Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Good morning, everyone.
I am Bhavati.
I am the owner of Bhavati.
I am the owner of the second morning worship service.
We need to get ready, not only for the morning, we need to get ready.
It's hymn number 117.
Safe in the arms of Jesus.
Let's get ready.
As I do this, I will give you my last words.
Safe in the arms.
I will give you my last words.
First sons that are ready, sing.
Over the fields of glory, over the jestless sea.
Safe in the arms of Jesus, safe on his gentle breath.
There lies the Lord shaded, sweet in my soul shall be.
Safe in the arms of Jesus, safe from the world's temptation.
Sink in a car with air, reap of the wine of sorrow.
Free from the thousand fears, only a few more trials.
Only a few more tears.
Safe in the arms of Jesus, safe on his gentle breath.
There lies the Lord shaded, sweet in my soul shall be.
Jesus, my hearts they refuse, Jesus has died for me.
For mother of the pages, ever my trust shall be.
Here let me wait with patience, wait till the night is o'er.
Wake till the morning, wake on the golden shore.
Safe in the arms of Jesus, safe from his gentle breath.
There lies the Lord shaded, sweet in my soul shall be.
Oh, God, I keep it with tempest your love.
Still I bless him, I know he will keep me.
He has freed me and I am a star under his feet.
Under his feet, under his feet, and from his heart and soul.
Under his feet my soul shall abide, saintly abide.
There lies the Lord shaded, sweet in my soul shall be.
There lies the Lord shaded, sweet in my soul shall abide, saintly abide.
Under his feet, under his feet, and from his heart and soul.
Under his feet my soul shall abide, saintly abide.
Under his feet, under his feet, oh, there shall still join him.
Where will I lie till after I adore him?
Shattered, potent, and holy, good and army.
Yes, still in Jesus' eyes, in my world.
Under his feet, under his feet, oh, God, his love is severed.
Under his feet my soul shall abide, saintly abide.
All right, good morning, everybody.
Let's just go through a couple quick announcements.
Number one, let's count up any salvations from this past week.
Did anybody have any?
It's Monday.
Okay.
One, two, four.
All right.
Anybody else?
No.
All right.
Anybody else?
No.
Okay.
All right.
Great work, everybody.
Thank you so much for so many people.
It's like, you know, I'm looking for these hands.
Great work, everybody.
So a couple things I'll mention in our upcoming activities.
So today we do have our prayer meeting, monthly prayer meeting after soul winning time.
So we'll divide into small little groups of three, four, five people, you know, obviously
men with men, women with women, just to do our prayer time.
Then after that we do have choir practice.
And the only other thing to mention is if you're interested in preaching on the men's
preaching service on April 17th, which is Easter Sunday, so one of the two services
will be basically a men's preaching service where you preach, they call it popcorn preaching,
short 10 to 15 minute sermons.
This is the last week to let me know.
And there's not a guarantee I'm going to say yes.
The people that have asked me, I have said yes.
But obviously if, you know, you're new to church or whatever, you know, maybe it would
be something where I'd want you to be here a little bit longer or whatever.
But if you're interested, then by all means let me know.
And one thing I'll say is this, you know, some people think, well, I don't know, you
know, I want to preach, but I'm too shy.
I don't know if I can do this or whatever.
But honestly, a lot of the people that are very shy, their sermons are very motivational
to people because when you see somebody getting up out of their comfort zone and stepping
out in faith to do something great, you're like, wow, you know, I got to step out of
my comfort zone.
So honestly, you know what, even if you come up here and preach a basic sermon, why you
should read the Bible, why you should go soul winning, why you should get sin out of your
life, it's going to be helpful.
It's going to be edifying.
So by all means, if you're interested, let me know.
And this will be the last week to let me know.
But anyways, we'll have Brother Rafi lead us in another song.
Sing.
Amen, for scripture reading, please open your Bibles to the book of Daniel, Daniel chapter
4.
We have a psalm of Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Daniel chapter
9.
And as our custom wheel, building the entire chapter, Daniel chapter 4, I'm sorry, Daniel
chapter 4, Daniel chapter 4, please say amen if you're there, Daniel chapter 4 verse 1.
Nebuchadnezzar the king and to all people, nations and languages that dwell in all the
earth, peace be multiplied unto you.
I thought it good to show the signs and wonders that the high God hath brought toward me.
How great are his signs and how mighty are his wonders.
His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom as dominion is from generation to generation.
I and Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in mine house and flourishing in my place, in my palace.
I saw a dream which made me afraid and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my
head troubled me, therefore made I a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before
me that they might make known unto me the interpretation of the dream.
Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans and the soothsayers and I told
the dream before them, but they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof.
But at last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name
of my God, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods, and before him I told the dream
saying, O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy
gods is in thee, and no secret troubled thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have
seen and the interpretation thereof.
Thus for the visions of mine head in my bed, I saw and behold a tree in the midst of the
earth and the height thereof was great.
The tree grew and was strong, and the height thereof reached into heaven, and the height
thereof to the end of all the earth.
The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all.
The beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the thoughts of the heaven dwelt in the
boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it.
I saw the visions of my head upon my bed, and behold a watcher and a holy one come
down from heaven.
He cried aloud with us, Queue down the tree, and cut off his branches, cut off his leaves
and scatter his fruits, let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his
branches.
Nevertheless, leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and
brass in the tender grass of the field, and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and
let his fortune be with the beasts and the grass of the earth.
Let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be given unto him, and
let seven times pass over him.
What matters by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones,
is the intent that the living may know that the most high ruleth in the kingdom of men,
and give it to whomsoever you will, and set it up over it the basis of men.
This dream I, King Nezogon, art obscene, but thou, O O God, the interpretation thereof,
for it must otherwise minimize me, whom are not able to make unto me the interpretation,
that thou art able, but the spirit of the holy God, indeed.
The man whose name was Belteshiasher was astonished for one hour, and its thoughts troubled him.
The king said unto him, The Belteshiasher left but the dream of the interpretation that
troubled thee.
The Belteshiasher answered and said, I told you, that we are mean to them that hate me,
and interpretation therefore thereof to thine enemies.
The tree that thou soest wouldst grow, and was strong, was my intention to be heaven,
and decide thereof to all the earth, whose leaves were fair in the fruit thereof of much,
and in it it was meat for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose
branches the father of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the father of the field
dwelt, and upon whose branches the father of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches
the father of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the father of the field dwelt, and
upon whose branches the father of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the father
of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the father of the field dwelt, and upon whose
branches the father of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the father of the field
dwelt, and upon whose branches the father of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches
the father of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the father of the field dwelt, and
thus the mother of the field dwelt.
This is the interpretation of King, and this is the decree of the Most High God, which has come upon my Lord the King,
that they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat
grasses of oxen, and they shall wet thee with the Jew of heaven, and
seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and give it to whomsoever
he will.
And rastly commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots, thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee,
after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule.
Wherefore, O King, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor,
if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquility.
All this came upon the kingdom of the God-Nazar. At the end of twelve months,
he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon.
The King's pagan said,
It's not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor
of my majesty,
while the word was in the King's mouth a voice from heaven, saying, O King of the God-Nazar, to thee it is spoken,
the kingdom is departed from thee, and they shall dry thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with beasts of the field,
they shall make thee to eat grasses of oxen, and
seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and
give it to him soever he will.
The same hour was a thankful field upon the God-Nazar, and he was driven from men, and did eat grasses of oxen, and
his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws.
And at the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes into heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me,
and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored him that through it forever,
whose opinion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation, and
all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing, and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and
among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can say in his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
At the same time, my reason returned unto me, and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honor and brightness returned unto me,
and my counselors and my Lord sought unto me, and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me.
Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extoll and honor the King of heaven,
all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment, and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.
Blessed be the Lord of God's word, let us pray.
Lord God in heaven, we thank you, Lord, for his status given to us, and I pray that you would also bless the Lord with good weather,
and a good health, Lord, for his stay. Please bless your future, and the preaching of your word, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
All right, we are here in Daniel chapter 4, and we will finish the entire chapter here today, and the name of the sermon is
How Prideful People Get Saved, and another
application or way you could call the sermon is how to get the difficult cases saved.
So basically, in your life for maybe family members you know or people you never think will ever get saved,
here's an example from the Bible of someone like that who does get saved, so it is possible. So in this chapter,
Nebuchadnezzar is going to tell you what the dream is, and then Daniel restates the dream, and then he finally interprets it.
So we're going to fly through the first,
you know, 30 verses very quickly, and then we'll have three points at the end of this sermon.
So verse number one, the Bible reads,
Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth, peace be multiplied onto you.
I thought it good to show the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me.
How great are his signs, and how mighty are his wonders. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and his dominion is from generation to generation. These first three verses,
Nebuchadnezzar speaking after these events have already occurred.
So basically, in his present situation, he said, man, I was a fool, I was prideful,
what was I thinking? So the first three verses, he's basically speaking after these events,
then he's going to go back and recap these events. What it said in verse one is he's sending this out to all people,
nations, and languages. So basically, Nebuchadnezzar
basically has his conversion of salvation written to the entire world.
Okay, this is something that went completely viral. Everybody in the world, in every language, Nebuchadnezzar said,
I want everybody in the world to hear what took place.
Well, this is a pretty humbling thing,
because he's going to talk about how he lived like an animal for seven years. And he wants everybody to hear this because
he wants people to get saved. So that's, you know, an amazing thing.
Sending it out to all languages, all nations, all people that dwell in all the earth. Verse number four,
I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at rest. So you see the past tense,
was at rest, so he's going back in time to describe what took place. I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at rest in my house and
flourishing in my palace. Flourishing meaning everything was going great,
success,
money, fame, everything you could want. I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of
my head troubled me. So once again,
he has a nightmare. Verse six,
Therefore made I a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known unto me the
interpretation of the dream.
Then came in the magicians, the
astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. And I told the dream before them,
but they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof.
But at the last, Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar. Now, one thing that's always interesting is
the only one that's ever given Nebuchadnezzar good advice is Daniel.
But at the last, you bring in Daniel. It's like, why didn't you go to Daniel first? But isn't that how the world is?
Right? The last advice they want is from godly Christians that actually have their lives put together.
It's like they'll go to every other source under the sun. They can't give you good advice.
They can't help you out. At the last, we'll bring in the Bible-believing Christian, right?
I mean, it's just foolish, but this is the way people are, right? At the last, Daniel comes in, finally
he brings in Daniel, and it says, whose name was Belteshazzar,
according to the name of my god. So the name Belteshazzar,
which Daniel was renamed Belteshazzar by Nebuchadnezzar, it's actually named after the false god of
Nebuchadnezzar and the false god of Babylon. So he gives them the name of a false god.
It says, according to the name of my god, right?
You also see this name in the book of Daniel for a later king with Belteshazzar, and you're seeing that similar wording.
And so Belteshazzar,
he names Daniel because he really liked Daniel, and
Daniel was the best of all of the ones they brought over of the captivity of Judah, and he names him after his false god,
right? But what you notice in verse 8 is he addresses
Belteshazzar as Daniel when he's describing this. Basically he's saying, whose name was Belteshazzar.
What he's saying is, I'm not going to call him after the name of a false god anymore,
right? So picture it in our modern day. Let's say, you know, our country was taken over by
India, okay? That's the easiest example to use. And then, you know,
the king renames you, or the president renames you Shiva, right? You're one of the chief guys in this kingdom.
He's going to call you Shiva, and then you end up getting him saved.
Well, he's probably not going to call you Shiva anymore, right? Because obviously you got saved,
and that's obviously the name of one of their false gods. He's going to just call you whatever your name is, right?
And so he addresses them as Daniel after these events, because that's his actual name,
and he doesn't want to name him after a false god.
And in whom is the spirit of the holy gods, and before him I told the dream saying.
So what he looked at Daniel in the past was,
here's a person who's very in touch with the gods and the spiritual realm and everything, and he thought very highly of Daniel,
but he obviously does not understand at all about Daniel's beliefs, or does not believe it, right?
He thinks that God is using him in a big way, but he doesn't agree with what Daniel says or anything like that.
Now, of course, I believe Nebuchadnezzar is getting saved in this chapter. Obviously, he's already heard the gospel.
We talked about that last week, because this event alone doesn't get you saved unless someone's given you the gospel.
So I think he's already heard it, but he obviously does not believe it, right?
Verse number nine, O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, right?
So obviously he looks at, you know, Daniel, master of the magicians. You're the best of my sorcerers, right?
You're the best of my preachers, right?
Because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret trouble with thee.
Tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof. Thus were the visions of mine head and my bed.
I saw and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great.
The tree grew and was strong, and the height thereof reached on to heaven, and the
sight thereof to the end of all the earth. Now, the tree is representing Nebuchadnezzar in the Babylonian Empire,
and it says the leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all.
Now the word meat in verse number 12 is not saying like pork, bacon, steak. It's basically any kind of food.
Okay, and it was food for all, and it was meat for all.
The beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the bows thereof, and all flesh was fed of it.
I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and behold, a watcher and a holy one came down from heaven.
Sometimes in the Bible, a watcher would be a term used to describe like a preacher or someone giving a message from God, and
a watcher and a holy one come down from heaven.
He cried it out and said thus,
Hew down the tree and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves and scatter his fruit.
Let the beast get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches.
Nevertheless, leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass in the tender grass of the field,
and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth.
Let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be given on to him, and let seven times pass over him.
I believe the times there means years, because the Bible is the terminology time, times, and half a time, meaning three and a half years.
And so when it says seven times, these events took place to Nebuchadnezzar for seven years.
Seven years he lived like a crazy person, acting like an animal, basically. So for seven years,
this is not just something that happened in a couple days,
it's a long period of time that took place.
This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones,
to the intent that the living may know that the most high rule within the kingdom of men,
and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and seteth up over it the basest of men. Basest of men, meaning
the base of a building, like the lowly, basically people that aren't
looked at as being so successful, or revered, or anything like that. And God sets up,
you know, anybody to be the ruler. And this kind of goes against that idea.
There's this teaching of the divine right of kings, which the Catholic Church really used to promote, because the Catholic Church was a
religious slash political empire for a long time. And
basically what they would teach is, they would, the Pope would basically put kings in power.
You could not become the king of Spain, or France, or England, or those countries unless the Catholic Church approved of it.
So basically they would set up their own kings in these countries, and then basically they told the kings what to do.
And so basically, no matter what the king did, they're doing it under the authority of the Catholic Church.
And then when people question the king, they'd say, well, it's the divine right of kings. If God put them up to be the king,
everything they say is valid, right? And so the Catholic Church did that throughout history to basically overhaul
any morality and do whatever they wanted to do.
They would basically control the kings, and they'd say, well, it's the divine right of kings. But notice what it says in verse 17.
It's God that seteth up, and he rules in the kingdom of men.
So when it comes to the kingdom of men, the kingdom of nations here on earth,
God is the one who's in charge. And yes, you know what? God might appoint someone who's a wicked person,
but they should go under the authority of God, and when they do not, they're under God's judgment.
Right? Look, we've got an election coming up in May, and one thing I can promise you is,
whoever becomes the president, God said, you know what? That's the person I'm putting in charge.
It doesn't mean they're godly. That's not what I'm saying. But we get what we deserve.
Driving here today in the morning, it's like the sign on the KFC. It's like, let Lenny lead. Well, that might be what happens.
That wouldn't be my vote.
But let Lenny lead. I mean, that might be the decision. God says, you know what?
This is what you're gonna get. Now, I don't really think there's any great options.
So, I mean, it doesn't really matter, I guess.
But basically, you know, people sometimes get so obsessed with politics, at the end of the day,
I don't think there's anything wrong with rooting for a candidate,
but at the end of the day, God's the one who puts someone in charge.
That's what the Bible says. And so Nebuchadnezzar was in charge, not because he was a godly person,
but because God decided to put him in charge. That's just the way it works.
And you know what? God will basically judge a nation sometimes by giving them a wicked ruler. That's the way it takes place.
I mean, all over the world, it's not like God is appointing godly people to run these countries.
I mean, you got a lot of wicked people that are running countries. In America, you've got a pedophile with dementia, literally,
running the country. And it's just like, well, I guess America is getting what they deserve, right?
I mean, that's just the way it works. And we'll see whoever gets elected here, right?
And so verse number 18,
This dream I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen, now thou, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation thereof,
for as much as all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the interpretation,
but thou art able, for the Spirit of the holy gods is in thee. So he asks Daniel, can you interpret this for me?
Verse 19,
Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar,
was astonished for one hour. Astonished meaning astonished, it's an older spelling of this. He's shocked,
he's surprised, he's astonished for one hour.
So basically Nebuchadnezzar says, hey, can you interpret this for me? And then one hour goes by, just
silence.
Do you realize how awkward that would be? Can you tell me what this is about, right? Brother Ronald is our Daniel here.
I'm Nebuchadnezzar, okay? It's like, can you tell me this dream? And for an hour, he's just sitting there.
It's kind of like,
okay, who's gonna break this silence, right?
And Nebuchadnezzar is the one who breaks the silence, and he's astonished for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him.
So the reason why Daniel's quiet is because of the fact he does not like what the dream is about. His thoughts trouble him.
He's not happy. This is why I told you, it's very clear if you read the book of Daniel, that they do not hate Nebuchadnezzar.
Now, I'm not saying that they looked at him as being a godly person, but his thoughts trouble him because he's giving, like, a
bad report. And he obviously doesn't want, now, here's the thing, if Nebuchadnezzar was a
wicked person, a reprobate, they'd be like, well, here's the interpretation.
Right? But he doesn't want to do that. It's kind of like, you know, in the old days,
I don't know about in here,
but I know in America, like during World War I and World War II,
the men were off to war and everything, and of course you don't have the internet and Facebook,
cell phones, all this stuff. So basically, you know, a lot of people died during the war, and they would basically have the person who'd be
delivering the mail, and basically there's, like, this telegram from the military that basically, you know, your husband died.
So, like, when that person would come to the neighborhood, like,
everyone's just scared, they're praying, don't come to my house, and then they start walking up to your yard,
and of course the the wives are, like, crying, they're sad.
Wouldn't it be weird for that person to be excited, like, all right, I get to tell another person
that you'd be like, what's wrong with you?
Right? Or like a doctor delivering bad news.
I mean, I would say, like, that's one thing you'd probably have to do as a doctor sometime, or working at hospitals,
sometimes you got to deliver bad news. Like, who would enjoy that, right? If you enjoy it,
there's something really wrong with you, right? Like, literally really wrong with you to want to tell people. What I'm saying is this,
Daniel does not want to give this news because he's not happy about it himself. Obviously, it's God's judgment,
but that shows that Daniel actually
likes Nebuchadnezzar, right? And look, I've had unsaved bosses that I liked before.
Bosses that, you know, it's not like I'm saying that they were godly, but you know, the boss I had for many years,
I liked him. You know, I tried to give him the gospel,
he kind of shut it down, but he's a nice guy, you know,
I got along well with him, and if there was, like, a bad report given to him,
I wouldn't have been happy about it, even though he was unsaved. And Daniel, you know, he's not happy,
his thoughts troubled him. Belteshazzar answered and said, my lord,
the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies. And he's telling me, you know, I'm troubled
because it's not good news.
It's like, people that don't like you, they're gonna be happy. But this is, for them, it's not something
I want to tell you. I'm not happy about this. And it's to thine enemies because there's judgment coming down on Nebuchadnezzar.
And let me just say this on a side point.
Sometimes people think at a church like ours, because I preach a lot of hard sermons,
I rip on sin, I teach what the Bible says, and what I'm really doing is just preaching what the Bible says, right?
But when I have to preach, I mean, my favorite sorts of sermons to preach would be something like
love,
patience, or something where we're learning something. I don't enjoy preaching against sin, especially if I know somebody's guilty of it.
I don't enjoy that. And look, if you enjoy, like, hurting people's feelings,
making people cry, making people upset, there's something really wrong with you.
Just let me know ahead of time before you preach at Easter, because that should not be your goal when you're preaching a sermon.
It's kind of part of the job,
so sometimes you got to preach the truth.
But there'd be something wrong with you if you're like, I want to become a pastor because I want to make people cry and they
get so mad at me and everything. It's like, I want to be a new IFP preacher. It's like, you're not getting ordained by me, okay?
Right? Just go somewhere else. Because honestly, nobody who's a man of God is going to enjoy giving bad news.
It's not a fun thing to do, right?
Verse number 20.
The tree that thou sawest which grew and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth,
whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all,
under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation.
It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong, for thy greatness is grown, and
reacheth on to heaven and thy dominion to the end of the earth. So Nebuchadnezzar, it basically owns the world,
most powerful man in the world. And
one thing to keep in mind is this, that when you're successful, you got to be very careful not to get prideful about something.
Now obviously, none of us are ever going to become Nebuchadnezzar.
I don't think any of you are going to become the president of this country, right, or anything like that.
But, you know, we can be successful in various areas of our lives, and there can be a tendency when we have success in some
area to get prideful in our success.
It's just kind of a pretty natural thing. When you're successful at stuff,
you start getting a little bit arrogant, a little bit prideful. We've got to be very careful to keep control of,
you know, our emotions and realize that, you know what, pride is always a bad thing, right?
And if you get lifted up because of your success, like let's say you make a lot of money,
and you get kind of prideful about that, that you're really successful in the business world, and you make lots of money.
Well, God might look down and say, let me just take away some of that success from you, because obviously it's getting to your head.
Let me just take that away, because you're becoming prideful as a result of your success.
We've got to be very careful not to get prideful in our lives.
Verse number 23,
And whereas the king saw a watcher and holy one coming down from heaven and saying,
Hew the tree down and destroy it,
yet leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tinder grass of the field,
and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beast of the field,
till seven times pass over him.
This is the interpretation of King, and this is the decree of the Most High, which is to come upon my Lord the King.
So, so far, he's just restated the dream.
Here's the interpretation, that they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beast of the field.
So basically Nebuchadnezzar was living with animals.
He's not living with humans.
He's basically living with the animals and living like an animal, and kind of the best
application to make in our modern day is when you see somebody who's just crazy,
on the side of the road.
Right? I mean, isn't it sometimes you see someone who's just out of their minds? It might be because of drugs,
maybe devil possession.
I mean, various different things, but just crazy and out of their minds, and they're living like a maniac.
They're living like an animal. They're not living like a normal human being. You're like, you know,
what is, what is wrong with this person? Now,
this is very, very common in the US, a lot more than here, because drugs are so common in the US.
It's very easy to get drugs. So living in California, there were so many crazy people you'd see all the time.
I remember one time my wife and I were walking on this, like, walking path, and there's this guy that's crazy
that's coming our direction. And so we're wondering, should we start going the other direction? Because this guy's like,
and we're just, I mean, literally that's exactly, and it was, it was a pretty narrow road. It's like,
hopefully we'll be okay, right?
But there's a lot of crazy people, and Nebuchadnezzar is basically living like an animal.
He's living like a crazy person for seven years. And look,
I don't believe this was as common in the days of Nebuchadnezzar as it is now,
because you see crazy people from time to time here, right?
But I think during this day would have been even more shocking for someone to be like this, just out of their minds. Many times
people are out of their minds because of drugs. I get devil possession happen in the Old Testament,
and drugs I'm sure to some degree there. I think drugs are a lot more common now, and many people that are crazy,
it's because of drugs that have just destroyed their mind, and they're just completely gone.
And I'm not even saying that, you know, these people are reprobates, but many of them, they're never going to get saved,
because their minds are gone. They basically drugged away their minds, and they literally can just be insane, and just, you know,
living like an animal. And Nebuchadnezzar, that's what he's doing for seven years. And it says in
verse 25, And they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven.
So basically he's eating grass, right? He's just living like a cow or whatever, just eating the grass off the ground for his
survival. And he's wet with the dew of heaven indicating, well, he's not living inside, so when it rains, you know,
he's getting wet, and not taking care of his body. And so
same clothes that he's wearing, it's not like he's taking a shower or anything like that,
so he's living like a crazy person.
Then it says, And seven times shall pass over thee, meaning seven years,
till thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whosoever he will.
So basically, you know, it's going to happen for seven years until you come to the realization that you're nothing special, Nebuchadnezzar.
And look, it took Nebuchadnezzar seven years of living like an animal to realize, you know what, I'm not that great.
You would think after a couple days, like one day living outside,
one day on the streets with the rain hitting you, but seven years, right? When I think of conversions to
getting saved in the Bible, this is like, this is definitely in my top three of the most,
the ones you never expect. I mean, you got the thief on the cross, last-second salvation,
he was mocking Jesus just a few verses earlier, then he, I mean, it's like, you'd never expect that to happen.
Then you got Paul the Apostle, which we talked about. Obviously, that's a one you would never expect. He gets saved and nobody believes it, right?
And then you've got Nebuchadnezzar, who's the most powerful man in the world, and he lives like an animal for seven years,
and then he eventually ends up getting saved. He eventually changes his mind.
And so for seven years, he's like this. And this says in verse number 26,
And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots, thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee,
after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule.
Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness,
and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquility.
Now, tranquility basically means peace, and what he's saying to him is, you know what, I'm giving you a
harsh judgment. This is what God is saying.
Accept it.
Don't get mad at God. Let it be acceptable unto thee. Don't get mad at the message.
Don't get mad at God. This is your judgment, and you know what, if you have a good response,
God might be merciful to you, is what he's basically saying, right?
And look, the same thing would apply when sermons are preached. You know, we all have sermons that step on our toes,
right? You know, I've had many times
I've been in church, and I hear a sermon, and it hits me hard because I know I'm guilty, and
even the preacher might not be aware of it,
but I know that God's like raining down a sermon upon me, and here's the thing, have the right response to it.
And look, this is going to happen to all of us, right? So don't have this attitude,
well, you know what, you get so mad. Look, everybody's been preached against.
Every single person has had sermons, and I'm not saying by name, right?
One of the people in our church in Pampanga, he said at his old church, the pastor would just call people's names.
He's preaching on a sin. He's like, I'm preaching on smoking, and you know, brother so-and-so and sister so-and-so
are people that need to, and you know, I'm not even sure if they're saved because they smoke all the time, right?
That's what he said they did at their old church, right? And he would call them out by name, right? I don't do that.
I think that's just being an obnoxious jerk. You know, I don't, once again,
I don't take enjoyment in doing something like that. That would not be fun or what I would want to do.
But the reality is, when I'm preaching the entire Bible, of course,
sometimes we're guilty of the things being preached on.
And the reality is, a lot of times people hear sermons, and they think, oh, he's preaching about me.
How did he know that? In reality, when you're preaching the Bible, there's going to be somebody who's guilty of something.
It's not like I'm specifically preaching against someone. I mean, usually it's just, there's just people guilty of stuff.
I mean, I don't know of anyone at our church that drinks alcohol,
but I'm sure there are people at our church that drink alcohol. So if I preach a sermon against drinking alcohol,
I'm not specifically preaching it because of you, because I have no idea.
I'm sure there's people at our church that smoke, that drink alcohol, that do all manner of things
I've preached against, but I am not aware of it. And if I was aware of it,
I wouldn't specifically preach a sermon just for that point, because I'm preaching the whole Bible, okay?
But anyways,
World War II, verse 27. So what he's basically telling me is, hey, you know what, just accept the message,
get rid of your sins now, and you know what, it might be a lengthening of that tranquility. And my opinion is
that if Nebuchadnezzar had the right response, and he came to the realization that the heavens do rule
before all this took place, I don't think he would have ever lived like an animal for seven years.
Because what God said is, once you get to that place where you realize you're nothing,
then this judgment will be over. Well, here's the thing, if he had heard the message and accepted it then,
and realized he was nothing, I don't think anything would have taken place.
That's my opinion, but sometimes in the Bible, God has a judgment,
but God is willing to change that judgment if they have the right response.
Now sometimes it's guaranteed it's going to take place, but sometimes God says, you know what, here's the judgment,
what are you going to do with this? And if you have the right response, it can be a lengthening of thy peace and
tranquility. If he came to the realization, you know what, you're not above God,
you're not at the level of God, you're nothing, you're not above any other man,
it's just God's the one who puts you in that position of authority. Obviously though Nebuchadnezzar
doesn't take heed to this. All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar.
Now point number one, and
it's not going to be a long sermon, it's just, you know, we're at point number one,
the unsaved
oftentimes walk in a lot of pride.
Now I think there are some unsaved people that are not necessarily really prideful,
they just don't know how to get to heaven, and those are the people that we're going to reach with the gospel
and they'll get saved if they're already humbled.
But many unsaved people are just very prideful people and they will not get saved today. It's impossible today
because they're prideful. And Nebuchadnezzar is an example of this. Verse 29, at the end of 12 months
he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon.
So I believe God gave him 12 months to basically get right with him. A year goes by,
right? I mean, it's not like just a week or a day.
I mean, it's just because we get to the next chapter and the judgment comes on Belshazzar,
and then it's like in the same night, boom, he's done. But with Nebuchadnezzar, he's given 12 months, right?
He's given time to get things right.
He's heard this message from Daniel,
but he does not get it right. And 12 months go by and it says in verse 30,
the king and spake and said, is this not great Babylon that I
have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power and for the honor of my majesty?
I mean, he says I have built my power, my majesty. It doesn't seem that he realizes
that God rules.
Seems to think that he's something really special, and then right after that the judgment comes on him. Now go to Luke chapter 18.
Luke chapter 18.
Now, I don't really do this anymore,
but I used to do this a long time ago when I gave people the gospel where I would turn to Luke 18
and I would show them these two groups of people, the Pharisee and the publican, and I would ask them this question.
You know, I would go through the verses where they're praying to God. I said, which one of these people,
you know, went to heaven and which went to hell? And unsaved people always miss it.
They always get it backwards.
But notice what it says in Luke 18 verse 9.
And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others.
So he's basically speaking this parable because there's arrogant people that
they are trusting in themselves, they're trusting in their works, and they look down on other people.
They despise other people. And many people that are unsaved that think they're so special and so great,
they look down on others that have sins or problems in their lives.
And that's the reason why Jesus is speaking this parable.
Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a publican.
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself,
God, I thank thee that I'm not as other men are, extortioners, unjust adulterers, or even as this publican.
I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
And the publican standing afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven,
but smote upon his breast saying, God, be merciful to me a sinner.
So in this parable, two people are going into a temple to pray, right?
Anyway, a modern-day application, think about people that are coming to church.
Right, people coming to church and they're hearing the sermons,
they're praying, they're singing the praises of God and everything like that.
And you've got one guy who's this Pharisee and his prayer is, I thank thee that I am not as other men are.
Right, wow, so humble, right?
He's like, I'm not an extortioner, unjust adulterers, or even as this publican. And he specifically mentioned someone like, hey,
I'm not like this guy sitting right beside me, praying, he's got a lot more problems than me.
I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
And the publican standing afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven,
but smote upon his breast saying, God, be merciful to me a sinner.
And so, look, obviously this is a parable, it's just a story that Jesus is telling.
And, you know, you're seeing an arrogant person and a humble person.
And the implication is the Pharisee is trusting in himself, he thinks he's good enough to go to heaven.
He says, look at how great I am.
You could also use this as an application if you were looking at saved people and you've got one person in church that says,
look at me, I'm doing all these other things.
And you've got somebody else who's also saved but has more problems, but they're actually humble, right?
But what you're seeing is this Pharisee says, look at how great I am.
And the publican wouldn't even look up to heaven.
He says, God, forgive me, right?
Be merciful to me a sinner.
And here's a publican.
He doesn't have the godliest job, right?
He's not doing the most righteous thing and this Pharisee thinks he's so great.
And I would show people this story and I'd say, which one of these people do you think went to heaven?
And they're always like, well, the Pharisee, because he's a good person.
And they say the publican is the one who went to hell.
And it's like, I can tell you're not saved, right?
First off, we don't even know if the Pharisee is a good person.
Obviously, none of us is good, but I'm saying we don't know if he's a good person.
All we know is what he says about himself.
The worst people I've ever met in my life always talk about how great they were, right?
When you hear people that always talk about how great they are, oftentimes it's like the exact opposite.
Just because somebody says, I mean, if somebody comes to you and says, you know what?
I read the Bible for two hours every day.
Well, first off, why are you reading the Bible?
Why are you telling people about how much you read in the Bible?
Number two, the Bible says if you read the Word of God, you won't be arrogant.
So there's kind of a contradiction there.
You're reading it a lot, but you're really arrogant.
I mean, it doesn't fit.
If somebody's telling you about how great they are all the time, it doesn't mean they're actually great.
It doesn't mean they're actually the real deal.
They might just be lying to you, right?
So just because somebody says they're great, we don't know about this Pharisee.
He thinks he's great.
He thinks he's really keeping the law, but he's talking about himself and how great he is.
Well, this other guy is like, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
And look, let me just say on the application, let's say we have people that are saved at our church, you know.
And just because you are more spiritual or know more about the Bible than somebody else, they might be trying to get right with God.
They might be trying to make changes.
And look, you don't go from little Christianity, little knowledge to knowing everything overnight.
But if you get motivated by the preaching of God's Word and you decide, I want to serve God, I want to live God,
I want to get to know God, that is a great goal, but it will not happen in a couple minutes.
It's a lifetime.
I mean, it takes time to draw close to God.
I mean, and it's difficult.
You're going to make a lot of mistakes.
You're going to fall, you're going to fade.
I mean, somebody who grows their entire life as a Christian along the way is going to make many mistakes.
Now, obviously, the goal is every year you're a little bit closer to God, right?
You know the Bible better.
You're getting rid of sins and worldliness.
But we cannot expect somebody who's a new Christian to go from being just saved yesterday and they never listen to any bad music.
They never watch anything bad.
They're always dressed perfectly.
That's not realistic.
That's not what took place with me when I got saved, right?
When I got saved, I still listen to the same music and I just felt really guilty all the time.
I mean, it took time to make those changes and we can't expect somebody to just change overnight.
Right?
And, you know, this Pharisee is looking down on this publican largely because of his job, I believe.
But here's the thing.
If somebody's worked a job for 15 years, you're not going to expect them to just quit the job right after they get saved, right?
I mean, that's kind of a bit ridiculous.
But what Jesus says in verse 14 is this.
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other, referring to the publican.
For everyone that exalts himself, referring to the Pharisee, shall be abased or shall be humbled.
And he that humbled himself shall be exalted.
And look, when it comes to salvation, the first step for an unsaved person is that they humble themselves.
Because think about this.
We preach the gospel to, and turn back to Daniel 4 and I'll explain this.
Daniel chapter 4, Daniel 4.
We preach the gospel to unsaved people and, you know, probably most of us, I know I do, I go to Revelation 21 8 as one of my verses.
I think it's a great verse.
It's just very clear that all of us are guilty because the Bible says all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone.
Not some liars.
And it's interesting because on the other ones, it doesn't say all murderers.
It doesn't say all sorcerers.
It doesn't say all whoremongers.
You say, why?
Well, because people would naturally assume a sorcerer is not going to go to heaven, right?
But with liars, people think no big deal because everybody lies, right?
And so God's very specific, all liars, and if people don't get it, later on in the chapter, whosoever maketh a lie.
Because what makes you a murderer is that you've murdered at least one person.
What makes you a liar is that you've lied at least one time.
The Bible says, let God be true, but every man a liar.
And ladies, when it says every man a liar, it's also including you, okay?
It's implied there.
It's not just all men are liars.
I mean, ladies lie as well.
Everybody's lied before, right?
And yet, you show that to unsaved people, and some people hear that, and they're like, you know, wow, I'm guilty.
They agree with you.
They understand it, and you can move on to the next point.
But then other people say, why?
I don't believe that, because everybody lies, so that can't be true.
Or they'll say, why?
You know what?
I don't tell big liars.
I only tell white lies.
So you still tell lies, all liars.
I mean, that doesn't change anything, right?
But, and that's not, if somebody says all they say are white lies, they don't,
I only lie to protect people, okay?
You're lying to me right now.
People lie generally to protect themselves, right?
But you show that to people, and many people just reject that.
And look, when we're showing people the gospel, we show them first that they're guilty,
and the question is, are they going to be humble about it?
Because how can you be saved if you don't think you need to be saved?
How can you get saved if you don't realize?
I mean, if somebody's in a burning house, and they don't realize it's burning,
they're going to hang out in the house, right?
That's why the Bible says we pull them out of the fire, because we're trying to show them, hey,
you're on your way to hell, buddy, and they don't realize it.
And look, if somebody's not willing to humble themselves, they're not going to get saved.
They can listen to the whole gospel, but if they're not going to humble themselves
and admit they're guilty, they're not going to get saved.
They've got to first understand that they're guilty.
Nebuchadnezzar's an example of a man, does not believe he's guilty, very prideful.
He thinks that he's something special.
Point number one, the unsaved, they walk in pride.
Point two, God must break that pride.
You see, you can't skip step one and move on to step two unless you get step one, right?
So basically, until this prideful person gets humbled, they cannot get saved.
And since they're prideful, the only way they're going
to get saved is God must break that pride.
That's the only possibility.
You can't just skip a step.
It's like doing a math problem, you can't skip a step, right?
I mean, you're not going to get the right answer then.
If you can't figure out one step, you've got to figure that step out.
You're not going to get step three if you don't know step two.
And look, for somebody who's a prideful person, look, if they're not willing
to humble themselves, because getting saved is a very humbling thing.
You're admitting that you don't deserve to go to heaven, you deserve to go to hell,
you're not as good as you thought you were 15 minutes before the conversation.
Right? It's a humbling thing.
I remember hearing the Gospel, and you know what, I was being stubborn about it for a while
when I was hearing it because of the fact I just, I thought I was a good person.
It's like, I don't drink, I don't party, I'm not like other people, I'm not like this publican.
Right? I was homeschooled, I'm respectful, I'm courteous, I have good manners,
trusting in my works, look at how great I am, is what I thought.
Right? And so, you know, for me, when I heard the Gospel, it took about an hour
of hearing the Gospel, and I even went home that night is when I got saved.
I thought about it, and I humbled myself.
But it's a difficult thing for people to do because everybody is naturally prideful.
Everybody has a little bit of pride that they're dealing with at the very least.
Even after you're saved, we struggle with this sin.
Right? An unsaved person, they must have that pride broken if they're going to get saved.
Otherwise, they're not going to get saved.
And this is exactly what happens in Nebuchadnezzar.
Verse 31, while the word was in the king's mouth.
So basically, while he's saying, you know, this great Babylon that I have built for the might
of my power and my majesty, right when that takes place, he starts acting like a crazy person.
Then it says, their fellow-voice from heaven saying, oh, 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 beasts of the field, they shall make thee to eat grass
as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most high ruleth
in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he wilt.
The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar, and he was driven from men,
and did it grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown
like eagle's feathers, and his nails like bird's claws.
So obviously, he's not getting a haircut, he's not shaving, you know.
So I'm assuming his hair's just all over the place.
He's probably got lots of facial hair.
He's not trimming his nails, so his nails are like bird's claws.
Like he's got these really, you know, long nails and everything like that.
Just, I mean, this is the person you would see on the side of the street and say, they're insane.
They're crazy.
They're the person that you'd be a little bit hesitant to be near because you just don't know
if somebody's crazy, you know, what they might do.
That's Nebuchadnezzar.
He's just living like a crazy person, just acting like an animal because of his arrogance,
and God is breaking his pride.
Point one, the unsaved walk in pride.
Point two, God must break that pride for them to get saved.
And point three, the result can be salvation.
Now, it's not a guarantee.
If somebody gets brought down to nothing, that's not a guarantee that they're going to get saved.
But it is a possibility, and it's a requirement, if they're going to get saved,
to actually humble themselves.
Daniel 4 verse 34, and at the end of days, the days, so this is at the end of these seven years,
I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me,
and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored him that liveth forever,
whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation.
What he's basically saying is, my dominion, it didn't last forever,
lasted for 5, 10, 15 years until I became arrogant, and I was brought to nothing.
My kingdom, you know, it's not like it lasts forever, but God's is from generation to generation
to generation forever.
And then he says, in all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing.
Here's the most powerful man in the world, and he's writing that all of us are nothing,
because he's restored back to power.
He is once again the most powerful man in the world, and he's sending this out to all people,
all nations, all languages, and what he's letting them know is, hey, in case you didn't realize it,
we're nothing.
Me, the most powerful man in the world, I am nothing.
I am nothing special, right?
Here's a man who got humbled, right?
I mean, it's not like he just, this takes place and he kind of hides it,
he doesn't want people to find out.
He says, I want the whole world to know how arrogant of a fool I was, right?
I want the whole world to know about the Savior.
You say, why?
Because he got saved.
And look, this is, you know, hopefully this would be the reaction of anyone who would get saved,
getting saved is a very humbling thing, and you realize how foolish you are,
and Nebuchadnezzar is not ashamed to tell people he changed his mind,
because some people get saved and they're embarrassed about it.
They don't want to tell their family, they don't want to tell their friends.
It's like their family for 10 years thinks they're still Catholic, right?
They won't let them know, hey, I got saved, or in countries like a Muslim country,
Muslims get saved and then they pretend to still be Muslim because they're worried
about their family or whatever.
That's not Nebuchadnezzar.
He gets saved and he lets everybody know, I was a fool, right?
And it says, all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing,
and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.
And none can stay his hand, meaning none can stop God's judgment,
or say unto him, what doest thou?
Meaning, we can't put God on trial, right?
If God says something, God's right, we're wrong.
At the same time, my reason returned unto me,
and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honor and brightness returned unto me.
And my counselors and my Lord sought unto me,
and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me.
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 pride he is able to abase.
Now turn to one last place, Matthew 19.
Matthew 19.
See, the application I want you to make here today is,
in your own mind and in your own head, I want you to think about people you know in your life,
relatives, co-workers, or whomever, people that are not saved.
People that, if you were honest, you would say this person is never going to get saved.
Isn't it true we have people in our lives, and you think they are never going to get saved?
For some people in this room, you might think my parents, my dad or my mom,
they're never going to get saved, right?
Or my brother or my sister, they're never going to get saved.
I've showed them the gospel, they've rejected it, they're never going to get saved.
My cousins, my relatives, my Catholic family, they're never going to get saved.
That might be true.
Maybe they will never get saved, but it's a wrong attitude to say that it's
a wrong attitude to reprobate, right?
Which is, you know, but with Nebuchadnezzar, here's a very arrogant man you would never
think was going to get saved, and yet he does get saved.
And look, I'll say this, I've seen people say in my life that I had the attitude they're
never going to get saved, and I was shocked.
They ended up getting saved.
I think of family members, and, you know, specifically family members,
I know that it took like four and a half years, and it's like I thought in my head
I've given them the gospel, and now they don't even want to listen to the gospel.
Like, what can I do?
This person is never going to get saved.
That's what I thought, and yet sometimes those people end up getting saved.
Isn't that true, right?
Matthew 19, Matthew 19, verse 23.
Matthew 19, verse 23.
One thing you have to keep in mind when you're talking to family members or co-workers
is it's a little bit different than door to door.
I mean, this can happen door to door, but I don't think it's as likely.
Let's say you're going door to door soul winning and you're preaching the gospel.
Sometimes somebody might argue with you, but actually inside their heart they realize,
oh wow, I'm losing this argument, right?
And then they humble themselves later on and realize I was completely wrong, right?
That's actually the way when I got saved, right?
I wish I could have a recording of this, but the person who gave me the gospel, I just
argued with him for an hour and then I got saved that night and I told him the next day
he didn't believe me.
He's like, no you didn't.
Because I just argued with him for an hour.
No, I don't care what you're saying.
You got to live a good life.
You got to work your way to heaven and everything.
So I told him I got saved and he didn't believe me.
I was like, I did.
You're right.
I was wrong.
And he had trouble believing me.
And then he told me the next day, I guess you did get saved, right?
Because he's like, I guess you did change your mind, right?
But the reality is that when you know somebody, especially if it's family, because this could
happen door to door where they argue but they're actually thinking about it and they go home,
they realize, man, I was wrong.
But I think it's especially true with family.
Family will really kind of put on a strong face and even if they know they're being proven
wrong and they can't answer, they're going to pretend that they don't agree with anything
you're saying, even if inside their mind they're starting to question things.
This takes place, and from my experience, I know that with family members that ended
up getting saved and that's basically what they told me.
Like, I had good points.
They couldn't answer them, but they were just being stubborn about it.
They just didn't want to admit, you know, that they were wrong because we are prideful.
We're prideful people.
And so if you're preaching the gospel to your family members and you think you had no impact,
that's not necessarily true.
When we go soul winning, 15 minutes, maybe they get saved, maybe they don't.
But with family members, it's different.
You plant a seed, you can water it later on, and you don't know.
Maybe you did impact them, right?
Matthew 19 verse 23.
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, verily I say in you that a rich man shall hardly
enter into the kingdom of heaven.
And again I say in you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than
for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, who then can be saved?
Here's another example of things I didn't list in my Bible contradictions because people
say, well, a camel can't fit through the eye of a needle.
It's like, it's not even worth, you know, bringing that up in a contradiction sermon.
That's the whole point.
And what he's using through an illustration is showing you how difficult it is for rich
people to end up getting saved because they're naturally going to say, I'm rich and increased
with goods and have need of nothing.
Look at all my success, look at all my money.
If we go soul winning in a rich neighborhood, we will get less people saved.
I mean, one of the specific things about finding a church building, it's like, we'll find
an area where we think people will be receptive.
There is a building that we were looking at.
It was over in, because we had trouble finding a place for a while, but we were looking at
a place in Ortegus.
I visited that place, but I'm looking outside.
I'm like, where are we going to go soul winning?
I was just thinking, this is going to be a terrible spot for soul winning.
I mean, because that's the purpose of a church.
You want to be in an area where you can reach people.
And I was just thinking, I mean, I'm sure we would have gotten some people saved.
But I mean, when you look at the houses, they're giant houses.
It's like a, you know, two minute walk to each house.
It's like, I prefer going to Gouli Street.
You got lots of houses in a short distance and people are receptive.
I mean, I like getting people saved.
And look, of course, the rich people need to hear the gospel.
We need to give the gospel to everybody.
But we want to focus on the poor areas first.
But the reason why that is, is because the Bible tells us that those that are rich are
unlikely to be saved.
Sometimes money is not a blessing.
For people that die unsaved, it can be a curse.
Think of the rich man in Luke 16, verse 26.
But Jesus beheld them and said unto them, With men this is impossible, but with God
all things are possible.
And see, in our minds, we think with the difficult cases, there's no way my mom's ever going
to get saved.
Never going to happen.
There's no way my dad is ever going to be saved.
And here's the thing, logically and humanly speaking, you're right.
With men, this is impossible.
It's not going to happen, logically speaking.
God looks down at somebody who actually loves God, and He says, you know what, I want to
answer the prayers of their hearts.
They want to get their family members saved.
They're praying for them.
They care about them.
They're doing everything they can.
I do believe God looks down at His children, those that are saved, especially those that
are serving Him, and He wants to answer those requests.
Now, He can't force them to get saved, but you know what, He could bring things in their
life to kind of put them to that point.
I know of cases of people that were not going to get saved in families, and people that
were successful and rich, and they lost all of their money.
Lost all of their money and their business and everything, but it got them to a place
where they were humble and they ended up getting saved.
And of course, all the riches in the world are worth nothing if you die and go to hell,
right?
So look, don't get discouraged with your unsafe family or friends that you don't think
are ever going to listen.
Look, I'm not saying they are going to get saved because, you know, people that I know
about in my life like this, some got saved, some didn't.
But it's not a waste of time.
Don't give up hope with your family members and those that you really care about, because
if Nebuchadnezzar could get saved, then your mom could get saved.
If Nebuchadnezzar could get saved, then your dad could get saved.
If Nebuchadnezzar could get saved, then basically anybody could get saved.
Let's close in a word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and getting to see your
word on this topic and just being able to read and study this chapter and just help
us, you know, take this to our lives and not give up on those that we care about, but actually
put in our effort to give them the gospel, but also show them through our actions, God.
We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
First stanza.
Hymn number one, one, nine.
In the dark.
First stanza.
Ready, sing.
Come, come, come, come, come, come, come, come, come, come, come, come, come, come,
come, come, come, come, come, come, come, come, come, come, come, come, come, come,
come, come, come, come, come, come,
come, come, come, come, come,
come, come, come, come,
come, come,
come,