This message is primarily for those who call on the name of Jesus Christ as their own Lord and Savior from sin, and serve as a Chaplain or a gospel minister in a jail, prison or a follow-up ministry such as a rescue mission – in the United States.
All Scripture quotes are usually taken from the New King James Version (NKJV) of the Bible, copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. When quoting a text, any deviation from the NKJV text is placed within parenthesis signs (). These usually occur as direct translations from the original languages, or as notes from the original setting to help apply the text to today’s culture.
ALL CAPITAL LETTERS are sometimes used to emphasize words in a text, or to make a comment about a biblical text, or emphasize a statement.!
When we began these monthly messages to Chaplains and volunteer ministers back in 2000, one of the early messages instructed you to teach inmates about the sovereignty of God (see December, 2000 and the teaching from Philemon 15 in the "Text Message Archive").
The sovereignty of God is a very important biblical truth for your inmate disciples to camp on. For some indeed the very word "sovereign" is unknown and that makes it a little bit of a challenge.
Some Christian leaders even feel that ministers to inmates and mission residents should not even bother to bring up the subject. They say it’s too abstract. I respectfully disagree. They MUST know about the God they are connected to in Jesus Christ.
The key is in the approach and the manner of communication. The main thought is ABSOLUTE CONTROL, and THE ORDERING OF ALL EVENTS. God is in control and ultimately, He calls all the shots. This truth is VERY PRACTICAL, especially for those you are reaching or trying to reach with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
God is sovereign. He does things His way. He is not a genie in a lamp that submits to anyone’s every wish. Inmates really need that truth to change the way they approach God! For one thing, they will be lest demanding of Him.
Let me tell you why I say that. I remember visiting an inmate, as a minister on a “ministerial visit.” I had known him before he got into trouble. When he saw me his one and only, even repeated demand was, "GET ME OUT OF HERE!" He knew nothing of the sovereignty of God. If he had, he would not have responded like that.
The world system educates people in it to think they are in charge of their own lives, or at least have a lot of sway on how things will go. So, it is no wonder that unsaved people think they are the sovereign of their own lives. Worldly people know nothing of the sovereignty of God.
The essence of worldliness is forgetting God, acting as if He doesn’t even really exist, and thinking we are in control of our own lives. This is the conscious life of the unsaved. Note it in Psalm 10:3-4,
3 For the wicked (hostile to God) boasts of his heart’s desire; he blesses the greedy and renounces the LORD.
4 The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts.
This is also what James 4 is talking about, when it speaks to those who name Christ as their God. Note it in James 4:4 -7, and 13-18,
4 .... Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously"?
Verse 5 is a hard verse to translate into English. Therefore, it is hard to understand exactly what the text means from the English. The Amplified Bible helps us with this translation: "The Spirit Whom He HAS CAUSED TO DWELL IN US yearns over us and He yearns for the Spirit [to be welcome] with a jealous love?" The general sense is that God is righteously jealous for our undivided love for Him.
6 But He (the Holy Spirit) gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
7 Therefore submit to God.
…
13 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit";
14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
15 Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that."
16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good (in context, to submit to the will of the sovereign Lord) and does not do it, to him it is sin.
The quickest way to flee worldliness is to humbly recognize IT IS GOD, not we ourselves, who is in control of our lives. He is the SOVEREIGN. We need to consider what He wants, not what we want, EVERY DAY. In approaching inmates with these truths, possibly the best biblical place to start is with the story of king Nebuchadnezzar. After all, they love stories.
He was a proud, self-centered idol worshiper whom the true God in His grace and mercy put in his place. In doing so, He taught this man the lesson of who he wasn’t, and who the true God is. As a result, Nebuchadnezzar became a believer in and a worshiper of the Most High God.
As you begin his story, I suggest you tell your listeners that even an atheist has a god. That god is ultimately self. Nebuchadnezzar was an idolater, even a polytheist. BUT, his greatest god was not even Marduk, the national god of the Babylonians, or Bel another chief Babylonian deity after whom he renamed Daniel, - it was NEBUCHADNEZZAR.
Like an atheist, Nebuchadnezzar’s ultimate god was self. But, in grace and mercy the real and true God changed all that. He could do that because He is sovereign.
You should probably start by taking your inmate Bible students back to Daniel 1:8-10. This is the record of the response to the resolve of the teenage Daniel and his three friends, NOT TO EAT the food prescribed by this king. Point out that Nebuchadnezzar was an absolute human ruler who apparently had beheaded many that disobeyed his orders in the past. He was a man that was known to be violent to those who dared to disobey him. Violence and fear were in the wake of his pride.
Further, you should also show them Daniel 3:1-12. This is the record of an idol Nebuchadnezzar had erected, and then how he decreed (stress the word, DECREE from verse 10) that all should join in its worship. This passage closes with the king’s jealous advisors turning in the three godly young men, who REFUSED TO WORSHIP THE IDOL. You should point out from verses 13 through 15 how Nebuchadnezzar had been a raging, arrogant, proud human monarch (or sovereign) who thought that he himself was the absolute ruler of everything and everyone.
Note this fact in verse 15, where Nebuchadnezzar said to them:
15 … "if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?"
In effect, he was challenging the true God who he did not know, to a contest of wills and power. Many inmates may in some ways, be doing the same thing! Point out that they need to repent of that.
Moving forward, Daniel 4 records what actually happened to bring Nebuchadnezzar down from his self-adulation and pride – to become a humble worshiper of the One he afterward called the "Most High God."
Verses 1-3 and 34-37 are Nebuchadnezzar’s words about the True God, AFTER his true repentance and conversion. In the reprinted text below, I have made those verse numbers bold face type. In addition, to make the story flow towards our more chronological order of thinking, I have put verses 1-3 with verses 34-37 at the end of this message.
Verses 4-33 are the record, mostly from Nebuchadnezzar’s own mouth, of what happened to him. Let’s briefly look at them.
Verses 4-6, FROM PEACE TO PANIC.
4 I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at rest in my house, and flourishing in my palace. (he was at peace)
5 I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts on my bed and the visions of my head troubled (frightened or alarmed) me. (That’s panic)
6 Therefore I issued a decree (an official order, a royal edict) to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream.
Verses 7-9, THE PROBLEM, AND THE PROBLEM SOLVER (God’s man).
7 … but they did not make known to me its interpretation.
8 But at last Daniel came before me (his name is Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god; [here a reference to Bel] in him is the Spirit of the Holy God), and I told the dream before him, saying:
9 "Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, because I know that the Spirit of the Holy God is in you, and no secret troubles you, explain to me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and its interpretation. (note a new humility in Nebuchadnezzar beginning here)
Verses 10-18, THE PICTURE IN HIS HEAD (the dream).
10 "These were the visions of my head while on my bed: I was looking, and behold, a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great.
11 The tree grew and became strong; its height reached to the heavens, and it could be seen to the ends of all the earth.
12 Its leaves were lovely, its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all. The beasts of the field found shade under it, the birds of the heavens (air) dwelt in its branches, and all flesh was fed from it.
13 "I saw in the visions of my head while on my bed, and there was a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven.
This "watcher" was a holy angel. This "watcher" is called a "holy one" both here and in verse 23. The plural, "watchers" in verse 17 are called "holy ones." These holy angels are used by God throughout Scripture to execute His judgment. A good example of this is in Matthew 13:30, 38-42.
14 He (the angel) cried aloud and said thus: ‘ Chop down the tree and cut off its branches, strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts get out from under it, and the birds from its branches.
15 Nevertheless leave the stump and roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, in the tender grass of the field. Let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let HIM (hint, the tree is a person) graze with the beasts on the grass of the earth.
16 Let HIS heart be changed from that of a man, let HIM be given the heart of a beast, and let seven times pass over HIM.
17a ‘ This decision is by the decree of the watchers, (This is a different word than the one in verse 6. Here, and again in verse 24, "decree" means a sentence or judgment of God)
17b … and the sentence (a synonym for "decree") by the word of the holy ones, IN ORDER THAT THE LIVING MAY KNOW THAT THE MOST HIGH RULES IN THE KINGDOM OF MEN, AND GIVES IT TO WHOMEVER HE WILL, AND SETS OVER IT THE LOWEST OF MEN.’ "
This verse is the key verse of the entire Book of Daniel. It is what his message is all about. This last part is repeated THREE TIMES in this record given by Nebuchadnezzar (in verses 17, 25 and 32). It is also alluded to in verses 26 and 35.
18 "This dream I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Now you, Belteshazzar, declare its interpretation, since all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known to me the interpretation; but you are able, for the Spirit of the Holy God is in you."
As you teach verse 18, you could point out the past experiences Nebuchadnezzar had with Daniel giving him God’s truth about his dreams, such as in chapter 2:10-47.
Verses 19-27, THE PICTURED PROPHECY- INTERPRETED.
19 Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonished (stunned) for a time, and his thoughts troubled (the same word as in v. 3, alarmed, frightened) him. So the king spoke, and said, "Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation trouble you." Belteshazzar answered and said, "My lord, may the dream concern those who hate you, and its interpretation concern your enemies!
20 "THE TREE THAT YOU SAW, (verses 20 and 21 basically repeat the details in verses 10-12)
22 IT IS YOU, O KING, who have grown and become strong; for your greatness has grown and reaches to the heavens, and your dominion to the end of the earth.
23 "And inasmuch as the king saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, ‘Chop down the tree and destroy it, but leave its stump and roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze in the tender grass of the field; let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let him graze with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him’;
24 this is the interpretation, O king, and this is THE DECREE OF THE MOST HIGH WHICH HAS COME UPON MY LORD THE KING:
25 They (Who are "they"? They are holy angels) shall drive you from men, your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make you eat grass like oxen. They shall wet you with the dew of heaven, and SEVEN TIMES shall pass over you, TILL YOU KNOW THAT THE MOST HIGH RULES IN THE KINGDOM OF MEN, AND GIVES IT TO WHOMEVER HE CHOOSES.
26 "And inasmuch as they gave the command to leave the stump and roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be assured to you, (but, note it - only) AFTER YOU COME TO KNOW THAT HEAVEN RULES.
27 Therefore, O king, let my advice be acceptable to you; break off your sins (THAT IS, REPENT) by being righteous, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps there may be a lengthening of your prosperity." (This is not a reversal of God’s sentenced decree, but a postponement of it)
But sadly, in verses 28-30, NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S SELF-WORSHIP (his sin) WAS PURSUED.
28 All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar.
29 At the end of the twelve months he was walking about the royal palace of Babylon.
30 The king spoke, saying, "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?"
That was frankly a very stupid thing for Nebuchadnezzar to say. Especially because a year before his proud statement, he had been warned by the true God, and had been told by His prophet to repent. He had twice been told the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and that it is He who gives promotion and wealth!
Nebuchadnezzar let his human successes go to his head. He kept falling back into a pattern of thinking that said he himself was the highest power and authority, and that all he had was as a result of his own doing. In making himself the daily god of his life, HE FORGOT THE TRUE GOD, WHO REALLY IS the MOST High!
Verses 31-33, THE PRONOUNCEMENT AND FULFILLMENT OF JUDGMENT.
31 While the word was still in the king’s mouth, a voice fell from heaven: "King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you!
32 And they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make you eat grass like oxen; and seven times (meaning seven years) shall pass over you, UNTIL YOU KNOW THAT THE MOST HIGH RULES IN THE KINGDOM OF MEN, AND GIVES IT TO WHOMEVER HE CHOOSES."
33 That very hour the word was fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar; he was driven from men and ate grass like oxen; his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.
But, after seven years God brought him back to a sound mind and gave him back his temporary earthly kingdom - to rule UNDER the TRUE GOD’S RULE. So, later Nebuchadnezzar wrote to all of his subjects:
1 Nebuchadnezzar the king, To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you.
2 I thought it good to declare the signs and wonders that the Most High God has worked for me.
3 How great are His signs, and HOW MIGHTY HIS WONDERS! HIS KINGDOM IS AN EVERLASTING KINGDOM, AND HIS DOMINION IS FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION.
34 And at the end of the time (the seven years of lunacy caused by holy angels) I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever: For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation.
35 All the inhabitants of the earth (here Nebuchadnezzar included himself!) are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand or say to Him, "What have You done?"
36 At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my honor and splendor returned to me. My counselors and nobles resorted to me, I was restored to my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added to me.
37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down.
His sovereignty is eternal and His Lordship over all His creation is from one generation to the next! The sooner we all learn and apply that to our everyday living the better we will be. Tell your Bible students to take that from an ancient king who learned who really was the Most High God!
Things certainly run smoother and are more peaceful when God’s control and directions are rightly responded to, both now in the present and certainly for our eternal future!
The Sovereign of the universe has commanded all men everywhere to repent and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. End your teaching on God’s sovereignty with a call to repent and believe that!
Rich Hines
Minister To Chaplains – Aurora Ministries
