As we continue to make our way through the book of Daniel, we find ourselves this morning in Daniel chapter four. So will you take your Bibles and join with me? As we examine this amazing chapter, under the heading "God's Humbling Grace." We know from scripture that God is opposed to the proud but he gives grace to the humble. And to be sure, apart from God's grace, true humility is absolutely impossible. As sinful beings we are so blinded by our pride that we cannot see it. We are told in Proverbs 16 and verse 18, that "pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before stumbling." And in Proverbs 18, verse 12, we read before destruction, the heart of man is haughty." And I'm sure you will all agree that at the root of marriages and families that have been destroyed, you will find pride. In fact, pride destroys communities, and even nations. Today, we are witnessing the systematic destruction of our great nation due to the unbridled pride of ungodly political leaders and those who put them in office. About 150 years ago, the great English pastor, Charles Spurgeon said this, "Almost every event has its prophetic prelude. It is an old and common saying that coming events cast their shadows before them. When destruction walks through the land, it casts its shadow. It is in the shape of pride. Pride is as surely the sign of destruction, as the change of mercury in the weather glass is the sign of rain. Everything hath its prelude. The prelude of destruction is pride. There is nothing into which the heart of man so easily falls as pride. And yet there is no vice which is more frequently, more emphatically, and more eloquently condemned in scripture. Against pride, prophets have lifted up their voices, evangelists have spoken and teachers have discoursed. Yea more, the everlasting God has mounted to the very heights of eloquence when he would condemn the man of pride. And the full gushing of the Eternal's mighty language has been most gloriously displayed in the condemnation of the pride of human nature."

Like all monarchs, including the political leaders that we have here in America and those around the world, Nebuchadnezzar was blind to the reality that all earthly sovereigns are completely subject to the ruler of heaven and earth. Who is the Lord Jesus Christ. Indeed, Jesus declared in Matthew 28, in verse 18, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven, and on earth." Indeed, Peter testified in Acts chapter 10, verse 42, that God "ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead." Dear friends, every man and every woman who has ever drawn breath or whoever will draw breath, will ultimately stand before the Lord Jesus Christ, in worship or in terror. He will either be their Savior and Lord, or their judge and executioner. We are reminded of this, for example, in Philippians, chapter two, beginning in verse nine, where we read that "God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name so that at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Through the prophet Isaiah, God expresses his holy anger against the proud and what will ultimately come about as a consequence of their arrogance in Isaiah chapter 14, beginning in verse nine, he addressed Belshazzar, the final king of ancient Babylon, and by extension, all of the pompous godless rulers of the world that many of us are even forced to endure this day. And there we read hell "from beneath is excited about you, to meet you at your coming. It stirs up the dead for you, all the chief ones of the earth that has raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations, they all shall speak and say to you, Have you also become as weak as we have, you become like us? Your Pomp is brought down to Sheol and the sound of your stringed instruments. The maggot is spread under you, and worms cover you."

Well, we can all be thankful, can we not? That God's grace is available to all of us who are proud. He has his ways of humbling even the most pompous. And that is what we will see in the text before us in Daniel chapter four. At the beginning of this chapter, Daniel, includes an introduction that was written by Nebuchadnezzar, where he exalts the one true God who had humbled him and restored him to his throne, as we will see, so I want to go through this, read it to you make some explanations, and then some applications. Beginning in verse one, "Nebuchadnezzar, the king to all the peoples, nations and men of every language that live in all the earth: 'May your peace abound! It has seemed good to me,'" or literally, it was beautiful before me, '"to declare the signs and wonders which the Most High God has done for 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.'" My, what a contrast to human kingdoms that rise and fall and often exchange rulers multiple times within a single generation. And next, the king tells of his dream, which by the way, must have occurred sometime around the end of his reign, some sometime between 605 and 562 BC, I might add just a little footnote, archeologists have discovered a fragmentary tablet which reads, quote, "in the 37th year, which began April 23, 568 BC, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Egypt to deliver a battle." And we know historically that he went to Egypt at this time, and he suppressed a revolt. And they returned home, celebrating yet another victory over a vanquished foe, which undoubtedly fanned the flames of his pride, all the more. Now back to verse four, "'I Nebuchadnezzar was at ease in my house, and flourishing in my palace,'" he says, In other words, all was at rest in his vast kingdom, and even in his mind, and then we read, "'I saw a dream, and it made me fearful.'" The original helps us understand that it was terrifying to him. '"And these fantasies as I lay on my bed, and the visions in my mind kept alarming me. So I gave orders to bring into my presence all the wise men of Babylon, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream. Then the magicians, the conjurers, the Chaldeans and the Diviners came in and I related the dream to them, but they could not make its interpretation known to me. But finally, Daniel came in before me, whose name is Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is a spirit of the holy gods; and I related the dream to him."

Now, it's interesting that Daniel came in last, we're not told why. But I would imagine that he wanted to give the other men an opportunity to prove their ineffectiveness. And so he comes in. And Nebuchadnezzar says, "In Him is a spirit of the holy gods." I think a better interpretation here is singular, the Holy God, the reason I say that, is the plural, gods can refer to a single deity in both Aramaic and in Hebrew. And I think given the context, and we will see this by the way, again, in verse nine and verse 18, I believe it's better to interpret this, "and in whom is a spirit of the Holy God," referring to Daniel's God. "And I related the dream to him saying, 'O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, since I know that a spirit of the Holy God is in you and no mystery baffles you, tell me the visions of my dream, which I have seen along with its interpretation. Now, these were the visions in my mind as I lay on my bed: I was looking, and behold, there was a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great. The tree grew large and became strong, and its height reached to the sky. And it was visible to the end of the whole earth. Its foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant. And in it was food for all the beasts of the field found shade under it, and the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches, and all living creatures fed themselves from it. I was looking into visions in my mind as I lay on my bed, and behold, an angelic watcher, a holy one, descended from heaven. He shouted out and spoke as follows: Chop down the tree and cut off its branches, Strip off its foliage and scatter its fruit; Let the beasts flee from under it and the birds from its branches. Yet, leave the stump, with its roots in the ground. But with a band of iron and bronze around it, in the new grass of the field; and let him be drenched with the dew of heaven and let him share with the beasts in the grass of the earth. Let his mind be changed from that of a man and let it and let a beast's mind be given to him. And let seven periods of time pass over him.'" Fascinating, "let his mind be changed from that of a man to a beast." In other words, let him begin to reason and act like an animal. Many times, this is what we see in a, in a disorder called lycanthropy, where a person thinks they are an animal, typically a wolf. This is kind of at the heart of the old world, wolf myths and all of this type of thing. But here it could be boanthropy, where he thinks of himself as an ox. So this is the curse that God placed upon him for seven years. Verse 17, "'This sentence is by the decree of the angelic watchers and the decision is a command of the holy ones in order that the living may know that the Most High is a ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whom he wishes and sets over it the lowliest of men. This is the dream which I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Now you, Belteshazzar, tell me its interpretation, inasmuch as none of the wisemen of my kingdom is able to make known to me the interpretation; but you are able for a spirit of the Holy God is in you.'" Verse 19, "Then Daniel whose name is Belteshazzar, was appalled for a while, as his thoughts alarmed him. The king responded and said, 'Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation alarm you.' Belteshazzar replied, 'My lord, if only the dream applied to those who hate you, and its interpretation to your adversaries! The tree that you saw, which became large and grew strong, whose height reached to the sky, and was visible to all the earth and whose foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in which was food for all under which the beasts of the field dwelt in whose branches the birds of the sky lodged-- it is you, O king; for you have become great and grown strong, and your majesty has become great and reached to the sky and your dominion to the end of the earth. In that the king saw an angelic watcher, a holy one, descending from heaven and saying, 'Chop down the tree and destroy it; yet leave the stump with its roots in the ground, but with a band of iron and bronze around it in the new grass of the field, and let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let him share with the beasts of the field, until seven periods of time pass over him,' this is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king: that you be driven away from mankind and your dwelling place, be with the beasts of the field. And you'll be given grass to eat like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven; and seven periods of time will pass over you until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes. And in that it was commanded to leave the stump with the roots of the tree, your kingdom will be assured to you after you recognize that it is Heaven that rules. Therefore, O king, may my advice, be pleasing to you: break away now from your sins by doing righteousness and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, in case there may be a prolonging of your prosperity.'" In other words, Daniel takes a real risk here in offering his advice to the king. Kings of that day, certainly Nebuchadnezzar would be among them, were cruel to the people that worked for them. The many poor that built their vast walls and cities, injustices also existed among their judges, that was commonplace. So basically, Daniel is pleading with him to correct your sinful life, conduct yourself with righteousness and perhaps God would be merciful. Perhaps, your change of heart would mitigate the severity of his judgment upon you.

And then we read this in verse 28. "All this happened to Nebuchadnezzar, the king. Twelve months later, he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon." I want you to notice was walking is a participle. It indicates that he was pacing back and forth on the roof of his palace, admiring all of the glory of his kingdom. Verse 30, "The king reflected and said, 'Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence, by the might of my power, and for the glory of my majesty?' That betrayed his heart of pride.

Let me digress for a moment and give you a little glimpse into what his kingdom looked like. Much of the ruins of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon have been recovered by the German archaeologist Robert Conaway. He discovered much of it from 1899 to 1917. I've seen remnants of it in various museums around the world. And here's some of the remarkable characteristics of what was found, according to various sources of documentation. The city was protected by a system of great double walls. The outer line extending 10 miles around the double walls were each 25 feet thick, with 40 feet between and a total of 260 Towers 160 feet apart. Through the center of the city for two thirds of a mile, extended the great 70 feet wide stone paved procession street, having walls decorated with enameled brick showing 120 Lions and 575 dragons and bulls arranged in alternate rows. By the way, the dragons in the bowls were symbols of Marduk and Baal, their idols. The figure of each animal stood out against the uniform background tinted blue with powdered lapis lazuli. Lapis Lazuli is a a very beautiful deep blue, metaphoric rock that's used as a semi-precious stone.

The architecture and ornamentation were skillfully adapted to each other, the animals were carved to scale. And despite their multitude the arrangement was orderly and harmonious. At the northern end of the procession street was the famous Ishtar Gate 35 feet high, decorated with 557 animals in bright colors against a glazed blue background. The city was dominated by a seven story ziggurat, which is a step pyramid 288 feet high known as the Tower of Babel, and nearly 60 million fired bricks were used to construct this huge tower. And on the top of it stood "Etemenanki" which means house of the foundation of heaven and earth. It contained a solid gold statue of Marduk, which weighed 52,000 pounds. According to fifth century BC, Greek historian, Herodotus, you can take the price of gold per pound today, multiply it by 52,000. I tried doing that this last week on my little iPhone computer, it started smoking and so I just backed off but it's somewhere over a trillion dollars. That's a lot of gold. More than 50 temples existed within the city walls. At the north end of the city near the Ishtar Gate was Nebuchadnezzar's palace, his throne room was 171 by 56 feet, having a triple gateway and a richly decorated facade of glazed bricks. Yellow columns who superimposed ionic capitals were crowned by palmettes linked together or linked to each other by a garland of lotus buds. At the northeast angle of the palace are the remains of vaults, thought to be supports for the terrace quote, Hanging Gardens built by Nebuchadnezzar for Amytis, his Median wife, as a reminder of her homeland, it was built upon stone arches, and was equipped with a draw well and chain pump. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were counted as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. So that gives you a little idea of what existed in Babylon.

So all of this, of course, symbolizes to him, and to the ancient world, the majesty and the glory and the power of the king, which just fueled his pride. So you can see why he would say in verse 30, "'The king reflected and said, 'Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?'" And then we read this in verse 31, "'While the word was in the king's mouth, a voice came from heaven saying, 'King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared.'" I have to stop there for a moment, this is what the king is used to saying, "to you, it is declared," and now all of a sudden, he gets a voice from heaven saying, "to you, it is declared, sovereignty has been removed from you, and you will be driven away from mankind and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field, you will be given grass to eat like cattle and seven periods of time will pass over you, until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whomever He wishes.'" Then in verse 33, we read "Immediately," or it could also be translated that very hour, and I would imagine it was a little bit of time here for all of this to sink into his mind what he just heard, to reflect upon the reality that God had spoken to him, to come to grips with the horror that was about to befall him. So that very hour, "the word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled."

Now if you think about it, undoubtedly it took a few days for the king's physicians and the other rulers to figure out what on earth has happened to this guy. And I'm sure Daniel filled them in. So they had to figure out, now what are we going to do with him? So it took some time to determine how to treat him, where to put him. They probably put him in a royal forest, so to speak. Someplace where he could be out of sight of other people, so that no one would know what was going on. He had to be held in the strictest of confidence all that was happening. Otherwise other people would take advantage. So he was driven the text says "away from mankind and began eating grass like cattle. And his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair had grown like eagle's feathers and his nails like bird's claws. Oh, dear friends, the power in the judgment of God. Think of it; how quickly the mighty fall before him.

Then seven years later, we read this in verse 34, "But at the end of that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me." Obviously, it is God who initiated his humble heavenward gaze that constituted, frankly, the initial phase of his return to rationality, to normal. And as that happened, notice what he says, "I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Jim who lives forever." He did not shake his fist in God's face. But rather, he humbly praised him. Three verbs used synonymously, to express the depths of his worship, and his personal dependency upon the Most High God, I blessed, praised and honored, the most high God.

Then he says, "For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation." My what a contrast with his own temporal kingdom, and all other kingdoms. The Kingdom of the Most High is everlasting, it endures from generation to generation, there is no changing of the guards in God's kingdom. Then he says in verse 35, "All of the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing," and obviously, he's including himself here, but he referring to the Most High God, "does according to His will, in the host of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth." In other words, he is the sovereign God that does whatever he pleases. "And no one," he says, "can ward off," or literally strike, "His hand." The idea of tapping a hand of a child as they reach for something, no, no. We can't do that with God. "No one can ward off His hand," no one can alter what he desires, and what he has ordained to come to pass. Whatever he chooses to do, he does. Then he adds this, "Or say to Him, 'What have you done?'" In other words, here we have a clear acknowledgement of the sovereignty of God, as well as the omnipotence of God, the one who can do anything he pleases, but also the righteousness of God that everything that he does is perfectly just including what he had done for seven years to the king.

Verse 36, he says at that time, "'My reason returned to me. And my majesty, and splendor were restored to me for the glory of my kingdom. And my counselors and my nobles began seeking me out.'" It's the idea here that they approached him to restore him to his former position as king. "'So I was reestablished in my sovereignty and surpassing greatness was added to me.'" Now in ways that were not told God, blessed Nebuchadnezzar, and his kingdom in ways that exceeded the previous glory and greatness. And I find it interesting that during that seven years of time, word didn't get out so that someone or some group would come along and take the kingdom during that time of vulnerability. Instead, his men and probably primarily, Daniel, continued the rule in the king's absence. And again, I would imagine even though the text doesn't say this, that Daniel gathered all of them around and say, Listen, this was the king's dream. Here's what God is going to do. Don't mess with this. He'll be back in seven years.

Verse 37, "'Now I Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and Honor the king of heaven.'" Three active participles denoting continuous action. In other words, this became the modus operandi of his life, a man who praised and exalted and honored the King of heaven. And what a contrast to the temporary worship that characterizes Nebuchadnezzar. Especially with his previous reaction to the dream that he saw in Daniel two and the supernatural deliverance of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from the fiery furnace. Obviously, he saw those things, and he was impressed for a while, and then he reverted right back to his idolatry. I believe that what we read here, along with other passages indicates that Nebuchadnezzar was truly converted. I believe we will see him in heaven someday. You know, I can think of no world ruler in my lifetime that could be characterized in such a way as a man who continually praises, exalts and honors the King of Heaven. In fact, there's a dearth of professing Christians that conduct themselves in such a way. I mean, how many people do you know that could be described as a man and a woman whose character and conduct is clearly motivated by a heart desire to give glory to God and all that they do? Very few people. By God's grace, there's many here amongst the saints at Calvary Bible Church and other churches I know, but as a whole, you don't see too many people who have a passionate desire to proclaim the excellencies of Christ, the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to give praise to the one true God of heaven, who has revealed himself in creation, and in Scripture, and in the person in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, how many people do you know, who have a consuming zeal and an exhilarating fervor to put God's glory on display in their life, in their family, and their business, who longs to see his kingdom come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And again, I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to have a president like this. I mean, we're used to being ruled by those who do the complete opposite. People who celebrate and legislate that which God hates, and those things which condemn people to an eternal hell. And I want you to notice in the text, why Nebuchadnezzar worshipped the Most High. Why he was worthy of such adoring praise. He says, "For all His works," could be translated his course of conduct, the methods that he uses to accomplish his purposes, the ways by which he responds to situations, "all His works are true," or right or righteous. In other words, whatever he does corresponds with his righteous standards. That's why I worship him. That's why I praise him. That's why I exalt Him. "All His works are true." All his works are always an accurate reflection of his holiness. They are always consistent with the perfections of his character, his righteousness.

And then he says, "and His ways are just," meaning they're equitable. They're fair. They're absolutely fair. They conform again to his, his standard of righteousness. And then he adds this, "and he is able to humble those who walk in pride." My what an understatement after what he had just endured. He is able to humble those who walk in pride. A verse really hits me. I hope it does you as well. We all struggle with it, but my what a confession of this man, what a testimony of God's saving grace. His humbling grace, right?

You know, about 20 years later, an aged Daniel would explain to Belshazzar, who was Nebuchadnezzar son, that took his place; he would explain to him about his father, who experienced insanity because of his pride. And here's what we read, out of Daniel five beginning of verse 21. Daniel says to him, "'He was also driven away from mankind and his heart was made, like that of beasts and his dwelling place was with the wild donkeys. He was given grass to eat like cattle and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he recognized that the Most High God is ruler over the realm of mankind and that H sets over it whomever He wishes. Yet you, his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this, but you have exalted yourself against the Lord of Heaven.'" Again, this seems to attest to Nebuchadnezzar's true conversion, unlike his son, who would perish in his sins.

John Walvoord concludes quote, "Nebuchadnezzar reaches a new spiritual perspicacity," a term that means discernment. "Prior to his experience of insanity, his confessions were those of a pagan whose polytheism permitted the addition of new gods. Now Nebuchadnezzar apparently worships the King of Heaven only. For this reason, his autobiography is truly remarkable and reflects the fruitfulness of Daniel's influence upon him and probably of Daniel's daily prayers for him. Certainly, God is no respecter of persons, and can save the high and mighty in this world, as well as the lowly." Dear friends, pride is a deadly sin. And one of the most deceitful of all sins. It's so easy for us to see it in others and not in ourselves. We must recognize that this is a weed that grows faster than all others in the garden of our spiritual life. It is the kind of weed that chokes out all of the desired virtues of Christ's likeness, that we long to see manifest themselves. Those virtues that rob us of true humility, and therefore we need to pray that God will be merciful to us and help us by his grace, to see our own pride, to uproot those hideous evils in the garden of our life. Proverbs 16 in verse five, "Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord." We know that it was pride, was it not, that condemned the devil? We know that is for this reason, we are warned to never put a novice in a position of leadership in the church. According to First Timothy three, six "less being puffed up with pride, he fall into the same condemnation of the devil." Pride is a characteristic of the world that that all believers must battle, we can all identify with that. John tells us "for all that is in the world,": First John 216, "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father but of the world." And in Proverbs 26:12, we read "Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him."

As we look through Scripture, we see the people who are filled with pride, despise authority, they resent correction. They hardened their heart. It's a besetting sin, especially of the wealthy and the powerful. It leads to, it leads people to contempt and rejection of God's Word and those who administer it. It leads people to persecute the poor to stir up strife and contention, even in a church and it leads to self-deception. And ultimately, according to Scripture, the deadly fruit of pride that you will see in a person's life will ultimately be that of shame, debasement and destruction. And those guilty of it shall be a base, according to First Peter five that I've quoted before, "For God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble." And again, "pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall," Proverbs 16:18. You know, folks, pride is the opposite of Christ's likeness. That's what we've got to bear in mind. Christ's likeness is characterized by selflessness, by self-sacrificial love. By humility. I think of First Corinthians 13 one, we read that if we do not humble ourselves in love, we have "become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal." I mean, nobody can stand the obnoxious noise that those instruments make. I know they have their place, but you don't want to hear that long term right? It goes on in verse four, "Love is patient," but can I put it this way, pride is not. Pride is impatient. You want to measure your own life here. Love is patient, pride is impatient. Love is kind, not so with pride. Pride is critical, it is overbearing, it is rude. Love is not jealous we're told, oh pride is. Love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecoming. Not so with pride. Pride is ugly, it is inappropriate is indecent. It is unmannerly. Love does not seek its own. But pride demands its own; my way or the highway. Love is not easily provoked. But pride is a raw wound that will instantly retaliate in the most vicious of ways. Love does not take into account a wrong suffered. So with pride. Pride keeps a record of wrongs and it never forgets, because it wants to make you pay. Love does not rejoice in unrighteousness but rejoices with the truth. Oh, not so with pride. Pride loves juicy gossip and spins the truth to its advantage to destroy other people and exalt itself. Love "bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." Not so with pride. Pride bears nothing, believes nothing, sees the worst in everything and tolerates nothing, unless it fits its agenda. And beloved, if you fail to see yourself somewhere in that list, there is only one reason. Its pride. And what an amazing thing that we as believers of all people, we have no reason to be proud, right? We are debtors to God's grace, we deserve no accolades of praise whatsoever our boast is in the Lord, not in us. And this is at the very heart of the gospel of grace, especially when we understand that in his infinite love, he chose us before time began, set his love upon us, drew us unto himself and saved us by his grace, not through any merit of our own. Boy, when you really get a hold of that every ounce of conceit is shattered forever. Our only glory is in the Lord. Paul said this in First Corinthians one verse 26, "For consider your calling, brethren." You believers here at Calvary Bible Church, "that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised, God has chosen the things that are not so that he may nullify the things that are so that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that just as it is written, let him who boasts, boast in the Lord."

Well, dear friends, we know that pride is going to continue to abound in these last days. I don't have this text before you but I'm reminded of Second Timothy three and verse one, Paul says, "But realize this that in the last days, difficult times will come." Savage times, perilous times; the idea that they're going to mount up layer upon layer upon layer upon layer. And here's what we will see "For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power." And then he says, "Avoid such men as these." Folks we should not be surprised at the arrogance of fools who have no fear of God, but we should be deeply concerned about our own hearts. And that's what I would challenge you with here today. You know, God may not cause us to eat grass in the fields with the cattle for seven years, he might do something far worse, we don't know. But certainly it is his desire to humble us. Because in our sanctification, he wants us to become more like Jesus. And that means that every vestige of arrogance and self-conceit must be done away with. And because he loves us, he will see to it that that happens. He chastens those that he loves. He's constantly at work in us to conform us into the likeness of Christ. In fact, Jesus said in Matthew 23:12, "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled. And he who humbles himself will be exalted."

"My worth is not in what I own, not in the strength of flesh and bone, but in the costly wounds of love, at the cross." Indeed, we boast in Christ who has saved us by his grace. Amen? Let's pray together. Father, we're so thankful for what you have done for us. My what a humbling reality. And as we read of what happened so many years ago, we see the implications of it even in our own lives, certainly in the world in which we live, and we thank you, that your all-sufficient grace is always available to those who will humble themselves in repented faith. So, Lord, we thank you, we give you praise. Continue to speak to our hearts, grow us into the likeness of Christ. And for those that do not know Christ, I pray that today will be the day that they will humble themselves before the Most High and cry out for saving grace. Father, hear the cry of our heart I pray. We thank you. We give you praise. In Jesus name. Amen.