Welcome to the Susquehanna Valley Baptist Pulpit, preaching a life worth living, abundant life in Christ. And now the message. Daniel's an interesting man. He served under four different kings, really the presence of perhaps five different kings if you can count the Jewish king upon which sat on the throne in Jerusalem that was defeated in 586 BC. The Lord used him as a prophet primarily really even to expound upon the times of the Gentiles. If you have your Bibles there look in Daniel chapter 4 and we begin reading in verse number 28. All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of the 12 months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon and the king spake and said is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might and of power and for the honor of my majesty?" While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken, the kingdom is departed from thee, and they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beast of the field. They shall make thee to eat grass as oxen seven times," and in Daniel the times deals with years, "'seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and governeth it to whomsoever He will. We're speaking on the subject this morning of the God of the restless soul. Notice, if you will, as we recap this paragraph in your notes, when we reflect on all the restlessness that is present in our souls, we should be prompted to consider what is the foundation of this restlessness? Where does it come from? Surely it's not founded in God's wisdom. When a believer embraces God's wisdom, Proverbs 4 tells us this, it is a crown about their head. Those that attain godly wisdom are blessed for surely, and again Proverbs chapter 4, they find life and favor of the Lord. I'm reminded of the scriptures, if God be for us, who can be against us? So if I have godly wisdom, I have life in favor. That does not sound like restlessness, does it? Restlessness of soul is directly linked to a different source from which believers are admonished to resist. You've got there Proverbs chapter 3 and verse 5. Trust, the scripture says, in the Lord with all thine heart. But then there's a parallel to it, isn't it? A condemnation, if you will, an admonition, and lean not to thine own understanding. where it managed to resist this fleshly, earthly wisdom. This false wisdom is earthly, and by earthly, you can consider it temporal. It's sensual of the flesh. Your flesh will always agree with earthly wisdom. My flesh will always agree. That's the natural tendency. And the scripture says it's devilish, for that's from whence it really comes. And this earthly false wisdom produces strife and confusion. Now let me ask you, does that sound like restlessness at all? Strife and confusion? I would submit to you that often one child of God that is dealt upon with a restless soul, there's often confusion there. Rather than promote the sovereign God of heaven in his way, False wisdom, this earthly sensual devilish wisdom, stirs our soul like the tumult of the ocean, for its God always demands worship. The God of the restless soul is our pride. I've given you here a number of passages. Really, if you will, there's many, many more. Particularly, you'll find them in the book of Proverbs. You'll find them in the New Testament too, the admonition really from beginning to end. But note some of them and in some cases I may have only give you in a portion of the passage and the primary reason is to fit it on the text here. But Proverbs chapter 11 and verse 2, when pride cometh, then cometh shame, but with the lowliest wisdom. Proverbs chapter 16 and verse 18, pride goeth before destruction and a holy spirit before a fall. You see that in Nebuchadnezzar's life, don't you? I've built this. I did it by my power. What does he say there? I did it by my power and for my honor. Proverbs chapter 29, verse 23, a man's pride shall bring him low. James 4, 6, God resisteth, note the emphasis on the ETH which tells you it's a concurring place, God resisteth the proud but give grace to the humble. By resisting there's never a time God sees pride and embraces it. He continually resisted and for those that are interested in the etymology resist, you might have the idea to kind of give a stiff arm. That's what comes to my mind. But it's a military term that the Greeks would use and it means to pull out in full battle array. If I can put it to you in this sense, with all of his omnipotence present, God uses and will use every device at his disposal to humble the proud. That is a lengthy definition of what it means when God resists the proud. It is the pride in the heart of the believer that craves. You think back here to our passage, and I want to look at two other passages here in Daniel quickly. You think about Nebuchadnezzar. Here's a man, and I believe in Daniel chapter four, you could make the argument, I won't be definitive, but you could make the argument Nebuchadnezzar's a believer. You could make that argument. In part, how you see the closing portions of the fourth chapter. But I wouldn't stand on that, but I'm saying you could make the argument on it. I would note there, multiple times, God had sent Nebuchadnezzar a witness. In fact, In the previous chapter, he's building an image and he got the idea from this image that he's building from a dream he had in another chapter. But he dreams of this great splendid image and when he awakes, he can't remember exactly everything he dreamt and what it all meant. And so when he calls the wise man, It wasn't enough that they just revealed to him what the dream meant, they had to tell him what the dream was. Of course, they could not. And so much that even Daniel and Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were all dragged into this. Their lives were at stake. And the Lord God of heaven gives wisdom to Daniel. And Daniel, with the revelation God gives him, conveys both the dream and its meaning. And what's interesting about this dream that he has is that part of his dream, he's got this vision. He's the head of gold, right? That's pretty big, hot stuff there. But do you remember what happens at the end of the dream? There's something he sees in his dream. Daniel says this, like a stone cut without hands, and it descends and it smites the image And it breaks it into smithereens. Daniel refers to that as the ancient of day. There's a witness given to Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar left that place thinking about one thing. Know what it was? I'm the king of all kings. That's what he left that with. And that was true. It's what God had revealed. Nebuchadnezzar, thou art the head of gold. Thou art the king of all kings. There's never been a greater king, never will be a greater king in God's estimation as far as might and power and strength than Nebuchadnezzar. Why? There's many things that come to mind. God allowed Nebuchadnezzar to destroy his temple and conclude the kingdom of David. No other king has ever done that. Vespasian and Titus, they destroyed a temple, but there was no king that descended from the loins of David that sat upon a throne. The Romans may have destroyed that second temple, but not like Nebuchadnezzar. And that temple that Solomon built that Nebuchadnezzar would destroy, it was the greatest temple that would exist of the temples that had existed to this day. And Nebuchadnezzar was giving that honor. Those two things alone strike in my imagination that would make him historically the greatest king. But all he heard is how great he was. And you read the passage, by the might and my power and for the honor of my majesty. Well, then you fast forward, he's out eating alfalfa sprouts for a series of years and he comes back and you'll note his humility. The end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes into heaven, and my understanding returned unto me. That's a powerful phrase there. I blessed the Lord, or I blessed the Most High. I praised and honored him that liveth forever, and notice the due credit he gives God, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation. We skip down for time's sake to verse 37. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven. all whose works are truth and his ways judgment and those that walk in what? He is able to do what? Listen, if God could paddle the greatest king that ever stepped on terra firma from the Gentile side, what will he do to you and I? That's what Nebuchadnezzar is saying about this. Well, the next king in line, truly would be a grandson, but a son of Nebuchadnezzar, his grandson, Belshazzar. And when you come to Belshazzar, you find here a man that equally is exalted himself at a level of great pride. He's ignored all of the teachings that have come as it related to things that happened to Granddad. Surely he had to know Granddad was eating alfalfa sprouts. Belshazzar knew the enemy was at his gate, threw a great feast, and transgressed greater than his granddad ever had, and brought in all of God's, all of the temple vessels that were dedicated to God, and they're partying out of these things. And of course, as the story concludes, a hand writes on the wall, and he doesn't know what the meaning of it is, and the scripture says his niece smote against one another. The idea is he became incontinent, his loins were loose, he had no ability to control his sphincter. So they dredge in old Daniel again, an aged man at this time, and Daniel reveals the dream. But notice, if you will, in verse number 22, Daniel answering, the king And all his finery has said, I'll put a crown about thee, I'll give you a great robe. Daniel in verse 17 says, let thy gifts be to thyself and give thy rewards for another. I'll read the writing unto you, the king, and make known the interpretation. He come to verse 22, he reminds him of Nebuchadnezzar, come to verse 22, and thou, his son, Obelshazzar, hast not, what, humbled thine heart. What's the next phrase? though thou knew all of this. And of course, if you fall down to verse number 30, that very night, Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans was slain. And you'll note the next verse, Darius the Median took the kingdom being about three score, 62 years old. Now, you come to chapter six, you have another king. He's not Chaldean, he's Median. So perhaps you'd think he'd have wisdom to know because after all, the former King Nebuchadnezzar built Babylon, some of the ancient wonders of the world he crafted, the hanging gardens of Babylon. His kingdom was the vastest kingdom known to man at the time he ruled and reigned. He was undefeated in the field of battle. He was a feared man from sea to shining sea, and God humbled him. And to his son, Belshazzar, he is slain. You'd think there'd be some lessons to learn here. Well, Darius, notice, if you will, in chapter six, he has some wisdom. He appoints three presidents, puts Daniel as first, that the king should have no damage. He notices of Daniel how excellent his spirit is, and the king sought him to set him over the entire realm. That's wisdom. Unlike Belshazzar that had relegated him to nothingness, there was something seen by Darius with him, and he promotes him to basically co-regent. Of course, there's a jealousy that exists here, and I'm paraphrasing a little bit this, but the presidents decided they didn't want a Jew to rule over them named Daniel. So they cobbled a concoctionary thing together, You'll note, if you will, in verse number six, the presidents and the priests assembled together to the king and said thus unto him, King Darius live forever. All the presidents of the kingdom and the governors and the princes and the counselors and the captains have consulted together to establish a royal statute. Is that true? No, all of them, but one. All of them but one. To make a firm decree that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for 30 days, say of thee, O King, he shall be cast in a den of lions. Now, O King, establish the decree, sign the writing that it be not changed according to the law of the Medes of the Persians, which altereth not. Wherefore, King Darius, sign the writing and the decree." What was the decree again? You can't pray or ask of anything unless you're praying to the king. And Darius said, I mean, I'm king after all, that sounds like a pretty good idea. You know what we call that? Pride. God is gracious to Darius. Daniel, of course, is thrown into a den of lions and miraculously spared. If you'll note verse 25, Darius comes out of this writing to all the people, nations, languages dwell in the earth. Peace be unto you multiplied. And he continues there. I make a decree. that in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble in fear before the God of Daniel. He is a living God and steadfast forever. His kingdom that shall not be destroyed. His dominion shall be even unto the end." You see, as you look in these three kings, you've got three examples of pride bringing men low. This next to last paragraph of your notes, it's pride in the heart of the believer. that causes this restlessness, that produces this craving. It fills each desire, pride, fills each desire of our being with self-assertion, self-absorption, self-protection, self-promotion, self-confidence, and self-esteem. By the way, that whole list of self, is never promoted in the scriptures. In fact, I don't think till 1970 anybody was ever worried about self-esteem. And maybe it was 1980 or 1990, but that's a big thing today, that you feel valuable about you. Well, God has a lot of wonderful things to say about you. But if you're not walking in his path, why do you want to feel good about doing wrong? But that's what self-esteem tells you. Self-confidence. I'm reminded of the prayer that the Lord prayed or commended his disciples to pray. Without me, you can't do. Doesn't sound too confident. Self-promotion. Go ask Nebuchadnezzar how that worked for him. Self-protection. Go ask Jeroboam how that worked for him. We'll be speaking about that a little bit in the morning hour. His son was sick, and Jeroboam told his wife to dress up like a common person and go find the prophet and try to get a miracle done, you know, and heal his son. And the prophet was an aged man, and he couldn't see. But God revealed all this to him, and as she's walking in, he announces her as the wife of Jeroboam. And he tells her, come on in, I've got no good news for you. And he mentions the complete eradication and destruction of Jehoram's house. But tell me how that worked for self-protection, self-absorption. Speak of Isaiah and of Satan, I will be lifted up. Self-assertion. Go ask Saul how self-assertion works when you wander into places that aren't meant for you, as he sought to make a sacrifice in a place particularly forbidden for him to enter. Go ask Uzziah how it was of self-assertion when Uzziah entered into the holiest place to offer sacrifice. Go ask Moses' sister, what was her name, Miriam, as she asserted herself before Moses. Go ask her how that worked. Go ask these individuals if God did not lay them low. Yet today, We Christians so often are dominated by self-assertion, self-absorption, self-protection, self-promotion, self-confidence, and self-esteem, and we wonder why there's no peace in our mind. Because we've allowed the rabid dog of pride to be let loose in our heart and mind, and it rages within us with devilish claim, I will. It is our pride. that refuses God's way. It refuses authority. It refuses submission. It refuses yielding. It cries like a petulant child, I want, I want, I'll have, I'll have. It refuses God's way. Our pride is unwilling to be governed. And when our way is confounded, our pride is made manifest. When our way, we've said, I will, I will, and God said, let's see you will. It begins to whine. It begins to pout. It shouts. It demands. It argues. It debates. It covets. Am I going too fast? Get ahead of me a little bit if you want to, brother, on the notes. Where was I at? It covets. It grasps. It screams, it retaliates, it blames, it obfuscates. That has the idea as to conceals truth. It worries and it fears. That's how it's manifested. That's why so often believers, we're restless, we worry, we whine, we're scheming, we're blaming, we're deceptive, we're rebellious. Why? What is blaring deeply and noisily in life is the manifestation of that godless pride that is crying out, I will, it's my might, it's my power, it's my honor, I'll have it, I'll do it, I'll be it, I'll have it, I'm somebody. And all the while, O righteous James is proclaiming, God resisteth the proud. Pride is the God upon which the restless soul ultimately depends. If we would have peace in our soul, we must be governed by God's word. Note this last paragraph and we'll conclude for this morning. A fruit born in the life of a spirit yielded saint is meekness. It might be on the top corner of the back page for you. Meekness is learned from our master. And meekness alone is God's means of stabilizing the faithful disciple and preventing his pride from ruling in his heart and mind. Lord willing, next week we assemble, we'll talk about the strength of biblical meekness. It is the antidote for the natural pride that we are born with And that sometimes, and I think maybe even sometimes we're unwitting in this, but we stroke that pride. We encourage that pride. You know, you think of some of these self-help guys, and I don't know if you've ever read any of those, but they'll often talk about you should start the day by telling yourself how good you are at something. You know, like this morning I rose and I look in the mirror and I said, Brandon, you're a great preacher. That's the idea. And you build yourself up there and it gives you confidence. That comes straight from the pits, folks. That comes straight from the godless means. Look at the Apostle Paul. Can you imagine the Apostle Paul going up to his mirror? You're the best of all the apostles. Can you imagine it? The reason there's a little humor in that sarcasm It's because you can't really imagine it, it's foreign to your mind. The apostle Paul made this proclamation, when I am weak, then am I made strong. He said, my greatest success comes when God has taken everything from me upon which my heart longs to depend. We don't know what his sickness is. But it seems that he had poor vision. Certainly, there were illnesses present in his life. There's hardly an apostle that went through more than he physically went through. And yet, as he's imprisoned, he writes to the Philippian church about being a prisoner of Jesus Christ. And there were those outside the prison that would seek to be disingenuine just simply so he would get a longer sentence. That's Philippians chapter 1. And you know what his response was? I don't know why they're doing this. They're making my life hard. Don't they know I've given all to God? You know what his response was? I joy and do rejoice for the gospel is preached. There's an individual that found themselves debased of pride. and found themselves promoted by a powerful God. The God of the restless soul, that evil wicked man, Pride. Father. Thank you for listening. If you would like to contact us, please write us at P.O. Box 126-541-Harrisburg, PA 17112 and visit our website at www.svbcpa.org. Until next time!