Pride: The Case of Nebuchadnezzar

Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life

Tim Keller

Religion & Spirituality, Religion, Religion & Spirituality:christianity, Christianity, Spirituality

4.8 • 15K Ratings

🗓️ 3 October 2025

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In sixth century B.C., Nebuchadnezzar was the absolute monarch of the Babylonian empire. He’d built maybe the most incredible city in history. He was at the pinnacle of power, and his life fell apart anyway. And here’s the incredible part: he’s glad it happened! He praises God for having done it. Do you know why? Because he says, “There was a spiritual cancer in me. There was something in me that was so bad, it was so dangerous, it had poisoned my soul so deeply that even as drastic as the treatment was, it was worth it to get it out of my soul.” What was it? Pride. Spiritual pride. Could it be that we need to know the same lesson he learned? This text teaches us four things: it tells us about 1) the sleep of pride, 2) the heart of pride, 3) the outcome of pride, and 4) the healing of pride. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 5, 1995. Series: The Seven Deadly Sins. Scripture: Daniel 4:24-37. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Gospel in Life.
0:05.7	Why is the world so broken?
0:07.5	And why are we capable of inflicting such harm even toward those we love?
0:11.9	People point to politics, poverty, or psychology, but none of these fully explain what we see in ourselves and in history.
0:19.4	This month on the podcast,
0:23.7	Tim Keller is teaching from a series exploring the question,
0:24.9	What's wrong with us?
0:27.6	Showing us how the Bible's teaching on sin offers the only explanation deep enough to face the truth
0:31.1	in all its complexity,
0:32.7	and the only hope powerful enough to transform us.
0:43.1	Thank you. hope powerful enough to transform us. Let me read you the story of Nebuchadnezzar, which you actually just listened to.
0:50.6	It's found in Daniel chapter 4.
0:52.7	It really starts at the very beginning of the chapter.
0:55.6	And in the beginning of the chapter, Daniel is called in by Nebuchadnezzar,
0:59.8	the great king of Babylon, to interpret a dream for him.
1:03.4	And we'll get into that and describe that dream, but we take this up our reading at verse 24.
1:09.7	This is Daniel speaking. This is the interpretation,
1:14.0	O King, and this is the decree the Most High has issued against my Lord the King. You will be driven
1:20.4	away from people and will live with the wild animals. You will eat grass like cattle and be
1:25.2	drenched with the dew of the heaven.
1:34.0	Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the most high is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he pleases.
1:40.4	The command to leave the stump of the tree with its roots means that your kingdom will
	...

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