So, as we start into this section, again only about half the chapter today, it's a second story of Nebuchadnezzar and him having another dream. But if you remember just at the end of chapter 3, this was also including Nebuchadnezzar. Let me read the very end of chapter 3 again to remind us of what just happened. It was the God-saved Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and Nebuchadnezzar, he made the fire seven times as hot, and even his own men got burned up, but not a whiff, not a tinge. of hurt happened to God's people, right? Well, let me read from Daniel 3, starting in verse 28, to remind us what happened. Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent his angel, remember there's a fourth amongst them, amongst the three in the furnace, The importance of staying faithful to God, even when it gets hot, literally hot. Oh wait, they didn't even get affected by that furnace. It's incredible. Verse 29, therefore, what does Nebuchadnezzar say? I make a decree. Kings love making decrees, don't they? I mean, we're getting all kinds of decrees nowadays in our own country. Executive orders, they're happening. Bam, bam, bam, bam. But what do the kings do? They're like, I command, I decree any people Any nation, any language or language that speaks anything against God, the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses be laid in ruins." There was a decree of which Brother Jacob rightly called out. There's a blasphemy law that was created, meaning you cannot say something against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. If anybody from anywhere, people, nation, language, notice this is showing you that King Nebuchadnezzar really was a conqueror of the known earth at that time. Kind of like the Roman Empire, they were said to rule the world. Well, they ruled everyone that was known at that time. There may have been other peoples on the other side of the earth, but they were ruling such a vast area and expansive that he can say to people of different languages and all the people that he's conquered, Hey, anybody who I have jurisdiction over, do not talk against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. If you do, you're going to get torn limb from limb, and your houses are going to get destroyed. So we go to this part, this most recent ending of the chapter, because this is the most recent story that we got, and it's a good ending of the story, right? It's a good ending, and we have words from Nebuchadnezzar himself. And it's good to be reminded of this because sometimes people misunderstand chapter four that we're getting into, and they maybe think too much or read too much into it. A lot of people continue to want to say that Nebuchadnezzar gets saved along the way. And it's like, well, no, he's a pagan king who is rightly understanding that the one true God is beating him. You know, kind of like Pharaoh does give in, but then later goes back on his word, we're going to see a similar repetitious idea with that in Nebuchadnezzar. So we're going to see strengths or when he's lining up with God, but then we're going to see in chapter 4 he's going to get humbled by God. We're going to talk probably more about that next week. So, let me read again in chapter 4, and even notice the peoples and the nations language that gets repeated. Chapter 4, verse 1, King Nebuchadnezzar, to all peoples, see, like the decree, and nations and languages that dwell in all the earth, peace be multiplied to you. Sounds good, and it is, or at least for this time. It seemed good to me now, to show the signs and wonders that God, that the Most High God has done for me. Let me just stop here before we move on. This is a unique chapter in the book because it's being told from the perspective of Nebuchadnezzar himself. Like, Nebuchadnezzar is talking here. And that's very interesting that a pagan king would have some real estate in the Bible. Wouldn't you say that? But I think this is not on accident, and I don't think that Nebuchadnezzar actually said, Daniel, give me those scrolls, I'm going to write it or have my guys. I think this is Daniel writing in the voice of the king to give us the perspective of what the king was going through. It's not like there are pagans, because the reason why I make this clear is because some people will use this as an example to say, see, like, the Bible has been taken over by different peoples and different pagan beliefs at different times, so we should incorporate other pagans and other voices and other beliefs to be brought into the Bible. Or they'll say that this somehow corrupts the Bible because it wasn't done by one of God's people. None of that is true. Daniel is the writer of this, and he's given you the perspective of Nebuchadnezzar, and this would have been a true experience of the king. So let's ask the question, as we often do for our text today, what are we to learn about God. Remember, this whole book is about God. Yes, it includes human characters, and they're important, but God is the most important character. What are we to learn about God from this second story of King Nebuchadnezzar and his dream? Another example of King Nebi and another dream. So what are we to learn in this particular chapter? Well, we're going to learn something that we've heard before, but it's going to be accentuated again, and even clarified even more. The point is this, what are we to learn? That our sovereign God's kingdom is all-powerful and endures forever. Our sovereign God's kingdom, His rule, His reign, His power is unlimited. It's all powerful and it will not end. It will keep going. And this is going to be in very clear contrast to the kingdoms of God versus the kingdoms of earth. That's what's happening. We live on this kingdom. We live in this earth and it has kingdoms. There's earthly rulers and we live underneath their power and authority. But there is a higher authority. There is a highest authority. There's one that will last forever and never be upended. So even though there are earthly kingdoms and there are difficulties that take place, there is the highest kingdom that we are to keep our eyes on. So let's read again. After Nebuchadnezzar says, this is I, and I had this, I wanna tell you about what happened, he's gonna give you the answer right up front. And it's this in verse three. He's talking about God, the most high God, and how great are his signs, how mighty are his wonders, talking about his power, and his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion endures from generation to generation. Now, just stop here and appreciate what is going on in this story. This is, at that time, the most powerful human being to exist on earth. the conqueror of many peoples, of many lands, the one who has money, and women, and gardens. In fact, King Nebuchadnezzar, one of the Babylonian kings, one of the highest of Babylonian kings, I think I've said it before, that Saddam Hussein, who's been killed now, but he was trying to resurrect the beauty and the grandeur of King Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom, because he is known to be the highest in the ancient history of this time and this land and this region. He was saying, that's the best they had in the past, I want to resurrect that. He is the highest of his people in his land during this time. For him to be able to say so clearly, the most high God, meaning not me and not our gods, He has all power for signs, for wonders. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. His dominion endures forever. Most guys who run the world Don't say stuff like this, right? Most guys who run the world make power and authority, they usually talk about themselves. Now let me say, again, King Nebuchadnezzar is not perfect, and even though he does say true things, he's going to fall, so we're gonna see that he doesn't keep this refrain in his mouth and his mind, but in this moment, we're being given right up front King Nebuchadnezzar's understanding. So, how great are his signs, how mighty are his wonders, his kingdom is forever, everlasting and endures forever. Daniel has already brought this up in previous times. Daniel chapter 2, verse 20, in the blessing praise response from God giving Daniel wisdom to be able to interpret the previous dream, Daniel says, answered and said, blessed be the name of God forever and ever to whom belong wisdom and might. Do you remember that? So this is not something new. And then Daniel, just the previous chapter, the verses that we read before, Daniel 3, 29, Nebuchadnezzar previously said something similar. 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, and then he ends it by saying, for there is no other God who is able to rescue in this way. There is a uniqueness to our God in his power, and in his majesty and in his kingdom. Daniel chapter 2 verse 44, There was the interpretation of the statue and the four different parts of the statue, the head, the chest, the legs, and then the feet. That whole dream and interpretation had to do with God telling Nebuchadnezzar that he wasn't going to be king forever. In fact, he was going to get succeeded by other kings in other kingdoms. And then we see that he didn't like that. He made his own statue. He said, no, worship and bow down to the statue. Well, here's what that dream included. It included God's kingdom lasting forever. It says in verse 44, It shall break in pieces all the kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever. So the reason why I'm showing this is to show you this is God's actually intention and Daniel's intention as this book is being put together to show these things again and again and again. God is powerful, God is king, God is working out human history. God is in control of even the highest of all peoples. He is the highest of all. And so it's important to bring this up front and say, okay, this should set the tone for how Nebuchadnezzar is going to tell his story. So that's our first point. We're going to spend more time on the second point in terms of our application. because we've heard this before and there will be applications that are connected. So let's move on to now the story and the telling of Nebuchadnezzar and his dream so that we can see towards the end of how we can see what God is doing here. So verse four, let's read on. I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and prospering in my palace, as he starts to tell the story, I saw a dream that made me afraid. Oh, this sounds familiar. He had a dream. It was scary. And as I lay in bed, the fancies and the visions of my head alarmed me. He's actually showing vulnerability here. This is also an interesting thing for a king to be able to admit. In fact, if you know anything about histories and kings, just look at the Egyptians. There aren't any stories of them doing anything bad or wrong. That's often how it goes with histories, right? To the victor goes the spoils and to the victor goes the history books. That's kind of how that works. Well, we see here, in fact, some people say this isn't true because we don't have this written down in any other of the Babylonian histories. You're like, of course you're not going to have this written down in Babylonian histories. This makes them look dumb. You know, this makes them look bad. That's usually what is not written down. So that doesn't discredit this. It's God's Word. It's true. It's a true history. But as I saw the dream, it made me afraid as I lay in my bed and my head was alarmed. Verse six, so I made a decree that all the wise men of Babylon should be brought before me and that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream. Just a quick stop here. This has already been done before, right? this shows you that he's not saved. A lot of people go, oh, look it, he's saying, Most High God, and nobody can say anything against him, and he's telling all the peoples, he's making decrees over the world. Well, immediately in this next chapter, we see him not learning his lesson, about, you know, why wouldn't he just go straight to Daniel and say, hey, Daniel, you helped me out last time and your God was awesome. In fact, I made a decree that your God is awesome. Nobody can talk about it. So let me just go straight to God because I have faith in him and I believe that he's the holder of truth. And so I'm just going to go straight to him. That would maybe show some of the fruit of his belief. No, he relies on his own power again. He relies on his own cabinet again. And he goes, I make a decree. You guys tell me what this means. He's going right back to the same old story. Right? Sin dies hard. He's not actually trusting in God. He just had a moment of clarity, but he goes right back to his own power. So, verse 7. Then the magicians and the enchanters and the Chaldeans and the astrologers came in, and I told them the dream, just like last time, but they could not make known to me its interpretation, just like last time. And at last, Daniel came in before me, who has named Belteshazzar, notice, after the name of my God. He's clearly not saved because he's identifying with the God Bel. He's not identifying with God the Most High as his God. And in fact, we're gonna get more data that he's not saved. And notice, he's talking about Daniel, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. I told him the dream." Now, notice he didn't say, in whom is the spirit of the Most High God, which is what he's called Daniel's God. He's saying Daniel has the spirit of holy gods. Nebuchadnezzar is just a pagan king who believes in all the gods and all the different types of gods out there, and he's saying, my god, Bel, Oh, you have the name of my god, Bel, and you have a bunch of gods in you. Yeah, yeah, let me try to use you. So he's clearly not saved. The reason why I bring this up is because sometimes people make too much of this and they start to try to make Nebuchadnezzar the hero of the story. See, Nebuchadnezzar, he knows what he's saying. We should listen to him. No, he's a pagan king who gets it wrong again and again and again. Don't fall for that trap. So what does he say here? I told him the dream, saying, O Balthasar, verse nine, chief of the magicians, shows us Daniel's rank, chief of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods, there it is, is in you, and that no mystery is too difficult for you. Tell me the visions of my dream that I saw in my interpretation. The visions of my head as I lay in bed were these, and I saw and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great. Let me stop here. We're going to see in these next verses, as he starts telling the dream, about this tree, and he's going to describe it and what it's like, but we're going to see that this dream is actually not very hard to interpret. Somebody was a little dense, maybe him, maybe all the astrologers and enchanters, I mean, it's pretty clear on the surface what this dream is about, but trees would have been known to be associated with kingdoms. They were strong, they were rooted in the ground, they upheld other people and other things, like the kingdom is holding up its people, the king is holding up the kingdom. So what does he say, verse 11? The tree grew and became strong, and its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth. It sounds like a kingdom, that is, over all the other kingdoms of the earth, Its leaves were beautiful, and its fruit abundant, and it was food for all. And 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 just want to bring attention to the birds of the heavens lived in the branches. You know, the beasts are under the shade, the birds are in the branches. This is actually a motif well-known in ancient writings that, you know, in the Bible, too, we're going to see that. The birds represent other peoples and other nations that are living in another kingdom. and that it's being upheld by the branches. The birds are being upheld by the branches. So these other peoples, that's why Nebuchadnezzar can say, any people, any language, any nation, listen to me. Why? Because they're in the kingdom being upheld by Nebuchadnezzar. So this now brings us to a part of the dream and its interpretation, or and its telling, that will get us to our second point this morning. So what are we to learn about God from King Nebuchadnezzar in a second story in his dream, the first, was that our sovereign God, his kingdom, is all-powerful and it endures forever. Now we're going to get even more specific on how that applies. Our second point is, our Most High God, which is how it's talked about in Daniel, being sovereign over every earthly kingdom, gives to them kingdoms to whomever He will. God is sovereign over all other earthly kingdoms, and God is the one who gives them their power. He gives them to whomever He wants, whenever He wants. It really is showing that the Most High God, the Sovereign God, is the highest of all kingdoms. It fits with the first point. His kingdom is all-powerful, and it rules forever. And God gives kingdoms to men, and He gives them to whomever He wants. So notice, it's going to be told to us by Nebuchadnezzar in point one, and this watcher, this angel, is going to be giving us the main point in verse 13 and on. So what does he say? I saw in the visions of my head as I lay in my bed, and behold, a watcher, a holy one, so it'd be an angel, came down from heaven, and he proclaimed aloud and said thus. Here's what's gonna happen to that tree. Chop down the tree, lop off its branches, strip off its leaves, and scatter its fruit. Just take this tree down, right? This almighty tree that's taking care of everyone. It's a dream of judgment. Verse 15, and leave the stump, although there is a bit of mercy here, leave the stump and its roots in the earth. Don't completely take it out. Chop it way down to a nub, but don't completely take it out. Leave a stump and bound with a band of iron and bronze amid the tender grass of the field. So don't completely stamp it out, but take it down. Let him be wet. Notice it talks about the tree. It moves from the tree and then now calls it him. So we know that it's about the king and not just general tree kingdom. It's about him now, notice. And 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. Now verse 17, we get even the clearest part of our point today. The sentence is by the decree of the watchers. God's holy angels, and the decision of the word of the holy ones, to the end that the living may know what? What does God, through his angels, want to teach the living? 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 in today's passage, we're seeing another sovereignty passage of God's kingdom It's all-powerful, it rules forever. Specifically, here's how that works out, God rules all the kingdoms of men. It's not this chaotic, left to themselves to do whatever they want. No, God is guiding history, and God, as it's said in previous, God builds, sets up kingdoms, he tears down kingdoms, and this is God's sovereignty. He gives kingdoms to whoever he wants to give kingdoms to. We're going to see this in Chapter 4 and in Chapter 5. It's going to be brought up again and again. And so Nebuchadnezzar tells us, and the Holy Angel Watcher tells us. And so we end our section with verse 18. This dream I, Nebuchadnezzar, saw, and you, O Balthasar, 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. So, There's a lot there, but I think what we're called to pull out in this first half of the story is clearly God is establishing his, again, and reminding of his sovereignty through this pagan king, and not just that he's generally sovereign, he's specifically sovereign over who is king, who is able to be a king and be king, and that whenever anybody is a king, it's because God gives them that kingdom. It's not the king's kingdom. It's God who gives him that kingdom for him to rule. In fact, this very same idea, Jesus himself says when he's talking to Pilate, if you remember in the New Testament, when he's before Pontius Pilate and they're putting Jesus on trial and Pilate is trying to discern what's going on. Let me read from John 19. So Pilate said to Jesus, you will not speak to me? Like hey, Jesus is quiet, remember? You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and the authority to crucify you? Here's Pilate flexing before Jesus, the king of kings, right? It's kind of funny. But Jesus answered him, I'm scared of you. You just flexed. No, he didn't do, isn't that scared? What does Jesus say? He goes, I know what Daniel, I know what Daniel teaches. You will have no authority over me at all unless it had been given to you from above. God has all power, all authority. His kingdom is all powerful, and God is the one who sets up kings. God is the one who gives authority. God is the one who allows for human history to happen the way that it is. This is a really big cosmic picture that we're being reminded of. These stories, and it's in the voice of Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar is bringing this up. Going back to Daniel 4 verse 11, I want to revisit the idea of the tree. Because really, what this is doing, this whole story, let's just get to it. This whole story is a story that happened in space and time in the 6th century BC. It's to encourage the Israelites that God has not forgotten them, that God loves them, that God sees them, that God knows them, that God is caring for them, that God will fulfill his promises to them, that he will keep them until the end. And that is ultimately a story that is helpful for us, not because we're Israelites, but because it's true for God and for his people because he gave Jesus Christ. And really, the story of Daniel is pointing us to the King of kings, the Lord of lords, who has all power and authority, and who sets up kings and takes down kings. This is actually ultimately pointing us to Jesus. Jesus is this way. Let me make a connection from this story directly to Jesus. There's many of them. Here's just a few. Let's go about the tree grew and became strong. Remember, this is the dream and it's tree topped. reached the heaven, and it was visible to the ends of the whole earth. Talking about Nebuchadnezzar, its leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant, and it was the food for all. And the beasts of the field found its shade under it, and the birds of the heavens lived in its branches, and all the flesh was fed by it. This very same imagery that happens in Daniel, Jesus himself uses when he's talking about his own kingdom and the kingdom of heaven. Let's read that from Matthew 13. Matthew 13, remember the kingdom parables? So Jesus is speaking about the kingdom. He's making the connection that he's the king. And so he says he put another parable before them, and he says the kingdom of heaven is like the grain of a mustard seed. Interesting that he uses a small example, not a big tree. But you'll see tree come later. meaning it's humble, it's modest. He's not boisterous and proud like earthly kings, but he's humble. It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown, it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree so that the birds of the air come and make their nest in its branches. Does that sound familiar? The Jews would have known the story and the dreams of Daniel. They would have known the lesson that says God is the God of all gods, the king of all kings. And that story, that dream about Nebuchadnezzar and him being a tree and the king of a kingdom that upheld all the birds, all the nations, that's actually a picture of how it's gonna be in the king of kings, the Lord of lords, the kingdom of kingdoms. Isn't that what Nebuchadnezzar said? God's kingdom is a forever kingdom. He's got all power to do signs and miracles and wonders. Well, Jesus is saying, that's true of my kingdom, the kingdom of heaven. Not only that, Daniel 7, which we'll go over in weeks to come, it's a connection to the King of kings, the Lord of lords, and how God is the one who sets up kingdoms and tears down kingdoms. Well, look what the vision in chapter 7, we'll get a preview, it's a very important text for the book of Daniel and for even the New Testament understanding. Chapter 7, verse 13 and 14. Daniel, he says, I saw the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like the Son of Man. There came a human figure, right? And he came to the Ancient of Days. He came to God and was presented before him. There is going to be like a human type figure who comes to the presence of God and is presented, is in the presence of God. And what happens while this human figure is in the presence of God? What happens? Verse 14, and to him, that son of man, that human figure was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples and nations and languages, does that sound familiar? These languages that took place in Daniel 4 and Daniel 3. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, right? Which shall not pass away, and his kingdom, one that shall not be destroyed. That is exactly what is happening in chapter four. Nebuchadnezzar says, God, the most high God, his kingdom is an all powerful kingdom of all, and it's everlasting. It will not pass away, it will not be destroyed. This is a picture of Christ. So even in Nebuchadnezzar, this earthly figure, God is the one who gives Nebuchadnezzar his authority, and God is the one who's gonna ultimately give Christ his power, his authority. This is pointing us to Jesus. In fact, we see this fulfilled in the life of Jesus. As we know, Matthew 18, I'm sorry, 28, 18, the Great Commission, we've read it before many times, what does Jesus say to them? All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. This is the same figure of Daniel 7, the Messiah, the man who is to come to rule the earth. The one from the seed of the woman, the one from the descendant of Abraham, the offspring of Abraham, who is in the lineage of David, the son of man. These are all the same guy, the same figure. And so what does he say? Because I'm king in heaven and earth, I have all power and authority. obey me, follow me, go make disciples, go preach to them, go baptize the ones who respond, go in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, go teach them everything that I've commanded you, to observe my words, and Christ, I will be with you as you do this work. And so, really, in our passage today, we can make all kinds of remarks about Nebuchadnezzar and the particularities of what he's saying and how this works, but really, big picture, Daniel 4 is about God's power to raise up and to take down kings. And it's about God's power that ultimately is gonna be shown in the person and the work of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the one who has all power and authority. Jesus Christ is the one who's ruling and reigning. Jesus Christ is the one whom we must pay attention to. And Nebuchadnezzar is another testimony of that. It points us forward. Look to the God, the Most High God. Look to His kingdom. Look to His Son of Man. Look to His King of who He is going to reign forever. In fact, remember in chapter 2, there was the statue, right? The head of gold and silver and bronze and clay. Wasn't there a kingdom that started as a stone that was gonna crush all the kingdoms of the earth, and that kingdom was going to be an everlasting kingdom? That's Jesus. That's the New Testament. That's the story that we're a part of. This is all about Christ. This is all about us seeing how Christ fulfills these exact promises and prophecies, and that Daniel is about God. who gives us Christ. It's wonderful. It's a wonderful thing. Yes, we can learn about the courage from Daniel. Yes, we can learn about the steely spines of Shandrach, Meshach, and Abednego. But we must see the beauty and the sovereignty of God and of Christ, His King. And so I just want to ask you, as you hear this, are you reminded of God's sovereignty in your day-to-day life? Thinking about this, in the same way that the Israelites would have been encouraged, oh good, even though we're living in a foreign land and under a foreign dictatorship or foreign kingdom, God is still in control, he still sees me, he still knows me, he still loves me, he's still in control, I don't have to worry. This is our story too. Do you know this? Do you believe this? Does this encourage you? Does this help you? Because that's what it's meant for. It's meant to give you strength, to give you clarity, to not be tossed to and fro by the winds of politics or by what's going on in your life where there is some sort of power where you feel powerless. Right? This is to remind us that God is in control even in our families, and in our jobs, and in the market, and the stock market, and in our retirement funds. He's God over all things. He's God over our schools. He's God over our kids, and our grandkids. And He's got a plan, and that plan is good, and it's trustworthy, and that plan is look to Jesus. Look to Jesus. Who is Jesus? He's God, he's man, he came from earth to be able to live this righteous life, to purchase a people who are sinful, who are desperately needing to be judged by God because they're so wicked. That includes you and me. If it were not for Christ and his person, his work, his death, his resurrection, his descent into hell, if it wasn't for his work and what he did, we would have no hope. But because he has done that, because God kept his promises, we can have hope, we can live day to day. We can keep our eyes on Christ, fixed on him, saying he's lived life for me, I can live my life today. I can trust in him today. I don't have to be a slave to anxiety. I don't have to be concerned about what other people think of me as most important. I must be concerned about what God has done, what God has said. I can live day by day. Not worrying about my future so much because, oh no, how's it gonna turn out? I don't know, am I making all the right decisions? You could say today is the day of salvation. Today is the day of asking God to keep you humble and in the faith. Today is the day of obeying God. Today is the day of trusting God. And he's gonna hold us together. This is important, so I wanna ask you clearly, do you live confidently knowing that Christ is reigning now and will fully reign forever? Do you live confidently? Daniel four is telling us God is king. His kingdom is powerful. He rules forever and that if you believe in God and Jesus Christ, he is your king. And he will guard you against other crazy, radical human kings or other authorities. It doesn't mean that we'll have a painless life. It doesn't mean that there won't be trials and tribulations. We're promised trials and tribulations. What we're saying and what this is telling us is, do you live like Daniel in the sense that he believed in God? He trusted in God, even when he was in a foreign land. And this story is to say, it'll be okay. God is with us. God is with you. So live faithfully. Live confidently. Don't be stuck in sin. This should be a passage that encourages us to keep going, not give up, not get stuck. Because isn't it so true that we get weighed down by the worries of life? Do we not? Oh, is there gonna be enough money? Will people like me or will they cut me off? Will I make it ahead in my job or career or my classes? Will my family members come to faith? I've been praying for them. Will my grandkids turn out okay? These are the concerns we have of day-to-day life. And Daniel 4 is saying, big picture, guys, big picture. God has it, he's with you, he's for you. Trust him, obey him. Live confidently, live boldly. Don't let anybody push you down. Trust the Lord, trust Jesus. In fact, it's so important that we have just a clarity that Christ is King now and is reigning now. Let me show us Ephesians 1 verses 20 and 21. It says, that He, God, Father, worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand. This is right, Christ died and rose again, and He's seated at the right hand in the heavenly places. He ascended up into heaven. far above all rule and authority and power. This is all kingly dominion language, right? And dominion, there it is. And above every name that is named, look what it says, not only in this age, meaning it is happening in this age. Not only is he reigning far above all power and rule and authority and dominion, now, he is reigning now. Some people are like, I can't wait for Jesus to come back so that he can be reigning. He's reigning now. That's part of what Daniel can teach us too, is that it may look like it's just a human kingdom happening. God's reigning over that human kingdom. Christ is reigning over that human kingdom. Now, that doesn't mean that that human kingdom will not go against, you know, the ways of God. It just means that God's going to have everything happen according to His big plan. Not only now in this age, but also in the one to come. And then it's both, he reigns now and he reigns forever. We have to get this clear. Our present is secure in Christ, our future is secure in Christ. Revelation 11, 15, it says, then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying, the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. This is a fulfillment of Daniel's interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, that a rock would come and strike the feet of those earthly kingdoms, which the foot is Rome, strikes Rome, and then what happens? Jesus starts a kingdom that lasts forever. The kingdoms of man have become the kingdoms of our God and his Christ, Jesus, and it shall reign forever. So he reigns now, and he will continue to reign forever. And so our question, do you live confidently? For those of you who have struggled in your faith, struggled in your obedience, struggled in your abilities to trust the Lord, let me encourage you. If you're tired, if you're weary, If you've been living in your own strength, Christ says, come to me, come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. You're just spinning your wheels. But Christ is king. So grab onto him, trust in him, follow him, submit to him, one day at a time, one command at a time, one thought at a time, one feeling at a time. And He will walk with you side by side. He will be like that fourth person who is with you in the fiery furnace. He will never leave you or forsake you. He will be with you when it's difficult. And then when things are going well, praise the Lord. He's blessing us in our family. We're growing in our faith. We have good relationships. God is good. And even when things are hard, he's giving us peace. He's giving us joy. He's keeping us united. He's having our faith actually, like, I believe God and His promises. Give Him all praise and glory for that. Don't take any credit for that. Say, it was because God strengthened me. It's because the Spirit's working. It's because His church is a blessing. It's because His word is true. We give Him all the praise and the glory. Do you live confidently knowing that Christ is reigning now and that He will reign forever? If you're here this morning, And you need to come to enter into this kingdom of Christ. I mean, you don't know Jesus, or you've heard of him, but you're not actually a part of Christ's people, his kingdom. You haven't been forgiven yet. Christ says, come to me, be forgiven, believe in me, I will forgive you. And there's this wonderful promise in the Gospel of John where he says, for all those people who come to me, I will in no way cast away. Meaning, if you truly see the beauty of Christ and you cry out to him and say, forgive me, help me, I need you, Jesus responds with love. He says, come to me, I will not cast away. But he doesn't play games. He's not looking for you to save him now, but then once he saved you through that one crisis, well, I'm gonna ditch Jesus. This is a lifelong trusting in Jesus, a lifelong living for him. That's why when we get baptized, we're saying, I'm dead to my old self. Baptisms, when you go in the water, it's like you're in the grave. And you say, I'm dead to that old life. I'm raising a newness of life to walk with Jesus in a new life, forever life with Christ. I'm not going back to the dead. I'm living with Christ forever in his kingdom. If that's you, come to faith today. Talk to one of us about how to do that. We'd be happy to do that. And for those of us who are here and encouraged by the word, be strengthened today. Is there a sin that God wants you to continue to battle or just to kill? Is there a person or a church member or a family member God wants you to love and serve? Are there prayers that he wants you to dig in deeper to and say, be persistent and pray to me. I hear you, I know you, I love you. God is saying, live confidently because I'm in control. I love you and I'm for you. Amen? Let's pray. Lord, thank you so much for Daniel 4. We're just getting started and we know there's more to the story. But Lord, thank you for how so clearly you call us to trust in your immense power. You are sovereign over all the world and in human history and kings everywhere. Lord, you raised up Nebuchadnezzar. You'll take him down. And Lord, you raised up Jesus and he will reign forever. So, Lord, please help us to see his beauty week after week, day after day, and to submit ourselves again, Lord, not for salvation again, but out of love and obedience. Lord, take my day again. May it be yours for your purposes, because I trust you. Help me to live. Help us to live confidently because you're ruling and reigning now and you will rule and reign forever. It's in your name we pray. Amen. Amen.