1 00:00:03,720 --> 00:00:08,520 Chapter 5 of Daniel, verses 22, through the end of that chapter. 2 00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:13,120 But you, his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself, 3 00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:18,080 though you knew all this. Instead, you've set yourself up 4 00:00:18,080 --> 00:00:21,680 against the Lord of Heaven. You had the goblets from his 5 00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:25,840 temple brought to you. You and your nobles, your wives, 6 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:28,880 your concubines, drank wine from them. 7 00:00:29,560 --> 00:00:34,280 You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, ironwood, 8 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:39,200 stone, which could not see or hear or understand. 9 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:44,960 But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life 10 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:50,040 and all your ways. Therefore he sent the hand that 11 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:54,200 wrote the inscription. This is the inscription that was 12 00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:56,240 written. Mayne. 13 00:00:56,280 --> 00:01:01,240 Mayne Tikal Farsen. This is what those words mean. 14 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:06,240 Mayne, God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to 15 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:10,120 an end. To Cal, You have been weighed on 16 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:16,440 the scales and found wanting. Ferris, your Kingdom is divided 17 00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:18,680 and given to the Medes and Persians. 18 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:24,760 Then, at Belshazzar's command, Daniel was clothed in purple, a 19 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:28,680 gold chain was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed the 20 00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:30,800 third highest ruler in the Kingdom. 21 00:01:32,320 --> 00:01:37,080 That very night, Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was 22 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:43,160 slain, and Darius the Mede took over the Kingdom at age 62. 23 00:01:48,600 --> 00:01:54,560 I learned a new phrase this week which goes to fiddle while Rome 24 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:57,160 burns. It comes from an old story that 25 00:01:57,160 --> 00:02:02,240 while the city of Rome was burning in AD 64, Emperor Nero 26 00:02:02,240 --> 00:02:05,600 was supposedly off somewhere playing music. 27 00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:09,520 Now, historically, Nero wasn't playing a fiddle, but you, you 28 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:11,120 get the point. The phrase stuck. 29 00:02:11,640 --> 00:02:15,320 And so to fiddle while Rome burns means everything around 30 00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:19,040 you is coming to an end. But instead of facing it, you 31 00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:21,680 distract yourself or entertain yourself. 32 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:25,000 You keep the party going. And apparently this isn't 33 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:27,840 something that just like Roman emperors would do. 34 00:02:28,160 --> 00:02:31,800 As a matter of fact, in the year 2002, some of you remember it, 35 00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:36,040 one of the largest companies in America, Worldcom, was 36 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:38,680 collapsing. Investigators discovered 37 00:02:38,680 --> 00:02:41,800 billions of dollars in fraudulent spending and 38 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:44,720 accounting, and the stock absolutely collapsed. 39 00:02:44,920 --> 00:02:46,880 Thousands of jobs were in jeopardy. 40 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:51,600 And on July 21st, Worldcom filed for what was then the largest 41 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:54,560 bankruptcy in American history. Imagine that, the largest 42 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:58,240 bankruptcy in history. And yet check this out. 43 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:01,800 Less than two weeks later, somebody apparently looked at 44 00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:05,280 that situation and thought, you know what would improve morale 45 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:07,680 right now? A booze cruise. 46 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:13,120 So about 75 Worldcom salespeople were scheduled to board a luxury 47 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:16,320 yacht for an evening of unlimited food and drinks. 48 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:18,640 OK, so check this. The company's bankrupt. 49 00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:22,840 The ship is sinking, and they're literally getting on another 50 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:25,720 ship to party it up. OK, you can't write this stuff 51 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:29,000 now. There's something very human 52 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:33,240 about this type of story, because when bad news gets 53 00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:36,440 closer, humanity tries to drown it out with music, do we not? 54 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:40,080 When we don't want to think about where our life is going, 55 00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:45,400 we stay busy, or we eat and we drink, or we go out and buy 56 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:48,840 something, or we take another vacation, chase another 57 00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:50,680 promotion. You get the point. 58 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:56,040 And what this is, it's a sort of defiant despair. 59 00:03:57,400 --> 00:04:00,400 It's despair because time is running out, but we're defiantly 60 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:03,080 pushing against it. This is human nature when 61 00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:04,840 confronted with our own mortality. 62 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:09,680 The truth is, we're all mortals and what our days are all 63 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:13,040 numbered. Just a light topic for this 64 00:04:13,040 --> 00:04:17,160 morning, right? But for all of us, time is 65 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:19,920 running out. For some, they fiddle while Rome 66 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:21,839 burns, right? They believe there's no real 67 00:04:21,839 --> 00:04:24,160 afterlife. So I might as well enjoy it here 68 00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:26,480 today. After all, if this is all there 69 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:28,920 is, why not enjoy it while we can? 70 00:04:29,840 --> 00:04:33,480 Why not cling to things for significance, like achievements, 71 00:04:33,480 --> 00:04:36,600 our name on a plaque, or the relationships around us or 72 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:39,600 whatever? And so for us, I want to ask as 73 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:45,560 we dive in today, how can we live a life of weight, of 74 00:04:45,560 --> 00:04:50,600 substance and significance as we prepare to stand before God one 75 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:54,040 day? How can we resist living in 76 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:58,800 defiant despair and avoid just pursuing pleasure and a pain 77 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:03,320 free life while we can? So today we're in the book of 78 00:05:03,320 --> 00:05:04,720 Daniel. So if you have your physical 79 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:07,160 Bibles, go ahead and grab that. Now, if you would, we also have 80 00:05:07,160 --> 00:05:09,200 them available somewhere in the back. 81 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:12,440 We can grab those for you if you like Daniel's in the Old 82 00:05:12,440 --> 00:05:16,160 Testament if you're new to the Bible here right after the book 83 00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:19,360 of Ezekiel. And last week we were in chapter 84 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:22,560 4, which was a sort of Part 1 and we encourage you to go back 85 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:23,680 and listen to that if you'd like. 86 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:27,920 Last week we titled Part 1, the beast talking about 87 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:31,320 Nebuchadnezzar. This week is Part 2, the feast. 88 00:05:31,520 --> 00:05:35,520 All right, so Daniel chapter 5, verse 1 is where we're going to 89 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:39,120 be today. Verse one it says this King 90 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:43,920 Belshazzar gave a great banquet for 1000 of his nobles in drank 91 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:46,880 wine with them. While Belshazzar was drinking 92 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:50,480 his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver 93 00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:54,320 goblets that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple 94 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:57,840 in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wife and his 95 00:05:57,840 --> 00:05:59,560 concubines might drink from them. 96 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:02,880 So they brought in the gold goblets that had been taken from 97 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:05,840 the temple of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his 98 00:06:05,840 --> 00:06:10,080 wives and his concubines drank from them. 99 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:14,720 As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and 100 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:19,080 silver, of bronze, ironwood and stone. 101 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:22,120 So Belshazzar's throwing this crazy feast. 102 00:06:22,120 --> 00:06:24,440 He's bringing in goblets. There's wine, there's drink, 103 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:25,680 there's music. You get the point. 104 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:29,880 Now, to fully grasp the significance of this moment in 105 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:33,160 history, we need some much needed historical context. 106 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:36,960 First of all, who is Belshazzar and where did he come from? 107 00:06:37,520 --> 00:06:41,120 For a long time historians thought this was just like a 108 00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:45,040 made-up character in the Bible, someone that Daniel, whoever the 109 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:48,400 author, was made-up because he couldn't be found in any sort of 110 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:52,960 archaeological records of the kings until they eventually 111 00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:55,360 found him. The reason his name wasn't 112 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:58,400 listed in the list of kings previously is because it was 113 00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:01,960 actually his dad Nabenitis, who was the king of Babylon at the 114 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:05,280 time. However, Nabenitis spent more of 115 00:07:05,280 --> 00:07:08,800 his time in Arabia flirting with other gods that the Babylonians 116 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:12,080 didn't really care for, and so it was actually his son 117 00:07:12,480 --> 00:07:16,720 Belshazzar, who is effectively the king ruling Babylon at this 118 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:19,760 time. OK so Belshazzar is like a Co 119 00:07:19,760 --> 00:07:21,280 region. Does that make sense? 120 00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:25,000 He's acting as the king of Babylon while his dad is away. 121 00:07:25,680 --> 00:07:30,360 What's remarkable about this biblical account is that we know 122 00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:34,280 almost the exact night that this party happened. 123 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:36,360 This is very rare in the biblical text. 124 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:39,160 We know almost to the date the exact night that it happened. 125 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:43,560 That is, that the night of this feast was at the same time that 126 00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:47,680 the great Babylon would fall to the Persian Empire. 127 00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:53,920 It would fall under Cyrus on October 12th, 539 BC, so long 128 00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:58,000 before Jesus, 539 BC. What had happened is a couple 129 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:02,120 days earlier, before this night, Cyrus the Persian had defeated 130 00:08:02,120 --> 00:08:05,640 Nebenitis and the and the Babylonian army at a city called 131 00:08:05,640 --> 00:08:08,400 Sapar. So this is only about 60 miles 132 00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:11,160 away from where Belcazar's party is, only 60 miles away. 133 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:14,080 The Babylonian army had just been wiped out. 134 00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:18,120 Nabenitis had fled the scene. Dad is nowhere to be found. 135 00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:22,400 And so at the time of Daniel 5, the chapter we're reading today, 136 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:28,000 check this out, the Persians are literally at the gates of the 137 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:31,040 city of Babylon. That's the context here. 138 00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:35,480 Babylon is defenseless. The armies are gone. 139 00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:37,480 There's no way to defend themselves. 140 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:39,159 And what does King Belshazzar do? 141 00:08:39,159 --> 00:08:42,120 He says, let's throw a party, right? 142 00:08:43,960 --> 00:08:46,200 This actually has historical backing as well. 143 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:49,360 Outside of the Bible, historian Herodotus and other Chronicles 144 00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:54,320 confirm that the night Babylon was taken they were engaging in 145 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:56,960 weed and drinking and partying. Isn't that interesting? 146 00:08:57,000 --> 00:08:59,960 So outside of the Bible, it confirms the historicity of 147 00:08:59,960 --> 00:09:02,120 Daniel itself. He gets all the details right. 148 00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:06,360 One more thing, historically, not only does history tell us 149 00:09:06,360 --> 00:09:09,400 the very night that this all happened, but we also know the 150 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:11,920 exact location, at least we believe we do. 151 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:15,520 It's in modern day Iraq. I actually got on Google Maps 152 00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:16,920 this week. Here's this next picture. 153 00:09:16,920 --> 00:09:19,080 You can go on Google Maps. You can find this exact 154 00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:22,480 location, that rectangle on the bottom middle, that is actually 155 00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:24,520 the throne room there that you can see. 156 00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:26,720 Next slide. This is what it looks like from 157 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:29,000 an aerial view. You can see where the throne 158 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:31,480 room is. I asked my brother and I said, 159 00:09:31,480 --> 00:09:35,840 hey, John, did you get to visit this site when you were in Iraq 160 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:39,200 in 2003? My brother was on an all 161 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:43,640 expenses paid trip to Iraq by the Marine Corps. 162 00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:50,240 OK Thank you for your service. Semper Fi OK, but he was over 163 00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:51,760 there. This is his pictures, as you can 164 00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:53,360 see my brother. Next slide, my brother's on the 165 00:09:53,360 --> 00:09:56,280 left with his rifle, and you can see that they'd actually 166 00:09:56,280 --> 00:09:59,320 reconstructed what Babylon would have looked like. 167 00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:03,000 Next slide, you can see this is a better picture of what the 168 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:05,720 temple could have looked like. This would have been the gate in 169 00:10:05,720 --> 00:10:08,480 there. But the point is, this is an 170 00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:14,240 actual place at an actual time in a precise moment in history. 171 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:19,000 This is the context of what Daniel 5 is surrounded by. 172 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:22,200 OK, so we know the date, we know the location, but we're still 173 00:10:22,200 --> 00:10:28,800 left with the question, why would Belshazzar throw a party 174 00:10:29,280 --> 00:10:33,400 knowing his city was defenseless and the enemy would arrive at 175 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:37,120 any moment? Was it arrogant pride? 176 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:42,680 Our walls will never fall. Was it to sort of rally and 177 00:10:42,680 --> 00:10:44,800 encourage his leaders? You know, we'll make it through 178 00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:47,520 this if we stick together. Maybe it was just to drown out 179 00:10:47,520 --> 00:10:50,840 his fears and some sort of hedonistic like pleasure party 180 00:10:50,840 --> 00:10:53,680 full of sex and alcohol and music because he's facing 181 00:10:53,680 --> 00:10:55,840 onslaught, right? Maybe it's some combination of 182 00:10:55,840 --> 00:11:00,520 all of those. But the question is, why fiddle 183 00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:08,800 while Rome is burning? Verse 5 Suddenly this is during 184 00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:10,360 the party, Belshazzar's thrown it up. 185 00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:12,720 He's having a blast. It's it's a night of tension. 186 00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:17,080 Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and rode on the 187 00:11:17,080 --> 00:11:20,520 plaster of the wall near the lampstand in the royal palace. 188 00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:24,880 The king watched as the watch the hand as it wrote. 189 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:30,440 Verse 6, His face turned pale and he was so frightened that 190 00:11:30,440 --> 00:11:33,560 his legs became weak and his knees were knocking. 191 00:11:34,480 --> 00:11:36,800 By the way, there's a lot of phrases we get from this chapter 192 00:11:36,800 --> 00:11:39,640 like writing on the wall or knees we're knocking. 193 00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:43,120 But what's happening here is supernatural fingers appear in 194 00:11:43,120 --> 00:11:45,520 the middle of this party in that throne room we just looked at 195 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:53,720 and begins to write on the wall. Menay, Menay, tackle Parsons. 196 00:11:55,000 --> 00:11:57,800 Those are the words. And what we see here is that 197 00:11:58,000 --> 00:12:01,280 translated these words, Menne menne teko Parson, they're 198 00:12:01,280 --> 00:12:04,320 actually units of weight and currency. 199 00:12:04,520 --> 00:12:07,040 So imagine we're here, we're having service together, we're 200 00:12:07,040 --> 00:12:09,080 singing worship. And all of a sudden on the wall, 201 00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:12,040 like way up there, there's like these, this hand appears and it, 202 00:12:12,040 --> 00:12:16,040 and it and it on the wall, it says something like ## oz half 203 00:12:16,040 --> 00:12:20,680 pound. We'd be like, what on earth does 204 00:12:20,680 --> 00:12:24,200 that mean? OK, think about it in terms of 205 00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:26,920 like British currency or UK currency. 206 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:29,920 So this next slide, think about it in terms of money, like pound 207 00:12:29,920 --> 00:12:33,280 as in a pound of sterling silver ## penny, half pound. 208 00:12:33,480 --> 00:12:36,080 It was not just a weight, but it was also currency, right? 209 00:12:36,480 --> 00:12:39,400 It's not that we wouldn't be able to read it, it's that we 210 00:12:39,400 --> 00:12:41,040 wouldn't be able to understand it. 211 00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:43,360 Now we'll come back to this. And these words have a long 212 00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:44,960 history of translation interpretation. 213 00:12:44,960 --> 00:12:47,080 That's fascinating. I'm not going to get into it and 214 00:12:47,080 --> 00:12:51,760 bore you today, but if you're confused at this point, think 215 00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:53,520 about how Belshazzar must have felt. 216 00:12:54,760 --> 00:12:59,400 He's drunk on power, he's drunk on booze, and all of a sudden, a 217 00:12:59,400 --> 00:13:01,680 glowing finger appears out of nowhere, scratching up the 218 00:13:01,680 --> 00:13:04,120 wallpaper. And So what does he do? 219 00:13:04,920 --> 00:13:08,280 He calls in the experts, the diviners, the magicians. 220 00:13:08,280 --> 00:13:10,760 These are called Chaldeans. And what they're known for is 221 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:12,760 they're known for being able to read signs like this. 222 00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:15,920 They're able to be able to kind of understand what's going on. 223 00:13:16,920 --> 00:13:18,560 And we do the same thing today, do we not? 224 00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:20,880 Something happens in our culture. 225 00:13:20,880 --> 00:13:24,880 A news story breaks. People get on CNN and Fox News, 226 00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:28,200 and we bring in the politicians, we bring in the doctors, we 227 00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:30,880 bring in the sociologists, the psychiatrists, all the talking 228 00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:32,360 heads, right? And we interview. 229 00:13:32,360 --> 00:13:36,040 I'm trying to make sense of what's going on here and this. 230 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:37,800 And Belshazzar is doing the same thing. 231 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:43,080 But just like in Chapter 2, the wise men can't do it. 232 00:13:44,200 --> 00:13:47,120 Human wisdom and man made religion is failing Belshazzar. 233 00:13:47,360 --> 00:13:51,680 And so the queen or the Queen Mother perhaps Belshazzar's mom 234 00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:56,960 has a simple suggestion. She says, hey Belshazzar, don't 235 00:13:56,960 --> 00:14:00,600 worry, I got a guy all right, Daniel 512. 236 00:14:01,640 --> 00:14:05,840 She says call for Daniel and he will tell you what the writing 237 00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:07,120 means. He's your guy. 238 00:14:07,120 --> 00:14:09,440 I've seen what the work he's done with Nebuchadnezzar. 239 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:11,400 Great work. You can trust him. 240 00:14:11,400 --> 00:14:14,760 So in comes Daniel at this point in the story. 241 00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:19,920 Now keep in mind Daniel is probably about 80 years old at 242 00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:22,640 this time, so quite a leap from where we were. 243 00:14:22,640 --> 00:14:25,200 The chapter before Daniel is old. 244 00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:27,960 He's coming in at this time. And this is what it says in 245 00:14:27,960 --> 00:14:31,640 verse 13. So Daniel was brought before the 246 00:14:31,640 --> 00:14:35,960 king, and the king said to him, Are you Daniel, one of the 247 00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:39,040 Exiles my father the king brought from Judah? 248 00:14:40,280 --> 00:14:43,040 I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that you 249 00:14:43,040 --> 00:14:45,000 might have insight, intelligence, and outstanding 250 00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:48,000 wisdom. These wise men and enchanters 251 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:50,440 were brought before me to read the writing and tell me what it 252 00:14:50,440 --> 00:14:51,880 means, but they could not explain it. 253 00:14:52,760 --> 00:14:55,880 Now I've heard that you are able to give interpretations and 254 00:14:55,880 --> 00:15:00,120 solve difficult problems. If you can read this writing and 255 00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:04,080 tell me what it means, you will be closed in purple and have a 256 00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:07,520 gold chain placed around your neck and you will be made the 257 00:15:07,520 --> 00:15:10,560 third highest ruler in the Kingdom. 258 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:14,560 Quick note, why the third highest ruler in the Kingdom? 259 00:15:15,520 --> 00:15:18,080 Well again, remember you have Nebonitis, who's the true king? 260 00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:21,240 Belshazzar's underneath him, he's the Co Regent, his son. 261 00:15:21,760 --> 00:15:23,600 And then Daniel would have been the 3rd. 262 00:15:24,040 --> 00:15:27,080 So history, historically, Daniel gets all the details right. 263 00:15:27,280 --> 00:15:29,160 It's pretty fascinating. But notice another thing. 264 00:15:29,480 --> 00:15:32,680 Notice the condescension in Belshazzar's voice towards 265 00:15:32,680 --> 00:15:36,800 Daniel, the disrespect as the king addresses Daniel as an 266 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:41,160 exile from Judah rather than a royal advisor. 267 00:15:42,360 --> 00:15:44,840 He's treating him like a prisoner, not someone who's like 268 00:15:44,840 --> 00:15:47,040 served in the Royal Court for 65 years. 269 00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:49,320 And this is actually an indication of Belshazzar's 270 00:15:49,320 --> 00:15:54,320 character that we need to pay attention to. 17 Then Daniel 271 00:15:54,320 --> 00:15:58,360 answered the king. You may keep your gifts for 272 00:15:58,360 --> 00:16:00,640 yourself and give your rewards to someone else. 273 00:16:01,680 --> 00:16:04,640 Nevertheless, I will read the writing for the king and tell 274 00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:09,160 him what it means. Daniel says, Nah, you can keep 275 00:16:09,240 --> 00:16:10,880 your gifts. You can keep your status to 276 00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:12,320 yourself. I don't want it. 277 00:16:12,840 --> 00:16:15,200 This isn't Daniel, by the way, just being like humble and be 278 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:17,440 like, Oh no, no, no, I insist. I'm glad to do it. 279 00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:20,920 As we mentioned in Pastor Patrick sermon a few weeks ago, 280 00:16:20,920 --> 00:16:24,880 he takes no credit because it's divine revelation that he's 281 00:16:24,880 --> 00:16:26,120 receiving. It's not his own smarts. 282 00:16:26,120 --> 00:16:28,400 Does that make sense? So he points back up to God 283 00:16:28,400 --> 00:16:31,640 here. He's not going to take payment 284 00:16:32,120 --> 00:16:35,080 for prophesying. In other words, he's not a 285 00:16:35,080 --> 00:16:37,760 prophet for profit. You get it? 286 00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:40,400 I thought that would land a little bit better. 287 00:16:40,400 --> 00:16:47,360 That's OK. 18 verse 18. Your Majesty, the Most High God 288 00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:50,160 gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness and 289 00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:52,600 glory and splendor. Because of the high position he 290 00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:55,640 gave him, all the nations and people of every language dreaded 291 00:16:55,640 --> 00:16:58,560 and feared him. Those the king wanted to put to 292 00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:02,160 death, he put to death. Those he wanted to spare, he 293 00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:05,079 spared. Those he wanted to promote, he 294 00:17:05,079 --> 00:17:07,760 promoted. Those he wanted to humble, he 295 00:17:07,760 --> 00:17:10,359 humbled. So what's Daniel doing here? 296 00:17:10,359 --> 00:17:13,480 He's he's recounting the story of Nebuchadnezzar from last 297 00:17:13,480 --> 00:17:16,599 chapter who came before Belshazzar, and he calls him his 298 00:17:16,599 --> 00:17:20,000 father, as in predecessor, not his biological father. 299 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:21,560 But that would have been Ibaneidis. 300 00:17:22,079 --> 00:17:25,000 What Daniel's doing is he's saying that when God bestows 301 00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:30,080 some of his authority upon a ruler, that ruler has a divine 302 00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:36,720 responsibility to steward it in humility, to steward it for the 303 00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:39,920 flourishing of the people who are underneath him. 304 00:17:42,040 --> 00:17:45,320 And so he continues in verse 20. But when his talking about 305 00:17:45,320 --> 00:17:47,760 Nebuchadnezzar. But when his heart became 306 00:17:47,760 --> 00:17:50,120 arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his 307 00:17:50,120 --> 00:17:52,560 royal throne and stripped of his glory. 308 00:17:52,960 --> 00:17:55,520 He was driven away from the people and given the mind of an 309 00:17:55,520 --> 00:17:57,640 animal. He lived with the wild donkeys 310 00:17:57,640 --> 00:18:00,160 and ate grass like an ox, and his body was drenched with the 311 00:18:00,160 --> 00:18:06,400 dew of heaven until he acknowledged that the Most High 312 00:18:06,400 --> 00:18:10,520 God is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and sets over 313 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:15,360 them anyone he wishes. So Daniels retelling the story, 314 00:18:15,360 --> 00:18:18,160 God humbled Nebuchadnezzar by deposing him from his high 315 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:22,800 throne and lowering him to the ground like a wild beast until 316 00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:26,360 until he acknowledged God. That's the key. 317 00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:30,920 What we're able to see is that Belshazzar is now in the same 318 00:18:30,920 --> 00:18:34,440 position, but has a very different response, very 319 00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:37,320 different response. So Daniel's about to drop the 320 00:18:37,320 --> 00:18:38,400 hammer. You ready for it? 321 00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:43,160 Here it is, verse 24. But you, Belshazzar, his son, 322 00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:48,000 have not humbled yourself, though you knew all of this. 323 00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:52,640 Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of Heaven. 324 00:18:53,840 --> 00:18:57,560 You've had goblets from his temple brought to you, and you 325 00:18:57,560 --> 00:19:00,720 and your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from 326 00:19:00,720 --> 00:19:03,560 them. You praise the gods of silver 327 00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:07,560 and gold, of bronze, ironwood and stone, which cannot hear or 328 00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:11,880 see or understand. But you did not honour the God 329 00:19:12,560 --> 00:19:16,880 who holds his hand in his hand, your life in all of your ways. 330 00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:19,880 Therefore he sent the hand that wrote the inscription. 331 00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:24,040 So Daniel gives out his indictment of the King 332 00:19:24,040 --> 00:19:26,760 Belshazzar. You had the knowledge. 333 00:19:28,360 --> 00:19:33,000 You'd been given the warnings, dude, and yet you still refuse 334 00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:36,360 to humble yourself and notice Daniel's line. 335 00:19:36,360 --> 00:19:39,760 He says, though you knew all of this. 336 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:45,360 So in other words, Belshazzar did not take God's knowledge and 337 00:19:45,360 --> 00:19:50,960 instruction seriously. Parents, do you know that 338 00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:53,520 moment? You know that moment when it's 339 00:19:53,520 --> 00:19:59,520 bedtime and you look at your kids and you say, OK, kids, it's 340 00:19:59,520 --> 00:20:03,360 time to brush your teeth, right? And they look back at you and 341 00:20:03,360 --> 00:20:08,640 they say something like, brush my teeth tonight of all nights. 342 00:20:09,960 --> 00:20:11,560 This is brand new news to me, right? 343 00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:14,320 And so you look at them and you're like, no, no, no, we 344 00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:15,720 literally do this every single night. 345 00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:17,120 We brush our teeth before bed, right? 346 00:20:17,120 --> 00:20:18,760 And they look back at you and they say something like, well, 347 00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:21,120 then let the revolution begin, right? 348 00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:27,360 In a similar way, King Belshazzar knew that God humbles 349 00:20:27,360 --> 00:20:31,600 the proud, and yet he chose to make his defiance stand anyway. 350 00:20:31,920 --> 00:20:34,040 He knew what he was supposed to do, he just didn't want to do 351 00:20:34,040 --> 00:20:36,920 it. And this is such, Oh my 352 00:20:36,920 --> 00:20:39,840 goodness, Church, this is such a practical and sobering reminder 353 00:20:39,840 --> 00:20:41,080 for all of us here today. Right? 354 00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:44,640 Like, after all, we have far more knowledge of God than 355 00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:48,400 Belshazzar did. We know what God requires of us 356 00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:50,320 as Christians. We know what pleases Him. 357 00:20:50,720 --> 00:20:52,680 We know what purposes He has for us. 358 00:20:53,640 --> 00:20:56,960 And so to the Christian here today, real quick, I just want 359 00:20:56,960 --> 00:21:00,520 to ask, do you take the word of God seriously in your life? 360 00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:04,920 In other words, is it authoritative over your life? 361 00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:10,880 Look, in our modern age of, you know, scepticism and jadedness 362 00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:15,880 and mistrust and all of that, it can be really, really easy, even 363 00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:19,000 for believers, really easy to scrutinize the words of 364 00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:21,760 Scripture rather than trusting them. 365 00:21:23,400 --> 00:21:26,000 So Simply put, like, do you actually believe that God knows 366 00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:30,760 better than you, even in the areas where your pride and your 367 00:21:30,760 --> 00:21:33,760 habits are confronted? Do you really believe that God, 368 00:21:33,800 --> 00:21:35,760 God actually knows what he's talking about? 369 00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:38,480 Do you take him at his word? And another question, like, is 370 00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:41,400 there anything maybe God, God has even been nudging you about 371 00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:45,440 recently. Maybe it's something he's been 372 00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:48,880 inviting you to remove out of your life or to be more 373 00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:50,600 proactive about or whatever it is, right? 374 00:21:50,600 --> 00:21:52,880 Like we have the knowledge oftentimes about what God 375 00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:57,320 requires of us. It wasn't just that Belshazzar 376 00:21:57,320 --> 00:22:01,240 had knowledge about the dangers of pride and didn't heed them. 377 00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:06,160 He took it a step further. Even worse than that, he took 378 00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:09,280 the sacred goblets. Here's sort of a picture from 379 00:22:09,280 --> 00:22:13,080 Rembrandt, the sacred goblets of the temple here. 380 00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:16,480 And notice how in this picture, this painting from Rembrandt, 381 00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:18,560 notice the goblet that the the woman's holding. 382 00:22:20,040 --> 00:22:23,760 And he filled them with wine and he's essentially toasting his 383 00:22:23,760 --> 00:22:26,760 own gods from the goblets that came from God's temple in Judah. 384 00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:29,440 This is a deliberate act of defiance, right? 385 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:34,360 He took check this, he took what was sacred and he was uniting it 386 00:22:34,360 --> 00:22:36,960 with something that was profane, common. 387 00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:41,920 This act of taking sacred items from one nation you conquered 388 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:44,600 and bringing them into your temple, the temple of your gods, 389 00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:48,080 was like a way of saying our God just dominated your God, 390 00:22:49,320 --> 00:22:51,800 Belshazzar saying our God has the real power. 391 00:22:51,800 --> 00:22:54,840 See, how else could we have captured these precious goblets 392 00:22:54,840 --> 00:22:58,920 from you? This act of drinking out of the 393 00:22:58,920 --> 00:23:03,080 goblets of Judah, God's goblets here, it's very similar to what 394 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:07,680 what sometimes happens with rival sports teams like Army 395 00:23:07,680 --> 00:23:09,840 versus Navy, right? Let me give you an example. 396 00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:14,120 So for an example, the beloved mascot of the University of 397 00:23:14,120 --> 00:23:18,600 Texas is what anyone know it. It's Bevo the Longhorn steer 398 00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:20,200 right? Go Longhorns hook em horns or 399 00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:20,640 whatever. OK. 400 00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:25,000 At one point in time, however, it was stolen by their rivals at 401 00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:28,680 University of Texas A&M. And so the Aggies took the 402 00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:33,560 Longhorn and they branded on the side of it the numbers 13 and O 403 00:23:33,560 --> 00:23:34,880 on the side of the cow. Do you see this? 404 00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:37,480 I don't know if this is actually a real picture or not, but this 405 00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:41,120 story evidently happened. What's 13 and O? 406 00:23:41,440 --> 00:23:45,000 It was the final score of the game where the Aggies defeated 407 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:47,600 the Longhorns. That was the score of the game. 408 00:23:47,600 --> 00:23:49,400 They branded it onto their mascot. 409 00:23:50,680 --> 00:23:52,600 Them's fighting words. You know what I'm saying, right? 410 00:23:53,200 --> 00:23:56,080 That's crazy. You've heard the phrase don't 411 00:23:56,080 --> 00:23:59,520 mess with Texas. Well, apparently when Texas 412 00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:03,800 messes with Texas, things get real weird and like cows get 413 00:24:03,800 --> 00:24:07,000 branded with sports statistics. And I actually, it's a fun fact. 414 00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:10,040 I actually texted my buddy from Austin, TX who grew up there and 415 00:24:10,040 --> 00:24:12,800 I was like, is this story true? And he's like, yes, it was 416 00:24:12,800 --> 00:24:14,800 absolutely true. And then he said this, he said, 417 00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:18,400 quote, ever since we have been whooping their butt in sports as 418 00:24:18,400 --> 00:24:20,080 much as we can. So I thought that was kind of 419 00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:23,040 funny, but you get the point here, right? 420 00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:27,760 This is rivalry, hatred, insults. 421 00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:30,960 It's the desecration of sacred mascots. 422 00:24:30,960 --> 00:24:37,400 OK, now amplify that. Amplify all that tension by 423 00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:42,200 pride, by a prideful ruler insulting the one true God by 424 00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:45,520 toasting his made-up gods using sacred temple vessels. 425 00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:47,800 That's what's happening here. Tremper Longman puts it this 426 00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:50,240 way. He says he's toasting lifeless 427 00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:54,880 idols of his own religion. He spits in God's eye, as it 428 00:24:54,880 --> 00:24:58,640 were, and then he goes over to a statue that he himself has 429 00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:02,040 created and expects that lifeless hunk to protect him 430 00:25:02,040 --> 00:25:07,000 from what is to come. And it's because of all of this, 431 00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:11,840 everything that Belshazzar is doing here, because of all of 432 00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:15,600 this, that here we finally arrive at the final verdict, the 433 00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:19,160 writing on the wall in the King's throne room. 434 00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:24,480 This is what it says. Daniel 5 verse 25 Verse 25 435 00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:30,240 Daniel finally interprets it. He says this is the inscription 436 00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:38,800 that was written. Many many Tekle Parson here is 437 00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:45,280 what these words mean. Many God has numbered the days 438 00:25:45,280 --> 00:25:47,360 of your reign and brought it to an end. 439 00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:54,160 Tekle, you have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. 440 00:25:55,440 --> 00:26:02,280 Perez, your Kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and 441 00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:06,080 Persians. The inscription from the finger 442 00:26:06,080 --> 00:26:10,400 of God had been interpreted. It's it's it's like this. 443 00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:13,600 It's as if. It's as if the accounting office 444 00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:19,600 of Heaven itself had performed A moral audit on Belshazzar and 445 00:26:19,600 --> 00:26:23,680 the final report had come in. What's their verdict? 446 00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:30,600 This is their verdict. Menne Menne Teko Parson. 447 00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:35,120 Daniel sees these nouns on the wall and he interprets them in 448 00:26:35,120 --> 00:26:39,000 their passive participle form, which means numbered, numbered, 449 00:26:39,240 --> 00:26:44,320 weighted, and divided. Daniel then delivers this moral 450 00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:49,760 audit to King Belshazzar and he says your days are numbered. 451 00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:55,440 God is removing you. Why? 452 00:26:58,040 --> 00:27:02,120 It's because the sum total of Belshazzar's life up until this 453 00:27:02,120 --> 00:27:08,080 point had been placed on the scales of heaven, the weighing 454 00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:13,320 scales of heaven, and his life was quote found wanting. 455 00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:19,520 It was lacking substance. Belshazzar failed to live into 456 00:27:19,560 --> 00:27:24,240 his intended calling and purpose to rule and steward people well 457 00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:27,600 in humility. And so when his life was placed 458 00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:30,640 on the scale and weighed, he came up short. 459 00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:37,440 There's this phenomenon that has been well documented in 460 00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:41,200 scientific journals, and it takes place among people who 461 00:27:41,200 --> 00:27:43,680 experience what's called a near death experience. 462 00:27:43,840 --> 00:27:46,480 So these are people whose heartbeats have stopped for a 463 00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:49,400 period of time and then they have these conscious experiences 464 00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:53,120 while they're dead and laying on like the hospital, hospital room 465 00:27:53,200 --> 00:27:55,760 bed or whatever. And what's interesting is that 466 00:27:55,760 --> 00:27:58,160 there there's a commonality amongst these people who 467 00:27:58,160 --> 00:28:01,720 experience these near death experiences called the life 468 00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:05,400 review. It's a phenomenon reported. 469 00:28:05,920 --> 00:28:08,760 And what happens is when people come close to death, they 470 00:28:08,760 --> 00:28:12,840 sometimes describe suddenly seeing their entire life laid 471 00:28:12,840 --> 00:28:15,400 out before them. So they see all of their 472 00:28:15,400 --> 00:28:19,080 actions, their relationships, their choices, even the effects 473 00:28:19,080 --> 00:28:22,720 that they had on other people. So they can like feel what other 474 00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:24,520 people felt when they were like interacting with them. 475 00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:27,120 Isn't that fascinating? This is this is like a well 476 00:28:27,120 --> 00:28:29,040 documented phenomenon for for these people. 477 00:28:29,360 --> 00:28:32,080 And basically what's happening is they're experiencing a sort 478 00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:35,400 of moral audit on their entire lives from every perspective. 479 00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:39,240 It's really fascinating stuff. There's a quote from Doctor 480 00:28:39,280 --> 00:28:41,560 Bruce Grayson. He's a psychiatrist who studied 481 00:28:41,560 --> 00:28:43,160 near death experiences for decades. 482 00:28:43,400 --> 00:28:47,360 This is what he writes. They often have a sense of 483 00:28:47,360 --> 00:28:51,640 reliving their entire lives, often in a matter of seconds. 484 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:56,320 And then he writes, how we think about death and dying effects, 485 00:28:56,320 --> 00:28:59,680 how we think about life and what we do in life. 486 00:29:00,400 --> 00:29:03,560 In fact, these studies show that many people who experience a 487 00:29:03,560 --> 00:29:06,240 near death experiences, when they come back to life, they 488 00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:09,880 live a more moral life, they live a more altruistic life. 489 00:29:09,880 --> 00:29:13,800 Isn't that interesting? Because they're confronted with 490 00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:18,200 this life review. Now, science can't really 491 00:29:18,200 --> 00:29:21,760 explain why or how this life review phenomenon happens. 492 00:29:22,080 --> 00:29:24,960 And as believers, we don't like, take it as gospel truth. 493 00:29:25,640 --> 00:29:29,960 But the scriptures do remind us that how we live this life 494 00:29:30,560 --> 00:29:32,680 matters as we enter into the next life. 495 00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:36,600 Did you catch that? That we will have to give a 496 00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:39,000 moral account for how we lived before God? 497 00:29:40,320 --> 00:29:41,720 Each of us? The Scripture says we'll have to 498 00:29:41,720 --> 00:29:43,240 give an account before God one day. 499 00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:46,760 And Belshazzar, in this moment, he's experiencing his divine 500 00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:49,160 life review. What's the result? 501 00:29:50,840 --> 00:29:55,240 His Kingdom is divided. The Persians had arrived to 502 00:29:55,240 --> 00:30:01,040 claim his life. 29 Then, at Belshazzar's command, Daniel was 503 00:30:01,040 --> 00:30:03,600 clothed in purple, a gold chain was placed around his neck, and 504 00:30:03,600 --> 00:30:06,280 he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the Kingdom. 30 505 00:30:07,280 --> 00:30:14,880 That very night, Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was 506 00:30:14,880 --> 00:30:19,800 slain, and Marius the Mede took over the Kingdom at the age of 507 00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:27,000 62. That very night, October 12th, 508 00:30:27,960 --> 00:30:34,200 539 BC, Babylon was officially no more. 509 00:30:35,640 --> 00:30:38,720 It had fallen along with its Prince, King Belshazzar. 510 00:30:41,280 --> 00:30:45,280 So what is this story about? It's about many things, but 511 00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:47,880 ultimately it's a it's an account that reminds us of a 512 00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:51,560 simple truth. God's sovereignty gives him full 513 00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:55,680 authority to install or depose earthly rulers as he wills. 514 00:30:57,360 --> 00:30:59,400 God has full authority over all the kingdoms. 515 00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:02,440 He raises up kings, and he removes them as he wills. 516 00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:06,920 It's a story that God judges the heart, and he determines who 517 00:31:06,920 --> 00:31:09,200 he's going to raise up, or if he's going to strip them down to 518 00:31:09,200 --> 00:31:12,400 nothing, right? Belshazzar was a prideful king 519 00:31:12,800 --> 00:31:15,200 who had the knowledge of what can happen when a ruler takes 520 00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:20,120 credit and refuses to honor God. But unlike Nebuchadnezzar before 521 00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:23,680 him, Belshazzar refused to humble himself. 522 00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:29,040 Instead, he intentionally stood opposed to the one true God, 523 00:31:30,080 --> 00:31:32,720 taking what was sacred, the temple goblets, and uniting it 524 00:31:32,720 --> 00:31:36,600 to what was profane. He elevated the gods he could 525 00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:41,000 hold in his hand, rather than worship the one true God who 526 00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:43,440 held Belshazzar's life in his hand. 527 00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:49,040 But what does this story have to say to us? 528 00:31:50,520 --> 00:31:55,440 What can we possibly learn from it in an era of smartphones and 529 00:31:55,480 --> 00:31:59,120 electric cars and AI and all the other things we concern 530 00:31:59,120 --> 00:32:01,960 ourselves with? Well, to answer that question, 531 00:32:03,240 --> 00:32:06,360 let's answer that question with another question from earlier. 532 00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:10,920 And the question is this. What causes a man like 533 00:32:10,920 --> 00:32:16,520 Belshazzar to throw a party at the end of his life as his enemy 534 00:32:16,520 --> 00:32:17,960 is about to crash down around him? 535 00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:23,720 Why is he playing the fiddle while Rome is burning? 536 00:32:25,960 --> 00:32:28,920 The late, great pastor, his name is Tim Keller. 537 00:32:28,920 --> 00:32:31,880 He argues that perhaps Belshazzar threw a party in 538 00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:35,520 order to gather around himself in those final moments, all the 539 00:32:35,520 --> 00:32:39,600 things that he felt gave his life some kind of significance. 540 00:32:40,720 --> 00:32:43,560 In other words, in his hours of final desperation, Belshazzar 541 00:32:43,560 --> 00:32:48,800 gathers his nobles and his rulers, as if to say, See how 542 00:32:48,800 --> 00:32:53,600 respected I am, See how many men I have at my command. 543 00:32:55,120 --> 00:32:57,640 He doesn't stop there. He gathers his wine and his 544 00:32:57,640 --> 00:33:03,000 wives, and he says, See how loved I am, all of these women 545 00:33:03,000 --> 00:33:07,840 available for my romantic needs. Finally, he gathers the spoils 546 00:33:07,840 --> 00:33:11,960 of victory of the great Babylon, the sacred cups from the temple 547 00:33:11,960 --> 00:33:15,600 of Judah, goblets that reminded him that his gods had one. 548 00:33:15,600 --> 00:33:18,400 As if to say, See how important I am. 549 00:33:19,880 --> 00:33:24,200 I have achieved this. I hold in my hand proof that the 550 00:33:24,200 --> 00:33:29,280 gods are on my side. It'd be like, you know, like a 551 00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:33,440 professional athlete, like a professional athlete who's on 552 00:33:33,440 --> 00:33:37,400 her, her hospital deathbed. And before she dies, she 553 00:33:37,400 --> 00:33:41,640 desperately gathers all of her trophies to hold in her failing 554 00:33:41,640 --> 00:33:44,200 hands as she's passing away, watching highlight reels, 555 00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:48,600 clinging to significance, clinging for meaning in this 556 00:33:48,840 --> 00:33:51,520 temporary life. Elshazar's last grasp at 557 00:33:51,520 --> 00:33:53,280 significance as he's about to be killed. 558 00:33:54,960 --> 00:34:00,760 Look, Church, like this king, we too are tempted to cling to 559 00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:04,560 created things for our sense of significance. 560 00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:10,040 We chase after love. And we say, if someone else says 561 00:34:10,040 --> 00:34:15,800 I'm worthwhile, then I must be. We chase after the good pleasure 562 00:34:15,800 --> 00:34:17,440 filled life for significance, right? 563 00:34:17,440 --> 00:34:21,000 We we say to ourselves, I saw the sights, I experienced the 564 00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:26,199 culture, I ate, I drank, I relaxed, I enjoyed, I had long 565 00:34:26,199 --> 00:34:29,360 weekends and plenty of vacation. Surely this is what life is 566 00:34:29,360 --> 00:34:33,080 about. Or maybe we chase after good 567 00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:35,679 behavior, good religious behavior, even, for our sense of 568 00:34:35,679 --> 00:34:37,080 security and significance. Right? 569 00:34:37,080 --> 00:34:40,400 We say to ourselves, I served enough, I did good enough, I 570 00:34:40,400 --> 00:34:43,360 attended enough Sunday services, I gave enough money in the 571 00:34:43,360 --> 00:34:47,600 offering or whatever it is. Or maybe we chase after 572 00:34:47,600 --> 00:34:50,800 achievement for our significance, because if we can 573 00:34:50,800 --> 00:34:53,719 point to something that we've built, that must mean that we 574 00:34:54,320 --> 00:35:00,200 mattered. Church, the human condition, our 575 00:35:00,200 --> 00:35:03,680 condition is to worship created things rather than the Creator. 576 00:35:05,400 --> 00:35:09,400 But until the very end, Belshazzar clung to created 577 00:35:09,400 --> 00:35:12,960 things in an act of defiant despair. 578 00:35:14,320 --> 00:35:19,880 Defiant despair. And I got to wonder, like, are 579 00:35:19,880 --> 00:35:26,600 the people in our world today, myself included, are we living 580 00:35:26,600 --> 00:35:30,280 in this same kind of defiant despair when faced with our own 581 00:35:30,280 --> 00:35:36,240 mortality? For some, the idea of a God or 582 00:35:36,240 --> 00:35:39,520 like an afterlife, the idea of judgement, it's just sort of 583 00:35:39,520 --> 00:35:42,920 like a fairy tale, right? And after all, they're like, 584 00:35:42,920 --> 00:35:45,200 there's a certain sense of freedom in that, right? 585 00:35:45,200 --> 00:35:47,880 Like doing what we please when we please. 586 00:35:49,040 --> 00:35:52,400 There's freedom in that, but there's also a defiance in it 587 00:35:52,400 --> 00:35:55,560 too. I don't have to answer to 588 00:35:55,560 --> 00:35:57,240 anything higher than myself. I'm just going to do what I 589 00:35:57,240 --> 00:35:57,840 please. I'm going to do. 590 00:35:57,840 --> 00:35:59,680 It feels good in the moment because this life is all there 591 00:35:59,680 --> 00:36:01,560 is, right? It's defiant despair. 592 00:36:03,080 --> 00:36:05,000 All of us are faced with our own mortality. 593 00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:09,320 Death, last time I checked, is a 100% guarantee. 594 00:36:11,680 --> 00:36:15,280 So how do we cope with it? How do we cope with that? 595 00:36:17,240 --> 00:36:20,520 Look, like most of us here in Ankeny, we're we're likely not 596 00:36:20,520 --> 00:36:23,680 coping and soothing ourselves with drunken orgies or drinking 597 00:36:23,680 --> 00:36:25,200 tequila from communion cups, right? 598 00:36:25,680 --> 00:36:28,080 OK, that's probably not our thing, right? 599 00:36:28,080 --> 00:36:29,840 And now, now please hear me for just a second. 600 00:36:30,320 --> 00:36:35,400 If that is your lifestyle, if that is you here today, I'm so 601 00:36:35,400 --> 00:36:38,400 glad you're here. OK, let me just clear the air. 602 00:36:38,440 --> 00:36:39,920 All right? Can I get an agreement from the 603 00:36:39,920 --> 00:36:42,600 church with an Amen? OK, We're so glad that you're 604 00:36:42,600 --> 00:36:44,080 here. If that is your lifestyle, even 605 00:36:44,080 --> 00:36:45,440 if you did that last night. OK. 606 00:36:45,640 --> 00:36:49,000 But likely for many of us, we're not out doing those things. 607 00:36:49,000 --> 00:36:55,040 But yet there still is for most of us a quiet hedonism that 608 00:36:55,040 --> 00:36:58,600 we're chasing after a quiet pleasure filled life. 609 00:37:00,640 --> 00:37:05,480 We want a pain free, problem free life, do we not? 610 00:37:07,200 --> 00:37:10,080 So what do we do? We position ourselves in comfort 611 00:37:10,080 --> 00:37:13,920 and security. We set up our future as well so 612 00:37:13,920 --> 00:37:16,280 we can have ease and entertainment and weekends and 613 00:37:16,280 --> 00:37:18,280 retirement. We set our kids up for success. 614 00:37:18,280 --> 00:37:20,360 All of that. And again, that's not all bad in 615 00:37:20,360 --> 00:37:26,000 and of itself, but it's the same kind of thing, right? 616 00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:29,080 It's still hedonism. It's still I want a pain free 617 00:37:29,080 --> 00:37:34,360 life church. You and I face the constant 618 00:37:34,360 --> 00:37:38,360 temptation to kick our feet up and enjoy life while we can and 619 00:37:38,360 --> 00:37:40,680 not think much beyond this temporary life. 620 00:37:42,360 --> 00:37:46,240 And Jesus himself warned against this type of mentality, right? 621 00:37:46,600 --> 00:37:49,480 Jesus himself, he told this story about a man. 622 00:37:49,640 --> 00:37:52,600 He's like a farmer. And this man had a terrific 623 00:37:52,600 --> 00:37:56,080 banner year with crops. This man had like an abundance 624 00:37:56,080 --> 00:37:57,760 of grain. And this is what it says in Luke 625 00:37:57,760 --> 00:38:00,960 12. Then he said, this man, this 626 00:38:00,960 --> 00:38:03,200 farmer. Then he said, this is what I'll 627 00:38:03,200 --> 00:38:07,160 do. I will tear down my barns and 628 00:38:07,160 --> 00:38:11,480 build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 629 00:38:12,840 --> 00:38:16,800 And then I'll say to myself, you have plenty of grain laid up for 630 00:38:16,800 --> 00:38:18,640 many years. Check this out. 631 00:38:18,960 --> 00:38:23,200 Take life easy. Eat, drink and be merry. 632 00:38:24,400 --> 00:38:28,680 Verse 20 But God said to him, You fool, this very night your 633 00:38:28,680 --> 00:38:32,320 life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have 634 00:38:32,320 --> 00:38:36,600 prepared for yourself? What is Jesus saying here? 635 00:38:38,600 --> 00:38:41,760 Jesus isn't saying that eating and drinking and being merry is 636 00:38:41,920 --> 00:38:44,400 bad. In fact, Ecclesiastes argues 637 00:38:44,400 --> 00:38:47,080 that it's actually a good thing to enjoy your life as long as 638 00:38:47,080 --> 00:38:48,760 you're recognizing it comes from God, right? 639 00:38:49,200 --> 00:38:51,880 Check this out. Enjoying life isn't the problem. 640 00:38:52,440 --> 00:38:56,880 The problem is chasing pleasure out of the belief that this is 641 00:38:56,880 --> 00:38:58,920 the only life. Does that make sense? 642 00:38:59,440 --> 00:39:03,480 Let me put it another way. When we believe this life is all 643 00:39:03,480 --> 00:39:07,680 we have, pleasure stops being a gift and it starts becoming a 644 00:39:07,680 --> 00:39:11,520 God. When we believe this life is all 645 00:39:11,520 --> 00:39:13,600 that we have, we, you know, we're tempted to just say, hey, 646 00:39:13,600 --> 00:39:16,160 we might as well eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die. 647 00:39:17,000 --> 00:39:18,920 Live it up for today. This is all we have. 648 00:39:19,880 --> 00:39:22,160 It's a narrow minded view of eternity, right? 649 00:39:22,160 --> 00:39:24,680 We're forgetting everything that's going to come after the 650 00:39:24,680 --> 00:39:29,080 moment we pass into the next. So in the worship of pleasure, 651 00:39:30,440 --> 00:39:33,800 we see this all over today. We're all tempted with it. 652 00:39:35,240 --> 00:39:41,240 In our pursuit of pleasure, we take what is sacred, the temple 653 00:39:41,240 --> 00:39:43,320 goblets. We take what is sacred and we 654 00:39:43,320 --> 00:39:44,960 unite it to things that are common. 655 00:39:46,720 --> 00:39:48,680 We unite what's holy with what's not right. 656 00:39:48,680 --> 00:39:54,000 We we unite our bodies, which are holy dwelling places to God. 657 00:39:54,000 --> 00:39:57,960 We unite our bodies with things that are unholy, sensual 658 00:39:57,960 --> 00:40:00,480 pleasures and appetites and sexuality and pornography and 659 00:40:00,480 --> 00:40:02,400 whatever it may be, whatever it is for you. 660 00:40:04,840 --> 00:40:07,480 You see, when we believe that this life is all there is, we're 661 00:40:07,480 --> 00:40:10,680 tempted to use our bodies for pleasure rather than purpose. 662 00:40:11,960 --> 00:40:13,280 We all have to be honest about this. 663 00:40:13,280 --> 00:40:17,280 We all have to confront this. Or maybe we do it in a different 664 00:40:17,280 --> 00:40:18,640 way, right? Maybe it's not our own bodies. 665 00:40:18,640 --> 00:40:21,440 Or or maybe we treat others who are also made in the image of 666 00:40:21,440 --> 00:40:26,240 God with anger, disrespect, condescension. 667 00:40:28,160 --> 00:40:30,200 I think This is why the New Testament is just so clear. 668 00:40:30,200 --> 00:40:34,240 Like there's not to be any slander or anger or malice or 669 00:40:34,240 --> 00:40:37,360 rage or bitterness or backbiting or gossip or any of that. 670 00:40:37,360 --> 00:40:40,760 There's not to be any of that among you as the church, because 671 00:40:40,760 --> 00:40:42,520 you're all made in the image of God. 672 00:40:42,520 --> 00:40:45,920 You're profaning what is holy with what's unholy. 673 00:40:45,920 --> 00:40:48,520 Does that make sense? You're uniting what's holy. 674 00:40:48,520 --> 00:40:52,120 Our very body is the people of God to things that have no place 675 00:40:52,880 --> 00:40:57,440 in our lives. Am I the only one who's 676 00:40:57,440 --> 00:41:03,960 convicted right now? Maybe it's not treating others 677 00:41:03,960 --> 00:41:05,360 poorly. Maybe we just end up using 678 00:41:05,360 --> 00:41:07,760 people to meet our emotional needs rather than truly serving 679 00:41:07,760 --> 00:41:10,760 them. But what if instead? 680 00:41:12,480 --> 00:41:14,400 What if instead, we could be more like Daniel? 681 00:41:15,680 --> 00:41:18,200 What if instead we could look at all the world with all of its 682 00:41:18,200 --> 00:41:20,640 offerings, its pride, it's pleasure, it's achievement, it's 683 00:41:20,640 --> 00:41:23,400 status? But what if, like Daniel, we can 684 00:41:23,400 --> 00:41:26,520 look at all those things, but we could also see the writing that 685 00:41:26,520 --> 00:41:30,120 is on the wall? Instead of receiving what's on 686 00:41:30,120 --> 00:41:33,520 offer from a king and a Kingdom that's about to fall, what if 687 00:41:33,520 --> 00:41:36,680 instead we could see them for what they really are and say to 688 00:41:36,680 --> 00:41:39,760 the powers, You have nothing to offer me. 689 00:41:41,720 --> 00:41:43,880 All the pleasure, all the pride, everything you're trying to 690 00:41:43,880 --> 00:41:49,360 offer me, it's empty and we're all about to be weighed. 691 00:41:53,480 --> 00:41:55,440 So the question for us here today at church, I know this is 692 00:41:55,440 --> 00:41:58,040 heavy, but the question for us is, what will your life weigh? 693 00:42:00,560 --> 00:42:03,080 What? What will your life be built on, 694 00:42:03,080 --> 00:42:06,440 and what substance will this life have? 695 00:42:08,520 --> 00:42:13,000 Proverbs 16 two says all a person's ways seem pure to them, 696 00:42:15,440 --> 00:42:17,760 but motives are weighed by the Lord. 697 00:42:20,040 --> 00:42:25,960 For Samuel 23 says for the Lord is a God who knows, and by him 698 00:42:25,960 --> 00:42:32,560 deeds are weighed. Just this last week, I had to be 699 00:42:33,560 --> 00:42:37,560 checked by God, as in like a hockey player being checked, if 700 00:42:37,560 --> 00:42:40,840 you know what I mean? It was one of those busy days, 701 00:42:40,840 --> 00:42:42,120 right? Where I felt like I was like 702 00:42:42,120 --> 00:42:43,720 getting it done, you know what I'm saying? 703 00:42:44,760 --> 00:42:48,280 Like, I was moving, I was shaking, I was hustling, I had 704 00:42:48,280 --> 00:42:50,880 some Starbucks caffeine in me. So I was jazzed, you know what 705 00:42:50,880 --> 00:42:52,840 I'm saying? Like I'm making moves and I'm 706 00:42:52,840 --> 00:42:55,560 kind of surveying my accomplishments, not externally, 707 00:42:55,560 --> 00:42:58,400 just inside. I'm sort of like, I've done some 708 00:42:58,400 --> 00:42:59,280 things, you know what I'm saying? 709 00:42:59,280 --> 00:43:01,600 Anyone have that feeling? I was feeling myself a little 710 00:43:01,600 --> 00:43:02,880 bit, if you know what I'm saying. 711 00:43:03,840 --> 00:43:07,600 And in that moment, I got one of those like Holy Spirit nudges. 712 00:43:07,680 --> 00:43:11,960 You ever had one of those? And the nudge was basically 713 00:43:11,960 --> 00:43:13,960 this. God said something like, Ben, 714 00:43:13,960 --> 00:43:16,000 aren't you preaching on pride this weekend? 715 00:43:20,040 --> 00:43:22,000 And I felt terrible. You know, it's just one of those 716 00:43:22,000 --> 00:43:24,400 moments where I'm like, oh, it's so sneaky, isn't it? 717 00:43:24,960 --> 00:43:26,840 It's so sneaky to think you're worth something. 718 00:43:26,840 --> 00:43:30,480 And please hear me, We all have intrinsic value and worth with 719 00:43:30,480 --> 00:43:33,520 God, our creator, right? But like, but I thought I was 720 00:43:33,520 --> 00:43:37,640 worth something. And so, you know, and then I 721 00:43:37,640 --> 00:43:39,800 swung to the other side of my emotions, right? 722 00:43:39,800 --> 00:43:41,800 All of a sudden I'm beating myself up for not leading 723 00:43:41,800 --> 00:43:43,760 better. I'm worrying about how about how 724 00:43:43,760 --> 00:43:46,160 people are going to perceive me or if my sermon will impress 725 00:43:46,160 --> 00:43:48,120 people. I'm feeling like I should be 726 00:43:48,120 --> 00:43:49,840 doing more. I feel like I should be more 727 00:43:49,840 --> 00:43:51,920 organized, more disciplined, more patient, giving more time 728 00:43:51,920 --> 00:43:53,240 to my family, etcetera, etcetera. 729 00:43:53,440 --> 00:43:57,880 And then it hit me. This is just a different version 730 00:43:57,880 --> 00:44:01,080 of pride because I'm still thinking about myself. 731 00:44:01,840 --> 00:44:05,200 You catch that? So whether it's me surveying all 732 00:44:05,200 --> 00:44:07,560 of my accomplishments and feeling pretty good about myself 733 00:44:07,560 --> 00:44:10,640 or me swinging into despair and feeling like garbage and, you 734 00:44:10,640 --> 00:44:12,360 know, worrying about all the things I'm doing wrong, it's 735 00:44:12,360 --> 00:44:16,320 still pride because it's still focused on me and not Jesus. 736 00:44:19,160 --> 00:44:24,080 Praise God to a God who convicts hearts and shows us the real 737 00:44:24,080 --> 00:44:26,000 motives and intentions inside of us. 738 00:44:26,000 --> 00:44:30,280 And so I just had to repent. I had to repent then. 739 00:44:31,480 --> 00:44:33,880 I had to repent today, and tomorrow I'm going to have to 740 00:44:33,880 --> 00:44:36,560 repent again, and the next day, and so on and so forth, right? 741 00:44:37,760 --> 00:44:39,640 This is part of the process of being a Christian. 742 00:44:41,200 --> 00:44:47,920 Living a life with weight means living to glorify God with both 743 00:44:47,920 --> 00:44:52,120 our motivations and our actions. It's taking what knowledge and 744 00:44:52,120 --> 00:44:54,520 revelation He's given you and stewarding your life. 745 00:44:54,520 --> 00:44:59,320 Well, in the view of it. Romans 1412 reminds us so. 746 00:44:59,320 --> 00:45:05,400 Then each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. 747 00:45:07,360 --> 00:45:12,800 Tim Keller describes God's glory as his infinite weight, his 748 00:45:12,800 --> 00:45:18,680 supreme importance church. We need his weight, his glory in 749 00:45:18,680 --> 00:45:20,320 our lives in order to have substance. 750 00:45:21,280 --> 00:45:25,040 It's only through what Jesus did in his death and his burial and 751 00:45:25,040 --> 00:45:28,480 His resurrection that we can have any sort of weight, any 752 00:45:28,480 --> 00:45:32,360 sort of glory. God's glory is the weight, and 753 00:45:32,360 --> 00:45:35,440 our transformed lives are how we participate in it. 754 00:45:36,160 --> 00:45:40,120 It's the only way we can be weighed on the scales and not 755 00:45:40,160 --> 00:45:44,680 found lacking as the end approaches. 756 00:45:46,600 --> 00:45:49,040 Question, churches, this What are you clinging to for your 757 00:45:49,040 --> 00:45:51,040 weight? For your significance? 758 00:45:52,640 --> 00:45:55,440 There is only one who can ultimately tip the scales when 759 00:45:55,440 --> 00:45:58,200 we are measured. And His name is Jesus. 760 00:45:59,120 --> 00:46:01,680 He's the only one that we can cling to for significance. 761 00:46:02,200 --> 00:46:05,040 We do not survive the scales of judgement by our own good deeds. 762 00:46:05,040 --> 00:46:07,520 We do not survive death by our own good motives. 763 00:46:07,640 --> 00:46:13,720 It is only by our faith in Jesus that we can ultimately be saved. 764 00:46:13,720 --> 00:46:15,920 And I just want to be so clear on that. 765 00:46:16,880 --> 00:46:18,880 It's only by our faith and what Christ did. 766 00:46:20,200 --> 00:46:24,440 So point your life and everything you do and all of 767 00:46:24,440 --> 00:46:27,680 your hearts intentions back to Jesus. 768 00:46:33,320 --> 00:46:37,160 It is not about our accomplishments, but what He 769 00:46:37,160 --> 00:46:43,040 accomplished on the cross. It is not about how much we've 770 00:46:43,040 --> 00:46:49,520 accumulated and bought, but how much it cost Him to buy us. 771 00:46:51,760 --> 00:46:57,000 It's not how loved we were by others, but by by how loved we 772 00:46:57,000 --> 00:47:01,600 are by Jesus. This is what gives our life 773 00:47:01,600 --> 00:47:03,840 weight. This is what gives our life 774 00:47:03,840 --> 00:47:06,040 substance. It's who God says we are. 775 00:47:07,320 --> 00:47:10,680 It's being found in his love and his care and his goodness. 776 00:47:16,940 --> 00:47:19,620 In the Psalms, when looking over, the psalmist was looking 777 00:47:19,620 --> 00:47:22,260 over all of creation and his splendor and all the stars and 778 00:47:22,260 --> 00:47:24,820 all the beauty and all of its majesty, and he gives glory to 779 00:47:24,820 --> 00:47:26,580 God. And he says that all of the 780 00:47:26,580 --> 00:47:31,140 heavens, everything was created, says the by the work of your 781 00:47:31,140 --> 00:47:33,920 fingers. When God sent the plagues to 782 00:47:33,920 --> 00:47:37,640 free the Israelites out of from prideful Pharaoh's rule, his 783 00:47:37,640 --> 00:47:41,280 magicians look at the miracle and they say, quote, this is the 784 00:47:41,360 --> 00:47:44,640 finger of God. Once God's children were free, 785 00:47:44,640 --> 00:47:47,920 he gave the knowledge of his commands and his will for their 786 00:47:47,920 --> 00:47:50,080 life. And it says the 10 commandment 787 00:47:50,080 --> 00:47:54,800 tablets themselves were quote inscribed by the finger of God. 788 00:47:55,520 --> 00:47:58,400 Finally in the account of the fall of Belshazzar in Babylon, 789 00:47:58,520 --> 00:48:02,840 we see that the evil rulers fate was sealed by the very fingers 790 00:48:02,840 --> 00:48:05,520 of God writing his judgement on a wall. 791 00:48:06,400 --> 00:48:09,480 And just like in Daniel 5, where the new Persian's Kingdom was at 792 00:48:09,480 --> 00:48:12,920 the gate and the power was about to shift forever to a new 793 00:48:12,920 --> 00:48:17,080 Kingdom, in the same way the rule and reign in this world is 794 00:48:17,080 --> 00:48:22,320 about to shift forever as well. Daniel 244 says in the in the 795 00:48:22,320 --> 00:48:25,960 time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a Kingdom 796 00:48:26,160 --> 00:48:29,400 that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another 797 00:48:29,400 --> 00:48:32,600 people. It will crush all those kingdoms 798 00:48:32,600 --> 00:48:36,320 and bring them to an end, but it itself will endure forever. 799 00:48:36,880 --> 00:48:39,920 What is this Kingdom? It's the Kingdom of Jesus. 800 00:48:40,600 --> 00:48:43,640 It's the Kingdom that is here. It is now, and it will one day 801 00:48:43,640 --> 00:48:47,120 be realized. Luke 11 Jesus says, But if I 802 00:48:47,120 --> 00:48:53,200 drive out demons by the finger of God, then the Kingdom of God 803 00:48:53,200 --> 00:48:56,200 has come upon you. You see, church, it's by the 804 00:48:56,200 --> 00:48:58,440 hand of God that the universe was created. 805 00:48:59,040 --> 00:49:02,440 It's by the fingers of God that his people were delivered out of 806 00:49:02,440 --> 00:49:04,840 slavery. It's by the fingers of God that 807 00:49:04,840 --> 00:49:07,840 the law was written. And now it's by the finger of 808 00:49:07,840 --> 00:49:11,880 God that he reminds us that all rulers, past and present, will 809 00:49:11,880 --> 00:49:15,960 eventually fall and bow to him. But he doesn't stop there. 810 00:49:16,600 --> 00:49:20,600 Jesus reminds us that it's by the finger of God that even the 811 00:49:20,600 --> 00:49:23,280 demons are driven out by Him and His disciples. 812 00:49:23,400 --> 00:49:27,840 In other words, it's not just the kings like Belshazzar whose 813 00:49:27,840 --> 00:49:31,280 end is near. The writing is on the wall. 814 00:49:31,280 --> 00:49:34,480 For Satan and the kingdoms of darkness as well. 815 00:49:36,000 --> 00:49:40,840 The writing is on the wall. The reign of evil will soon come 816 00:49:40,840 --> 00:49:44,760 to an end and Christ's Kingdom will be fully realized. 817 00:49:45,640 --> 00:49:53,480 Are you found in that Kingdom? Daniel 5 warns us not to fiddle 818 00:49:53,640 --> 00:49:58,000 while Rome burns, clinging to empty pride and pleasure and 819 00:49:58,000 --> 00:50:00,640 achievement or anything else that promises to fulfill us. 820 00:50:00,640 --> 00:50:04,520 Instead, may we find our satisfaction in meaning in 821 00:50:04,520 --> 00:50:07,800 Christ Jesus. May we build our lives on him 822 00:50:07,800 --> 00:50:10,280 alone. And at the end of our lives, 823 00:50:10,280 --> 00:50:17,880 being found in Jesus, he will be on the scales with us, and we 824 00:50:17,880 --> 00:50:19,800 will not be found wanting or lacking. 825 00:50:20,960 --> 00:50:25,720 Rather, we will lack nothing. We'll have lived a life for his 826 00:50:25,720 --> 00:50:29,240 glory. Not an empty life, but life to 827 00:50:29,240 --> 00:50:33,840 the full. So I leave you with a poem. 828 00:50:37,600 --> 00:50:42,680 The writing is on the wall. These kingdoms will fall. 829 00:50:44,600 --> 00:50:49,200 God's reign is near. Indeed, it is here.