(Daniel) the Conversion of Nebuchadnezzar — Willie Mullan

800 and 5 please, 800 and 5, brightly beams our father's mercy from his lighthouse evermore but to us he gives the keeping of the lights along the shore, 800 and 5 please. The book of Daniel again this evening and we're at the fourth chapter please.

Daniel 4 and the Threefold Meaning of Scripture

The book of Daniel and we're at the fourth chapter and we're looking very carefully this evening at every single word in the first three verses. Just looking at those first three verses of Daniel chapter 4.

And before we get into studying this properly and seriously and carefully let me remind you of some things that I have already said about this great and mighty book of Daniel. There are 12 chapters and most of the great Bible teachers and commentators they divide these chapters into two sections.

Great part of the book no doubt is historical and another great part of the book is philosophical. But when we began I said that we would keep our three-fold eye on the book looking at it in a three-dimensional sense.

It is historical and it is prophetical but we must not miss the spiritual. Not just history we want and it's not just prophecy we want because the things that were written before time whether they be history or prophecy they were written for our learning and that's something we must keep in balance all the way.

So remember that we're looking at history and prophecy but gathering the spiritual lessons together as we go along. You remember when we started the first chapter that we saw this great king Nebuchadnezzar, this first Babylonian emperor we saw him crossing the Syrian desert and invading the little land of Palestine.

You remember he destroyed Jerusalem. You remember he ransacked the temple of God in Jerusalem. You remember he brought away some of the golden vessels that were in the temple of the Lord. You remember that he brought Zedekiah the king captive and in his cruelness he killed his two sons before his eyes and then with fierceness and brutality he put out the eyes of Zedekiah.

You remember that he brought some young princes with him as captives lads who were only 14 or 15 years of age, Daniel was one of them. And you remember that Daniel took his stand in Babylon as a lad against the brainwashing of the Babylonians.

Then we went into that great second chapter where the king Nebuchadnezzar again had this mighty vision and Daniel was the one that found the secret and interpreted the dream. You remember the vision, a man with a head of gold with arms and breasts of silver with belly and thighs of brass, legs of iron, feet of iron and toes, ten toes made of iron and clay.

And we had the whole night looking at the interpretation and the meaning of this mighty vision. And we had another great night looking at the ten toes the last outward expression of this great image. And the common market that we are about to enter into just now may well be the ten toes of Daniel's image and the last outward expression of the times of the Gentiles.

And just before we went on holiday we were at that great third chapter where Nebuchadnezzar again set up this image ninety feet high and demanded the whole world to bow down and worship. You remember how the three young Hebrew princes withstood the king's wishes and entered into the fiery furnaces, witnesses for God.

Nebuchadnezzar’s Cruelty and His Claimed Conversion

Now we are at the fourth chapter this evening and we are coming to the end of the day of Nebuchadnezzar. He is going to die in this chapter and see it out. Bellshouters will take over in the next one.

But you know something really happened to Nebuchadnezzar at the end of his day. God took a dealing with him. And remember although he was a mighty Gentile monarch and though he was cruel and fierce and brutal he was a tyrant yet God bent him.

And the many great Bible scholars believe and I believe with them that he got gloriously saved at the end of the day. He became a converted king. You see there is nothing too hard for the Lord. I think that we will be able to prove tonight that he was a changed man.

We are not going to deal with the experience that changed him this evening because we are keeping that for next Tuesday. But when God gave him this great experience and changed his heart then the king made a proclamation to the world and it is the proclamation of this converted king that we are dealing with this evening.

Just look at the wording of chapter four. Nebuchadnezzar the king is writing this himself unto all people, nations and languages that dwell in all the earth and you will mark the word all people and the phrase in all the earth.

Because he was the first great Gentile monarch that ruled the whole entire planet. He was the first Gentile world power. And after his experience with God he is writing to all people, nations and languages that dwell in all the earth and this is the first thing that he wants to say Peace be multiplied unto you.

Now immediately if you had any spiritual insight at all you would detect that there is something wrong with the man there is something changed. Because Nebuchadnezzar was never a man of peace. He was a warrior from his youth.

He had gone to war again and again and again until he had conquered all nations and all people that dwelt on the earth. He was cruel, he had put the sons of Zedekiah to death even before their father's eyes.

And then he had taken the eyesight away immediately. He had brought these young princes to Babylon and he was determined to brainwash them and make them Babylonians. But he's changed. He's talking about peace.

Peace be multiplied unto you. He wants everybody to have peace. Now he's a changed man I tell you. Of course we'll get into this just in a moment. You'll find that he had an experience with God And as experience begins in verse 4 we'll begin the experience next week but just look at it now for a moment.

I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at rest in mine house and flourishing in my palace. And it doesn't make a matter where a man is or who a man is And it doesn't make a matter if he's flourishing in his palace. God can take a dealing with him.

And this experience with God begins here in verse 4 and it ends in verse 34. Have a look at verse 34 for a moment. And at the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven. And it's a great moment when a mighty king lifts his eyes towards heaven.

And mine understanding returned unto me and I blessed the most high. That's a great phrase isn't it? Oh God has brought this fellow to his knees. There were many gods remember in Babylon I could name you quite a few just now.

Oh but he's looking past them now. His eyes are on the most high. I blessed the most high. And I praised and honoured him that liveth forever. Whose dominion is an everlasting dominion. And his kingdom is from generation to generation.

You know he's been through an experience. Look what he says about the inhabitants. And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. And he that is the most high God doeth according to his will in the army of heaven.

And among the inhabitants of the earth and none can stay his hand or say unto him What doest thou? And a lot of people would need an experience like this wouldn't they? Because a lot of folks think they can do what they like down in this planet.

Ah but they can't you know. Because God may take a dealing with them yet. And although they may be flourishing in their wickedness God can bend them you know. And God can break them. And terror can be terrifying.

By God you know. And God starts you know. Big men are not so big. And this man is learning things. He's learning that God doeth according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth and none can stay his hand or say unto him what doest thou?

And he puts this to it. He says at the same time my reason returned unto me. I think that's the only time in life you get real sense when you bow your knees and acknowledge God as the most high. That's when you get real sense.

And for the glory of my kingdom mine honour 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. You know when a man gets saved God doesn't do his business any harm.

Look at this. When a man gets saved God doesn't do his family any harm either. When a man honours God God honours him. This always goes like that. It will always be like that because God has promised them that honour me.

I will honour and he just can't break that. He can't talk like that and then break it. And he honoured Nebuchadnezzar because Nebuchadnezzar was now honouring him. Verse 37. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honour the King of Heaven.

This is great chat out of him, isn't it? Yes, he's saved, you know. He'll be in Heaven one day, this fellow. Wonderful things happen in this old planet of ours. Fall starstruck. That cruel, fierce fallacy who stood with a sneer on his face while Stephen was thrown to death.

God bent his knees, saved him. Yes, the prodigal was brought back from the swine trap. My David was brought out of the horrible pit. The demoniac in the tombs. Someone whom the devil had taken absolute control of and you would think there was a lot of them in this land of ours.

How will God save them? For any sakes, whatever you do, don't limit God. God can save Nebuchadnezzar. And God can save Saul of Tarsus. And God can save the prodigal. And God can save the demoniac. And God can save the drug addict.

God saved me when I was a drunkard. Yes. So this is Nebuchadnezzar, the king, at the end of his day. And he's had an experience with God. And God saves him. And we'll look at his experience very carefully and fully next week.

But tonight we're just looking at the universal proclamation of a converted Nebuchadnezzar. That's what we're looking at this evening. I promised myself when I'd come back to the class that I wouldn't keep you as late as usual.

Or that we're going to try to knock a minute or two off and let you get time to get to your car and get home if I can work it about a quarter past nine each evening. This is fair in these days. Very difficult for me.

More difficult for me to cut it short than go it all the way. But I want to try to do this for the class. I think that you can see that this is a universal proclamation from this converted king. It's unto all people and nations and languages that dwell in all the earth.

The Converted King’s Threefold Proclamation

And in this proclamation he wants to tell the world three things. First of all he wants to tell the world what he desires. He desires peace for the world. And I want to talk to believers about that this evening.

And if you're a believer at all this should be uppermost in your mind. Not to trample over Roman Catholics or buffer anybody about. We need our peace and we should be the advocates of peace. Let's get that quite clear.

I shall prove that before we're through with this tonight. This is what this king desired, that the whole world would get peace. And then he wanted to tell the world not only what he desired but what he believed.

You see verse 2 he says, I thought it good to show the signs and wonders that the high God had wrought toward me. And I want you to get the phrase, the high God. You know this is what he thought about God now.

You see when Daniel, Sadrach, Meshach and Abednego had come to Babylon he had given them Babylonish names. In fact Sadrach, Meshach and Abednego are the Babylonish names for these young Judean princes.

And he had given them names all connected with his gods. There were many gods in Babylon. In fact it's called in history the City of Gods. They had idols galore. But he's talking now about the Most High God.

I think this is tremendous, you know, that he can see this. And he not only wants to tell the world what he desires and what he believes but he wants to tell the world what he knows about God. You know he'd come to know God.

Look at verse 3. How great are his signs! How mighty are his wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. And his dominion is from generation to generation. Fancy old Nebuchadnezzar getting to know all that the way down in Babylon at the end of his day.

And some of us believers don't know it yet. So this is what we want to think about for this evening. We want to think about what the converted king desired for the world. And what the converted king believed about God.

And what the converted king knew about Jehovah. I think it's most interesting, you know, that this man was so changed He was a rough diamond, he was a cruel, fierce, tyrannical monarch, you know. And yet now this man is desiring peace for the world.

You know the day that some of us came to know the Lord we were not much to write home about. I was a deep-dyed reptile scarlet abominable sinner. Sometimes when I think of some of the things that I did I close my eyes and can't go on with it.

I was guilty of a thousand things I wouldn't like to tell you. And I could tell you now that if they were suddenly written on that wall I would get out and never come back. But I was saved, you see. I had an experience.

And God changed me. Something happened inside, you know. I didn't join the Unionist party or anything like that. I had an experience with God. And you know when a man has an experience with God the first thing that happens to him is this.

Justification by Faith and Peace with God

Let me go over this with you very carefully. We are way back at Romans. The letter to the Romans. Chapter 5. Romans, chapter 5. In the last verse of chapter 4 Paul is talking about our Lord Jesus Christ who was delivered for our offences and was raised again for our justification.

And some of us can remember the very moment when we had revelation of this that Christ died for our offences. Not for one or two of them, remember. For everything that could be laid to my charge. Everything was laid on Him.

You see, if some of the sins that I've committed were left out at Calvary undone Oh no, He didn't have to do it, you know. No, He was delivered for all my offences. Every one of them. And He was raised again so that I could be brought in justified before God and the word simply means just as if I'd never sinned at all.

My children's law. And then chapter 5 begins therefore being justified by faith. The moment I placed my faith in the Christ who died and rose again look, I became justified and because of that we have peace with God.

You know, that's a great thing, you know. It's a terrible moment when you feel yourself a guilty condemned, undone, unclean, scarlet, reptile, wretched sinner. But it's a mighty moment, you know when the burden of your sin rolls away.

When you stand justified before God. When in your heart and soul for the first time you have peace with God. It's a great thing. That's where you are tonight. I'm not asking you of your Presbyterian. I'm asking you, have you peace with God?

That's what I'm asking. Did you get it by faith in Christ? That's what I'm asking. Now you know this thing grows deeper and bigger of course. Have a look at this. This is Philippines and it's chapter 4 please.

Paul's letter to the Philippines and it's chapter 4. And this is what Paul says to these believers at Philippi in verse 6. He says, be careful for nothing. And as the other translation says, be anxious for nothing.

The same thing of course. And you know these are days when many anxieties might well cling to your mind. But if you are a child of God and you have peace with God then you should learn this, to be anxious for nothing.

But in everything no matter what's happening, what sort of burdens coming on your mind or heart just go and pray. Everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving that you request to be made known unto God.

Just go and tell the Lord about it. Just throw your burden on the Lord. You know what happens? See next verse. And the peace of God which passeth all understandings shall keep your hearts and minds. You know there's a difference between peace with God and the peace of God.

You would know that, wouldn't you? You see the moment that any little fellow staggers to the Lord's eagles and puts its full trust in Him he gets peace with God. Doesn't necessarily mean that he's got the peace of God.

But it's there for him, you know. He has to learn this. This is a part of the Christian life. Not to let things get in on you. Not to let them weigh too much. Not to take them to bed until you can't sleep.

Take them to the Lord. Don't be anxious or over-anxious. Just by prayer just tell the Lord about it. Somehow you know when you take it really to the Lord. The peace of God. Wish I could expand that. You wouldn't expect me to, would you?

No school in the country could teach you to expand the peace of God. You know what I'm talking about. The peace of God. Remember Hitler never disturbed the peace of God. And the rebels and the bombers never disturbed the peace of God.

Wonderful thing. Can I really have it? Peace of God in my mind. I assure you I can. Belongs to me. Worth more than all this world aside. Peace of God. My mind. But you know you don't only find peace and feel peace.

Following and Fostering Peace

You know you've got to follow peace. Just have a look at Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 12 it is. Hebrews 12. Graceful thing now needs to be read very closely. Just watch it. Hebrews 12 .14 Follow peace with all men.

Then there is a comma there. And holiness and there is a comma there too. Follow peace with all men and holiness. Without which no man shall see the Lord. You know that's a text that's been abused in the land.

I went to teach at a big conference once. Not tell you where. Doesn't matter. I just arrived into the hall. It was packed and the chairman came to meet me. Very nice to me. And then I spied a big bomber right across the hall.

It said without holiness no man shall see the Lord. And it said Hebrews 12 .14 underneath. I said to the chairman at the back of the hall who told you that was Hebrews 12 .14. He says it is. He says indeed it's not.

But it is he said. Well I said have you got a Bible? And look at it. What he had up on a banner and it's there all the time all over this land you know and it's below this. He had without holiness no man shall see the Lord.

That's not what's in that book. Have a look at what's in the book. It says follow peace with all men. Then there is a comma. And holiness. What does that mean? It means I'm to follow two things. I'm to follow peace.

And I'm to follow holiness. The emphasis is on the word follow surely. And then it says without which. Without that following. Why if I'm saved at all I'll follow peace won't I? Oh I'll not be at peace with all men.

And I'll follow holiness. But I'll never be properly holy down here. But if I'm never following peace or holiness I'm not saved. I'm not see the Lord. So I read it out to you bold German. With It says follow peace with all men.

Comma. And holiness. Comma. Without which no man shall see the Lord. I said is that your text? Says that's our text yes. Then it says you mustn't even be able to see right never mind read right. I said look let's get at peace means.

Follow peace with all men. Is that what it says? And holiness. Yes. Without which no man shall see the Lord. Do you see what you've done? You've taken the word without. You've brought it over onto the other side of holiness.

You've taken the comma away and you said without holiness no man shall see the Lord. You've made a new text. You're not allowed to write a new Bible. So what I did that afternoon I preached on the text for them.

Of course you see I'm following peace. But I assure you I was in a lion's den. I was nearly torn asunder. They can't even read some of them. Did you ever muddle yourself? How sweet that is. I can nearly pick them up from here you know.

They don't like it. It's a terrible thing to annoy you isn't it with the truth. You've got to have some old stuffed thing wouldn't you. Go and learn God's word and be honest. Stop fiddling about with God's truth.

It doesn't say any such thing in this book. As without holiness no man shall see the Lord. Not a bit of it. It says I'm to follow after peace and I'm to follow after holiness. And if I don't do it I'll not see the Lord so I wouldn't be saved.

But I follow after peace.

If I find peace and I feel peace I'm following after peace. But not at the expense of truth. Oh no not at all. Do you remember what the Lord Jesus said? When he was giving up these beatitudes and martyries I said blessed are the peacemakers.

He said no friend you're not only to find peace and see you peace and follow after peace you're to foster peace. That's a very difficult thing to do sometimes. He said I was preaching in Mr. Orr's church once.

A Personal Illustration of Reconciliation

Great victorious church I call it Mr. Orr's. And a little fella came up at the end of the meeting and said Pastor I'm separated from my wife. And I know she loves you. And I said no easy on her a wee bit.

He said I don't mean it that way. I mean she thinks she's the greatest man in the world. And I said be careful Lord she'll do that soon. He said you know she comes to all these meetings she just adores you.

You know what I mean. He said if any man can do anything for me you can do it. You go and see her and I want her back. I said look here I'm not just as soft as you think I am. If your wife left you she left you for something.

Tell me what it was. And don't tell me a lie. He says well I was running about with another woman and I got venereal disease and she caught me on and she threw me out. I said well I'll go and see her tomorrow.

Not promising you anything but I'll see her. So I went to see her the next day and this lady opened the door and said Ah I love you. Great to see you. Oh Lord give me tea and all. She said did John send you.

I said he did yes. She said you know he's never told anybody the truth about this thing. I said I think he told me. She said what did he tell you. I said he told me he was under another woman he got venereal disease and you caught him on and threw him out.

She said it's the first time he's ever said it. And that's all I need. I'll summon you as a witness and I'll get rid of him. And let me tell you she summons me. Yes Lord McDermott's son who is Mr. McDermott Queen's Counselor he is.

Dope and all as he is. He summoned me brought me into his office and he had a great big sheet written out. Pastor Mullins, Rousey Logan, talks of so and so and he told me so and so and I went and seen his wife and told her.

She said sign that and I just took it and tore it up and threw it in the waste paper bin. She said that's my property. I said well it's in your office you know. That young fella would annoy me. He says you won't do this.

I said no I most certainly will not. I'm not going to court to get anybody a divorce. I don't believe that they should get one. And I will not go. He says I'll summon you. Summons me. Sudden penis comes from the Queen.

And you're bound to go. So I went along. Sutton McCorton was his father who was Lord Chief Justice. McDermott came up onto the bench. And I was determined that they wouldn't make me speak. You know you can drag me there and I went to honor the Queen and the subpoena but sir you bother screwing my arm to make me talk don't you?

You sit like a dummy. Bother with a fella who sits like a dummy you know. And one of the Queen's counsellors told me if you take this attitude they'll send you to the Cumberland for six months. Well I can't put up with the holidays but I could stick to Cumberland for six months.

And he says it doesn't make a matter of what way you talk to me I'm not saying anything in this case you get that out of your mind. But you see the court had just opened and old Lord McDermott had just sat down went sloppily and went off in a short sleep.

And I thought the Lord was on my side now. I didn't pray that the old fella would say remember that. Oh no. So they had to postpone the court. Coming out of the court another Queen's counsellor put his arm round me and he said what are you doing here?

And I told him. He said you know young McDermott can't summon you. And he knows he can't summon you. There's another law he thinks you don't know it. When you go in between two you're called a reconciliator.

You're trying to reconcile them. Queen Victoria passed a law that you cannot summon to reconciliate. Well I said then he's done it. Can you get me that thing right? Can you give me the statute book and all about that law?

Because I'll need it. But McDermott found out that I got it. And when the court reassembled he never called me. I'm waiting on him yet. But I want you to see that when you become a peacemaker at heart you can get into trouble by being a peacemaker.

The Lord Jesus was the greatest peacemaker this world has ever seen. And yet men were divided around him. They were divided at the cross, the two seas. You know this peace is a wonderful thing. You get it when you trust Christ.

And when you get the feeling, the experience of the peace of God in your mind and then you follow after it. And then you not only follow after it but you foster it as much as you can. Because you foresee the day when this world will know peace it never knew before.

Tell me this now. Have you had an experience with God? Have you peace with God? Have you ever experienced the peace of God? Do you follow after peace? Do you foster peace? Tell me what sort of Christianity you have.

Do you want to shoot somebody? Or throw stones? But I'll tell you this. If we're believers we should be like Nebuchadnezzar. Let peace come. Let peace come. We should be the Christian banner. We should be our desire.

This old fellow learned this the way down in Babylon. Let's get back to Daniel chapter 4. I want you to notice this. Verse 2 he says I thought it good to show the signs and wonders that the high God had wrought towards me.

The Most High God’s Sovereignty

You know in verse 2 he said this. That's verse 2. The high God. Do you see verse 34? Just go down the chapter a bit. At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes unto heaven and mine understanding returned to me and I blessed the Most High.

I wonder do we really believe tonight that God is the Most High? Quite sure about this are we? Because I haven't any doubts about it. I woke about half past four this morning, put the light on and got the book and I remember holding it tight and closing my eyes and saying Lord you're up there somewhere seated upon the throne and this book tells me Lord that you're made higher than the heavens.

There's nothing higher you know. There's no one higher. Have we got this? As it's time we believe we've got this. Nobody bigger than God. It's a wonderful thing you know. He's the Most High. Do you know what the word Most High simply means?

The first time it's used, it's used in Genesis 14. Melchizedek met Abraham. He was the priest of the Most High God. Possessor of heaven and earth. And what does it mean? All that we knew, all that men knew that God owns this world.

God owns it you know. Not a unionist. Not orange or purple. Not green or white. Not communist. Not ominous. God owns it. Wish we could get the grasp of this. This old fella got the hold of this. Bypassed all the idols.

Knocked them down all round them. Most High God. All that we could see this. Friends this is what we need to see doesn't it? You know he went a bit further than this. See verse 17. Chapter 4 verse 17.

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 ruleth in the kingdom of men and giveth it to whomsoever he will and setteth up over it the basis of men.

I wish that we could get the hold of this that the Most High He ruleth in the kingdom of men. I think that sometimes we don't believe this you know. And I'm absolutely sure of this. This isn't just a fantasy with me.

I believe that God is in control of all things. I believe that God is ordering everything at this moment according to the counsel of his own will. I believe the Most High sits in the heaven and even lasts sometimes.

He that sitteth in the heaven shall last. God is still on the throne. Wish we really believed it. We sing it sometimes but I don't think we believe it. But I can tell you this that you could never have believed it.

You see verse 35 that's one we were at a moment or two ago. 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 what doest thou.

This is what you could never believe about his God. He believes he was the Most High God. He believes that God ruled in the kingdom of men. He believes that God doeth according to his will. I wish we could just grasp that tonight.

Do you believe? Are you out for peace? Do you believe that God is the Most High? Do you believe that he rules in the kingdom of men? He believes that he does according to his will. There's nobody going to shove him around you know.

I wish that we could get all the rebels to understand this. They won't shove God around. He's the boss you know. You know Ned you could never not only had an experience that made him desire peace and that he wanted to tell the world what he believed but he wanted to tell the world what he knew about God.

God’s Signs, Wonders, and Everlasting Kingdom

Look at this. How great are his signs. Verse 3. You know the signs that God has used have been wonderful. I don't want to touch the signs tonight. The greatness of God's signs. Because one of these nights when we come to another chapter we'll have to deal with the sun and the moon and the stars and they were put there for signs.

When God threw them into space they were put there for signs and for seasons. But for signs most of all. Of course when the Jews were looking for a sign the Lord Jesus said I'm giving you not only the sign of the prophet Jonah.

When the unbelieving nation of Israel would not believe that the Holy Ghost had come God gave a sign. The sign of tongues. It was a sign gift not to them that believed. To them that believed not. I wish people would read that.

I hear them talking. I hear about them talking in tongues where there's no unbelievers. It must be below me that's all. Because it's a sign not to them that believed. Not to them that believed not. And you would need to have the unbelievers there.

And if you read it very carefully it's the unbelieving Jews. So the Jews need to then believe in Jews. We're not going into the signs tonight. The signs in the heavens or the signs on the earth or the signs of Jonah or the signs of an apostle.

We'll do that just another night. But look at this. How great are his signs and how mighty are his wonders. There's a text for you young preachers. How mighty are his wonders. He's the God that doeth wonders.

He did wonders when he created all things by the word of his power. You know the greatness of his wonder is seen in creation. It is special. It was done. It is commanded. And the sea and the mountains stood fast.

Yes he has done wonders in creation. Let me tell you he did wonders in inspiration. See the book. He took a lot of men you know. Some of them were kings. Some of them were shepherds. Some of them were all learned and ignorant men like me.

Oh but that doesn't make any difference when God takes you up. You don't send God to school surely. He's quite capable of taking the things which are not. And making a fool out of those who think they are something.