The Sovereign Over All Things

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Psalm 19:1, 14
• Hymn — Glorify Thy Name
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Faith — Heidelberg Catechism, Question 1
• Scripture Reading — Luke 3:1-9
• Hymn — Teach Me, O Lord, Your Way of Truth
• Pastoral Prayer
• Offering
• Prayer of Preparation
• Sermon
• Hymn — All Glory, Laud, and Honor
• Benediction
• Doxology

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Sermon Title: The Disruptive, Disturbing, and Merciful Nature of God's Sovereign Rule

Scripture: Daniel 4:1-27

I. The Disruptive Nature of God's Sovereign Rule

A. Nebuchadnezzar's dream interrupts his ease and prosperity (Daniel 4:4)

1. He is the great tree — his greatness has grown to reach heaven and his dominion to the ends of the earth (Daniel 4:22)
2. Babylon was a uniquely impressive empire; Nebuchadnezzar built a luxurious palace with hanging gardens, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world
3. The cosmic tree imagery — rooted in ancient Near Eastern mythology, including Babylonian myths about Marduk and the Meshu tree binding heaven and earth — makes the vision's threat all the more jarring

B. The stark contrast is what terrifies: from a great tree reaching heaven to a mere stump; from ease in a palace to eating grass like an ox

C. We live in a culture that trains us to see ourselves as the center of the universe — an age of entitlement

1. James 4:13-15 — "You do not know what tomorrow will bring… you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes"
2. C. S. Lewis in The Screwtape Letters notes how the enemy exploits our sense of ownership over our time; in reality, every moment is a gift from the sovereign Lord

D. The proper response to recognizing God's sovereignty over time: practicing righteousness, breaking off sin, showing mercy to the oppressed (Daniel 4:27)

1. 2 Peter 3:9 — God grants time because he does not wish for any to perish, but that all might reach repentance
2. Time is sovereignly given so that we might live for the King, not for ourselves

II. The Disturbing Nature of God's Sovereign Rule

A. Daniel is dismayed and alarmed by the vision (Daniel 4:19)

1. Despite Nebuchadnezzar's cruelty — threatening the wise men in chapter 2, throwing Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the fire in chapter 3, ravaging Israel and destroying the temple — Daniel shows compassion for him
2. There is a mutual tenderness: Nebuchadnezzar notices Daniel's distress and reassures him

B. The neglected doctrine of hell

1. Hell is one of the most neglected topics in the church today; softening or ignoring it produces less urgent gospel proclamation and a lax attitude toward repentance
2. Jesus Christ, the greatest preacher who ever lived, spoke more about hell than about heaven
3. At the cross, Christ tasted hell out of compassion for those destined for it — "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34)
4. Christian Pilgrim in Pilgrim's Progress urgently pleads with townspeople to flee the wrath to come because he has seen the city of destruction

C. Application: flee the wrath to come and hide yourself in the one who has tasted it for you

1. Matthew 24:37-39 — As in the days of Noah, people will be at ease and unaware when the Son of Man comes
2. The title "Son of Man" points back to Daniel 7 and to the stone cut without human hands in Daniel 2 that crushes all earthly kingdoms

III. The Merciful Nature of God's Sovereign Rule

A. Daniel closes his interpretation with a call to repentance and an offer of mercy (Daniel 4:27)

1. A common Old Testament pattern: God threatens judgment through a prophet, but offers to delay or avert it upon repentance
2. Most famous example: Jonah and the king of Nineveh — "Yet forty days, and the Lord will overthrow the city"; the king repents and God relents
3. Jeremiah 18:7-8 — "If that nation… turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it"

B. The surprising grace offered to wicked Nebuchadnezzar

1. We expect severe judgment — and yet mercy is offered, which may even anger us as it angered Jonah
2. If God can offer mercy to Nebuchadnezzar, he can offer mercy to you — his hand of mercy is open; he does not want you to die in your sin

C. Jonathan Edwards's sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God (Enfield, Connecticut) illustrates this pattern

1. The Rev. Stephen Williams recorded the congregation's piercing cries of conviction followed by cheerful countenances after receiving the comfort of the gospel
2. The very real threat of God's holy judgment leads to the very real free offer of grace and mercy in Christ — this is one of the most gracious sermons ever delivered
3. Application: never leave your knees in prayer feeling guilty and condemned; you are a justified sinner in Christ — prayer is to be left with the assurance of God's forgiveness and pardon

D. Two objects of God's mercy in this passage

1. Nebuchadnezzar himself
2. The oppressed within Babylon whom Nebuchadnezzar is crushing

E. The contrast between Nebuchadnezzar's kingship and God's kingship

1. Nebuchadnezzar is at ease in his palace, aloof from his people (Daniel 4:4)
2. The sovereign Lord is not aloof — his omniscient eye is on the afflicted whom earthly rulers do not see
3. Psalm 9:9 — "The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble"

F. Mount Moriah — the God who sees and provides (Genesis 22)

1. After the angel stays Abraham's hand and God provides the ram as a substitute for Isaac, Abraham names the place "The Lord will provide" (Moriah)
2. The name can also be rendered "the Lord who sees" — and strong geographical evidence places Golgotha on that very mountain
3. The cross is the seal of Moriah: God sees us in our affliction, guilt, and despondency, and provides in Christ
4. He sees us not in accord with his wrath, but — when he looks at us through Christ — in accord with his mercy and grace