Did you know that in the Bible there was a very famous man who
completely lost it because he thought he was better than God?
King Nebuchadnezzar was probably the most powerful man on earth
at one time. He spent 35 years of his life
conquering the entire world, and at the time we meet him, he had
just finished creating the world's first empire.
And boy was he proud of himself. One day, while Nebuchadnezzar
was at ease in his palace, flourishing without a care in
the world, out of nowhere, sudden dread overwhelmed the
king when he saw a certain vision.
In the vision, King Nebuchadnezzar sees a vast tree,
a tree that is so tall it reaches the sky, so impressive
that it's visible to the rest of the earth.
This tree, unlike any other, provided shade for the animals,
and all the creatures of the earth were fed by its fruit.
But here's what made Nebuchadnezzar uneasy.
We are all being watched. A watcher or an Angel descended
from heaven and began to chop the branches, the leaves, the
fruits, and eventually the entire tree down.
Are you picturing this right now?
Here is this tree which surpassed every other tree on
earth, and in an instant it was removed and all that remained
was the stomp, which according to the vision was then plated by
bronze and iron. In other words, it was to be
kept alive and it was to be protected for another time.
Things then get even worse as Nebuchadnezzar in his vision was
shown a man who was transformed into a grass eating, field
dwelling animal and this man then remained in that state for
seven years. It is almost incredible how this
colossal man went from flourishing on the outside to
being troubled on the inside. So troubled was Nebuchadnezzar
by the vision that he called the wisest man in the palace, but
none of them could interpret his dream except for one man,
Daniel. However, Daniel did not have
good news to share. So bad was the fate of this king
that Daniel spent one hour astounded by what the vision
really meant. Eventually Daniel was able to
compose himself, and he painted the picture very plainly for the
king. This great big tree that is
visible to the whole world is you, Nebuchadnezzar.
And just like in the vision, God is going to shake you off that
throne of gold, and he's going to make you eat grass like an
animal. Because just like the tree, your
pride was large, so your fall will be equally large.
But listen to me, God did not just leave Nebuchadnezzar
without hope. He actually offered him a door
of exit from this swift judgment.
The Bible says. Therefore, O king, let my advice
be acceptable to you. Break off your sins by being
righteous and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor.
Perhaps there may be a lengthening of your prosperity.
Did you catch that? In other words, this doom was
not final. The writing was not yet on the
wall. God was extending His hand of
grace to Nebuchadnezzar one more time.
He had one last opportunity to avoid this calamity and is all
he had to do was repent. But did he?
No, 12 whole months went by, there was 365 opportunities to
turn from this sin and to humble himself, and yet King
Nebuchadnezzar did nothing. Am I the only one who thinks
this sounds very familiar? All God has to do is simply
place His finger on an area of your life and He could shake you
to your very core. It only takes one letter, one
doctor's appointment, one knock on the door, one text, one phone
call, one second and you could be brought to your knees for
days, months and even years. Every single one of us has had
those defining moments in our life.
And in the moments of that crisis, maybe you yourself have
even said these very words. Something has to change.
That's it. I'm going to turn my life
around. I will be the man of God you
want me to be. I will be the woman of God
you've been calling me to be. And we often say these things in
the heat of the moment. And then the sermon ends.
Time goes by. The crisis is over and you
forget all the vows you once made, all the lessons you
learnt, and that sense of urgency to repent grows fainter
and fainter until in the end, absolutely nothing changes.
That, my friend, is exactly what happened to King Nebuchadnezzar
one year after you received this startling vision from the Lord.
After that long extension of grace, here we find King
Nebuchadnezzar filled with pride, strutting around the
palace as if he was untouchable. Like many of the men of today,
he believed I am the greatest look at everything I've ever
built. And while the words were still
in his mouth, he heard a voice from heaven echo.
King Nebuchadnezzar, the Kingdom has departed from you.
And just like that, the strings of his mind unhinged and he
became like a wild animal. His fingers grew like claws, his
hair matted like birds feathers, and the king who ate the finest
delicacies in the land was now left outside covered in
rainwater and was instead eating grass.
The fact is, this guy's God brought that man down.
Oh, he can do it. He has done it.
He will do it, and he is still doing it today.
OK, yes, he might not be doing it in the same way that he did
with King Nebuchadnezzar, but you mark my words, he is still
humbling men and women today. Oh my dear friend, if there's
one thing you Remember, Remember this.
God's mills grind slow. Yes, God is patient with us for
a season. For a season He will let you
continue in your sin and pride. But when the time comes, when
the clock strikes midnight in your life, He does not delay and
his judgement cannot be stopped. The Bible says my spirit will
not always strive with man. I don't want to speak foolishly,
but as I've been speaking, I wonder if God has been dealing
with you because for someone today, it is very likely the end
of the line. It could well be your last
opportunity, your final call. You've heard God speak to you
many times before, but you've delayed.
Do you know this wasn't the first time that God spoke to
Nebuchadnezzar? God tried to reach him several
times before this very occasion, but each time God's voice got
quieter and quieter in Nebuchadnezzar's ears.
So I'll ask you again. Like Nebuchadnezzar, have you
heard God call you many times before, but you have delayed?
Do you remember the first time you realized that if you die
tonight, you'd be separated from God for all of eternity?
Do you remember the first time it dawned on you that you were a
Sinner? You were guilty, you were
condemned before a holy God whom you will stand before one day
and give an account. Did you cry when you heard the
message of the cross for the first time?
That though you have done wrong, though you have made so many
mistakes in life and sinned so greatly, there was One who loved
you enough to die in your place and pay the debt for your sin
with His very blood so you could be forgiven.
Can you remember the day when the scales of your eyes were
lifted and the evidence was presented before you so clearly
that you knew that this man, Jesus Christ was totally
different from all of the men? In fact, He alone was the one
who could say I am the greatest, because He alone is the only one
to rise from the dead. Can you remember when the voice
of God was loud? It was so loud in your ears.
Come to me, I'll save you. I'll wash away all of your sins.
And then as time went on, it got quieter and quieter, fainter and
fainter, until you couldn't hear it at all.
I don't know what God is calling you to do right now, whether you
are to come to the cross for the very first time and you like
Nebuchadnezzar, you need to repent because you do know that
our story does have a happy ending.
No one is too far gone, not even King Nebuchadnezzar, because
after the seven years were up, he realised the error of his
ways and he humbled himself and he was eventually restored to
the throne. I don't know if you are already
saved. And what God is telling you to
do in this particular message is in fact to obey Him, because for
so long you've ignored His voice when He's told you time and time
again to give up this thing. He's laid His finger on a
particular area in your life and said, lay it aside, Dedicate
yourself totally to me, but you've continued to go your own
way. Well, whatever it is, I'll
finish with this big statement. There is nothing more solemn,
more serious, than to hear the voice of God, to be touched by
him, to be troubled to the very core, but then to delay.
Because as time goes on, the more you hear that same message
over and over again, no longer will it trouble you, but this
time, rather, it will make you angry.
And then as time passes over and over again, eventually this very
same message doesn't anger you. It doesn't trouble you.
It doesn't touch you. You're actually bored by it
because you've delayed for so long.
Oh, my dear friend, God will not strive with man forever.
And if you continue to sit on the fence, there will come a day
when you will hear nothing. That's why one of the most
foolish things in the world is when a man or a woman says, I'll
obey the voice of God when I'm older.
When I'm older, I'll become a Christian because do you know
something? Do you know what else comes with
old age? Hearing loss.
And when God speaks to you in those final moments of life, you
won't hear a thing. So today, today if you hear His
voice, don't delay and turn to the living God.