2024-07-21AM- There Is A God In Heaven

A doctor recalls a patient who is a quadriplegic and completely dependent on others for daily tasks. The patient requested a specific song to be played at her funeral, which touched the doctor. The doctor visited the patient at the nursing home and discovered they had a connection through a mutual acquaintance. The doctor reflects on how God cares for even the most vulnerable individuals and emphasizes the importance of relying on God's wisdom and guidance. The doctor also announces upcoming events at their church. The sermon focuses on the story of Nebuchadnezzar and his troubling dream, highlighting the power and wisdom of God. Praise the Lord. Let's open our Bibles then. Daniel Chapter 2. Daniel Chapter 2, and I want to share a little story. I told Brother Michael about it this morning before we got started. I had a patient Friday who I had seen over the years at different times. She comes back for follow-ups. She's a quadriplegic, and she can't do anything for herself. I mean, we had to completely move her from one place to the other and do everything for her. I had to get an IV started on her. I had to literally hold her arm up on my leg just to keep it in place because it just flopped. So, she's completely helpless, and I've dealt with her over the years, and the only reason I'm telling you this is because she gave me permission to say so. So it's not a HIPAA violation, okay? But when they had said that she was there Friday, and I went up to greet her because we had met over the years, and she said she was glad to see me and it was nice. And so we got the test started and got all through it. And she had requested certain music for her MRI, and when I gave that to her, and when we were getting her out, she told me about a song. She said, I want played at my funeral by the Booth Brothers. And I don't really remember the name of the song. I could find it. But she went on, and I couldn't get her out of my mind. I kept thinking about her all that evening and prayed for her Saturday morning before we came over there to the Hodge family home. And then the whole time we're there, when it came time to leave, we had to take literally work. And I told Carrie, I said, I'd really like to run over to the nursing home where she is. I said, I just want to stop in and see her and just talk to her. I said, I can't get her off of my mind. So we went in, found where her room was, and she was just shocked to see us walk in. Because, you know, the only place she knew me was once a year or so that she would show up there where we are. And we got to talking and asked her about the song. And I said, you know, we used to minister at this nursing home, Brother Ronaldson E-Town Nursing and Rehab there in E-Town. And she said, really? She said, what church? And I said, well, the Highway of Holiness. And it was actually a mistake, because we weren't with Highway back then. But she said, you go to Highway? It's kind of surprised me that somebody even knew, you know, out there in Eastview. And I said, well, we used to go there. And she said, well, Michael Hodge is my nephew. Really? I was amazed. We found out it's Rhonda's sister, that there she was. And, of course, Carrie even said, I believe Brother Michael has asked prayer for her before. I sort of remember that, never knowing, you know, that it was somebody that I had been affiliated with. But we had a grand time there, and a good time of fellowship. And she was crying. And we just had a really good time. And I thank God that not only did He cross our paths, but He just kept her on my mind. I mean, I see people all the time, and even in similar situations. I don't feel like going and visiting them or calling on them. Not even sure how appropriate it is that my work would even say about that. But I'm glad to know that God is mindful. God cares about a lady that's laying in a nursing home. That everything she does, she does with a stylus in her mouth, moving and touching an iPad, how she communicates and how she does things. And paints pictures that way. Been like that for 15 years now. But I'm glad God says, I'm mindful. I'm watching you. I know exactly where you are. And I'll do what it takes to let you know I'm taking care of you. So I thank God for that. This next Saturday coming up, we're going to be having a work day here, the 27th. We're going to finish up the trim that's in here, do some of the finish up paint and fix those crackling floors back there by the bathrooms. So brothers, please remember that. It's not going to be a big day. Not a whole everybody needs to be here, but the brothers do. Brothers, we need you here, OK? Remember this coming Thursday, Friday, Brother Randy Webb's going to be at Highway. And they have their homecoming revival coming up August 1st. So please be in prayer about that. Remember that. All right, let's get into the Word. Daniel chapter 2. Daniel chapter 2, and we're going to begin reading with verse 1. Daniel 2 and 1. And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams wherewith his spirit was troubled and his sleep break from him. Then the king commanded to call the magicians, the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to show the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream. Look down at verse 10. The Chaldeans answered the king and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can show the king's matter. Therefore, there is no king, lord, nor ruler that has asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean. And it is a rare thing that the king requireth. There is none other that can show it before the king, except the gods whose dwelling is not with flesh. Verse 27. Then Daniel answered in the presence of the king and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, show unto the king. But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Father, thank You so much for this Bible. Thank You for the lessons that we have in it. Thank You for our Sunday schools this morning and how I was enriched with the teaching of Your Word. I do ask for that holy anointing to settle in this place right now on every one of us. Help me to deliver it right. Help it to be received correctly. And I pray Your will be accomplished before we leave this place today. In Jesus' name, Amen. Thank You, God. I want to preach Daniel's words right there in verse 28. There is a God in heaven. Hallelujah. There is a God in heaven. You know, when mankind fails to deliver and cannot provide all the answers that you need, and it happens, it's going to happen. Sister Val, the doctors don't always have the answer that you're looking for. Sister Glenda, they don't always have good news to tell us. Brother Ron, they don't have the answer to flip the switch and turn things around. In our lives, men are going to fail. But there is a God in heaven who does have every answer. Praise God. There is a God in heaven. Here in my text today, we've got this record of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. He's the most powerful man in the whole world at that time. Brother Michael has spoken about this nation, the Chaldeans, the Babylonians, when they overtook Israel. And it's in this time that Israel is held captive by Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar being king over this area. Right now, in the Middle East, it would be known, Mesopotamian area, as the nation of Iraq right now. That's where Nebuchadnezzar was, right in that area there. But Nebuchadnezzar dreamed a dream. But he couldn't remember the dream. Now generally, that's not really a big deal. You might wake up in the morning and say, things are kind of fuzzy. I felt like I had me a dream in the night. But it's gone from me. I really don't remember what it was. But Nebuchadnezzar's dream in particular was something different from that. It was a bad dream. And it troubled him. It was a nightmare that got to the place that in the night he couldn't sleep anymore. It got to the place where it began to torment him. It overwhelmed that man so badly that it got a hold of his spirit. And the Bible says that his sleep broke from him. He reached a moment in his life where it felt like he was going crazy. Something happened in that dream. And I don't know what it is. And I'm afraid what it is. And I need some answers. And it had come to the point when things in his life that had filled his time not that long ago all of a sudden didn't matter anymore. Things that he had enjoyed in his life had all of a sudden become unimportant. All these things he didn't care about anymore, that at one time that's what took up his time. Now he's a miserable man. Now he's finding himself to get irritable. And he's finding himself in a desperate situation. Now this man as king had those that were around him, advisors that he would lean on, people, men that he had trusted, wise people that they were considered, that whenever the king got in a time that he didn't know what to do and he couldn't understand the situation, he'd bring these men in. Everybody had their specialty and he would call them in. And no doubt there had been times in the past that when he called these wise men together, they had certain answers for him. They had been there for him. So it only made sense that this time he calls in all these trusted advisors. Because there was probably a time that Nebuchadnezzar thought, well, I want to conquer that land. Let me gather my wise men in here and ask them what ought I to do here. And those trusted men would look at him and say, oh, King Nebuchadnezzar, you've got the manpower. You've got these great military strategists. You've got this immense war machine. I think you've got this. And so Nebuchadnezzar would have listened to them. And they were right. It worked. Awesome. Time and time again, no doubt this would have happened. There were no doubt times of uncertainty when decisions had to be made. He would call in astrologers who would connect the dots of the stars and look at the king and say, you know what? The heavens are all aligned in your favor. You do what you feel like doing. And Nebuchadnezzar did it. And it worked out. So these guys seemed like they had it together. Over and over again, when times were in trouble, that these men looked like they were right. When he came upon a time of fear, I wonder how many times those with enchantments and certain charms would walk into the throne room and say things over him and get him through a time of depression or get him through a time of fear. And it all worked out one time after another. But all it really did was keep his heart bent toward evil. And he would continue to worship his own god, Marduk. These were the kinds of men that were ordered before the king once again. I've got a dream. And I don't know what it is. I need you to tell me the dream. And then I need you to tell me the interpretation. Chapter 2 and verse 5 says, Make known to me the dream with the interpretation. But at this point in time, Nebuchadnezzar realized that there were things that he had once relied on that they weren't going to be any good in this situation. He found himself in a place where smooth-talking, fake prophets finally did not have the answers. They couldn't even volunteer a theory. And they were of no use to this man in this time. Now, that's not much different from the time that we live in today. People find themselves in the same kinds of problems. They live their lives in which they have recovered narrowly from different situations and difficult circumstances. At one time, they count on a friend's advice and they made it through. Another time, they might have turned to medications, whether they were legal or illicit drugs, and it got them through another time. There were times when decisions needed to be made and they pulled up the horoscope and they found a little bit of encouragement and it made it through again. And it seemed like every time, all these different sources of wisdom have worked to get me where I am. But there comes a time when the drugs and the alcohol doesn't numb the pain anymore. There comes a point in life when the seeking of the enchantments of this world cannot calm the nerves anymore. Life itself suddenly reaches a point which cannot be conquered simply by surrounding yourself by people who seem like they've got it all together. A boiling point when a life gets to that place. All the things that man has depended on in the time past are suddenly useless. They do man no good because they really never did give true peace. There never really was real wisdom in it. They never really gave hope. They just got them through one crisis after another. But every life comes to that point where a man realizes this isn't working. And I've reached a level in my heart that this is not helping me anymore and I need something more. I need something that's going to help me to sleep at night. I need something that's going to put peace down in my soul. I need something that's going to relieve my tormented mind. And that's where Nebuchadnezzar was. And when these men could not tell the dream and they could not tell the interpretation, Nebuchadnezzar grew furious and he said, let all these wise men be killed now at this point. So what happens in life? Tears come. Anger comes. It overwhelms an individual when he says it's always worked before. I've tried it, but now I'm in a place that it's not helping anymore. And the first thing a man wants to do is look around him and begin to blame the people that are closest to him when he gets so furious. And life is not what it ought to be. Surely it's got to be somebody else's fault. And that's what Nebuchadnezzar did. We'll just kill all the wise men because they haven't helped me now. Well, Daniel happened to be among the wise men. He was a captive. Now, he wasn't one of those that was gathered in before the king and asked to show the dream or the interpretation. But when it come time for the slaughter to happen, and it tells there that there was the man who was tasked with it, and I find it really interesting, this Ariok who's tasked with going around and gathering them all up, the wise men, and say, all right, you're going to die. And the way the Bible tells it, it just seems so casual. I mean, almost like a census or a tax collector knocking on the door. Hey, you Daniel? Yeah, come on with me. We're going to kill you today. And they were just ready to go on. It's just like business as usual. Nebuchadnezzar says you're going to die. You know, we're not making a big issue about it. Just come on with me. We're going to take you out back. But Daniel stepped up and he said, well, wait a minute. What's going on here? And it was explained to him. The wise men couldn't interpret the dream. They couldn't even tell the dream. He said, give me a little bit of time. Just give me some time. So he got with his friend Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He said, son, let's pray. Let's talk to God and ask Him for the answer for this situation. So then God reveals to Daniel the answer. This is the dream. And this is the interpretation of it. So Daniel, of course, thanks God. And he worships God for answering his prayer. But when Daniel came before King Nebuchadnezzar, he had a statement to make. Nebuchadnezzar, I want to remind you that your wise men, your astrologers, your magicians, your sorcerers, those who are engaged in witchcraft, all of your soothsayers, they could not help you in this situation. And he pointed out that there was such a weakness in relying on carnal-minded, idolatrous men to solve spiritual, eternal problems. And so Daniel says, King, they couldn't do it. But there is a God in heaven. There is one who holds the answers. And Daniel's words ring out a message that is true to this day, to this angry world, to this confused world, to this irritated world, to this world that gets depressed and overwhelmed. There is a God in heaven that's got the answer to your dilemma and He's got the answer to your problems. If you'll just turn to Him, there is a God in heaven. And He cares about you and He loves you. Now notice with me in verse 10, the Chaldeans answered the king and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can show the king's matter. They confessed, There is not a man upon the earth that can show the king's matter. But look down in verse 28 where Daniel responds, While there is not a man upon the earth that can do it, there is a God in heaven. When they said it can't be done, when this world says you're born that way, when this world says it's a chemical imbalance, when this world says it's how you were raised and there's no getting over it, when the world says it'll always be this way, there's nothing that can be done about it, I want to stand up with Daniel and say, But there is a God in heaven and He cares and He loves and He is willing to help souls out of their darkest trouble. It applies today where we live right now. There is a God in heaven. In the 60th Psalm, David cried out, Oh God, give us help from trouble, for vain is the help of man. When you get confused and it just sets your head spinning, there is a God in heaven. When you get to the place when your body is so afflicted and there are no answers that can be found among men, there is a God in heaven. When you get tempted with sin and don't see any way out, there is a God in heaven. When you find that you can't forgive somebody else or you may not even be able to forgive yourself, there is a God in heaven and He still cares and He still loves and He is willing to pull you out of your situation. God has given man great abilities. He has given us the ability. We have figured out a lot of things. God gave us the ability to learn, to work, given us good resources. We can reason things out, but there is a lot that still remains a mystery in the minds of men. But there is a God in heaven who condescended to men of low estate. What did them men say? They said right there, it's a rare thing, the only answers can be found with the gods. And everybody knows that their dwelling is not with flesh. But there is a God in heaven. Hallelujah, that the Bible says that there is a God in heaven that was made flesh and dwelt among us. John said, We beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. The gods that they were talking about most certainly cannot dwell with flesh. But there is a God in heaven who in the fullness of time, when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, made under the law to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the spirit of adoption within ourselves, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. Their argument was the same as it is today. If I can't figure it out, nobody can. There's not an answer to be made. And there are people that stand in pulpits today that will say, if I don't have the baptism of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues, then nobody can have the baptism of the Holy Ghost with evidence of speaking in tongues. But there is a God in heaven who still pours out His Spirit and baptizes men in the Holy Ghost. There are atheists who have argued, they've stood up and they've mocked, and they have said, There is no God. But there is a God in heaven who declares to those who would say such a thing, The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. And when the wisdom of this world says there is no hope, there is a God in heaven. And He loves you and He offers real hope today. Jeremiah 17 and 9, Blessed is the man that trusted in the Lord and whose hope the Lord is. So I want to tell you today, for every individual who gets confused by the overwhelming issues in life, and it doesn't make any sense for me to stand up here and say there aren't any. Because they are. For every soul who finds himself guilty in his own sins, there is a God in heaven whose hand is not shortened that it cannot say, whose ear is not heavy that it cannot hear when we pray. There is a God in heaven who so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son as a sacrifice for every one of us that whoever will believe in Him can and will be saved. Now, oh, give thanks unto the God of heaven whose mercy endureth forever. Michelle, would you come to this piano please and get us a song? There is a God in heaven. And He's not some entity as some believe that He made it all and walked away from it all. But He stands at the ready. He's got multitudes of angels. Jesus said there was twelve legions of angels waiting to deliver Him if need be, when only one angel has been shown to take out 185,000 men. So we've got the host of heaven at the command of the God of heaven to stand up and take care of every need which baffles your mind, which confuses you and puts you in a place I don't know what to do. There is a God in heaven. And He's there to help you today. Stand with me. Oh God, I honor You today. And I thank You that it's still true today the words of that great prophet Daniel. He spoke on Your behalf. There is a God in heaven. And Lord, we're dependent on You today. I know what it's like to face those things where there are no answers. Nobody's going to bring the answer to me. But I know there is a God in heaven. You took care of the worst in me. And I pray You'll reach out to this congregation today for those confusing questions, for those baffling incidents I ask You, God, to move in the name of Jesus. Amen. Let's come and let's talk to the Lord. I want to remind you, there is a God in heaven. There is a God in heaven. And He cares. He knows the secrets. He knows when to reveal the secrets. He looks for somebody to trust Him and say, I can't handle this. This is bigger than me. All my normal resources have failed. There is a God in heaven. There is a God in heaven. There is a God in heaven. There is a God in heaven. There is a God in heaven. There is a God in heaven. There is a God in heaven. There is a God in heaven. There is a God in heaven. There is a God in heaven. There is a God in heaven. There is a God in heaven. There is a God in heaven. There is a God in heaven. There is a God in heaven. There is a God in heaven. There is a God in heaven. There is a God in heaven. There is a God in heaven. There is a God in heaven. There is a God in heaven. There is a God in heaven. There is a God in heaven. There is a God in heaven. There is a God in heaven. There is a God in heaven. There is a God in heaven. There is a God in heaven. There is a God in heaven. There is a God in heaven. Somebody said they could help, but they couldn't. There is a God in heaven. Throughout the course of time, so many still reach out to Him with broken hearts and minds. Every one of them will say with no exception that they find Jesus never fails.