Like Nebuchadnezzar, you and I shall continually learn "… that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men (Dan. 4:17)."
We all naturally think that Christ will receive and exalt those that do the most for Him and come to Him with the most qualifications. Yet, grace is for the guilty, the disobedient, and the basest of sinners. Our Master went through Samaria and picked out the woman that had five husbands (John 4). He came to the Gadarenes and only saved the notoriously demon possessed (Mark 5). And, when He called His most exalted apostle, Saul was on a self-appointed errand of persecution with blasphemy fuming from his nostrils (Acts 9:1).
The Lord Jesus Christ sits upon the throne of God, and He exalts whom He will. He has clearly chosen to exalt the basest and to abase the exalted. Why? So that no flesh would glory in His presence. There will be no competition for His throne rights. He alone possesses righteousness, and He alone has ascended to God's throne by meritorious obedience. When Haman was asked what the king should do unto the man that he chooses to exalt, he answered, "Let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head (Esther 6:8)." The Lord Jesus is the Man whom the Father has rewarded. Although equal with the Father from past eternity, He condescended to take upon Himself humanity and wrought obedience unto death for His elect (Phil. 2:6-8). Now, He is resting and ruling according to His will. Now, "… at the name of Jesus every knee should bow… And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
Secondly, there will be no competition for His glory in the ministry. He will use abased instruments. The Son of God calls Gideon a mighty man of valor, not because he was powerful and important for the ministry, but because He delighted to use his weakness. "And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee (Judges 6:14)." Yet, before the victory, Gideon's army must be reduced from thirty two thousand to three hundred base men, which licked up water like a dog. "And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me (Judges 7:2)." Yea, even in their victory, it is written, "And Gideon came to Jordan, and passed over, he, and the three hundred men that we with him, faint, yet pursuing them (Judges 8:4)." According to the Lord's purpose of grace, if the apostle Paul will be used mightily in the ministry, it will NOT be by excellency of speech, sacrificial suffering, or doctrinal genius (I Cor. 13:1-3). He will know his weakness, lean upon the Lord by necessity, and speak in love for the One who delivers him daily (II Cor. 1:3-10). Paul writes, "But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings." (The chief of the apostles was very crude in speech, and he dictated most of his epistles to small gatherings while in imprisoned.)
The Lord Jesus reconciles us to Himself through the gospel. If you have peace with Him ruling from His throne (exalting and abasing whom He will), then you've seen Him through the shedding of His blood and the tearing of His flesh (Heb. 10:19-21). To you, He is more than a ruling Lord. He is seated upon the Mercy Seat as your High Priest, and He communes with you upon the basis His righteousness to justify the ungodly (Ex. 25:21-22). Religion taught us to reconcile ourselves to God by feelings, doings, strivings, and everything else. Yet, we know that God irrevocably reconciled Himself to us. "To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them… For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him (II Cor. 5:19, 21). " Believers are reconciled to God's way of reconciliation by Christ's work alone. "Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us; we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God (II Cor. 5:20)."
Being reconciled to Christ, we're also reconciled to His purpose in predestination–His providence. Although we struggle with disappointments, failures, and numerous frustrations, above all else, we want harmony with God's will. Christ and Him crucified, not the changing of the circumstances, but the changing of our thoughts towards the character and purpose of God, gives us this peaceful submission. "And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honored him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation (Dan. 4:34)." When you see that your pride and the affliction that comes because of it, is your own fault, yet it's been entirely predestinated in God's purpose for His glory and your exaltation from the dunghill, then you will kiss the hand that smote you. For surely, as long as you live, you shall be abased and exalted… abased and exalted… abased and exalted. (Is. 14:26-27) "This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? And his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?" He must increase and you must decrease. The abased shall understand. "Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase (Dan. 4:37)."