Go a little deeper
Pastor Keith Kirkpatrick opens with the series theme: Babylon is more than a place called modern-day Iraq. Babel, whose root means confusion, is an ideology and a spirit still at work, and he frames the whole book as a contest between that kingdom and God's. God gives his word so his people will know who he is and therefore who they are, and the choice is to obey or ignore it. He traces that choice through Eden, Egypt, the Ten Commandments, and Jesus' teaching that the heart is where murder and adultery begin.
A long middle section works through Galatians 5. The works of the flesh are read as the shape of life in Babylon, and the fruit of the Spirit as what grows when someone walks with God. Pastor Keith speaks pointedly about sorcery, anger, and self-rule, and notes the church in Babylon language in 1 Peter before turning to Daniel 4, which he introduces as Nebuchadnezzar's own account. A second dream shows a great tree cut down to a stump, and Daniel explains that the king himself is the tree.
A year later, Nebuchadnezzar boasts on his palace roof and is brought low, driven out until he lifts his eyes to heaven and his reason returns. Pastor Keith is openly uncertain whether the king's confession was full surrender or a form of henotheism, distinguishing it from polytheism and monotheism. The application lands on pride as the root of sin and humility as the way up, and the message closes with an invitation and a prayer over those who respond.
Take this with you
Babylon is a spirit, not just a city
Genesis 10-11 shape Pastor Keith's reading: Babel is humanity taking God-given creativity and building while excluding God, which he calls religion—man's attempt to reach God on his own. That confusion, he argues, is an ideology and a spirit that changes identity, education, and dependence on the one true God, and he says it is still at work today.
Pride is the root, and humility is the way up
Nebuchadnezzar's rooftop claim to have built Babylon by his own power is presented as the essence of pride: me, my way, my credit. Pastor Keith summarizes James on God opposing the proud and giving grace to the humble, and frames the choice simply—pride ends in humiliation, humility ends in exaltation. This is the sermon's central application.
The Most High rules over the kingdoms of men
In Daniel 2 the statue's gold head represents Babylon, and its divided feet of iron and clay picture kingdoms that cannot stand; in Daniel 4 the great tree is cut to a stump and the king is humbled until he knows that the Most High rules the kingdoms of men and gives them to whom he will. Pastor Keith returns to that refrain as the lesson of the chapter: empires rise and fall, but God's kingdom endures.
The gospel is received, not earned
Daniel's counsel to break off sin and show mercy becomes the doorway to good news: righteousness, a right standing with God, is given as a gift rather than earned by doing right things. Pastor Keith ties receiving grace to giving grace, describing grace-giving as a core value of the church rather than a way to earn God's favor.
The conversation,
in their words.
Transcript from the recording’s captions. Select any timestamp to hear the original audio.
this summer I did a series called Kingdom I did this series because of what was happening this fall with an election season and I wanted to turn our hearts to the kingdom of God and it changed my life as you get into the word of God you start to realize we're all serving someone some of us are serving ourselves some of us are serving the enemy and we don't even know it some of us are serving Jesus but this this Kingdom series really shaped me because Jesus tells us when he was arrested and put on trial John 18:36 he says my kingdom is not of this world my kingdom is not of this world now when I refer to Kingdom let me just be really clear I'm referring to a king and a way of the Kingdom there's a ruler and there's a way that you serve this Kingdom now there have been all sorts of Kingdoms
throughout history there are kingdoms even today there have been kings that have have been conquering Kings there have been kingdoms small there have been kingdoms large and as we look to the Book of Daniel which is where we find ourselves today we see a kingdom that is great it's a conquering Kingdom it's taking over other nations and territories and and it's this Kingdom called Babylon if you brought your Bibles today would you go with me I want you to first take out your Bible I want you to hold in the air like you care and then I want everyone on the count of three to shout with me word one two three word we're getting into God's word so that God's word will get into us now this Kingdom we're talking about in The Book of Daniel is the kingdom of Babylon as we've been learning in this series Babylon is more than just a location
today Babylon the geographic location is modern-day Iraq but Babylon is so much more for the root word of Babylon in Hebrew is Babel it's where it it simply means confusion Babel is more than just a location it's an ideology it's a way of life it's a spirit I'll go so far as to say this Spirit of Babylon is a demonic spirit that is very much alive and exists today we see this spirit in the Book of Genesis chap 10 and 11 where humankind gathers together and in unity they take the very creativity that God gave them and yet they exclude God and they be build a tower that they believe will get to heaven so simply they say we can do this without God to get to God
that's religion it's man's attempt to get to God but God knows this and allows this Spirit of confusion where they break apart they're unable to accomplish their task and we see this Spirit of Babel or Babylon throughout history we saw it in Sodom and Gomorrah we see it throughout the ages we see it today we wonder why do these things happen that happen today it is the spirit of Babylon it's the spirit of confusion it changes your identity it changes your education it changes the idea that you need to depend on one true holy God the god most high and it's in this place that we've got to understand that we are up against as Paul would say in Ephesians chapter 6 principalities this is a spiritual world
and we are at War Peter when he concludes a letter he's sending greetings and he says in 1 Peter 5:13 she who is at Babylon who is likewise chosen sends you greetings now this was some 600 years after The Book of Daniel was written he's talking about the church in Rome he's referencing the Roman Empire to that of Babylon and he's saying the church in Rome or the church in Babylon sends you greetings now I want to identify today that we are living in a world much like what we read about in Daniel now Daniel was written 2600 years ago yet what we'll see here as the late Billy Graham says The Human Condition Remains the Same there might always be
something new and shiny but what we see in our human heart and in our tendency is that we are are constantly confused to check our identities and do what we want to do instead of what God wants to do and there's only two ways when it comes to God there's God's way and there's not God's way so you can obey God's word or you can ignore God's word and in the confusion of Babylon it says that you can pick and choose what you want to do well that's ignoring God's ways throughout history we see God has constantly made a way with Adam and Eve he made a way he says I have given you all of this for you to enjoy this is for your pleasure in fact you're created in my image you are to rule over all of
creation just don't touch this one tree how good is God that he would actually prevent us from harming ourselves yet they did the opposite instead of obeying God's word they ignored God's word and they reap the consequence that's sin sin separates us from God sin leads us to death and throughout history we continue to see this continue Perpetual reminder that God shows us his way and we have a choice to obey or ignore if we ignore there will be consequences when the Israelites were held captive as slaves in Egypt for hundreds of years they were exposed to many of the false gods of Egypt in fact after a while after one century after another they began to question their identity they were just slaves they had to make bricks for Pharaoh but eventually God would raise up a leader
named Moses who would deliver them from Egypt and take them to the promised land but on this journey God gave the people his word and in his word he wanted to remind them who he is so they they would know who they are if you don't know who God is you'll never fully understand who you are for the enemy wants to trick you and confuse you and make you think that you're something other than what God created God God created you with a purpose he created with you with a plan in fact I want to just speak over your life since God made you you are the best of the best the very very best that's who you are and God said if you go any other way outside of my way you will not be blessed you'll become like the rest of the people you you'll become something you're not created to be and ultimately
it will end in death so what he did is he gave his Torah his instructions his commands ments to summarize them all we would call them the Ten Commandments you ever heard of the Ten Commandments that was on the journey From Slavery to Freedom it was God speaking to his people saying don't serve false gods there's one true God honor me honor your parents fact if you just do the Ten Commandments the whole world would be okay but we all know the world's not okay let me just go through the Ten Commandments I'm going to go through them quickly here's here's what God Said the first one is this I am the Lord your God so the first commandment is found in Exodus 20:3 you shall have no other gods before me lowercase G there's only one God so the first commandment make sure
that you don't make anyone or anything else God number two you shall not make for yourself carved images or any likeness that is in heaven you should not worship something that's not God you shall not bow down to it if you do you're going to curse not only your generation but the next generation the Next Generation after but if you would worship the one true God you'll have steadfast love to to thousands of generations look at ver uh verse 7 you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain this is so serious today the name of Jesus is used so flippantly in movies at your workplace if you're not careful you will use the name of Jesus casually and you will lose in your heart that Jesus is the name above all names
that Jesus is the name to be revered in awe of but this is one of the Ten Commandments that if you don't do this you're conforming to the ways of the world that's the Babylon Spirit instead of serving the Holy Spirit God himself in verse eight God tells us remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy you're to have a day one day a week where you remember your dependence on God and when you trust God and you take a Sabbath day Sabbath in the Hebrew is Shabbat a day of rest refreshment trust in the Lord you you will be rested do you know we live in a day of stress where most people want to find their calm in a pill in a bottle through something they smoke but God says if you would just
follow my word and my way you'll be blessed instead of stressed but too many people throughout the ages including God's chosen people who had his word right in front of them over the ages they were refuse to do what God Said I know you said it but you know what nobody else is doing it so I'm not going to do it either finally uh uh verse 12 of chapter 20 of Exodus honor your father and your mother we need a little more of that today come on somebody verse 13 you shall not murder you know why our prisons are full we murder and the reason we murder is because we're not getting our way we had a team recently go down to San Quinton and the difference of San Quinton and deer rdge where we go which is a a medium security prison San
Quinton is a high security prison I was talking to one of the guys that went there and literally every single guy that he interacted with was a murderer he talked to 20 guys and all 20 were murderers and then there's different types of murders whether you murdered one guy or you murdered an entire family and God says hey that's not up to you to do that verse 14 you shall not commit adultery you shall not steal you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor so God has given us his rules and his way the Torah the instructions the Commandments of God but what we've done is one of two things one is we take God and his word and we interpret what we think it means there are some who are religious in their spirit and they say you know what I follow the ten
commandments and Jesus would step onto the scene and he would say this I know you've heard it said You shall not murder I know it's really easy to to judge somebody who's locked up forever at s Quinton and say that they've murdered but Jesus said listen if you're angry and you've decided in your heart to not forgive and you're bitter by the way you're like a murderer so you could judge in your heart but I just want you to know I actually judge the hearts of man Jesus say you've heard it said You shall not commit adultery and you walk around with pride with your chest out your shoulders back and your chin up I've never committed adultery Jesus says if you look at someone lustfully you've actually committed adultery in your heart so the judge that is just and absolutely knows everything is not
looking do you have a clean life on the outside and people look at you and give you a little pat on the back because your Instagram he's actually looking at your heart that's right and he's actually asking what what king do you serve what kingdom do you want to live in According to which rules do you want to follow and when you trust in the Lord Jesus you discover he has a purpose for my life he has a plan so I will be passionate about serving the king of all Kings and although his kingdom is not of this world I realized I might be in the world but I am not of the world when Paul was writing to a region called galatia of his day there were all these different churches and they were coming to the interpretation of what they thought the gospel was uh what that means to follow Jesus and he writes to them in Galatians 5:1 16 and he deciphers the difference of doing what you want to do versus doing what God wants to do and he says what God wants
to do he describes it as walking by the spirit that is letting God lead you in your life and he says Galatians 5:116 but I say walk by the spirit that is God himself for by believing in Jesus you get the Holy Spirit really quick theology lesson we have one God in three persons not three Gods one God three persons the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit perfectly United completely one God When You Believe In Jesus you get God himself the Holy Spirit now if you believe in Jesus you follow Jesus you receive the Holy Spirit now you allow the Holy Spirit to lead your life are you still with me shout amen so he says walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh so if you're allowing the spirit of God to live in you you won't do what you you won't do what everyone else is doing in
Babylon and be not mistaken we're in Babylon if you're not sure what I mean by that you you need to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you that we are not living today according to the ways of God this is a wakeup call it might seem a little bit weird to some that wait wait are you getting radical Pastor yes there there's no there's no Blurred Lines here you you can't pick and choose what it means to follow Jesus he explains if you're wondering what that mean what does it mean to work according to flesh what does it mean to live in Babylon and do the things of Babylon let me let me EXP explain what the scriptures say in verse 19 now the works of the flesh are evident we could say the spirit of Babylon looks like this sexual immorality impurity sensuality can we just stop right
there this was written 2,000 years ago what I'm reading to you long before the internet and and and and the fastpaced world that we live in where anyone could look at pornography on any device how many of y'all have a cell phone with you raise your hand you have access to all the world of pornography right here at church and the acts of the flesh say you ought to be driven by your desires and do what feels good but how many know that just because it feels good or just because it looks good does not mean it's good for you you could do something right now that seems good but later on you're going to reap a consequence and you're going to end up in a place you don't want to be that's called Exile that's what Babylon does is it takes you to a place you don't want to be so there's sexual immorality impurity sensuality verse 20 there's idolatry that's giving something of
value something of value more worth than God there's sorcery can we just stop with sorcery for a moment we're going to talk about this in Daniel chapter 4 sorcery is trusting in any Spirit other than the holy spirit this this comes in myriads of different ways today it's psychic mediums it's Ricky readers it's tarot cards it's it's astrology it's horoscopes it's it's all over the the place and in the world we live in this is Babylon it just becomes a part of what we do you can go to Barnes & Noble and buy tarot cards Ouija boards you can go downtown and enter into stores and you won't find the Bible in stores but what you will find is little mini Ouija boards which is oh so cute look at this little thing let's let's buy this trinket let's bring it into our home
let's let's celebrate this is called sorcery it's not following the ways of God the truth of God now there's no judgment here this is just the way of the flesh that all of us buy into in one form or another before you fully surrender to Jesus and allow the spirit to lead you not only is there sorcery there's enmity Strife jealousy fits of anger listen if you don't let God lead in your life you will have unforgiveness which will breed into bitterness which will breed into anger which will build into fits of Rage it happens to the best of us it will happen to a pastor it will happen to the nicest person on the planet that if you don't give it to God the worst will come out of you it's the spirit of Babylon we see it with
Nebuchadnezzar one minute he sounds good and looks good the another minute he wants to kill everybody does that sound like your life you know that you wake up one day you're like I don't even know who I am you're all dead that's the spirit of Babylon I'm not letting the spirit of God Lead Me Not only is there fits of anger rivalries dissensions divisions verse 21 there's Envy drunkenness orgies I mean he's covering America am I right and it's not just America it's Europe it's all over the world and then just in case he didn't cover it he says and things like these I warn you as I warned you before that those who do such things please hear the warning of God's word heed God's word you have a choice today obey or ignore he says I warn you if you do
these things you will not inherit the kingdom of God we we live in a world where it's not really okay to yell like that at church anymore but I would just I want to warn you of this I've got to warn you of this you keep doing things your way you will not get God's way and God's way is so good I I know you might not be reaping all the permanent benefits right now but it's coming and the Bible says this life is a vapor even if you live to a hundred in this life compared to Eternity that's a short life my youngest child keeps calling me old cuz I'm getting close to 50 come on somebody I'm just going to call her out right here in this place all right she's
calling me old old but you know in God's eyes it ain't nothing so if you're in your 80s you're you're just a baby in God's eyes in '90s just a baby just getting started so so it sounds like this is all bad but you know what the fruit of the spirit is when you when you take Jesus seriously here's what Happ here's what's produced in your life but here's what you get with Jesus the Holy Spirit the fruit of the spirit is oh thank you Lord love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness self-control against such things there is no law and those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with his
passions and desires Hallelujah can you imagine a political leader bearing that kind of fruit I don't see it on the blue or the red so this is no shame on either side whoever you're voting for which you should vote but all I'm just saying is I don't see a whole lot of gentleness and kindness on either side so I know people that that person's crazy no that person's crazy no that person's crazier I don't care well that person's even crazier why are you entering into the crazy when you ought to be a little bit more loving a little bit more patient a little bit more kind a little bit more good so so now go with me to Daniel
chapter 4 I know that was a long intro uh Daniel chapter 4 it's interesting it's the only chapter in this book that's written by a non-jew by a pagan it's actually written by King Nebuchadnezzar himself he writes it from his unique perspective King Nebuchadnezzar tells just just a little Glimpse about his life what it's like to be in Babylon but then also to experience the Lord most high King Nebuchadnezzar has a dream it's not his first dream in Daniel chapter 2 he has a dream of a large statue he call all the divers of the day the astrologists The Magicians to come interpret the dream in Daniel chapter 2 no one can do it and because this dream is keeping him up at night he's so angry
he's going to kill all the wise men of the land Daniel does something with his life and in Daniel chapter 2 we're told that he goes to the king and ask for some time the king says yes here's some time Daniel goes back to his buddies haniah Mish and Azariah and they pray and God gives Daniel a revelation of the dream in the dream he tells King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel chapter 2 that there's a statue and each part of the statue's body is a different element and those different elements represent different kingdoms and it starts with the head which is gold the gold represents the kingdom of Babylon that's you King Nebuchadnezzar you are like the head of the statel gold pure valuable beautiful look how strong you are and as he begins to go down the body to the different elements of silver and iron and eventually going all the way down to
the feet which is made up of two elements iron and Clay we have eventually see that this will be a kingdom that's divided and a kingdom that's divided cannot stand and this was a prophetic pictures of the kingdoms that would come after Babylon that after Babylon would come the Persians after the Persians would come the Greeks after the Greeks would come the Romans and eventually we would see these kingdoms that are so great like like before the babyon Babylonians there was the Assyrians do you know what they said about the Assyrian Empire they are so strong no one will ever be able to overcome them and then the Babylonians came and took over the Assyrians and the Babylonians were so big and so strong that everyone said no one will be bigger and better than the Babylonians but eventually we come to
the Roman Empire which ruled the world in force where their King Caesar would call himself Lord he would demand the people to call him Lord and so here we have these prophetic pictures that God uses yes God uses dreams he might even be using your dreams but if you're not led by the spirit you will not see the revelation of what God wants to say to you so King Nebuchadnezzar he's staying up on night and Daniel gives him this Revelation that eventually last week we looked at King Nebuchadnezzar creates this false god out of gold and tells people to bow down or they'll be burned and then Shadrach meach abedo the Babylonian names for haniah mishel and Azariah they were willing to stand for the truth and Jesus met them right in the fire that's when your faith is greatest in the fire some of you are wondering why you're going
through what you're going through James tells us in chapter one is to test your faith what kind of Faith do you have if it's not tested count it Joy when you go through trials you've got a God that's greater than what you're going through and they make it out of the fire now we come to Daniel chapter 4 here's another dream Daniel's going to help out with this one as well I Nebuchadnezzar I'm in Daniel chapter 4:4 I'm going to have to skim this for the sake of time here we go I Nebuchadnezzar was at e in my house and prospering in my Palace come on you ever have one of those just good summer days it's 80° with a cool breeze and everything just seems to be going really well you want to just freeze time and then you take a nap all right and right in the middle of that nap verse 5 I saw a dream that made me afraid it's it's interesting that just
all it takes is one moment to change everything one moment driving home last night I saw a rivan a $100,000 truck right in front of me hit a deer the deer is dead the truck is dead one moment it took a long time to make that truck but it took a little time just to smash it to Pieces Nebuchadnezzar said I saw a dream it made me afraid what what's going to happen in the future what is this dream all about all of us get to this place of uncertainty anxiety and fear in our lives as I lay in my bed the fancies and the visions of my head they alarmed me so I made a decree that all the wise men of Babylon should be brought before me that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream verse 7 then The Magicians the enchanters the calans the astrologers they came in I told them
to dream but they could not make known to me its interpretation now some of us have read this text and we say brah you did this last time and it didn't work but I'll tell you so many times we keep going back to what didn't work in the Book of Proverbs it warns us not to be like a dog that returns to his vomit Peter quotes The Book of Proverbs I think it's in First Peter 4 which he says why would you go back to that but dogs don't even know what they're doing and sometimes we act more like dogs than we do children of God spiritists of our day and they are alive and well even in our own city they're seeking spirits and it looks like it's true because there's some truth in it because they are spirits but it's lowercase s it's demonic
these are demonic spirits that are leading astray and we can read stories like this and say oh wow that's so archaic and back in the day but the Human Condition Remains the Same you're looking for truth and my role as the preacher is to point you to the way the truth and the life Jesus warns us there's no other way to the father but by me and I know every week and it breaks my heart that there are some people that are sitting here hearing the truth yet they leave thinking somehow that you can have salvation from some other place than Jesus Christ you can't he is the king of all Kings he's the Lord of all Lords he actually made it simple he did not make it complicated he says you got to be like a child to enter the Kingdom of Heaven you got to understand I didn't make many different ways I didn't cause this confusion you
need to have the revelation of who Jesus Christ is he's the Alpha and the Omega the beginning and the end he's always been God so if you seek some other truth outside of the way it will get complicated the way I would put this is you can't mix Gods there's one true God and here we have Nebuchadnezzar doing what he's done before and he he's going back to his old ways they all come together and verse eight says at last Daniel came Daniel the one that believes in one true God his name means God is my ruler he came in before me Nebuchadnezzar tells us he who was named belzar he was given a Babylonian name that's what the Babylonian Spirit does is it changes your identity after the name of my God Nebuchadnezzar said in whom the spirit of the Holy gods and I
told him the dream saying oh belzar chief of The Magicians because I know that the spirit of the Holy Gods is in you that no mystery is too difficult for you tell me the visions of my dream that I saw in their interpretation here's what Nebuchadnezzar is noticing with Daniel something's different about you when you have the Living God inside of you the Holy Spirit others might see it and not be quite sure how to interpret it you have a spirit and I have a spirit and I really like the spirit inside of you that's special but the reality is Nebuchadnezzar is confused and doesn't realize that it's been the anointing of the one true God working on behalf of Daniel that everything else Nebuchadnezzar has sought has been false
gods they are demonic spirits these are the ones that have been Thrust out of heaven and so now Nebuchadnezzar turns to Daniel may I just say in the Daniel days that we're living in you ought to be like a Daniel or when we when no one else knows what to do it ought to be those that believe in the one true God that they turn to and they might even get it wrong how to interpret it I know what that's like I'm like the black sheep in my family because they're not churchgoers they're not Christians and so many times they they don't know what to to call what I do on Sundays the speech things that I do some people call them sermons you know or that prayer stuff or that other stuff or you know I I but but they know this idea and some people and most of the
people in our city are not at church today so they don't know what you're doing they think you're sitting in a Pew right now falling to sleep trying to sneak in a little candy or something you're going through the rituals you're going through the motions but some of you woke up sincerely today to say I want to meet with the Living God I want to encounter you God I don't want to go back to my vomit I don't want to go back to my old days I know what you've done and I need you to do it again I need you to give dreams and Revelation I need you to interpret I need to follow the way I don't want to do what the whole world is doing just because they say it's okay I don't want to change my identity I want to be who you want me to be so Daniel comes before King Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel says here's your dream there's there's this tree this massive tree tree and it's beautiful and the tree goes up to the heavens and all the nations of
the world see this tree it's so spectacular this beautiful tree and just a time out Psalm chapter 1 says that those who trust in the word of the Lord are like a tree planted alongside the rivers you're just going to thrive and your leaves will never wither you're going to have life but those who follow the ways of the wicked they're like shaft they're going to blow in the wind your life is short you you won't be remembered so now there's this tree and as he's talking talking about this tree there there there's a Watchman that comes down from heaven to the tree and then cuts it down to a stump the tree is gone and it's not just a stump it becomes absolutely worthless in the wind and the Dew comes and the whole world sees the stump and now it's more like the Beast it's not very spectacular it's
just like all the other animals in the world it's lowly is the point of this dream and Daniel he shows it with his body language he does not want to tell Nebuchadnezzar the interpretation of the dream and Nebuchadnezzar just like bring it Daniel bring it I'm ready just tell me tell me what the dream means and Daniel began to explain you are the tree in the dream you are as big as it appears in the dream it's beautiful and the rest of the world is looking at you but all it takes is a moment to be brought down and if you're not careful you're going to be brought down and then Daniel says this to Nebuchadnezzar verse
25 he says that you shall be driven from among men and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field you you shall be made to eat grass like an ox this is the guy that gets to eat the finest of foods the finest of wines you shall be wet with the Dew of heaven and seven periods of time shall pass over you till you know that the most high yes he rules the kingdoms of men and gives it to whom he will and it was commanded to leave the stump of the roots of the tree that your kingdom shall be confirmed for you from the time that you know that heaven rules So Daniel warns Nebuchadnezzar you will actually be lowly like the beasts for some seven years you're going to just you're going
to go out and you're going to act like the animals you're going to look like the animals and then he presents the gospel to the king therefore oh King you don't have to go through this let my counsel be acceptable to you break off your sins by practicing righteousness and your iniquities all the things you've ever done wrong show Mercy to the oppressed that there may be perhaps be the lengthening of your prosperity in summary this is the gospel gospel means what shout it out good news here's the good news you can be forgiven of your sins not by earning it not not by doing the right things but by receiving the righteousness of God in
your life Jesus Christ has revealed this his very name in Hebrew is Yeshua it means the Lord saves he alone can save you of your sins now if you ask for forgiveness if you confess it you will receive the righteousness of God not because of how good you are righteous means a right standing with God you can have a right standing with God because he gives it to you as a gift this is God's grace it's yours what an invitation Nebuchadnezzar is given today I give you that same invitation you can be forgiven replace your sin with his righteousness and once you've receed Mercy you give Mercy once you receed Grace you give Grace it's one of our
core values is we want to be Grace givers at Journey Church we don't want you just to be forgiven and then go out and be a Crogan and and act like a old grumpy Church person and and people say oh those church people don't tip very well no we want you to be a Grace Giver be a Grace Giver leave a $100 tip every once in a while just just be a Grace Giver smile at people that don't smile back at you be bold and just start asking people can I pray for you th this is what we want to this is this is the gospel So Daniel he presents the truth but how many you know The Human Condition Remains the Same we all have spiritual amnesia for some of us it takes about a minute or two to forget what God just did for others it takes 10 minutes for
others it takes a day or two weeks I'm telling you God is working in your life he wants you to take note of it that's why you should write things down just like the prophet habach was instructed write these things down you will forget it leave it for for the Next Generation to see the faithfulness of God well Daniel shares the dream with King nebz he says okay thanks a year goes by and nothing happens if I warn you that God's Wrath is real and if I warn you there will be a consequence to your sin and then you go out and you continue to live in debauchery and do things your own way and you see no consequence you might actually think that what I share with you isn't real but I'll tell you for 500 years God God warned the Israelites that if you don't do this you're going to be taken captives by the Babylonians and you know
what happened after 500 years God disciplines his children he says I will do what I told you I would do so look what happens next at the end of 12 months Daniel 4:29 after one year he was walking on the roof of his Royal p Palace of Babylon by the way this is a big old Palace this is a castle he was living in and the King answered and said from the top of the palace is not this great Babylon and the King answered and said is not this this great Babylon which I have built I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my Majesty here's the spirit of Babylon me
me me me me me me me me me me me you're not meeting my needs you're not doing what I want to do this is why people have road rage isn't it crazy how crazy we get behind the wheel everybody's stupid then you realize they have a journey sticker oh no it's Pastor isn't it true the Babylonian spirit is all about me my way look what I've done in my life and if you're not careful you'll begin to look just like like this this this is the news of the politicians right now vote for me look what I've done look at my platform look how dumb they are and how smart I am look what I'll do for you I will do this and there's this
overpromise of me me me me me now if you just study a little bit about this Nebuchadnezzar he was a mighty man he was a phenomenal commanderin-chief he was a king like no others in fact he had a garden that was so great there's actually never been anything like it to this day it was one of the Seven Wonders of the World The Gardens of Babylon you do just a little bit of research on this it was spectacular he created an irrigation system unlike anything before him there were massive waterfalls coming down this Palace there was plants everywhere this is modern-day Iraq this guy actually did great things but he thought he did it on his own he didn't realize the good things that were given to him by God because you know the Bible says that God is supreme over everything
government every leader that actually is ruling it's because God allows it now some of us would say why would God allow such a tyrannical leaders such evil people I will tell you God allows it so that we could have a dependence and a trust on him we can see this back in the ages why does God do it so that we would learn from it and a lot of times it got there because God's people were not doing what they should have done that if we would do what God tells us to do it would not be tolerated come on somebody get involved in politics today while the words were still in the king's mouth I'm almost done here Daniel 4:31 while the words were still in the king's mouth there fell a voice from Heaven oh King Nebuchadnezzar to you it is spoken the kingdom has departed from you you shall be driven from among men and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the fields you shall be made
to eat grass like an ox seven periods of time you shall pass over you until you now till you know that the most high rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar he was driven from among men and ate grass like an ox and his body was wet with the Dew of Heaven till his hair grew as long as Eagles feathers and get this his nails were like the bird's claws this is mighty Nebuchadnezzar he he he used to dress in splendor and wonder everyone would know who Nebuchadnezzar is and after a period of time after one year two years it became unrecognizable this is what I love about the Bible it's real the the Bible does not avoid the hard stuff mental illness is
real mental illness is a spiritual reality today we're still dealing with the same Insanity that King Nebuchadnezzar dealt with that apart from God we will end up in places we don't want to be some of you know people who are seriously bipolar and they're not on medications they have not sought help some of you know people with with with split personalities or some of you know people who who are so seriously insane you know they're smart you know they're talented you know there's potential yet they end up on the streets sometimes it's easy to judge someone on the streets and say that they got themselves in that place on their own and and and there's there could be some truth in that but there also could
be some truth of the potential there might be a world leader inside that person you just have to see what God sees and God in just one moment humbles Nebuchadnezzar and for some seven years we see that he's in this place of complete Insanity and when you're in that place that seems like a really long time he's all of a sudden instead of the high Palace he's down low eating the grass I don't know if you've ever been in this place but if you've ever been in the place you don't want to be here's what you got to do humble yourself the king who praised himself with pride needs to Humble himself and in Daniel chapter 4: 34 through 37 at the end of the days Nebuchadnezzar would write I lifted up my eyes to heaven and
my reason returned to me and I blessed the most high and I praised and honored him who lives forever for his Dominion is an everlasting dominion and his kingdom endures from generation to generation Nebuchadnezzar goes on and says all the inhabitants of the Earth are all accounted as nothing and he does according to his will among the host of Heaven among the inhabitants of the earth and none can stay at his hand or say to him what have you done let me go to verse 37 now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol you that word extol is important it's woven throughout the Psalms it means I give you the glory I didn't do this I give
you the praise I give you the honor I don't get the credit for this I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and I honor the king of Heaven for all his works are right and his ways are just and those who walk in Pride he is able to Humble the Bible gives a great warning that the pride will fall pride comes right before the fall James puts it this way in James 4:6 God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble you see pride is ultimately the root of all sin it's the reason any of us sins it's thinking that somehow I don't need to do God's ways I can ignore it in this moment and pride comes in any
form it could be lies it could be given into your Temptation and doing that which is wrong God opposes the proud because God knows what happens if you keep doing things your way instead of God's ways he opposes it so what should you do James 4: 10 tells us humble yourselves before the Lord and He will exalt you so the warning in God's word is you choose pride and you'll end up in humiliation or you choose humility and you will end up in exaltation you choose obey God's word or ignore God's word now I went on a big rabbit Trail about Nebuchadnezzar and I wondered did Nebuchadnezzar actually give his heart over to the Lord did he do it and the
conclusion I came up with and I pray years from now I'd have a better answer than this I don't know Scholars are completely divided on this some say absolutely from this day forward he believed in the one true God and there say absolutely not you see there's a term that called henotheism henotheism is the belief in many gods but you believe one God is more Supreme than the others polytheism is the belief in many gods that they're all really acceptable they're all even equal that's the world that we live in this Babylonian spirit says you have your God I have my God everybody's good that's polytheism then there's monotheism that says no there's only one true God so some would say that henotheism that actually Nebuchadnezzar still believed in multiple gods but he
says Daniel's God he's the best of the Gods and that's missing out on the full surrender of God you can't be divided in your heart with who God is you've got to humble yourself and say his ways are the right ways doesn't matter what your pedigrees are you could be the king over the greatest Empire but Empires will fall there's one Kingdom that will last forever I just I finish with these two thoughts both out of First Corinthians for the word of the cross that is the message of Jesus Christ on the cross is folly it's foolishness to those who are perishing but to those who are being saved saved it is the power of God see to the world it seems really weird that you would give your whole life to Jesus but you're giving your whole life to Jesus because he gave you his whole
life almighty God who is without sin took our sin on the cross to us that's the power of God you are liberated from your sin you are not defined by what was done to you or what you've done that's the power of God why is it the power of God because the beasts of the Feld are the most lowly the Bible says that we rule over them now the Bible also says Jesus became the Lamb of God he became like a beast in fact he became like a lamb that was led to the slaughter 1 Corinthians 5:17 for Christ Our Passover Lamb has been sacrificed get this almighty God who created everything he's all powerful he's all knowing he became like a
beast not to stay there but that he would become become the lion of the tribe of Judah he'd become the best of the best almighty God hum humbled himself left his throne just for you so I need to ask you today have you believed in Jesus in the seriousness of this moment would you close your eyes I want to ask you do you want to be set free from your sins do you want the hope of heaven right now and in this moment if that's you and you're saying yes I want Jesus I want to trust in him I don't want to do things my way I'm willing to repent that means give up the ways of this world I won't seek false gods anymore if you want Jesus in your life would you just raise your hand nice and high just show me that's you all over the room nice and high keep it up nice and high anybody else you're saying yes I I want
forgiveness of my sins I want salvation I want the power of the Holy Spirit praise God yes yes I see those hands but more importantly it's not about me seeing them God sees them and Jesus tells us in his own words he says there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than 99 righteous who think they need no repentance may I just say those who raise their hands God is so pleased with you would you just pray with me in your heart I'm going to pray out loud you just pray in your heart silently Lord I Thank you for those who said yes to you right now Jesus would you bless them with a reminder who you are the king of all Kings would you show them who you are in your heart you can continue to pray prayer is conversation with god
it's not having the right words it's getting real with god it's listening it's talking so Lord I pray today for those who began a relationship with you that you would bless them with your favor forgive them of their sins as now they seek to follow you I ask holy spirit that you would show them the power of who you are in their lives that the world would know you and us just like you did it with Dan you'll do it with us Lord in the days that we're living we want to be ass saled and a light we thank you in Jesus mighty name amen and amen
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The Spirit of Babylon and the Word of God
Pastor Keith opens by treating Babylon as more than a location—an ideology and a spirit of confusion rooted in Babel, where humanity used God-given creativity while excluding God. He argues this spirit still shapes identity, education, and worship, and that God gives his word so his people know who he is and therefore who they are. This section considers how that framing shapes the way a believer reads the surrounding culture.
Genesis 10-11 · John 18:36 · 1 Peter 5:13
- Pastor Keith says Babel is humanity's attempt to reach God without God, and calls that religion. How does that description differ from trusting God's own way?
- He argues that if we don't know who God is, we will never fully understand who we are. How does that claim sit with your own experience of knowing God?
- Where do you sense the pressure to take what God has given and build with it while excluding him?
Obey or Ignore: The Choice God's Word Presses
Pastor Keith frames Scripture's commands as a single fork in the road: God's way or not God's way. The Ten Commandments are summarized as God reminding his people who he is so they can know who they are, and Jesus is quoted as pressing them to the level of the heart, where anger and lust are judged. This section explores how that choice plays out honestly.
Exodus 20 · Matthew 5
- Jesus moves the commands from outward action to the heart, naming anger and lust. How does that shift the way you hear the commandments?
- Pastor Keith says the commands were given so God's people would know who he is and therefore who they are. How does that change the way you read them?
- Where are you tempted to pick and choose which parts of obedience apply to you?
Flesh and Spirit: Two Ways to Live
A long section walks through Galatians 5, treating the works of the flesh as the visible shape of life in Babylon and the fruit of the Spirit as what is produced when someone is led by God. Pastor Keith is direct about sorcery, anger, envy, and division, and equally clear that this is a warning rather than a verdict on anyone present, moving from warning to the fruit of the Spirit and the call to walk by the Spirit.
Galatians 5
- How does Pastor Keith connect strife, jealousy, and anger with the need to let God lead?
- Pastor Keith traces unforgiveness breeding into bitterness and then rage. Where have you seen that progression, and what breaks it?
- Pastor Keith says those who allow the Holy Spirit to lead their lives will not gratify the desires of the flesh. What does he say that leading looks like in practice?
The Tree, the Warning, and the Stump
Daniel 4 is read as Nebuchadnezzar's own account. A second dream shows a great tree cut down to a stump, and Daniel explains that the king himself is the tree. Pastor Keith notes Daniel's reluctance to deliver the interpretation, then reads his explanation that the stump and roots remain so the kingdom will be restored once the king knows that heaven rules.
Daniel 4:19-27 · Psalm 1
- Daniel clearly does not want to deliver this interpretation, yet he does. What does his explanation actually say will happen to the king?
- The dream leaves a stump and its roots with the command that the kingdom be confirmed once the king knows heaven rules. What does that detail say about the purpose of the humbling?
- How does Pastor Keith connect receiving God's mercy with giving mercy?
Pride, Humiliation, and the Exalted King
The final section follows Nebuchadnezzar from his rooftop boast to his restoration, when his reason returns and he blesses the Most High. Pastor Keith is openly uncertain whether the king's confession amounted to full surrender, distinguishing henotheism from polytheism and monotheism. He then lands on pride as the root of sin and humility as the path God exalts, and closes by pointing to the cross.
Daniel 4:28-37 · James 4:6 · James 4:10 · 1 Corinthians 1:18
- Nebuchadnezzar's boast was about what he had built. Where are you most tempted to take personal credit for what God has given?
- Pastor Keith describes pride as the root of all sin—thinking I don't need God's ways in this moment. How does that description match what you see in yourself?
- The sermon ends by pointing to the cross as the place where God humbled himself. How does that shape the way you think about humility?
Answers from this recording
Start a conversation.
Why does the message spend so long on Babylon before getting to Daniel 4?+
Pastor Keith grounds the whole message in Genesis 10-11, where humanity gathers in unity, takes the creativity God gave them, excludes God, and builds a tower to reach heaven. He calls that religion—man's attempt to get to God—and says God allows the resulting confusion, so Babel's name means confusion. He then reads Babylon as an ideology and a spirit still at work, and says the choice it presses is whether to obey God's word or ignore it, which is the question he carries into Daniel 4. He acknowledges the introduction is long.
How does Pastor Keith's description of Babel in Genesis 10-11 change the way you hear the rest of the message?
What does the tree dream in Daniel 4 actually mean?+
In Pastor Keith's reading, Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar that he is the tree—vast, beautiful, and seen by the nations, yet able to be brought down in a moment. A watchman cuts it to a stump, and the king will live like a beast until he acknowledges that the Most High rules. Daniel explains that the stump and roots are left so the kingdom will be confirmed once the king knows that heaven rules, and he urges Nebuchadnezzar to break off sin and show mercy to the oppressed.
How does Daniel's explanation of the remaining stump shape the way you read the warning?
Why did a full year pass before Nebuchadnezzar's judgment fell?+
Pastor Keith uses that gap deliberately. When a warning is followed by no immediate consequence, it is tempting to conclude the warning was not real. He points to Israel's long history, saying God warned through the prophets before the Babylonian captivity came, and he ties the delay to God's own word that he does what he said he would do. Then, while the king is still boasting on the roof, the word is fulfilled: the kingdom departs and he is driven out.
How does Pastor Keith explain the danger of dismissing a warning when consequences do not come immediately?
What is the main application of Daniel 4?+
Pastor Keith reduces it to a choice: you choose pride and end in humiliation, or you choose humility and end in exaltation. He grounds that in James 4:6, that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble, and James 4:10, that humbling yourself before the Lord is the path he exalts. Pride, in his telling, is not only arrogance but any moment of thinking I don't need God's ways right now, and Nebuchadnezzar's rooftop claim is the same instinct showing up in ordinary self-rule.
How does Pastor Keith's explanation of James 4:6 and 4:10 reframe the way you think about humility?
