DANIEL 5 - God Is Not Mocked | Pastor Daniel Gouveia

[Music] foreign [Music] next hymn is 205 gleams of the golden morning [Music] 205. [Music] so [Music] marching to zion 4 22. [Music] so [Music] 207 207 it may be at mourn [Music] so [Music] next time 2 12 tis almost time for the lord to come to [Music] twelve [Music] [Applause] [Music] good morning and happy sabbath church feliz sabado i'll add to my list of languages in the in the future i can welcome you all in whatever language you speak i'm glad it's sabbath i don't know about you uh with the schedule being funny in recent months uh this week i heard my son say oh do we have to go to church on sabbath to schedule this kind of and i said well we don't have to but we would miss out on a great blessing if we didn't no matter what's happening in our lives during the week god invites us each sabbath by no other celestial schemas than his word his command from the very beginning to to stop to rest to reflect to remember on his goodness uh in this past earlier this morning on the at the lesson study there was a particular verse isaiah 4 414 that sparked some interesting discussion among the panel and i i lingered there in that in that thought god calls israel worm fear not you worm jacob in fact let me allow let me read that passage he says in the passage at verse 10 fear not for i am with you be not dismayed for i am your god i will strengthen you yes i will help you i will uphold you with my righteous right hand behold all those who were incensed against you shall be ashamed and disgraced they shall be as nothing and those who strive with you shall perish you shall seek them and not find them those who contended with you who are those who contend with us who make us feel weak or defeated those who war against you shall be as nothing has anybody ward against us we're not in in kabul or where the christian ancient christians were attacked by isis in in afghanistan right or iraq northern iraq who is it that wars against us it shall be as nothing as a non-existent thing for i the lord your god will hold your right hand remember how the angel took lot by the hand to save him saying to you fear not i will help you there it is again fear not fear not you worm jacob you men of israel i will help you says the lord the lord who your redeemer the holy one of israel but why worm that was the question in sabbath school that's a very encouraging passage fear not fear not god is able to help us in our our most difficult situations and circumstances but why worm can you relate to a warm my thought my thinking was perhaps just because we are somehow more or less stuck in the dirt whatever we do almost has to do always with you know tilling the earth if this is the agricultural heartland of america or the builders we're constantly tilling the earth to build things on it we're always occupied with dirt we're in the dirt all week long and god knows that um but on sabbath he says set your eyes on things above remember i am your redeemer i will hold your hand i can can save you from those who are against you and that righteous right hand that sends us right to psalm 48 where it says we have thought o god on your loving kindness in the midst of your temple according to your name o god so is your praise to the ends of the earth your right hand is full of righteousness let mount zion rejoice let the daughters of judah be glad we are inclusive not just the men of jacob the daughters of judah because of your judgments when's the last time we rejoiced and we're glad because of god's judgments um we're supposed to be glad when god judges us perhaps i'm too proud and god will send some judgments in my life to humble me perhaps i'm too self-centered and god will send some judgments in my life to refocus me and remind me that every life every person matters not just me whatever our challenge is is it a judgment is it a discipline from god but we can praise him through it all and we can be glad and so we can also praise in our church this morning we have some praises among our members that terry durant's daughter laura nicole had to be rushed to an emergency room by ambulance but she was healed she had some complications after her vaccine and she's okay now um jeanette lewis is praising god that her most recent medical examinations showed some good news she's still praying for for the underlying condition that she has chemotherapy for and we want to uphold her in prayer for that we have many things to praise god for i do in my life god if i can just lift my eyes out of the dirt the worm that i'm stuck in there's so much to praise god for but we continue to pray for those in our church family who are having hardships and we're all having some kind of hardship the family of dallas macdonald who passed away three weeks ago still dealing with that grief um there are many families who have lost loved ones um we're praying for our for our dear isa family and the challengers they have and the guru family and amy butler and mary de leon and the cuveea family the cervantes family um and uh sheryl davis's granddaughter jahari has been dealing with some leg pains this week and i know my son's always complaining of leg pains too but i just say it's growing pain son when you're growing you're hurting um sarkis's mother needs prayer pamela strelink almontes becky messer reynolds family they've lost a member of the family and uh yeah let's continue to hold each other in prayer and to rejoice with one another when we have praise the second order of business we have some transfers and uh young kyle bullington's transfer to hawaii remember reminds me again of when i felt like a warm in 10 years ago 11 years ago it was a sabbath morning just like this morning at 6 00 am right before sunup i heard the loudest sirens i've ever heard in my life the whole city was almost like a bomb alert but it was a tsunami alert right and i was staying with my friend working with him for a few weeks and and it was a very odd way to be awake and say hey there's a tsunami coming and just like worms we have to get away from the water the authorities told us to head upwards inland get get away from the water fortunately nothing came of it but we pray for our dear brother kyle bullington that his transfer to hawaii may be a pleasant one that he may not undergo any of these tsunamis and we also have gianna diaz star transferring to lincoln nebraska to the creation community church um and then some mundane things donations don't forget we have a donation box for tithes and offerings at the door and also a front between the organ and the doors do i see it right there the receipts are still available if you if you want them pick them up at after church or contact who's that we contact for receipts to be mailed to is it our new church treasurer or is it pam pam send your request to pam with the address if you'd like your receipts mailed to you um the sabbath is cool good news they're starting back up again cradle roll kindergarten juniors um in the classrooms as you remember or ask for help if you can't find them 9 30 to 10 30 youth in the fellowship hall and online 9 30 to 10 30 10 30. the adults you've seen there we have it online the panel but there's also a chapel class at 9 30 and of course a live streaming at 9 30. if you want to interact with others online from home if you can't make it join the 9 45 to 10 30 um sabbath school class at fresno central sda dot org and last we have the daniel and revelation books that you've ordered they can be picked up at church they're 12 each and you can pay for the books online or by placing the money in the tithe envelope with a daniel revelation book memo i hope you have a blessed sabbath may we each draw closer to god and be blessed and now i invite you for to be kneel for prayer still to kneel as you are able for prayer heavenly father we come before you this morning to plead with you to hear us and to come near us and to hear our prayers we thank you for the many blessings that we have in our lives we thank you that you've worked in each of our lives we thank you that that you care about us and you love us and you wish to you wish to polish us as silver and gold by often sending us challenges that we must deal with to reprioritize how we look at things how focused we are on the things of the earth like worms and how much we should be raising our sights to you father in heaven we pray especially for these names our of our church family that we've mentioned who are going through various challenges and we pray also that we can be aware of of the blessings and to praise you for everything that you've done for us through no matter our circumstances we pray that you'll give us peace and assurance and faith and that this sabbath day lord we can we can silence our fears and and and build our faith in you we pray for our church family wherever they are at home or here we pray for our leadership our administration our pastoral family and not here but beyond as well as we all have to minister to our church families we know lord that you're so you're coming is soon just that like we sang we can see the the gleams of the golden morning fast approaching we thank you lord that you love us and that you want us each to be in heaven with you we pray all these things in jesus name [Music] amen [Music] and now we have a children's story if we have any children are we inviting children on the steps yet no okay auntie carolyn is here enjoy good morning hi i miss all my boys and girls but i do see a few here i'm here to introduce you to a new friend his name is christopher his wife is katie they came today i met them through the novellis because they came and were helping with the food distribution in november so i hope you make him feel comfortable he's here to tell a story and i hope we can get him to come back good morning i just want to say a quick thank you um my lord and savior jesus christ for giving me this opportunity to be a service to the young children out there this story is entitled joash the boy king don't cry little joash don't cry someday you will be king and wear a crown on your head and sit on a golden throne but if the wicked queen hears you crying she will send her soldiers to take you away and then you won't be king and wear a crown on your head and sit on the golden throne and forgive me if i pronounce the names incorrectly uncle jehovah ayada who was the priest of the temple and the aunt jehoshiba kept the baby joash in the bedroom of their temple rooms joash learned to walk he learned to talk the wicked queen did not find him the boy joash grew each birthday he stood a little taller beside the bedroom doorstep in the daytime the door was always barred shut lest someone in the temple see him and go tell the wicked queen in the evening when the people had gone home the door was unbarred and joash could walk with his uncle in the temple court one evening as joash and uncle jehoiada walked together in the temple court joash saw a hole in the temple wall when he saw another hole and another why the temple walls were full of holes the holes were made by the wicked queen's sons when they tore away parts of the walls to build a temple for their idol said uncle jehoiada to repair the holes would cost much money and there is no money in the temple treasury uncle jehoiada taught joash to read the law of god joash read thou shall have no other gods before me remember the sabbath day to keep it holy honor thy father and thy mother thou shalt not steal joash loved to read the law of god he loved god then came the day that joash was seven uncle jehoiada took him by the hand led him out on the temple porch and stood him beside the bronze pillar below the porch to one side were singers and the other trumpeters with silver trumpets rows of soldiers with spears guarded the porch many people were in the temple court quietly they watched and waited uncle johada placed the scroll of the law in joash's ten and the king's crown upon his head then with the horn of sweet smelling oil he anointed joash king of judah the trumpeters blew their silver trumpets the singers sang songs of praise the people clapped their hands and shouted god saved the king god saved the king the wicked queen came running into the temple court she heard the trumpets and the singing when she saw the boy king standing beside the pillar she tore her clothes and shouted treason treason she commanded the soldiers to take the boy away but the soldiers took her away instead the people lined up in a long procession soldiers singers and priests the trumpeters led the way out of the temple gate and down the street to the king's palace they carried the boy king joash this palace would now be his home slowly joash walked up to the palace aisle he climbed the steps to the golden throne the throne was very large and his feet did not reach the floor but he sat astray as a king again the trumpeters blew their trumpets the singers sang and the people shouted god save the king god save the king to be king was a big task for a boy he would need uncle jehoiada's help for many years king joash remembered the holes in the temple wall how could he get the money to mend them he sent me men throughout the land to collect coins but the man spent the coins on their own homes the holes and temple walls were still there then joash thought of a different plan to raise money joash asked uncle joe hiata for a chest with a lid let us put the chest beside the temple gate he said the chest was placed beside the gate let us cut a hole in the lid said joash a hole just large enough for coins to go through the hole was cut in the lid now when people come to the temple to worship they would see the chest and drop coins through the hole in its lid people came from near and far to sing the king's money chess boys and girls came fathers and mothers grandfathers and grandmothers they marched by and dropped coins into the chest at first the coins made a clinky clink clink sound when the first chest was half filled clankity clank clank and when it was almost full just clunk bring the chest to the treasury room said joash in the treasury room his helpers poured the coins into bags the chest was again placed at the temple gate and the coins went quickly clank clink clink clink clink clink and then clunk again and again the chest was filled and emptied into the bags in the treasury until there was money enough to repair the holes in the temple walls stone cutters cut stones carpenters saw and boards carefully they worked for this was god's house at last the holes and temple walls were repaired now many people came to worship in the temple they learned to love god as did joash their king got looked down from heaven and was pleased to see the beautiful temple and worshiping people and the young king on the golden throne this next story is entitled esther the brave queen harassah was an offering girl she sat alone on the doorstep of her empty house because there were tears in her eyes she could not see the blue of the sky nor the green in the grass nor the yellow gold of the flowers harassah's cousin came to her house come hanasahi said come live at my home hadassah gathered up her clothes and tied them into bundles she was pleased to be going with cousin mordecai to live with his family in the town of shusang mordecai and hannah saw walked along the dusty road hottasaw sandals made small footprints in the dust sandals made very large footprints now harassah could see the blue of the sky and the green in the grass and the yellow gold of the flowers because no longer were there tears in her eyes mordecai worked for the king of persia every day he sat in the gate of the king's palace and answered the questions of the people who came asking for help hanasa sometimes carried lunch to mordecai as he sat in the king's gate here's your lunch because of mordecai pomegranates and cheese and bread with honey hanasan grew to be a very pretty girl she was such a happy helpful girl that mordecai said she was like a shining light no longer shall your name be hadassah it shall be esther which means a star esther liked her new name forever and always she would try to shine as a star esther esther esther over and over she said her new name now it happened that the king of persia was planning to choose a queen gather together all of the most beautiful maidens in the land said the king to his helpers that i may choose a queen from among them esther was one of the maidens called the palace mordecai watched them as they came through the gate he thought there was none so beautiful as esther maiden after maiden was presented to the king all of them were beautiful but when the king saw esther the shining star he said esther shall be my queen with his own hands the king placed the crown on esther's head a golden a golden crown with pearls queen esther went to live in the queen's house in the palace gardens of the king from her window she could see cousin mordecai as he sat in the king's gate esther read the king's list of paul's rules there was one very strict rule it said that no one must go in before the king unless invited if anyone did go and without being invited that person would be put to death unless the king held out the golden scepter to him a terrible thing happened in the land of persia a law was passed that on a certain day all of god's people would be killed mordecai sent a message to queen esther telling her you must go in before the king and ask that god's people be saved i dare not go before the king unless i'm invited said esther if the king should not hold out the golden scepter to me i would be put to death no i cannot go in before the king mordechai again sent a message to ether saying don't be afraid maybe god has let you be queen for such a time as this queen esther replied appoint three days of prayer and then i will go in before the king and ask him to save god's people if i perish i perish esther and her maids prayed in the queen's house mordecai and his friends prayed in his house all through the line of persia god's people prayed carefully queen esther made herself ready to go in before the king she used her sweetest smelling perfumes and put on her previous royal robes then she and her maids said a last prayer slowly they walked down the long hall to the throne room of the king the king heard someone coming he scowled who would dare to come before him uninvited take that person away when he was about to say when he saw that it was his lovely queen esther he would who had come to see him the king smiled at her and held out the golden scepter esther came near and touched the scepter what is thy request queen esther ask the king it shall be given thee even half of the kingdom esther invited the king to come to her house to a special dinner at the dinner she would ask the king to save god's people and so it came about that the king made a new law and god's people were saved messengers some on mules summoned camels others on horses still others on feet race through the land spreading the glad news god's people shouted for joy perhaps the happiest of all was queen esther once had saw the orphan girl then asked her the shining star and now esther the brave queen that's the end of the stories guys may god bless you and and keep you in his good grace amen [Music] hmm [Music] me [Music] me uh hey foreign [Applause] me [Music] hmm me hmm [Music] me foreign [Music] ah [Music] amen are you getting blessed so far praise the lord i was really blessed by joshua and daniel this morning and by christopher thank you christopher for attending our church and your wife i forgot her name katie welcome and thank you for accepting the invitation to offer the children's story and i was just reminded as you were sharing that esther she started out like you said with the name hadassah but they then god changed that name into esther that means star and today as i came to church somebody gave me a star i think i still have it here look at this they first shoot me in the head you know that little thermometer but then they give me a star so i was praise the lord you know first you shoot me then you gave me a start praise god and somebody asked me somebody saw the star and they didn't have one and they said pastor do you need to have a start to go to heaven what a big question do you need to have a star to go to heaven well i don't know about that but you know you need to have jesus in your heart and in your life if you want to go to heaven amen so accept jesus as your savior that's what you need and yes i do believe that if you accept jesus as your savior he will make you a star to bless people amen let us pray father in heaven thank you so much that we can be together thank you for the music of our orchestra thank you for the gifts you have given to our young people to our visitors that we were all blessed by thank you for the brothers and sisters and friends who are joining us online and thank you that finally we are back in person in your house of prayer we thank you for this privilege lord we are longing for that day when we will be able to come without masks so lord we cannot do it but you are all powerful nothing is too hard for you so we ask that soon and very soon if that is for your will we may meet in this place without masks still abiding by the laws of the land as much as we can according to your word and lord we also pray that soon and very soon we may be able to eat together and hug one another and embrace one another in hand one another's shake one another's hands and lord we pray more than that that soon and very soon we may be able to see the face of jesus we know that in that day worship will be perfect and for the time being we pray that the mercy and the blood of jesus may cover us and that we may offer our best and yet you may accept it through the name of jesus christ please speak to our hearts we pray this morning please be glorified we pray in the name of the one who will make of us stars in his kingdom amen all right friends we continue to study the book of daniel and we came to daniel chapter 5. now this is an important chapter in the book of daniel and it speaks about an important time a very important dramatic historic night in the kingdom of babylon i'd like to start with the words that are found in the book of galatians chapter 6 verses 7 and 8 that's where i took the title for today's message do not be deceived this is verse 7 and 8 galatians 6 7-8 galatians chapter 6 verses 7 and 8. if you find galatians we'll read these two verses and then you can jump back to daniel chapter 5 and that's where we will stay for the most of the sermon galatians 6 7 and 8 says do not be deceived god is not mocked for whatever a man sows that he will also reap for he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption but he who sows to the spirit will of the spirit reap everlasting life i like this sentence god is not mocked that is the title for today's sermon we like to say and we should say and we should always remember that god is love that god is merciful that god gave his son to die for us but exactly for that we should respect him we should love him we should be in awe of his love and power and greatness and we should not mock him amen god is not mocked whatever man a man sows that he will also reap and we find the fulfillment of these words actually many years prior 600 years before christ actually around or exactly in the year 539 bc in that terrible night when belfaster the king of babylon was throwing a great feast if you read the last verse of daniel chapter 4 here in daniel chapter 5 now should be able to read the last verse of daniel chapter 4 right there verse 37 after the great humiliation that nebuchadnezzar went through he glorified god and he said now i nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honor the king the king of heaven all of whose works are truths and his ways justice and whose walk and those who walk in pride he is able to put down nebuchadnezzar lifted himself up god had to put him down and he learned the lesson but unfortunately belshasser who knew what had happened to nebuchadnezzar who is now king in babylon failed to learn that lesson and we read the first um four verses of daniel chapter five and it goes like this bel cesar or bel sasser you can read it both ways the king made a great feast for a thousand of his lords and drank wine in the presence of the thousand now until 1861 there were no evidence in archaeology of this of the of the existence of this king so a lot of people bible critics would say yeah that's just a story that the authors of the bible made up but today there's actually about 37 or more than 37 extra biblical documents from antiquity testifying of the presence of belshasser in babylon at this time actually he was most likely the son of nabonidus who was actually the main king or the main emperor at that time of the kingdom or empire of babylon navaneses was not the son of nebuchadnezzar but belshasser in the chronicle of nabanitas which is one of those documents you can find it today in the british museum and um in a clay tablet that cuneiform you know script now benitus belshasser is actually called the grandson of nebuchadnezzar now if nabonitas father of belshasser was not the son of nebuchadnezzar how could belshasser be the grandson of nebuchadnezzar well we don't really know exactly apparently there was a woman involved nithocris some people believe she was the daughter one of the daughters of nebuchadnezzar and she apparently married nabonitus and that's why they had a son and that's why belshasser is called the grandson of nebuchadnezzar now other sources say that nitocrys was nebuchadnezzar's wife and that she was the mother or grandmother of belshasser whatever you make of it i trust the bible the bible said for many many years that bel shasta was king of babylon in that time a lot of people say oh no no we don't believe that now everybody believes that because other sources say it come on friends we have the word of god should be good enough for us right belshasser was there he was the king of babylon his father nabanitas he was worshipping his main god was actually a different god than nebuchadnezzar's main god he is no longer worshiping mainly marduk who is now worshiping the god named sin very interesting today in english sin is an interesting word and it was where she came worshiping a god named sin who is the moon god probably the chaldeans in babylon were not very happy with that and nabanitas actually spent a lot of time away from the capital he spent 10 years in tema an oasis in arabia and he in arabia and he left his son belshasser as co-regent in batwa and belshasser that knew that the middle persians were attacking his empire and coming closer to babylon he couldn't care less you know babylon had big big big huge walls double in triple walls sometimes the walls were massive they had huge gates bronze and iron gates and they felt fine inside the city they had food for 20 years and they had water abundant water the euphrates just went right right through right through babylon so they could care less that the enemies were coming they felt safe so he makes this great feast for a thousand of his lords and drank wine in the presence of the thousand while he tasted the wine look at look the word wine comes back over and over while he tasted the wine bell shasta 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 his wives and concubines very interesting detail in the story might drink from them 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 they drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver bronze and iron wood and stone very interesting was throwing this big feast drinking wine a lot of people say well see pastor i had a lot of people saying this to me throughout the years of my ministry the bible never forbids wine you suffer they haven't to say you should not drink wine but in the bible people are always drinking wine you know the bible actually shows the consequences of drinking wine they're not very positive look at proverbs chapter 20 verse one wine is a mocker strong drink is a brawler and whoever is led astray by it is not wise proverbs 23 verses 29 through 35 who has woe who has sorrow who has contentions who has complaints who has wounds without cause who has redness of eyes those who linger long at the wine those who go in search of mixed wine cocktails right do not look on the wine when it's red when it sparkles in the cup when it swirls around smoothly at the last it bites like a serpent it stings like a viper your eyes will see strange things and your heart will utter perverse things yes you will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea or like one who lies at the top of the mass saying they have struck me but i was not hurt they have beaten me but i did not feel it when shall i awake that i may seek another drink hosea said it better hosea 4 11 harlotry wine and new wine enslave the heart enslave the heart see satan wants you to drink alcohol the bible never says that god wants you to drink alcohol but satan wants you to drink alcohol because anything that will diminish your reason your ability to reason your cognitive abilities anything that will make you put your mind aside and just live off of feelings and emotions in the pleasures of your body it's actually serving satan because he can come in and control your mind watch out with what you eat and what you drink it affects your brain and affects god's ability to speak to you and it affects your ability to respond to god harlot 3 wine and ewing enslaved the heart now he had all his wives and concubines there belshasser now this was against the customs of the time because if you read esther chapter one just talk about esther today just read esther chapter one when king ahasweras threw this big huge banquet for many years actually his wife vasti also made a banquet at a different location for the women see the culture and customs of the time was that yes kings were through wild wild parties but at that time they were they had these customs that you know men in one place and women at the another place the women of the wives in belshasser and concubines at that party made it clearly an orgy a place where people can do whatever they want and they just enjoy the pleasures of the flesh and they just don't care about anything else and you know when you start living like that and satan takes over you end up doing things that in your right mind you would not do seven years those vessels from the temple of jerusalem that nebuchadnezzar had brought yes he put him in the temple of his god but nebuchadnezzar had respect for the god of the hebrews challenged him sometimes but he was always reprimanded and eventually was converted to the true god belcher took those vessels that had been there for 70 years nobody had ever done that and he took them and to challenge the god of heaven the creator of heaven and the heavens and the earth to show his contempt and to despise the god of the hebrews he drinks wine from those vessels and he praises his gods that was very interesting you read the the the materials of which his idols were made it's six materials a very interesting number in bound one six right and you you're kind of reminded of daniel chapter two of that dream that nebuchadnezzar had and daniel interpreted with the different medals that basically signified that babylon would one day fall and other nations as well and that night they were praising their gods made out of metal and also wood and stone and something happens verse five in the same hour the fingers of a man's hand appeared and wrote opposite the lamp stand on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote and the king's countenance changed and his thoughts troubled him so that the joints of his hips were loosened and his knees knocked against each other the king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers the chaldeans and the soothsayers the king spoke saying to the wise men of babylon whoever reads this writing and tells me its interpretation shall be clothed with purple and have a chain gold around his neck and he shall be the third ruler in the kingdom very interesting 1861. up until then nobody's nobody would believe oh belchaz or no it's just an invention all of a sudden everything makes sense nabanizus was the main king belzhasser was second in command he could only give the third place in the kingdom right everything falls into place now all the kings wise men came but they could not read the writing or make known to the king its interpretation then king belches was greatly troubled his countenance was changed and his lords were astonished here you have this proud king probably in his 50s at the height of his fame and glory and fortune big empire big city well i'm not afraid of anybody let's bring in 1 000 of my important people bringing the wives and the concubines let's all throw a party let's have fun actually let's show that my gods are more important and more powerful than the god of israel let's just drink wine from these great goblets that were brought from jerusalem and there he was having fun showing that he was so great and god just needs a finger a finger just one finger one finger it's enough to change the whole party change the hearts change the minds change the feelings change everything god's finger is powerful you know psalm 8 verse 3 says when i consider your heavens the work of your fingers the moon and the stars which you have ordained if you sin against god you are sinning against the one who created the heavens and the earth you are sinning against the one who created you exodus 31 verse 18 remember when god spoke the ten commandments then he called moses up into the mountain and god wrote the ten commandments and tablets of stone and when he had made an end of speaking with him with moses on mount sinai says exodus 31 verse 18 he gave moses two tablets of the testimony tablets of stone written with the finger of god your finger cannot change what the finger of god has written it's there forever amen and belshaster was defying that the finger of god says you shall have no other gods before me the finger of god says he shall not bow down to statues to idols belchester wanted to challenge that luke 11 verse 20 actually says that jesus would cast out demons through the finger of god luke 11 verse 20 says but if i this is jesus speaking but if i cast out demons with a finger of god surely the kingdom of god has come upon you even the even demons even fallen angels that they are very powerful but they tremble in the presence of the finger of god how much more human beings when bill shasta saw that finger saw those fingers saw that hand he was struck with terror you know there's people that they seem very brave say i'm not afraid to die uh you know when i was young i also said that a few times then i saw death in in my face two or three times and let me tell you when you're about to die all that pride that you have in your heart it comes down it really comes down belshastra understood that something was happening judgment was being pronounced upon him but he could not understand those words he calls his wise men the experts in occultism of babylon still today unfortunately many many years later hundred years later there's still people that believe in psychics and want to know their future through the stars we have the word of god amen but they you know brings in all those man they couldn't they couldn't understand it this is the third time in the book of daniel that we are told that the greatest wisdom on earth at the time could not understand the things of god still today is the same thing there's a lot of people that say that the bible is not true well you know why they say it the bible explains why they say that why they think that why they believe that way first corinthians chapter 2 verses 13 through 16. paul was speaking and and said these things we also speak not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the holy spirit teaches comparing spiritual things with spiritual but the natural man does not receive the things of the spirit of god for they are foolishness to him before you judge the wise men in babylon let me tell you i found an interesting way of putting it in today's words the andrew's study bible actually says that for us today reading those words it would mean something like dollar dollar penny half dollars come on you're throwing a party drinking wine having fun and you see in a wall the words dollar dollar half penny uh penny half dollars would you understand it you would not understand it right you need to have the spirit of god to understand god's revelations amen it seems foolishness to him the apostle paul continues first corinthians chapter two nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned but he who is spiritual judges all things yet he himself is rightly judged by no one for who has known the mind of the lord that he may instruct him but we have the mind of christ when you read the bible you cannot read the bible with your own reasoning with your own understanding with human logic i just read a post this week on facebook by one of my friends who is not an adventist but the post said you know if you read this in the bible and that that in the bible logically it means no no you can't say logically there's a lot of things in the bible that are absolutely nonsense for our logic we have to bow down to a reason that is greater than our reason and we have to be humble as we approach god we cannot understand god's revelation without the spirit that inspired it so they couldn't understand they were clueless that then enters the queen that we believe to be an itacris maybe one day we'll get to heaven and it's another name but it enters the queen so the queen was not there she was possibly not one of belchester's wives maybe his mother the queen enters because of the words verse 10 of the king and his lords she came to the banquet hall the queen spoke saying o king live forever do not let your thoughts trouble you nor let your accountants change there is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy god there you go you want to interpret things of god you need the spirit of god the spirit of the holy god some translations say the spirit of the holy gods they were pagans that's okay if she said it that way and in the days of your father light and understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him and king nebuchadnezzar your father your father the king well they say oh there you go belshazzar where's nebuchadnezzar's son no you know jesus is called david's son in the bible right in the bible you don't find the word actually grandson it's talking about your forefathers those who are your ancestors okay so probably your grandfather nebuchadnezzar made him chief of the magicians astrologers chaldeans and soothsayers inasmuch as an excellent spirit knowledge understanding interpreting dreams solving riddles and explaining enigmas were found in this daniel whom the king named now this is important in the story whom the king named belteshasser now let daniel be called and he will give the interpretation you know when you read the ancient greek translations of the old testament the two names beltachasser that nebuchadnezzar gave daniel and belshaster the grandson of nebuchadnezzar when you read the greek translations of the old testament it's exactly the same name in the in this chapter these two men are set up as in a contrast between a man who is filled with the spirit of god who is seeking to glorify god and a man who is seeking to glorify himself filled with the spirit of the devil so the queen says you know what there's a man in your kingdom has an excellent spirit has the spirit of the holy god in him see daniel was not better than anyone else because of his natural abilities we all have natural abilities that god has given us and god also wants to give us spiritual gifts to serve him in the church now sometimes we have a misconception we think that spiritual gift is only to play the violin or to preach or to sing those are spiritual gifts but there's more than that remember that the church is really not just people coming together to worship in a sanctuary sanctuary once a week the church is the people of god wherever they are where god wants them doing the work of god feeding the ones that are hungry giving clothes to the ones that are naked sharing the word at work at school wherever you are in social media that's the church right wherever you are if you are connected to christ you are a part of his body you are the church amen anyways god gives natural abilities god gives spiritual gifts but daniel in the story even this is recognized even by pagans daniel was not great because of his natural abilities daniel was great because he had the great spirit of god upon him do you have the spirit of god upon you are you filled with the holy spirit when jesus encourages us to pray in luke chapter 11 he encourages us to pray and pray and pray and keep knocking and keep seeking and keep asking and he says if you that are evil know how to give good gifts to your children if you read the version of matthew the gospel of matthew he says good gifts verse 7. but in luke we are told how much more would not will not your heavenly father give the holy spirit to those who ask him if there's anything you can and should be asking of god every day not as a vain repetition but truly in your heart hungering and thirsting after god you should pray to be filled with the holy spirit you should pray to have the same spirit that allowed daniel in his 80s in his 80s now to be the man that god had in babylon to say god's words and to be faithful in a pagan nation and empire there comes daniel verse 13 then daniel was brought in before the king the king spoke and said to daniel are you that daniel who is one of the captives from judah whom my father the king brought from judah now get this little detail the queen does not call daniel a captive mentions nothing about his background from judah belshasser was kind of giving the impression that he did not know about daniel but his words betrayed what he was saying he knew about daniel he knew who daniel was and he kind of you know puts him down you're one of the captives right that my father my grandfather my forefather nebuchadnezzar brought from judah right verse 14 i have heard of you that the spirit of god is in you and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you now the wise men the astrologers have been brought in before me that they should read this writing and make known to me its interpretation but they could not give the interpretation of the thing and i have heard of you that you can give interpretations and explain enigmas now if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation you shall be clothed with purple you know purple in the bible is associated with people that have a lot of money or that people that are connected with nobility mordecai when he is exalted at last by the king and the book of hester he is dressed in several colors and one that those colors are purple is purple because purple was associated with people they had a lot of money and it was normally clothes that were imported and it was clothes that people who were in the royal house or they belonged to the nobility to the royalty with dress okay so he says i'm gonna give you the great privilege of being clothed in purple you will have a chain of gold around your neck remember genesis 41 pharaoh says the same thing to joseph gives him the same gift gave him a big collar or a chain of gold and then he says and you shall be the third ruler in the kingdom you know satan can give you a lot of things but there are some things that satan cannot give you belshasser could give the third position in the kingdom but he could not give the second position that was his position and he could not give the first position because that was nabanita's position satan can give you a lot of positions you serve satan you can become very influential very powerful very rich on this earth you do what satan wants you to do you do what satan loves and he will give you money he will give you position he will give you everything you want on this earth but he cannot give you peace he cannot give you true joy he cannot give you true love that comes from god and he cannot give you the privilege of sitting with christ on his throne like jesus can give you he just promised revelation chapter 3 verse 20 and 21 if you hear my voice open i will come in i will stay with you i will save you he who overcomes shall sit with me and my throne like i overcame and sit with my father in his throne satan cannot promise you that at the right hand of god there are eternal pleasures that we will not understand fully if we do not surrender to jesus christ satan can give you a lot of things but he cannot give you what god can give you so daniel responds and now this is very interesting because if you read daniel chapter 4 the way that daniel addresses nebuchadnezzar is completely different than the way he addresses bell chasser verse 17 then daniel answered and said before the king let your gifts be for yourself and give your rewards to another don't start giving me things yet before you hear what i have to say yet i will read the the writing to the king and make known to him the interpretation o king the most high god gave nebuchadnezzar your father a kingdom and majesty glory and honor and because of the majesty that he gave him all peoples nations and languages trembled and feared before him whomever he wished he executed whomever he wished he kept alive whomever he wished he set up and whomever he wished he put down but when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened in pride he was deposed from his kinly throne they took his glory away from him then he was driven from the sons of man his heart was made like the beasts and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys they fed him with grass like oxen and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till he knew that the most high god rules in the kingdom of man and appoints over it whomever he chooses but you his son belchasser have not humbled your heart although you knew all of this you knew this and you have lifted yourself up against the lord of heaven they have brought the vessels of his house before you and you your lords and your wives and your concubines have drunk wine from them and you have praised the gods of silver and gold bronze and iron wood and stone which do not see or hear or know and the god who holds your breath in his hand and owns all your ways you have not glorified it's interesting to connect with these words some words that we find elsewhere in the bible job chapter 12 verse 10 job was speaking to his friends that were accusing him and he said about god and whose hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind in the hand of god is the life of every living thing the breath of all mankind that means your breath and my breath we wake up every morning and we breathe because god so wishes amen it's a gift it's a blessing it's a privilege from god acts 17 28 for in him we live and move and have our being colossians 1 17 now about christ paul was talking about christ in colossians 1 verse 17 and he is before all things and in him all things consist if you sin against christ you are sinning against the one who created you you are sinning against the one who became a man and died for you on that cross you reject christ in his mercy you are rejecting the one in whom all things consist the cells of your body the atoms of which you are made or in the hands of christ please remember you need to respect god you need to respect christ god is not mocked thousands are knocked god that night but it was the last time that he challenged the true god god has limits we normally say you know god is all merciful that's true god wants to save everyone god gave his son for everyone jesus shed his blood for everyone everyone can be saved if he or she repents of his sins if comes to god and he comes to god or she comes to god he gives or or she gives her heart or his heart completely to god you can and you will be saved by the mercies of christ but if you keep rejecting if you keep rebelling if you hang on to that sin that is eating you in the inside it comes a point when you go beyond the point of repenting repentance you can no longer hear the voice of god and god has to say enough you are destroying yourself and you are destroying others around you that's enough this is the spirit of babylon not only ancient babylon but the babylon that throughout the ages and especially now and the end times will be raised up against the god of heaven the babylon that decrees things that are against what the finger of god wrote the babylon that tries to force people into a false worship this babylon is setting herself up against the god of heaven but one day god will say no more no more it's enough verse 24 then the fingers of the hand were sent from him and this writing was written and this is the interpretation that was written now daniel he reads the words as nouns but he interprets them as verbs and this is the interpretation of each word mene god has numbered your kingdom and finished it these words were associated with monetary values but he's now interpreting connecting these words with verbs god has numbered your kingdom and finished it to kell you have been weighed in the balances yes god judges there is a judgment in heaven you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting perez where you get the the word you farsin your kingdom has been divided and given to the medes and persians and belsazar gave the command and they closed the daniel with purple put a chain of gold around his neck and made a proclamation concerning him that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom that very night balcazar king of the chaldeans was slain and darius demed receive the kingdom being about 62 years old now ellen white has an interesting commentary about this story in the book prophets and kings and i'm going to read just part of a paragraph of her commentary it says this in page 536 the history of nations speaks to us today the history of nations speaks to us today to every nation now underline this in your heart are you ready to every nation and to every individual to every nation and to every individual you are an individual i'm not a nation you are not a nation we may be a part of a nation but we are individuals to every individual god has assigned a place in his great plan today men and nations are being tested by the plummet in the hand of him who makes no mistake all are by their own choice god so loved the world he gave his only begotten son that whosoever whosoever would believe in him should not perish but have everlasting life all are by their own choice deciding their destiny god wants to save everyone god has given grace in christ to save everyone the bible reveals that not everyone will be saved why because not everyone will accept that grace that mercy and will submit to god all are by their own choice deciding their destiny and god is overruling all for the accomplishment of his purposes two men in babylon that night and on the stage one man lifted himself up against god one man decided to live according to the pleasures of the flesh the dictates of his own ideas he decided to live according to what he wanted one man he was still younger than daniel belshazzar or belshazzar one man defied the true god but there was another man belterschasser daniel the servant of god you know every time that i read the book of daniel i don't feel worthy of my name i always pray god please help me have mercy on me when i look at the example of daniel i'm really far away please lord help me have mercy i want to be faithful like daniel this man was in his 80s he was now an old man you can be old doesn't matter how old you are you can still be faithful this man was faithful living to the glory of god fulfilling the purpose that god had for him i pray that that may be your case in my case by the grace and blood of jesus christ amen let us pray father in heaven we thank you for your many wonderful mercies that we receive every day day by day because of the hand that created us the hand of your word that became flesh was pierced for our sins on the cross of calvary the hand that upholds everything and in in whom all things consist the hand of jesus christ our lord and our savior we thank you that through that hand we receive blessings without an end i pray that each and every one of us who are here today in this sanctuary or watching or that will hear these words later on i pray that our hearts may be touched by the love and mercy of christ that we will not rebel against you that we may come to the point of repenting of our sins by your grace that we may accept the gift of repentance that you want to give to each and every one of us that we may stop running away from you and that we may open our hearts entirely confessing our sins at the foot of the cross that you may give us a new heart to live for you and to love you entirely that nothing may hold us back that we may not look at the treasures of this earth but look at heaven look at the eternity that jesus bought for us at such a great cost may we accept you as our only true god jesus as our savior may we be filled with your spirit to proclaim the mercies and virtues of the one who has called us from darkness into his marvelous light and i thank you for hearing our prayers for blessing us beyond what we can think or imagine in the name of jesus amen amen god bless you all happy sabbath read pray study and live out the principles of the book of daniel [Music] amen [Music] so so so so so so [Music] oh

Channel: Fresno Central Seventh-day Adventist Church

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Length: 99min 22sec (5962 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 28 2021