A Relevant Message

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If you had the Bible this morning, if you would, turn to the book of Daniel, the prophecy of Daniel, and the 5th chapter, Daniel chapter 5.
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Daniel chapter 5, and what I'd like to do is read one verse to you, it really is the verse that I hope to be able to address in a way that has the most effect on us this week, so I'm going to read a good portion of the 5th chapter to help us to lead to it.
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But I want to read verse 23, Daniel chapter 5, verse 23, and this is what is spoken of of the king.
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And you have lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven.
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They have brought the vessels of his house before you, you and your lords and your wives, your concubines have drunk wine from them.
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You have praised the gods of silver and gold and bronze and iron and wood and stone, which do not see or hear or know, and the God who holds your breath in his hands and owns all your ways, you have not glorified.
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I ask you again, let us just ask, again, the leading of the Spirit in our thoughts together.
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Father, now as we come to your word, we do ask you to intervene in our minds and in our hearts and ultimately in our lives.
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That you, Holy Spirit, would be pleased to take your word and present it to us as only you can, as it is in truth the word of God.
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That you would impress upon us, Lord Jesus, the truth that you would have each one of us and every one of us to hear.
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And may we understand the right, and may we speak right, and may we walk right through the reading and the thoughts that come from your holy word.
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And again, we ask it all continually in the name of Christ.
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Amen.
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Well, if you just read that verse, especially the last half of the verse, the last part of it, where the prophet tells the king that he has done a great sin before God, and the sin is that he has not acknowledged God.
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And I want to think about it this morning, and I want to try to present it to us in a package, if you will, and bring in a couple of the thoughts to bear witness to it.
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So let me start it off this way.
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It's amazing to me, and I hope it amazes you to some extent, how so many people today dismiss the Bible.
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And they dismiss it for a number of different reasons.
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They dismiss the Bible, and one of the thoughts is, you know what, this is just some irrelevant, obscure, far-fetched book, and it really doesn't serve a practical purpose.
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There are many people today who look at the Bible just that way.
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They look at the word of God and they say, you know what, it might have helped people back then when they were really not like us, but we don't need it today.
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It's not really relevant for our lives.
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And they want us to believe that, if you will, it's a book of fables.
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It's a book of stories, it's myths, and it's traditions.
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And one of the reasons why they say that is because they believe, as many do today, that we're far too advanced for this kind of storybook, if you will, or this kind of factual rendering of different prophets and different things.
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Basically, what many say today is we're above it.
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We just simply do not need to be told anything when it comes to God, even if there be such a thing as a God.
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And what to me is cool, and I say the word cool a lot, but I say it, I hope, reverently, it is so cool how as we look at this and as we work through these verses in chapter 5 to come down to verse 23, it is really cool to me how the Bible is absolutely relevant for today.
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It's an account, if you will, of kings.
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It's an account of rulers, of governments, of all kinds of things.
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Honestly, I would say to you as you read through this in Daniel chapter 5, you didn't have the understanding that it came out of scriptures.
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This could be a story that was in last night's newspaper.
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That's how relevant I believe this is.
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And again, when people say that the Bible is an obscure book, it's not an up-to-date need in our lives, they're so far from where they ought to be, friends.
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Because really, there's nothing new under the sun, is there? There really is nothing new under the sun.
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The same issues that face us today face them back in the days of Daniel, face them in the days before Daniel, and ultimately, even those who come after us until the Lord himself returns, they will face the same issues, and the Bible will be just as relevant for them as it is for us as it was for them.
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And there still will be people who say, it's not necessary.
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We're too far advanced.
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This is the 21st century now.
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Come on.
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And you know what's at the heart of it? The greatest issue out of all of what we considered this morning and all that people will say about how we just don't need it and it's not necessary and we're too far advanced and we're way ahead of those kinds of things.
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The real issue is man's heart.
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You see, because that's the one thing that's never changed, is man's heart.
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The condition of his own heart before God, and ultimately, that's what we will see as we go through this, I hope.
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At least in part, as we consider the King.
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And so I want to spend a few minutes on trying to make this relevant and up-to-date, because that's what everybody wants.
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Give us the latest news.
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We want it real-time.
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Listen, friends, the Bible is the most real-time revelation that there ever could be.
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So I wanted to think about that, and then I want to focus in on that which comes out of the last half of verse 23 of the real issue that's troubling the King, and that issue has troubled many up until this day.
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And then hopefully, as we close, the remedy for it all.
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So consider with me some of the details of this chapter.
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Look in chapter 5, and let's read the first four verses and get some understanding on what's taken place.
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It says, Belshazzar the king made a great feast for a thousand of his lords.
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And he drank wine in the presence of the thousands, and while he tasted the wine, Belshazzar gave the command to bring the gold and silver vessels which his father, Nebuchadnezzar, had taken from the temple, which had been in Jerusalem, that the king and his lords and his wives and his concubines might drink from them.
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Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple of the house of God, which had been in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords and his wives and his concubines drank from them.
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And they drank wine, and they praised the gods of gold and silver and bronze and iron and wooden stone.
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You see, I said to you that the Bible is as relevant today as ever, and this opening, if you will, of the king is as relevant.
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This sounds like something that could have took place last night.
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It's about a king who wants to show that he's a king.
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It's about someone who has a great concept about himself.
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It's about someone who is in the upper class, if you will.
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He's a king, he's a ruler.
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He's got many people that report to him that are subject to him.
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He has a following, if you will, that surround him and serve him and do whatever he will and guess what, they stay real close to him because they know that he could bring them good stuff or bad stuff.
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And I suggest to you that's relevant, isn't it? Isn't that the way it works today in many ways? One of the things that he does, just reading it, he decides, I'm going to show how great I am, he's going to throw a party.
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That's what he does here, folks.
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He throws a party.
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He throws a party and he wants to make sure that everybody understands how great he is, how rich he is, how powerful he is, how important he is.
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And that's just the way people are today.
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There are many people today in government.
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There are many people today in business.
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There are many people in every level of life and they really think that they are the tip of the spear.
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Why, without them the world would just fold up.
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And not only do they believe that, they're very eager to show everybody else that they're that important.
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And that's exactly what Belshazzar, who is the son of Nebuchadnezzar, wants to do.
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He wants to prove that he is worthy of all the honor and all the service that he requires.
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And so not only does he throw a party, but as we read this, guess what he does, to use the verbiage of today.
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He breaks out the good stuff.
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What's the good stuff? He takes the vessels, the cups, those things that were dedicated to the temple of God that his father Nebuchadnezzar stole, and he's going to show how important he is, and he tells his servants to go get those cups, and go get those things, and bring them out, and we'll fill them with wine, and we'll have a party.
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Because I'm the king.
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He doesn't think at all, friends, about the fact that those things which he now is going to use were the very things that God consecrated to be in his temple.
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There are many people today who think along those same lines.
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He wants to show, if you will, that there's no truth to this God of Israel.
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As a matter of fact, I believe he wants to stick his thumb in God's eye.
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I'll show you what I think about the God of Israel.
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Go get the cups.
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And we'll drink, we'll party with the very things that God had called to be put in his house.
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And so I ask you to think about that.
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Is that not relevant for today? Many people want to make a public spectacle of how foolish they believe that the Word of God is.
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And if they can make the Bible irrelevant, if they can make the Bible appear foolish, well then guess what? Then you and I are just as foolish for following.
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But remember now, their real argument is with God himself.
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Even if Jesus said, he said, they will hate you because they hated me first.
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But it is relevant.
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There are so many today that are willing, it just boggles my mind, I'm not trying to believe it, I'm not trying to be political in any sense of the word.
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It boggles my mind as I read the news, and especially today when you can get instant news from anywhere and everywhere, how people will just blurp out the most, got to be careful what I say, I want to say idiotic, so I said it, the most idiotic things out of their mouth concerning the truth of God and the person of Christ and the Christian faith that you and I hold so dear.
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And they want to call attention how they're not, if you will, duped into believing what we believe.
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How many people there are, how many writers there are, how many announcers there are, how many movements there are that has only one purpose in mind, and it's to, if you will, to take this and make this, and by making this, the God of this revelation, as nothing.
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As not essential, as something to be passed away, buried, and never spoken of again, and let's move on, because again, we're in the 21st century, there's nobody like us on the face of the earth.
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I guarantee you it's the same way Belshazzar thought of himself.
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Matter of fact, friends, you and I can probably testify, there's whole governments that have only one purpose in mind, and that's to wipe out anything that has anything to do with the honor of God, and of the Savior.
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They like to brag, and that's what I believe he's doing here.
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Let's break out the good stuff, and let's show this God of Israel what we really think.
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People will say, well that's back then, they didn't know what they were doing.
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We don't have people today that worship so much gods of stone, and gods of wood, and literal physical things like that, but I suggest to you that the same truths are as relevant today as they were in that day, because, listen, everybody has a God.
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Matter of fact, I would suggest to you that everybody has many gods in their own mind.
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I'm going to ask you to turn, we'll come right back to Daniel, I'll stay in Daniel, but I'm going to ask you to turn to something I want to show you, and my wife has heard me say this over the years, and she will be frowning as soon as I ask you to consider it, but I'm going to ask you to turn to Romans chapter 1, just for a moment.
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And the point being, I want to show you how men create gods, and they're not necessarily made out of totem poles, or statues, but they're gods nevertheless.
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I want to show you something in Romans chapter 1, and you don't have to agree with me, perhaps you won't, but I ask you to at least consider something that we read in Romans chapter 1, and we'll go right back to Belshazzar, because I believe it's as relevant today as it was in that day.
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So in Romans chapter 1, if you will, read with me from verse 20.
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And the apostle says this, he says, For since the creation of the world, his, God's, invisible attributes, are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and godhead, so that they are without excuse, they being those who do not see God for who he is.
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Verse 21, Because although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
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Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and they changed the glory of the incorruptible God, now look at this verse, they changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man, and birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.
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Now you might think I'm wrapped too tight, but can you not see what I see there? Is not the corruptible man Santa Claus? Is not the four, the birds, is that not the Thanksgiving turkey? Is not the four-footed beast, is not that the Easter Bunny? And the creeping things, tell me that's not Halloween.
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You might say, you're way out of line man.
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Now everyone might not make a god out of those things, but I submit to you many people do.
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Many people look at the time when we reflect on the coming of Christ, and rather than give God the glory, and rather than worship the coming of the Savior, we set up some old fat guy that rides a sleigh behind deer, and he's just a good old guy that gives everything everybody could ever want.
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Tell me that's not setting up a god.
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Well how about the bird? Well what's Thanksgiving without the turkey friends? You might say, come on, it's just a tradition.
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I suggest to you it's much more in many people's minds than just tradition.
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It's what's in their hearts.
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And although they might not even realize it, they're trying to stick their thumb in God's eye, and say, you're not the one.
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Something else that becomes the place of importance, and when we gather at Thanksgiving, when we ought to give thanks to God for his harvest, for supplying us everyday, day by day, and moment by moment, because he's the one that opens his hand and supplies us with every living thing, it's the turkey.
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And then Easter.
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Where in the world did the Easter Bunny get in? What in the world does that have to do with the resurrection? I will admit, my kids had a rough time when they were growing up.
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Thank God for wives.
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But I submit to you, this is worthy of consideration, because the principle is there.
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And the same thing when it comes to Halloween.
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And we'll dress up like ghosts, and goblins, and devils, and maniacs, and demoniacs, and every other thing, and we'll say, it's just fun.
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It brings something to it.
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In many people's minds, it's an act of worship, and it's false worship.
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Okay, I'll never be asked to speak again.
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But my friends, I believe there is a relevance to this all.
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Go back, if you will, to David chapter 5.
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Something happens now.
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He's going to show how great he is, how big he is, how powerful he is, how everybody needs to look to him, how everybody needs to answer to every desire of his.
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He's going to break out the things which he should have never touched.
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Then look what happens in verse 5.
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It says, in verse 4, they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver and bronze and iron and wood and stone.
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Look at verse 5.
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In the same hour, the fingers of a man's hand appeared and wrote opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace, and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.
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The king's countenance changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his lips were loosened and his knees knocked against each other.
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And the king cried aloud, bringing the astrologers and the Chaldeans and the soothsayers.
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And the king spoke, saying to the wise men of Babylon, Whoever reads this writing and tells me his interpretation shall be clothed in purple and have a chain of gold around his neck, and he shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.
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Here's what I want us to think about.
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Here is Belshazzar, as relevant today as he was then, in the middle of worship, false worship, in the middle of partying, in the middle of exalting himself, in the middle of lifting himself up against God, and all of a sudden, you ready? God breaks in.
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Do we realize that? Do we realize that God breaks in? And many times God enters in when we're not ready to break in, to enter in.
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You talk about something to break up a party.
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Here they are, they're just having a good old time, and all of a sudden, there's a hand writing something on the wall.
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You see, my friends, that's exactly what I believe God does.
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He does break in.
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God intervenes into our lives on his basis, and on his timetable, not ours.
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There are so many people, just think about it.
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There are so many people today who are going on in their lives.
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There are people right now, friends, that are sitting and just enjoying life, and us that have gathered together to hear somebody speak loud and act like they're crazy, that just doesn't make sense.
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I'll stay at home, and I'll just enjoy myself, or we'll go to the beach, or we'll do this, or we'll do that, or the Jaguars, or a thousand different things.
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And you know what? Many people go on in their life, and it just seems to be okay.
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And then God breaks in.
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The king is eating, he's drinking, he's merry, and the next thing you know, we read this, and it says that all of a sudden, his mouth opens up, and his knees are knocking.
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Boy, what a king he is.
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Tell me, my friends, and even ask me, you can take the word of God, we ought to take the word of God, and make it real in our minds.
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God breaks in.
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You can have any thought you want about hurricanes, and earthquakes, and for that matter, you can have any thought you want about tragedies, and mass murders, and everything else.
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Ultimately, my friends, I submit to you, God breaks in.
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People are just cruising along on their sailboat, on the pond, or on the lake, and everything is good, and then all of a sudden, the water starts to rise up, and they're displaced.
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Or they buy, and they sell, and they just get richer and richer, and all of a sudden, the well runs dry.
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Or all of a sudden, one day, they're full of health and strength, and the next day, they're on a deathbed.
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You see, my friends, the God, the living God, the true God, he breaks in.
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And God is not like so many today.
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So many today care not.
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Listen, they care not about the glory and the honor of the Son of God.
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But God does.
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So many people can think nothing than to take the name of the Son of God and cast it out like it's garbage.
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When God said, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, he didn't say it as a suggestion.
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You see, the king here, Belshazzar, he has no regard for the God of Israel, just as many today have no regard.
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The Lord Jesus Christ is far from their thoughts.
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They don't need him.
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They don't want him.
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They just want to do what they want to do.
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Just leave me alone and let me live my life.
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You ever hear people say, oh, well, it doesn't matter when I die.
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If I go to hell, it doesn't matter.
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But I want to have fun now.
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You ever hear that saying, he that dies with the most toys wins? What nut created that one? Maybe it was one of the pharaohs in Egypt, because that's exactly what they thought, didn't they? They thought they could take it with them.
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They buried it in their tombs.
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And guess what? We're still picking at it.
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So his knees begin to knock and his hips become loose.
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And what does he do? He does what is in line with what his heart is.
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He starts calling for the, in verse 7, he cried aloud, bring the astrologers in, the Chaldeans, the soothsayers.
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And he makes this great promise, and he says, if you can interpret what's taking place, I'll give you everything.
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I'll give it to you up to a third.
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That's how disturbing he is, by the way, friends.
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He's willing to give away a third of his kingdom.
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You see, when God breaks in, friends, many times, it's very disturbing.
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And so he does this.
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He calls in.
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He calls to the stargazers.
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And do you ever notice how people will do that, even in our world? And again, I'm just trying to make these things, there is some relevance to this all, friends.
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The Bible is just not some obscure book.
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Many people, when they have problems, many people run, and they go to a fortune teller.
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Not everybody, but many people do.
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Or they'll say, well, I've got to check my horoscope.
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It's got to get better.
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Or lady luck will shine on me sooner or later.
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And so we'll call everybody.
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We'll call the palm reader, the head reader, the foot reader.
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We'll call everybody.
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We'll find some nut that will tell us our life is good.
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Oh, let me see your hand.
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Oh, yes, see? See this line right here? It's going to get better for you.
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And by the way, that'll be $50.
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My friends, if people would only read God's word and try to make an application in their lives, they would see things they never thought they could see before.
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And so he goes along, and he calls for them, and they come in, and guess what? They can't solve his issues.
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Only Christ can solve! That's why he came, is it not? He didn't come to be a fortune teller.
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We've got a whole world full of them.
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He didn't come to be someone, a dynamic speaker.
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We've got enough dynamic speakers forever.
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He came because we were lost.
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He came because we needed a savior.
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He came to rescue us.
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He came to give us life.
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And yet for all that, people run in the wrong direction.
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Well, that leaves us, if you will, you can read the rest of it up to the 23rd verse, where, unbeknownst to Belshazzar, God has one of his people there.
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Remember his name? His name is Daniel.
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And so the queen comes in, and she says, Hey, wait a minute, don't, I know you, you're falling apart here, Belshazzar.
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Hang on, now there's, I remember your father had a servant, his name was Daniel, and he was an interpreter with dreams, and your father took him and put him in the dungeon, because he didn't like him for a moment in time, and if you just call him, he'll be able to help you.
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He'll be able to tell you what this handwriting on the wall is.
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And so the king, whose knees are knocking, and I guarantee you, the music stopped, friends.
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He goes and says, Bring Daniel in.
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And you can read how he then offers Daniel a third of the kingdom.
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And basically Daniel says, You keep it, pal.
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But I'll give you the interpretation.
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He gives him the interpretation, and that interpretation is not good for Belshazzar.
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So you can read that on your own, but I wanted to again now look at verse 23, and maybe it makes, maybe there's a better understanding of it now, because ultimately he says to Belshazzar, verse 22, You, his son Belshazzar, you have not humbled your heart.
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Although you knew all of that, he knew what would happen, he knew about his father Nebuchadnezzar, but he says, You have not humbled your heart.
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And then he says, And you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven.
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And they have brought the vessels of this house before you, and you and your lords and your wives and your concubines, you have drunk wine from them.
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Listen, my friends, when God breaks in, many times the word is very pointed, isn't it? It tells him that he's lifted up his heart, he's prayed to God of gold, God's of silver and iron and wood, and here it is, which do not see it here, and then look at the last half of that verse, And the God who holds your breath in his hands and owns all your ways.
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What's the real issue, friends? What's the real issue for Belshazzar? It's as hard, is it not? What's the real issue with people today, my friends? Is it they need more education? Is it that they need a better housing set up? Is it they need to be let go and let free to do whatever they want? What is the issue with people today? The issue with people today is their hearts are wrong, is that they won't humble themselves before the God of heaven.
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And people tell you, oh, they're just trying to scare you with that stuff.
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My friends, if that's what it takes, then I'll scare the death out of you.
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Because many times when God breaks in, there's no recovery.
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We all heard about the tragedy in Las Vegas, and I tell you, and we're all looking for answers.
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Maybe, my friends, the answer is he simply hated people.
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They simply hated Christ, did they not? It says of Christ that they hated him without a cause.
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What if this nut just hated people without a cause? Because it's an issue of the heart.
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There's rebellion.
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There's unbelief.
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There's pride.
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There's arrogance.
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I'm telling you, Belshazzar could have been the CEO of one of the companies today.
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Or Belshazzar could have been your next-door neighbor.
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He has created his own God.
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You know what I always like to say, and I don't think you can say it enough.
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Do you know God always wins? God always wins! The cross of Christ always triumphs! And there's much pride and arrogance.
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And as much as they want to dismiss the God of the Bible, as much as, if you will, they want to stick their thumb in God's eye, and, if you will, just deny him straight out, and for all of that, my friends, God wins.
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I think as the people of God, we need a higher concept of this great and glorious God.
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Don't you? We don't serve a God of wood, or a God of stone, or a God who cannot hear.
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He who created the ear, shall he not hear? He who created the eye, shall he not see? No, Santa Claus, he knows whether you've been good or bad.
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No, in Easter Bunny, he brings you good gifts in a basket.
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He brings you all the jelly beans you want.
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Every good and perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variability, no shadow of turning.
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Now, I've got to close.
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I want you to just look at what happened to Belshazzar.
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Verse 30.
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That very day, Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain.
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The message, by the way, was he was going to lose his kingdom, and the Persians were going to come in, and they were going to get his kingdom.
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And guess what? That very day, he's slain.
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And his kingdom is given to the Persians.
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Belshazzar's life ends tragically.
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Belshazzar's life was full of rebellion, unbelief, false worship.
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Sound like people today? You and I sometimes, I think, we play with the truth.
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And what I mean by that is we try to water down the truth because sometimes the truth is so vivid, it's so hard to get around, it's so hard to believe that God breaks in.
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We saw a show last night, I was thinking we watched the show last night of the tsunami that took place years ago, if you remember, where it wiped out 200-some thousand people in a matter of moments.
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And it's very hard for you and for me to say that God is righteous and for us to get our head around that God does break in.
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Belshazzar's slain that night.
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Let me ask you to think about this in close.
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Because there is hope.
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Integrate that God is the God of hope.
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There is hope.
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Belshazzar loses his life.
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And I want you to think about this as we leave.
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We ought not to preach the gospel.
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We ought not to seek to exalt Christ, merely to make people religious.
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Think about it, friend.
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Listen, we don't need any more religious people.
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We've got enough religious people, don't we? They come in all sizes and shapes and customs.
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We do not need more religious people.
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The religious people crucified the Savior.
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So we don't want people to be more religious.
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And not only that, friends, but we don't even want people just to come to church.
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I was riding by, I saw a church on our way home yesterday.
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And it had four morning services.
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Four.
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It was like 6, 615, 617.
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I was thinking, I don't know, what could you possibly do with a half hour of worship? But it's because they're busting out at the seams.
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And rather than what I believe to do would be to separate and to set up a sister church and to have a full worship together, they just keep going over and over.
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We are bursting at the seams in churches, friends.
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So getting people just to come to church isn't the answer.
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Getting them to be religious is not the answer.
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Listen, I'll say to you, we don't even want them to be just moral.
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Listen, just because people are moral outside, it doesn't mean that they're not haters of God in their hearts.
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There are many people who would never commit murder that are full of hatred.
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So we don't want to just be those who legislate morality.
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What is it that we really ought to desire? I submit to you, we ought to desire that people would know God.
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That people would know the Savior.
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That people would be in communion and fellowship with the Spirit of God.
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For that's what life is, is it not? Isn't that what Jesus said? This is life eternal, that they might know you, the living.
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I say that to us as parents, grandparents, married, single, young, old, anywhere in between.
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We ought to pursue after the reality of people coming to know Christ.
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And so there's hope, isn't there? There's hope because, at least to this point, God has in many ways done to people what he did to Belshazzar in taking him out.
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And so there is hope for today, but the hope is in a person.
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I thought it was interesting that people were talking all week about the Las Vegas thing.
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And it's very troubling, at least to me, it's very disturbing.
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I haven't heard anyone say anything about sin, have you? Do you hear any people on the news saying that anything...
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They want to know what's religious affiliation.
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That's important, because then we can identify a motive.
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But do you hear anybody talk about the nature and the consequences and the ugliness of sin? Friends, I hope you're thankful for the Savior.
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I hope this morning that the reality of Christ coming into the world is as relevant, to use that term, and as needed and as real today as it was, is and always shall be.
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And so let us proclaim Christ.
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Not the Baptists or the Presbyterians or this one or that one, or not just coming to church and not just being a good citizen or a neighbor or a good patriot of the United States.
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Let us proclaim Christ! How's that? I end it by saying I make no apologies for getting excited.
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I make apologies to God when I don't get excited about the gospel of Christ.
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May God bless us all.
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Amen.