So to understand what makes this praise different, we need to understand what happened to Nebuchadnezzar. And this is what Nebuchadnezzar recounts for us here. Nebuchadnezzar recounts where he began in his pride, the warning that was given to him, which foretold of his fall before he recounts his restoration. Pride, warning, fall, restoration. So as he begins, Nebuchadnezzar reminisces about his life and the source of his pride. He speaks of his ease of living, his wealth, and his power, and yet he could not find ease or rest for his soul. He said that he was at ease in his house and prospering in his palace. He was a king, and not just any king. He was the most powerful man in the world. Talk about someone who had everything, worldly speaking. Yet he said, I saw a dream that made me afraid. As I lay in my bed, the fancies and the visions of my head alarmed me. He couldn't find peace in the dream he had. He had to find answers. So he used this power to demand that the wise men of Babylon be brought before him to tell him his dream and its interpretation once again. This is his second dream and his second decree to these wise men of Babylon. But see, you can have everything, and still not have anything. Without God, these possessions become momentary sources of pleasure, trying to fill the void of the one in whom we are defined our ultimate pleasure. And also, as for Nebuchadnezzar, these became sources of pride. This is what John would call the pride of life. Believing that he was living the real life because he had all these things. We live in a country that has been blessed with an overabundance. But this overabundance can also be a source of pride. And oftentimes for us, our possessions, our statuses, our achievements, can become sources of pride and get in the way of our relationship with God, thinking that everything is gonna be okay because we have all this stuff, we have security. These can become obstacles to the gospel in our lives. And God will use moments of disaster, to shake us up and work through those moments. It is in these moments that we are corrected and reminded of our ultimate allegiance and where it belongs. Nebuchadnezzar had it all, yet his dream brought the value of all those possessions into question. This dream shook him to the core. His pride was rattled. He had accomplished so much and his ultimate boast was in his own kingdom. So he had to be reminded that all of it can be taken away and that instead he is to be rich toward God. Think of the parable of the rich fool who produced so much that he had nowhere to store his wealth of crops. So he planned to tear down his little barns to build bigger barns in their place where he would store all his grain and goods. He had enough for many years, and he will say to himself, now I will retire. I will relax, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said to him, fool, this night your soul is required of you, and the things that you have prepared, whose will they be? So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. This is similar to what was told to Nebuchadnezzar in his dream. But the difference is that Nebuchadnezzar was given a warning. His dream was a warning. After summoning all the wise men of Babylon to come before him, in his desperation, this time, unlike the last time, Nebuchadnezzar told them the dream so that they could interpret it for him. But again, as we see, They were unable to. And who stepped up to the task? It was Daniel, once again, who was named Belteshazzar, after the name of Nebuchadnezzar's god. So he told Daniel the dream, as he was confident in Daniel's gift of interpretation. He called him the chief of magicians because he knew that the spirit of the gods, or a better translation, the spirit of God, was in him. No mystery was too difficult for him. Indeed, God had gifted Daniel and called him to such a task. So Nebuchadnezzar told him the dream. The dream was of a great and large tree in the midst of the earth. The tree grew and became strong. Its top reached to heaven. This is a direct allusion to the Tower of Babel and how its top reached the heavens. And this tree was visible to the end of the whole earth. The beasts found shade under it, and the birds lived in its branches, and all flesh fed from it. But then a Watcher, a Holy One, this is presumably an angel, came down from heaven and commanded that the tree be chopped down, locked the branches, stripped off its leaves, and scattered its fruit. Let the beasts and the birds flee from it. But he said, leave the stump of its roots in the earth bound with a band of iron and bronze amid the tender grass of the field. 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. The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, the decision by the word of the holy ones, to the end that the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will and sets over it the lowliest of men. So what or who did this tree symbolize? Daniel was dismayed for a while, and his thoughts alarmed him. The king tried to encourage him not to be alarmed, but the interpretation that came to Daniel was a shock to him, and he wished that this was for Nebuchadnezzar's enemies. Because the tree in the dream that was so large and great that it sustained both animals and humans, the tree symbolized Nebuchadnezzar. His kingdom was so great. His greatness had grown and reached up to heaven. The whole world was represented in his kingdom, surrounding his greatness. His dominion was to the ends of the earth. He had immense power, wealth, and influence. He had so much that he had little room for the Lord. But the Lord wanted to send him a warning. It came in the form of a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and said, chop down the tree and destroy it. But leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze in the tender grass of the field, and let him be wet with the dew of heaven. And let his portion be with the beasts of the field till seven periods of time pass over him." So basically, the interpretation of this dream, which, as Daniel said, was a decree from the Most High, was that Nebuchadnezzar would soon be chopped down by, as Ian Duggan calls him, a divine lumberjack. He shall be driven from among men. His kingdom will depart from him. He will soon dwell with the beasts. He will act like and eat like an animal. In other words, he will eat grass like an ox. And this will last for seven periods of time, which is symbolic for a full period of judgment. But for what reason? What was the purpose behind this judgment? It says, till Nebuchadnezzar knows that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will. Until Nebuchadnezzar learns that he is God. He didn't build his kingdom by his own bare hands. The Most High, the God of Daniel, is sovereign. He is the sovereign above all sovereigns. He is the king of all kings. In other words, Nebuchadnezzar needed to be humbled He needed to come to the realization that he was just a creature. And to learn that lesson, his humanity would even be removed. He would become a beast. Because that's what you become when you turn away from God and you reject spiritual things. You live by your senses only, you live by instinct, or what they call animal instinct only, and you become a beast. This is a lesson for all of us to learn. Whenever we feel the need or the temptation to puff out our chest and place confidence in the flesh, or it's a reminder for those who are in despair over our own situations, this is a clear reminder that God is in control. It is a warning for the prideful, but it is hope for the lowly. that God remains God and He is sovereign. Because there is hope for Nebuchadnezzar. This text is not just about God's judgment and wrath. There is the warning of it, but also God gave him hope. Repeatedly we see that although the tree is chopped down, yet it is not uprooted. The angel commanded that it be chopped down, but leave the stump of its roots in the earth. And as Nebuchadnezzar is transformed into a beast, it says that he would be wet with the dew of heaven. There will be a constant reminder of the hope he has if he only turned to God by faith. When the Israelites would read this text, they were to also be reminded of their hope That they too would be restored one day. That if they repent, they would be returned to God's presence in the Holy Land. They would have been thinking of Nebuchadnezzar. And how Nebuchadnezzar would have been a source of hope in their exile if he only turned to the Lord. When we read this text, we ought to be reminded of our own hope. We read this in Isaiah 6, verses 11-13, Then I said, How long, O Lord? And he said, Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste, and the Lord removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. and though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled. The holy seed is its stump. Here is a promise of a holy seed to remain in Nebuchadnezzar. But not only in Nebuchadnezzar, but also in Babylon, in Israel, and in the people of God down throughout her history. if only we would turn to the Lord. So Daniel said to Nebuchadnezzar, since the stump will remain, your kingdom shall be confirmed for you from the time that you know that heaven rules. Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you. Break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your prosperity. See, the gospel message is a message of God's free grace in Christ. But never forget that flowing from that message is also a message of repentance. Breaking off our sins, turning from our sins and turning to God. That there is a message that says you are to cast off injustice and become just people. Because the fruit of God's grace in the life of the believer is humility and repentance, breaking off our sins by practicing righteousness and justice. For the king, it was to show mercy to the oppressed and the people of God in the land whom he was oppressing with his tyranny and false worship. But this warning extends to everyone. It extends to everyone. It is a warning for all to humble themselves before God, to repent of their sins. And there are these stories in the Bible to warn us, to humble us, to reveal our sinful nature to us and how it is offensive to God. Sin is not to be taken lightly, but it is also here so that we may turn from our sin, and turn to God for forgiveness and receive God's grace. But what do you think was Nebuchadnezzar's response? More pride. It was more pride. He didn't heed the warning. And so we see his fall. After 12 months, he was walking on the roof of the Royal Palace of Babylon. This is a famous place. It's actually known as one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the Hanging Gardens in, I believe, what is modern-day Iraq, which he built for his wife. It's still there today, I think. Not in good shape, but it's still there. He was way up high, looking down at everything and everyone, thinking that he was God over all things. And it says that he answered and said, Answered what? Well, he answered the warning revealed in the dream 12 months prior. In other words, he answered back to God. And the audacity of his words, he 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. Before he could finish his line of reasoning, God replies to his response, 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 among men, and they 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. He lost everything that he once took pride in. He lost his wealth, his position of power, and he even lost his humanity. And now, unfortunately, many people have misused this text over the centuries, and especially more recently, thinking that the Bible is to be used as a medical handbook in diagnosing certain diseases. Now, they turn to this text and say, see, this is an example of mental illness. No, it's not. This is God's judgment. And please do not conclude that mental illness is evidence that the person who suffers from it is being judged by God. Many dear saints of the past have suffered from some form of mental illness, such as depression, which would include Martin Luther, as well as Charles Spurgeon, just to name a couple. That is not what this text is about. This case is unique. This was God dehumanizing Nebuchadnezzar to resemble a beast in order to humble him and to demonstrate his own power over him. It was to break him. This is direct divine judgment, which was divinely revealed to a specific individual. A divine revelation that we do not possess today so that we can throw our judgment around to people who are suffering, trying to figure out who is being judged and who is not. That is not the power nor the revelation we have today. There are many healthy and wealthy unbelievers who need to take heed to the warning here. Here, he was to be humbled. And this divine judgment led to his restoration. There was a purpose behind what God was doing to Nebuchadnezzar. Much like he has done to Israel in the past, his judgment would lead to salvation. This is what this is about. We see this in our next point. Notice Nebuchadnezzar's humbling, which led to his restoration. He went from looking down on his kingdom from the roof of his palace to being brought down to ground level, so to speak, where he said, at the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven." There is where his hope was found. There is where his salvation was found. He went from believing that he himself was to be admired and praised as a God, who was never satisfied with what he already possessed, to looking to God. That's the point here. And when he lifted his eyes to heaven, something changed. A few things happened. His reason returned, his kingdom was restored, and he had praise on his lips to God. He blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever, saying, for His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing. And He does according to His will among the hosts of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. And none can stay His hand or say to Him, what have you done? 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. And that he did. That he did. He humbled Nebuchadnezzar so that Nebuchadnezzar would see the light and praise the king of kings who made him great. And the Lord added even more to his kingdom. Now, there are many lessons that we can learn from this text, but I'm not saying that this should be the exact experience of every believer. We don't want to make our experiences, especially our experiences of suffering, a condition for salvation. But for every believer, we will be humbled in some way or another. Hopefully, it is when we open up the Word of God and see our own sinfulness and our inability to save ourselves. Because the first thing we must acknowledge is that everything we have is a gift from God. Everything, everything we own. God is the one who has blessed us with life, with talents, with circumstances that give rise to opportunities for us to advance ourselves and our families. So all praise is due to Him. He is the one who humbles the proud and exalts the humble. He is the one who saves us by His grace. who saves us from the wrath that is coming, the judgment that would last forever if he didn't change Nebuchadnezzar's heart. Now, this does not mean that we beat ourselves up or that we take part in some sort of self-hatred. No. Well, why would that be wrong? Because it means we're still focused on self. It means we're still focused on self rather than lifting our eyes to heaven. And that's the point. We shouldn't think too highly nor too lowly of ourselves. Rather, we look to the one in whom we find our worth, our value, because he created us for himself. And that is the point that God was trying to make to Nebuchadnezzar. We were created to glorify and enjoy God. And for Nebuchadnezzar, he humbled him, stripped him of everything. But then he also exalted him. The point is that whatever situation we're in, we are to give glory to God, whether we're rich or poor. This is not at all saying we should never become rich. But this is saying we are to give glory to God, no matter what our station in life is. Remember what Paul said. that in any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Him who strengthened me. The focus is on Him. He is the one whom we rely on for all things and apart from Him, we can do nothing. Isn't that what Jesus said to His disciples? See, our achievements, our successes and even our failures, can be a cause of stumbling when we come to a place where we say we no longer need God. Until we find ourselves in tough situations that God uses to humble our pride. It is in these tough circumstances that God works his grace within us. He wants to bring us to a place where we say that we are debtors to mercy alone. Sometimes it is when we're eating out of a pig's trough. like the prodigal son, that we come to our senses and look to heaven for grace and for help in our time of need. All we have to contribute to our salvation is our sin. So the only way to approach God is with empty hands, yet lifting our eyes to heaven where Christ is seated. This is what I call you to do every time we come before the Lord's Supper. Look to heaven where Christ is seated, He is feeding you, turning from all of our pride, from all of our accomplishments, from all of our failures and sins, turning from all of our disappointments, and turning to the One who restores all things. Just as Peter said, humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time, He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you. Because He cares for you. Even after all that Nebuchadnezzar had done, as the most powerful man in the world, Daniel chapter 4 proves to us that God cared for him. He cared for her. Now the pride, fall, and restoration of Nebuchadnezzar bears a striking resemblance to the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, later known as Paul, as we read earlier in Acts chapter 9. Paul was full of pride in his background and in his accomplishments, circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews. As to the law, a Pharisee, as to zeal, a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under the law, blameless. He thought he was a pretty good guy. He followed the law as best as he could. He thought he was good with God. But we know that no one is good. No, not one. And in order to see that, there had to be a miracle that would have to take place. And as the gospel was being spread by the apostles, he was a witness to the mighty works of God, specifically in the speech and stoning of Stephen in Acts chapter 7. Yet it didn't stick until he was visited by Christ himself. God had come down to him to humble him. Paul would be humbled of his pride and restored by Jesus in order to serve Jesus. And this is the case with all of us. We can't just be onlookers of what God has done. We are to be recipients of what God has done. God must work within us to get our attention. So don't be an onlooker to God's wonderful works. Don't say, oh, it's great for them that they go to church, that they hear the gospel. It's having a great impact on their lives. I don't need that, though. My life is good. I'm good the way I am. I can guarantee you that you're not. Do you think you're good without Jesus? That's not what he said to his disciples. You can't do anything without me, and you can't be saved without me. But this pattern of humility and exaltation is not only reserved for sinners who have been granted God's grace, because there is one who was without sin, without pride, who fell at the hands of sinners. He didn't need to be humbled by God, but he chose to humble himself, leave his throne, and take on flesh. He was the ruler of all things and at any point he could have exalted himself, but he didn't. And there's the connection. He is called the stump of Jesse by Isaiah. After he prophesied that God's own people would be judged and be cut down to a stump and through this stump, a remnant would be preserved. This is exactly what happened when Israel was cut down to a stump, but from that stump, grew the Messiah, born of a virgin, born a child, yet a king. And this stump would come and die for us, sinners who are filled with pride. He wasn't spared the way Nebuchadnezzar was spared. He had to die in a gruesome way on a cross, but three days later, He was risen and later he was exalted to sit on his throne. He is the author of our peace as he proclaims, peace be multiplied to you. And his dominion is an everlasting dominion and his kingdom endures from generation to generation. He was humbled. to the place of an obedient servant, obedient to the point of death on the cross for sinners. That's why Paul says, therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord, that he is Yahweh, to the glory of God the Father. Have you turned from your sin and receive the mercy and grace of Jesus? Have you looked to the cross, which is your only hope of salvation from pride? Because that's where your sin was nailed. You can't do it yourself. God extends this hope to you in the gospel. As long as there is life in this world, there is hope for sinners in Jesus, no matter how far off you may be. Consider Nebuchadnezzar. He is our refuge. And as we are united to Him, He has promised that we would all soon be glorified with Him as well. Amen.