His evilness, his hatred of God, his self-elevation … did God save this man? Is God capable of saving such a man? And, … would God save such a man?

Babylon was the most dreaded nation on the face of the earth:

Hab. 1:6 the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs. 7  They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves. 8  Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat. 9  They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand. 10  And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and take it. 11  Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god. … and this was nation of Nebuchadnezzar!

Jer. 20: 4  For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends: and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it: and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive into Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword. 5  Moreover I will deliver all the strength of this city, and all the labours thereof, and all the precious things thereof, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies, which shall spoil them, and take them, and carry them to Babylon.

…That is the society Nebuchadnezzar lived in and ruled over, - it was totally bereft of anything to do with the one true God.

These are his roots … and yet the Bible says, Is. 13: 19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.

… in seeking to deny God His place, Nebuchadnezzar and the people of Babylon were under the curse of God and were facing God’s righteous wrath.

History teaches us that we never learn!

Nebuchadnezzar wasn’t a good student, - he knew it all!

Previously, he had come into contact with Daniel, - it was after he had a dream that greatly worried him (ch. 2).

Look what Daniel told him,

	There is a God in heaven (2:28); Nebuchadnezzar had many gods.
	This God in heaven had given to Nebuchadnezzar the kingdom of Babylon (2:37).
	Furthermore, the prophecy that Daniel brought also sounded the death-knell for the Babylonian empire of which Nebuchadnezzar was ruler (2:39a).

Nebuchadnezzar was frightened as he heard the word of God spoken from the lips of Daniel,

… and what did this great king (2:37) do? He fell down on his face before Daniel, the preacher, and showered him with fanciful goods (2:46).

The preaching of God’s Word was making an impact upon Nebuchadnezzar, for look what he recognised (2:47).

But it was only in the mind of Nebuchadnezzar, and not in his heart,

Rom. 10: 10  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness ...

You can have a mental understanding of the things of God and yet continue to travel to a lost eternity, for Nebuchadnezzar got up of his knees and shortly afterwards he made this decree that undid anything he had said on his knees before Daniel.

And notice the way Nebuchadnezzar described Him, v.47 your God, - he was recognising that the God of Daniel was different to any of the gods he worshiped.

But you know, it’s not with the mind that you are saved; the work of God’s grace begins in the heart and then it makes its way to the mind,

	… it doesn’t first of all begin in the mind because no-one can ever come to Christ through simple reasoning … why not? Because it doesn’t make any sense and because no matter how much you think about Jesus nothing can penetrate through to your mind until it begins in your heart.
	And the work that begins in your heart is carried out by the Holy Spirit.

God saw you before you were saved …

	He saw you before you came into the Gospel meeting,
	He saw you when you were desperate to have nothing to do with Him,
	He saw you long before you saw Him … for the Bible tells us, “We love Him because He first loved us”, and the consequence of His love was that He sent the Holy Spirit to begin a work of regeneration whereby we would become awakened to the salvation that is only in Christ.

Nebuchadnezzar couldn’t see past Daniel; he couldn’t see Daniel’s God because Nebuchadnezzar had all the other gods blocking his vision because [they] were on the throne of his heart. … Yes, … but this king was rapidly facing ‘spiritual bankruptcy’!

Nebuchadnezzar had his own formula, - his own type of reasoning, - about Daniel’s God … but that reasoning was flawed because of sin.

He had a background of sin and rebellion against God and he was heading towards ruin.

… and what did he do? This God that he had been speaking about in 2:47, … by his lifestyle he was trying to depose?

… Look what he said to the three servants of Jehovah,

3:15  if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?

In ch. 2, under the preaching of Daniel he had been caused to see the majesty of God, and now he is cursing His Name!

who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?

It is a dangerous thing to mock God, and …

Heb. 10:31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

There are many who scoff at God … throughout all the ages, but when Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego walked out of the fire Nebuchadnezzar again was affected, (3:26-29)

But it still wasn’t enough! … It’s not just enough to be ‘affected’ the way Nebuchadnezzar was affected, - I don’t say he was converted … but he definitely was affected.

Some people hear the Gospel and respond to it … but the response has to be in a way that God changes the heart, - and Nebuchadnezzar’s heart at this point wasn’t changed!

… because Jehovah was still being regarded as one great God among so many.

And it is not enough to try to impress God while acknowledging other influences that deny him His place.

As far as faith and trust in God is concerned He is not satisfied with a little part of your life, - it is all or nothing with Him!

No half-measures. No bargaining. It is all of God or nothing.

Even though Nebuchadnezzar had listened to the Word of God spoken by the faithful Old Testament prophet …

	… and even though he saw what God was capable of doing,
	… and even though he was ready to give some degree of recognition to the majesty and powerfulness of God … he was still a sinner, - rebellious and ruined, … Until …

Something happened, and it can only be described as a miracle of God’s free grace, …

He had repented before … of types (2:46 Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him; 3:26  Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire. … 28  Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. 29  Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort. It was the three who were being worshipped and not their God, - Nebuchadnezzar couldn’t see past them.

He had another dream, a terrible, frightening dream. (Dan. 4)

He called for Daniel, who explained that he –Nebuchadnezzar – was going to end up with nothing,

He would live with the animals out in the field … crazy!

And notice what Nebuchadnezzar said this time … nothing, absolutely nothing!

One day, he was walking in his palace, … looking around him,

	Dan. 4:30 The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?                     and then! …
	31 While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee.

And Nebuchadnezzar was down as low as he could possibly get, - God had warned him, but the king hadn’t listened.

Gal. 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

But then look, … out in the fields, amongst the cattle, here’s what we read about Nebuchadnezzar,

34  And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: 35  And 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 stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?

Where now is the mention of the great image he had built? Where is the mention of any other idol he had worshiped.

God took him out of the palace and into the fields; God took him away from all the splendour and power of Babylon … and God is able to do that!

Did God touch the life of Nebuchadnezzar in saving faith? Would He have been able to do that? …!

Yes, our God is able to take the worst sinner and save him completely.

Nebuchadnezzar had been in rebellion against God, … he had become ruined, but in the sovereign mercy of the all-powerful God His goodness and patience strove a little longer until Nebuchadnezzar repented of his sin.

… Where does it say he repented of his sin? It doesn’t use the actual word … but look at this …

4: 34  And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and [as a consequence] mine understanding returned unto me [he looked up], and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: [are those not the words of a believer? There is nothing he has to prove to anyone because out in the fields there is no-one with him] 35  And 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 stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? [is not this a man who has come face-to-face with the sovereignty of God and come to recognise his own punyness!] 36  At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me. [he credits God with being brought back again to the throne …] 37  Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.

I know how bad he was … how evil and how feared. I know about what he did to the people of God and to the city of God, Jerusalem … but I can’t read this any other way … for only by being made a public spectacle, this wicked man was brought to the place where he turned to God.

v. 36. God took him out of the fields and brought him back to the palace.

God kept his throne vacant when many another would have tried to become king.

God gave him more than ever he deserved or expected.

God re-established Nebuchadnezzar on the throne.

And yes, he was coming near the end of his reign, but now we see this king and …

We could never have imagined he would say these words,

37 Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.

That was his testimony to how God saved him.

E.J. Young sets it in four steps what happened to him:

“These reasons lead me to believe that, although the faith of Nebuchadnezzar may indeed have been weak and his knowledge meagre, yet his faith was saving faith, and his knowledge true.”

Stuart Olyott puts it beautifully, “As our chapter closes we see him as a little child at God’s feet. As a subject and as a suppliant, he is worshipping, praising, extolling and honouring the King of Heaven!”

What does this teach you? It shows me again that God can break through the hardest heart and bring about the circumstances whereby the sinner – drawn irresistibly by His grace - will come to the knowledge of saving faith.

God drew unto Himself a man like Nebuchadnezzar. .. It is a precious thing to have a testimony, - to know that God laboured for your salvation … it’s so precious.

His patience knows no bounds; He set His mind to save you, and save you He did,

Christian, you belong to a privileged people … treasure what God has given to you.

You are praying for your loved ones but they seem to be so hard against the Gospel … they might even seem to be so confused … Pray for them that God will soften their hardened hearts … for He can do it as He did here to Nebuchadnezzar.

God is longsuffering …. Yes, for He even loved the proud idol-worshiping Nebuchadnezzar!

He brought him down before lifting him up … and often God needs to do that.

	Imagine! From a palace to a field …! (v.33) God took him down to the place where he would meet Him.
	God wasn’t going to save a proud king … God humbled him and made him see he was no match for the king of Kings!

This is what God does. No-one is outside of His power to save.

You are praying for your loved ones? Pray on … pray on that He will reach down and save them. … Pray on that He will bring them out of their ‘fancy palaces’ into the ‘fields’ where He will save them.

Pray on … and even when you see your prayers not being answered … keep praying on!

The same God that reached into Nebuchadnezzar’s life is still reaching into people’s lives today!