Upholding the Word of Truth!
Daniel 4:1-37
Many people say sin is a negative subject.
So is cancer.
If you have a cancerous tumor in your stomach the size of a football and they rush you to the hospital, you don’t need the doctor to tell you, “It’s just a stomach ache. Take some Mylanta and you’ll be OK.”
You need to know the truth.
How would you like to be the doctor who has to deliver such bad news?
It probably wouldn’t be on anyone’s list of favorite
things they like to do.
What is true of physical life and the threat of cancer, is also true in the case of spiritual life
and the reality of sin.Before people can understand and accept the good news of God’s forgiveness and salvation,
they need to hear from us, the bad
news of their condition..
Because telling the truth about sin is quite similar to the doctor who must
break the news about cancer, many people shy away from it.
They prefer either to
say nothing, or to
water down the truth so as to
somehow soften the blow.
Delivering good news is a joy.
Delivering bad news is unpleasant.
Yet it can get even more complicated than that.
Imagine delivering bad news to a superior who has a bad temper and the power to kill you.
Surely the temptation in such a situation, would be to tell a little less than the truth,
or perhaps some version of
“what they want to hear.”
That is the situation for Daniel in the fourth chapter of the book we’ve been
studying.
Daniel is the “doctor.”
The “patient” is Nebuchadnezzar.
And he has a deadly sin in his life called arrogance.
God has decreed his judgment and it’s about to come upon him, unless he changes his ways.
Daniel must deliver the
bad news.
How can we share the truth with people?
A careful look at our text, reveals four necessary things for the truth-teller to get his message across.
The first is,
I. Credibility
Daniel 4:4-18 I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at home in my palace, contented and prosperous. 5 I had a dream that made me afraid. As I was lying in my bed, the images and visions that passed through my mind terrified me. 6 So I commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be brought before me to interpret the dream for me. 7 When the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners came, I told them the dream, but they could not interpret it for me. 8 Finally, Daniel came into my presence and I told him the dream. (He is called Belteshazzar, after the name of my god, and the spirit of the holy gods is in him.) 9 I said, "Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you, and no mystery is too difficult for you. Here is my dream; interpret it for me. 10 These are the visions I saw while lying in my bed: I looked, and there before me stood a tree in the middle of the land. Its height was enormous. 11 The tree grew large and strong and its top touched the sky; it was visible to the ends of the earth. 12 Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit abundant, and on it was food for all. Under it the beasts of the field found shelter, and the birds of the air lived in its branches; from it every creature was fed. 13 "In the visions I saw while lying in my bed, I looked, and there before me was a messenger, a holy one, coming down from heaven. 14 He called in a loud voice: 'Cut down the tree and trim off its branches; strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the animals flee from under it and the birds from its branches. 15 But let the stump and its roots, bound with iron and bronze, remain in the ground, in the grass of the field. "'Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let him live with the animals among the plants of the earth. 16 Let his mind be changed from that of a man and let him be given the mind of an animal, till seven times pass by for him. 17 "'The decision is announced by messengers, the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of men.' 18 "This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, had. Now, Belteshazzar, tell me what it means, for none of the wise men in my kingdom can interpret it for me. But you can, because the spirit of the holy gods is in you."
Notice back in verses 7 and 8, that Daniel was one of Nebuchadnezzar’s leading advisors.
By this time, Daniel had established a track record in the palace,
not only of telling the truth, but
also knowing it.
Look at the kings description of Daniel: “the
spirit of the holy gods is in him.”
Nebuchadnezzar wasn’t a believer yet,
but he recognized Daniel had something the rest didn’t.
From his previous encounters with Daniel, he must also have known that Daniel wouldn’t back away from telling him the truth.
When the world calls on one of us for truth,
it will likely be because they have come to know us as credible, as authentic.
Usually unknown to us, the unbeliever has been watching and evaluating us in other circumstances.
They’ve noticed when we had the courage to tell the truth,
and they’ve also noticed when we told those little white lies.
That’s why it’s necessary to be truthful in all areas of life, big and little.
He operated a small grocery store in the town of Sheridan, Arkansas, in the 1940's.
She was having company the next day so she went to the store to buy what she needed for supper..
She told him she needed a “large chicken” since she was having a lot of visitors.
He pushed his hand down in the bin of ice where the chickens were kept and came up with a chicken.
When he put it on the scale she stretched to see the weight and declared, “I need one larger than that!”
So he put the chicken back down in the ice and fumbled for another.
To his surprise there were no more chickens, so he pulled out the same chicken.
And when he weighted it, he pushed down a little with his finger on the scale..
When she eye-balled the scale she confidently declared, “I’ll take both of them!”
Boy, there went his credibility!
Who do you suppose is watching you right now, evaluating your truthfulness, your credibility?
It might surprise you to know who and how many!
If we expect to share the truth with the world and have them listen,
then we have to be telling it now, in the little things that we face every day,
knowing that the world is
watching.
If you were called upon by the world to tell the truth today, would your message
be heard or ignored?
A lot depends upon your credibility.
II. Concern
Daniel 4:19-23 Then Daniel (also called Belteshazzar) was greatly perplexed for a time, and his thoughts terrified him. So the king said, “Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its meaning alarm you.” Belteshazzar answered, :My lord, if only the dream applied to your enemies and its meaning to your adversaries! 20 The tree you saw, which grew large and strong, with its top touching the sky, visible to the whole earth, 21 with beautiful leaves and abundant fruit, providing food for all, giving shelter to the beasts of the field, and having nesting places in its branches for the birds of the air-- 22 you, O king, are that tree! You have become great and strong; your greatness has grown until it reaches the sky, and your dominion extends to distant parts of the earth. 23 “You, O king, saw a messenger, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, ‘Cut down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump, bound with iron and bronze, in the grass of the field, while its roots remain in the ground. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven; let him live like the wild animals, until seven times pass by for him.’
Though it has been repeated to the point of being trite, it’s still true that
“they don’t care how much you know until they know how much you
care.”
We see here in the example of Daniel a genuine concern for
Nebuchadnezzar.
Daniel could have said, “Well, it’s about time, that God dealt with you for what you did to my people, and my family, back in Jerusalem!”
We must tell the truth, but we must tell it with compassion.
We should preach and teach “as dying men to dying men.”
We are to tell people the truth, but not with disdain!
After all, if not for the grace an mercy of God in our life,
we would be no better off than this pagan king!
Arthur Gordon in an article entitled “The Rewards of Caring,” tells the story of how once, as a small boy, he was witness to a near-tragedy.
At the beach, a woman stepped off a sandbar into deep, swift water and panicked.
At least 20 adults in bathing suits watched, apparently paralyzed, until suddenly a young man ran up, plunged in full clothed and brought the woman out.
As Arthur Gordon described the episode later to his parents, his admiration for the young man was matched by the contempt he felt for those who failed to act.
She was drowning, and they didn’t even seem to care.
His father looked at him thoughtfully and said, “The world often seems divided between those who care and those who don’t care enough. But don’t judge too harshly. It takes courage to care greatly.”
We must share the truth out of our true concern for the other person, and their spiritual needs.
1 Peter 3:15 tells us, “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect...”
III. Candor
Daniel 4:24-26 "This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree the Most High has issued against my lord the king: 25 You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes. 26 The command to leave the stump of the tree with its roots means that your kingdom will be restored to you when you acknowledge that Heaven rules.
Candor is forthright honesty.
It’s what you want from your doctor.
It’s what you should want from those who teach you.
It’s what the unbeliever who comes to you seeking truth, needs
desperately from you.
When we speak of telling the
truth with candor, we mean telling it like it is.
Not like we want it to be or we
wish it were or our favorite version of it!
The editor of a small-town newspaper grew tired of being called a liar, and announced that he would tell the truth in the future.
The next issue contained the following item:
“Married--Miss Sylvan Rhodes and James Collins, last Saturday at the Baptist parsonage, by the Rev. J. Gordon. The bride is a very ordinary town girl, who doesn’t know any more about cooking than a jackrabbit, and never helped her mother three days in her life. She is not a beauty by any means and has a gait like a duck. The groom is an up-to-date loafer. He has been living off the old folks at home all his life and is not worth shucks. It will be a hard life.”
The elderly countess was very happy with her own chauffeur.
He was courteous, prompt and efficient.
The only complaint she had, concerned his personal appearance.
One day she said to him diplomatically,
“Randall, how frequently do you think one should shave in order to look neat and proper?”
“Well, madam,” said Randall, also trying to be diplomatic, “with a light beard like yours, I’d say every three or four days would be enough.”
Candor - forthright honesty - is what is needed when the world calls for truth.
We dare not let them down.
To do so is fatal.
Though he risked the king’s wrath, Daniel told
the truth with candor.
He made it clear that the Kings problem was arrogance.
We have to tell people the truth with candor.
We have to tell it like it is.
Yes, it may hurt, the truth often does.
But if they are going to get their life right with God,
they have to know the truth no matter how painful it is.
IV.
Correction
Daniel 4:27 Therefore, O king, be pleased to accept my advice: Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your prosperity will continue.”
The call for correction is a call to fix what’s wrong.
It’s the instruction to make
straight what is crooked.
That is our ultimate goal when the world calls for truth.
Jesus said,
“Unless you repent, you will all, likewise,
perish.”
Sin separates and alienates people from God.
If it isn’t forgiven, they will go to hell.
That is the truth.
Repentance is the first step back toward God.
It’s the point where they change direction.
They quit living for themselves
and make up their mind they will start living for God.
Repentance is the hardest part of the message.
Because it means a person must stop doing things only to please himself
and start doing what pleases his Maker.
For the king it involved abandoning his arrogance and helping other people.
It involved getting off the throne
of his own life and putting God in His rightful place.
To
those seeking truth it’s no different.
When we tell a person the bad news, that
is, his sin has him bound for a fully conscious eternity in hell and that he
cannot save himself, we show him God’s answer to his problem.
Christ has died to take away his sin.
But he must turn from his sinning and accept Christ.
He must be baptized to have his sins washed away.
He must strive from then on to put God first in his life.
When it comes to matters of the soul.
When it comes to salvation, heaven and hell.
We must tell the truth!
We must tell people what they have to do to get themselves right with
God!
Conclusion
Some years ago a terrible railroad accident occurred, killing many people.
A commuter train had stalled on the tracks just a few minutes before a fast freight was due to arrive.
A conductor was quickly sent to flag down the approaching train.
Assured that all was well, the passengers relaxed.
Suddenly, however, the speeding freight came bearing down upon them.
The crash left a ghastly scene of horror.
The engineer of the second train, who escaped death by jumping from the cab, was called into court to explain why he hadn't stopped.
“I saw a man waving a warning flag,” he said, “but it was yellow, so I thought he just wanted me to slow down.”
When the flag was examined, the mystery was explained.
It had been red, but because of long exposure to the sun and weather
it had become a dirty yellow.
When someone comes to you and asks you a question about eternity, about God, about the church, about salvation, etc.
Don’t side step the issue,
don’t beat around the bush,
just present them with the truth of God’s Word.
Help them to clearly see what God has to say so that they can get their life on track.
When the world calls for truth, we need to ready to share with them, the truth in love.