Episode Transcript
The title of the mess this morning is A Delicate Balance, a definite blessing, a delicate balance.
A definite blessing.
God willing, we'll be expounding verses 4 and 5 this morning.
Now, in the previous verses.
We learn that Nebuchadnezzar, who ruled the Babylonian world empire a few hundred years before Christ came He had written a letter to every nation and every language on this earth.
Now, it does not mean that it was translated into every language on the earth.
It meant it was to every nation and language on the earth, meaning nobody in this world was left out Of the message that God wanted to send to the people of the world through King Nebuchadnezzar.
God preserved the book of Daniel as a message for all people.
And I am sure that this has been translated now into more languages than ever before, even during Nebuchadnezzar's time.
The week before last, we studied the greeting.
Last week, we studied the introduction.
And this week, by God's grace, we'll begin studying the body of the letter that King Nebuchadnezzar wrote, which begins like this.
I, Nebuchadnezzar, let's pray.
Father, we thank you for your precious word.
I pray, dear Lord God, you'll fill us with your Spirit.
Teach your word through me, edify your saints.
Enlighten us, Lord God.
Glorify your name, and thank you for each and every person here.
May all eyes be attentive to your word now and on you.
In Jesus' precious name we ask it.
Amen.
I, Nebuchadnezzar, this letter was not some speech that Nebuchadnezzar's staff wrote for him.
A lot of times when you see Presidents being quoted, you wonder how much of that is even original or something they were told to say.
But this is something that Nebuchadnezzar wrote himself.
I, Nebuchadnezzar.
It wasn't some type of political or religious propaganda based on you, polling data.
This was a heartfelt letter.
That was written by King Nebuchadnezzar himself, that, as we learned in the previous verses, he thought would be good to share with the world.
Now, remember, Nebuchadnezzar has already told us that this letter has something to do with the signs and the wonders that God has given him.
And we learned last week that the signs and wonders had to do with a catastrophic future event.
So if Nebuchadnezzar, the most powerful man on the earth at that time, the ruler of the world at that time under a world empire, which we do not have in existence today, if he thought it was wise To take heed to what God showed him concerning the future, then the rest of the world should do the same.
But I want you to pay special attention to the circumstances of Nebuchadnezzar's life.
And the condition of Nebuchadnezzar's heart when he received the troubling revelation from God about the future.
Nebuchadnezzar said, I, Nebuchadnezzar, look you back in your text, was at rest.
In the margin of your Bible next to the word rest, write the word secure.
Secure.
The word translated rest here in the Chaldean language has the idea of security.
Security.
Before we go to sleep at night, at least I do, and I bet most of you do too, we make sure that all our doors are locked.
Because to rest, we must feel secure.
If you thought someone was going to break in the window, you couldn't rest.
Suppose you stop at a gas station.
There's a gas station right down the road from my house.
Suppose you were to stop at a gas station just down the road from your house on your way home one afternoon and In a moment of absentmindedness, while you're swiping your credit card in that gas pump, you happen to lay your wallet on top of the gas pump.
When you get home, you kick back in your favorite recliner And you decide that you're going to take a nap when suddenly you realize that you left your wallet on top of that gas pump.
How many of you all would say, well, I'll get it when I wake up?
Nobody here would.
Nobody would because we would drive back to that gas station as quick as we could, and we would pray to God that that wallet would still be there whenever we returned.
You see, rest can only be done when we're secure, can only be enjoyed when we're secure.
In what we have, secure in who we are.
Rest comes in many, many forms.
People who've had children missing for years, they may have Grown accustomed to the child's absence, but they will never rest until that child is home.
People who are battling a terrible.
Disease might be able to sleep at night, but they will never truly rest until that battle is over.
To rest, we must feel secure in the important areas of our life.
Nebuchadnezzar said, I was resting securely, look back in your text, in my house.
He was resting in his house.
He was feeling good about his life at this particular period in time.
Underscore the word house.
House.
The rest in his house signifies the rest of his personal life.
Make sense?
I was at rest in my house.
Signifies the rest that he enjoyed in his personal life.
Nebuchadnezzar could check off all the boxes.
His family was doing well.
His health was doing well.
His finances were doing well.
There was no emergency for him to deal with at that time.
All the boxes were checked.
And every person wants to enjoy a state of rest.
Of well-being.
Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in his house, look back in your text, and flourishing.
So we see rest and flourishing.
The fact that Nebuchadnezzar was resting meant he was secure.
The fact that Nebuchadnezzar was flourishing meant he was successful.
In the margin of your Bible across from the word flourishing, write the word successful.
Successful.
Nebuchadnezzar was secure.
And Nebuchadnezzar was successful.
Security provides us a sense of peace.
Success provides us a sense of purpose and prosperity.
If you have success but no security, Then you can enjoy what you accomplish and what you gain.
If you have security but no success, then you have nothing to enjoy.
Nebuchadnezzar had it all.
He was both resting and he was flourishing.
He said, I was at rest in my house and flourishing.
Look back in your text, in my palace.
The word translated palace here has the idea of a large public building.
This is not Nebuchadnezzar's personal life.
Nebuchadnezzar's house. was his personal life.
Nebuchadnezzar's palace speaks of his public life.
Professionally, Nebuchadnezzar was a very successful man.
By God's grace, he handled his business as a king, as a world ruler, quite well.
He was on top of the world at that time.
Both personally and professionally, Nebuchadnezzar was doing great.
And perhaps you're here this morning, and personally and professionally you're doing great.
Perhaps you're retired, but personally and in your retirement you're enjoying your golden years, and you are doing great.
That wonderful time in my life, he said, when I was at rest in my house and I was flourishing in my palace.
It was at that time, look back in your text, he says, that I saw a dream.
Which made me afraid.
I saw a dream which made me afraid.
Now, you stop and you think about that for a moment.
Here is the most powerful man on earth at that time.
His personal and professional life are thriving.
And secure.
But you look at how little it took to disrupt that rest.
You look at how little it took to destroy his confidence.
And make him afraid.
Take your pen and underscore the words, a dream.
A dream.
He said, I saw a dream.
Underscore the words, a dream.
Now underscore three words, made me afraid.
Made me afraid.
A dream made me afraid.
He's the most powerful man in the world.
He is at rest in his palace.
He's in his house.
He's flourishing in his palace.
And then a dream comes along and makes him afraid.
Church, as people, as men and women.
We have such a delicate balance, don't we?
Such a delicate balance.
For us to remain at rest, we must remain in a sort of homeostasis, if you will. we have a list of interdependent boxes that we must check.
And if we can't check all of those boxes, then our lives suddenly become chaotic.
And scary really fast.
Everything can be going so well for us.
And then suddenly, an accident takes place.
An illness comes our way, a job loss, a war, marital trouble.
Some kind of troubling news we can hear, and suddenly it destroys our confidence.
And we become afraid.
How many of y'all ever gone through that before?
Yeah, hands everywhere.
One moment we can feel like we're on top of the world.
You ever been like that before?
You feel like you're on top of the world.
Everything's going our way.
If I were to write a song, I'd probably say I'm on top of the world looking down on creation.
But we can feel like we're on top of the world, and the next moment we can feel like the weight of the world is on top of us.
Most all of us have gone through that at some time in our life, just like that.
And we hate to think of ourselves that way.
We hate to think.
That we're so fragile of creatures because we try to fancy ourselves, especially the men, as strong people.
I can handle it.
I can overcome.
My mind is strong.
But the fact of the matter is: grown men are just little boys that got old, and grown women are just little girls that got old.
And like Nebuchadnezzar, no matter how powerful we are, it only takes a little bit to rock our world and make us afraid.
Because we are very fragile creatures.
We have a delicate balance.
Nebuchadnezzar said, A dream made me afraid.
Look back in your text.
And the thoughts upon my bed.
And the visions of my head troubled me.
I am so glad that God has given us messages like this in the Bible.
Because if all we heard was Joel Alstein preaching, then we would think that every day is supposed to be a Friday.
That we can have our best life now.
Folks, it's not always going to be our best life now.
Every day is not always going to feel like a Friday.
I thank God that God deals with the reality of the human experience, with the reality of our fallen nature.
With the reality of our fears, our troubles, our chaos, our confusion He said, the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me.
You ever laid in bed at night and worried about something before?
You ever laid in bed at night and thought, Dear God, I just wish I could wake up and all this would be a dream to be over with in the morning, but it's not a dream.
I've been there, but most of y'all have too.
This is where Nebuchadnezzar was.
This is where you and I, you may be there right now.
If not, you will be.
Hang on, you will be.
You'll find yourself laying in bed one night, and perhaps the Holy Spirit will bring this message to your heart, and you'll say, Whew, I feel like Nebuchadnezzar.
I'm laying down in bed.
And my head's so troubled right now.
I'm hurting right now.
I'm afraid right now.
I don't know about the future right now.
I feel insecure.
God, I need your help.
This is where Nebuchadnezzar was at this time in his life.
And God knows this is where you and I are at times in our life.
And this is why God gives us messages like this.
So we can identify with people who, in God's Word, are identifying with us.
Nebuchadnezzar is saying, man, I started thinking about what this dream could possibly mean.
What could it mean to me personally?
What could it mean to my palace?
And the thoughts I had troubled me.
Like Nebuchadnezzar, the security That we enjoy in our house is fragile and temporary.
The success we enjoy in our palace is fragile.
And temporary.
I heard this morning Brother Mike came in, and he has a very beautiful pickup.
I also mistook it as being new not too long ago.
And someone said, Hey, you got a new truck.
He said, oh, no, my new vehicle days are over.
He said, because when you retire, you don't have the cash flowing in like you once did.
And it's that no matter how on top of the world you are, at some point in time, that cash is going to slow down.
And even if your bank is full when you die, your money stream is still going to get cut off whenever you die, because you won't be able to make any more withdrawals.
And Nebuchadnezzar says, This security I had, it was fragile, it was temporary.
The success I enjoyed in my palace, it was fragile and it was temporary.
But God did not give us this story.
To depress us about the fragility of our security and success.
God gave us this story to enlighten us.
Regarding how we can have the uninterrupted rest and prosperity that we can enjoy in the person of Jesus Christ.
How do we enjoy the uninterrupted rest and prosperity as believers by dwelling in God's house?
and palace instead of our own.
I'll repeat that again.
How can we enjoy uninterrupted rest and prosperity in this world?
It's by us dwelling in God's house and palace instead of our own.
The only way to continually be at rest is if you're dwelling in God's house and if you're serving in God's palace.
King Nebuchadnezzar was troubled in his house and palace, but King David.
Who ruled Israel by the Holy Spirit of God?
He learned how he could have rest and prosperity no matter what he encountered in his life.
Would you love that?
Would you love to know how you can have continual rest and prosperity no matter what you encounter in your life?
Here you go, right here.
This is why God gives us messages like this, because as King David learned, How he could have rest and prosperity in his house and palace, no matter what came his way, so can we.
Take your Bibles, or you can look up here on your screen: Psalms 27.
Psalms 27, and we're going to see what King David discovered through the Holy Spirit that he relayed to us how he overcame What Nebuchadnezzar is struggling with at this time.
Psalm 27, verses 1 through 3 starts off like this: a Psalm of David.
King Nebuchadnezzar wrote a letter to the world.
King David wrote a letter to the world, and it starts off: A Psalm of David: The Lord is my light and my salvation.
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?
When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh.
They stumbled and fell.
Though a host should encamp against me, in other words, if a whole army were to come against me, he said, My heart shall not fear.
Though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.
Wow.
Nebuchadnezzar was depending on his own strength.
Nebuchadnezzar was depending on his own capability, his own confidence, but God was the source of David's strength and confidence.
Unlike Nebuchadnezzar, whatever came David's way.
He said his heart would not fear, he would continue to be confident.
So, how could King David do this?
How could he say, though an old army came against me, though my foes come against me, no matter what happens in my life, I'm going to continue to not be afraid, I'm going to continue to be confident.
How could he do this?
How could this man David, being just as fragile as the man Nebuchadnezzar, continually be at rest in his house and flourish in his palace?
By dwelling in God's house and palace.
Now, after declaring what he would not be afraid of in those first three verses that we just read.
He then explained what he would do to secure such confidence in the next verses.
So now go from 27, 3.
If you would move to 27, 4.
Look what David said the very next verse, One thing have I desired of the Lord.
Now you're watching this?
One thing, not two things.
Not three things.
He's saying, there's one thing that I've desired of God, and that one thing is what's going to cause me to be confident.
And to not fear, no matter what comes my way.
One thing.
You ready for that one thing?
He said, One thing have I desired of the Lord.
That will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
How about that?
To behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple.
For in the time of trouble, you see how He's referring back to the first three verses.
In the time of trouble, he says, he shall hide me in his pavilion.
That's like a public place, like a palace.
In the secret of his tabernacle, that's God's house, shall he hide me, he shall set me up upon a rock.
David had a house to rest in that Nebuchadnezzar did not have.
David dwelled in the house of the Lord all the days of his life.
Now, when I've read this before, In fact, there's another psalm that says, And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
I'm dwelling in the house of God right now, not this house.
I'm dwelling in the house of We're going to learn how you can as well.
Now, when King David wanted to build a temple.
He called it God's house.
He said, at the time, which was the tabernacle, he said, God was dwelling in tents.
That was God's house, was tents.
It was the tabernacle.
So, does this mean that at this time David had a bedroom in the tabernacle?
And he said, the only thing he desires from God really is to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of his life.
To dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Did King David have a bedroom in the tabernacle where the blood sacrifice was taken once a year and the showbread was and the golden altar and the candlestick?
Was David living inside that tabernacle every day of his life?
Did David live in God's house physically instead of his own?
No, David didn't physically live in the tabernacle.
The tabernacle was a place for the priests to occupy, not kings.
So, how did David?
And how do we dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of our life?
Well, look back with me, if you'll go back now, look back in Psalm 27. 1 through 3 again. 27, 1 through 3 again.
A Psalm of David.
The Lord is my light in my salvation.
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?
When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. though an host should encamp against me, my heart that word heart is important shall not fear Though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.
Notice it says, My heart.
Shall not fear.
You see, fear and confidence dwell in our hearts, right?
Fear and confidence dwell in our hearts.
But if our hearts will dwell in God's house, Then we'll have confidence, not fear, dwell in our hearts.
You see how that works?
David is not talking about a physical occupation of God's house.
He's talking about a mental, a spiritual, an intellectual by faith occupying God's house.
So while David dwelt in his house physically, his heart dwelt in God's house.
What was God's answer?
Or what was God's house?
Which was the answer to David's problems?
What was God's house?
Remember, think about God's house where David said he wanted to dwell.
God's house was a private place and it was a public place.
God's house was a place for God to dwell.
It was also his palace.
It was a public place.
You'll see them in the temple in the New Testament, the public.
So it was both a house as well as a palace.
And what did that house consist of?
It consisted in the most holy place where God dwelt.
The place where God abode was in between two cherubim above a place called the mercy seat.
And once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest would take a sacrifice after placing all the sins of the people.
And crediting them to those goats.
One goat dies for the sins, the other goat takes it away.
And then they take that blood, that priest, that high priest takes that blood.
He then goes into the most holy place and he puts that blood on the mercy seat to obtain mercy for the people of God.
Do you know how I can face the world and know that if my heart quits beating?
Know that if I have word of a terrible disease, or if the Muslims are going to come and cut my head off.
Do you know how I can continue on without fear and confidence?
Because my heart is dwelling in the house of God, and I know that I have God's mercy because of Jesus' blood, which He shed for me.
And that means I can face whatever comes today because I know who holds tomorrow, and I know the blood of Jesus Christ has set me free.
You let my heart quit beating.
And guess what?
Old Rich is going to do.
I won't be dwelling in my house physically anymore.
I'm going to be going to God's house in heaven.
I'll be truly dwelling in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
What else was in there?
You had the candlestick.
You had the showbread over here called showbread.
S H E W.
We spell it S H O W now.
But it's still the same thing.
Show bread.
It means bread on display.
Bread for everybody to see.
In fact, there was a candlestick there to perform one special purpose, and that was to shine light so that bread could be shown.
Do you know what we do when we preach Jesus Christ being the bread of life that gave himself on the cross?
We're shining light.
We're letting our light shine before men.
And we're shining that light on the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's why Jesus said, When the Holy Spirit comes, He said, He shall testify of me.
He'll testify of me.
He's going to shine the light on me so men can see and believe on me as their bread of life.
The golden altar of incense, where on account of the showbread, on account of the mercy seat, on account of the sacrifice made outside that tabernacle.
We can now pray in the name of Jesus Christ in our prayers instead of ascending up and smelling like trash.
When I grew up, all the people burned trash.
They burn their trash in the country.
Instead of smelling like trash going up, we're able to pray in the merit in the name of Jesus Christ, and it smells like sweet odors going up to God.
And God hears our prayers.
And so we know that no matter what, God will always hear our prayers.
God will all, because of the sacrifice of Christ.
God will always feed us and fill us because of Jesus' sacrifice.
God will always forgive us and accept us because of Jesus' sacrifice.
So because my heart in your heart We live physically in this world, folks.
This world is full of trouble.
But while you're living physically in this world, let your heart dwell in the house of the Lord every day of your life.
And you know, no matter what you face today, David said, though an army come against me.
What does that mean?
That means we're going to have trouble come our way.
David had to run from his son Absalom.
He had to fight against his son for a while.
He had to fight against King Saul for a while.
David had downfalls in his personal life with sin.
But you know what?
In all of that, He could be without fear, and he could be confident, not confident himself, but confident in God, in the Son who would come and die for him.
When your heart dwells in God's house, that's when you can rest confident in your own.
That's a kingdom truth.
When your heart dwells in God's house, You can rest confident in your own.
You can dwell in a foxhole and not be afraid of the outcome.
You can dwell in a hospital.
And be confident that death can only assure you of eternal life.
Just usher you right in.
To the presence of God.
And I pray that Nebuchadnezzar's letter this morning.
Will touch your heart because you're going to find out by the time Nebuchadnezzar gets through writing this letter, he's not whining.
He's not lamenting, he's praising his God, and that's because he figured it out.
And by the grace of God, so have we.
Father, we thank you so much for your precious word.
We thank you, Father, for giving this letter to all people in all languages.
To every person in the world, Nebuchadnezzar's letter was written.
That means it's a message to each one of us in here today.
To each one of us, Father, who experienced trouble in our mind, the thoughts of our mind when we're lying in our bed at night.
To know, Father, that, Lord, as we're uncomfortable in our house, as we're afraid in our house, We can be confident and without fear in your house.
Even if this whole world crumbles at our feet.
The kingdom of God stands sure, and the Son of God, and the blood He shed, atones for our sins forevermore.
And we thank you so much for that glorious truth.
In a time of trouble, in Jesus' name, amen
