Kingdom Down #5 - Party Like It's 539 (B.C.)

[Music] all right we're in Daniel chapter five find it in your Bible or on your phone and what's interesting is we live in this day where the world has gotten very small and information travels very quickly all of a sudden call text email whatever the case may be social media platform news alert were constantly bombarded with information most of it is troubling to us it frustrates us it it makes us discouraged or anxious or fearful or even angry and I would say that that explains in large part the current mood the more we know the worse we feel all of a sudden we know what's going on around the world we know what's going on in the lives of people that we love and it's very frustrating and it's very troubling now that being said I want to emotionally connect with you and have you changed perspective think for a moment what it must be like to be God God knows everything right he can't just cancel his internet subscription you know can't just throw away his phone can't just you know ignore all that is happening God sees everything god hears everything God knows everything and if we have a right to get frustrated or angry or upset or demand change God has that same right and God has been viewing and hearing all of human conduct for all of human history and what's going to happen in Daniel chapter 5 you're gonna see where God finally reaches his boiling point and he responds with justice okay so let me just tell you in advance this is gonna be a little bit of an intense sermon not like Daniel to this point is all it's been all bunnies and roses and you know tooth fairy and hugs and giggles but this is the dark portion of the text and so we're gonna jump right in and we're gonna hear this magnificent day in history where God showed up in power and the first thing we learn is God will not be mocked Daniel chapter 5 1 through 4 King Belshazzar telling a little bit about him in a moment made a great feast a huge part a nun holiday for a thousand of his lords those are the Sith Lords they're the dark side of the force and drank wine in front of the thousand Belshazzar when he tasted the wine commanded that the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father it's actually his grandfather so they would refer to their father and their grandfather as their fathers had taken out of the Temple in Jerusalem he brought that he his kings his Lords his wives his concubines yes that means what you think it does this is gonna be a naughty night might drink from them then they brought in the golden vessels that have been taken out of the temple the house of God in Jerusalem and the king and his Lords his wives his concubines drank from them they drank wine and praised their having Church the gods of gold silver bronze iron wood stone this is all a counterfeit everything that God creates Satan counterfeits throughout the Bible God has feasts and festivals this is where his people are supposed to take a day off get together have something to eat have something to drink throw a party celebrate rejoice in his kingdom we call these holidays which literally means holy days their days set apart for the Lord this is the counterfeit this is a different King than Jesus this is a different Kingdom and gods and this is a different kind of party than the one that we throw every Sunday for the Lord Jesus and they're getting together to do that which is abominable in the sight of God and this this grandson here he's just a he's just a spoiled third-generation trust fund rich kid he's this he just is me his his grandpa is Nebuchadnezzar who was a mighty King and warrior and he was sort of prominent in the story line up till chapter 4 his dad was King and then his dad was away and so this kid is assuming the throne this is literally a high school movie right dad's away the spoiled rich kid throws a big drinking party at his house that's exactly what this is this is every 80s movie that I ever saw as a kid that's all that this is he's just Rhona party will his dad is away and here's who shows up a thousand of his lords these would have been certain political leaders of status in addition there would have been other men present and there's the lives and the concubines and the servants so commentators will estimate that there were upwards of fifteen thousand people at the party this is big party this is a big big big party in their equivalent of the White House so everybody's dressed up this is a big deal there's a red carpet everybody's taking selfies you know underwear is now outerwear none of this is right this is all going the wrong direction and they have unearthed this palace the archaeologists have and it is about the same size as the main section of the White House so just think in kind of those terms and they throw this massive gigantic party now let me just say this let me ask it as a question has anything changed does this still happen people wear things they shouldn't in public to drink things that they shouldn't in public to enjoy a party they shouldn't we do that do you think this happened last night in Old Town yes yes and if you're under 30 we forgive you for going there but welcome to church now how about this what we do we create whole days where we sort of make exceptions or like well on that day you get to do this kind of naughty thing what what does let's just have this conversation I got nothing else to do what would some of those days be Mardi Gras Mardi Gras Mardi Gras is for sure a Babylonian holiday it just for sure is right st. Patrick's Day I'm Irish we're like oh let's get drunk why that's been a problem for the Irishman for a long time I would just encourage the Irishmen don't get drunk right don't get drunk just pray eat potatoes move forward you know just have a plan B what other holidays do we New Years Eve it's a new year I'm gonna I'm gonna throw up whoa what better way to start afresh than throwing up okay what else Super Bowl oh grown men are gonna carry a dead pig over a line let's all get drunk and eat nachos and and and watch the halftime show okay that is ha ha his concubines okay what else oh it's gonna get worse what else what else do we have for the holidays where we get to celebrate like this Halloween mom dresses up like a naughty nurse dad does shots and we terrorize children well yeah that's a great idea who came up with that anything else Cinco de Mayo let's get drunk like Mexicans let's get drunk like Irishmen Atilla I mean it's just it's crazy Cinco de Mayo is the Greek word for bad morning the next day that's what it is okay so we do this all that we say things like it's my birthday I'm getting engaged I'm getting married we're having a baby it's Friday it's Saturday it's Tuesday right let me just say that we kind of still have the spirit of Babylon at work yeah man we could we kind of do so that's what's going on here three things are happening deviancy so they have the wives the concubines and the other gals and in most ancient parties when the guys would start drinking and carousing the women would depart right because it's gonna be a bad situation there's another book of the Bible called Esther where there is a queen that is hosting a state party event with her husband and it's time for the guys to drink and carouse and so Esther the Queen takes the women out to go do something else here they're all together why it's going to get naughty and some of these gals were likely captured in war we would call them slaves and trafficking victims I mean this whole thing is just ungodly unholy and unacceptable in addition there is drunkenness this is just a drinking party and the King gets up and he is going to just start taking shots I'm sure there's a ping-pong ball involved some guys being held by his ankles this is just a large fraternity event that's what this is and so what he decides is hey let's go drink out of what cops got scoffs we looked in Chapter one they went in the Babylonians did they conquered the nation of Israel they plundered the temple they then took back with the slaves the articles from God's temple used for the sacred worship of the one true God in Azra chapter one it tells us that they actually had 5000 different items largely of gold that they stole from God this was his grandpa Nebuchadnezzar it's all locked up and he comes up with this crazy idea hey let's go get those and everybody gets a golden goblet that belongs to God and we're all going to get hammered and drink out of it to show that our God is the real God and their God is the weak God how many of you you see that this probably isn't going the right direction this is this is deviancy this is drunkenness and ultimately this is public dishonor this is just their way of literally rebelling against God openly and publicly to give you the equivalent this would be like imagine last night you're driving by the church and the lights are on and there's a lot of music and the parking lot is packed and you're like is there a revival what is going on you walk in they're not wearing enough clothes there's naughty stuff on the screens there's a DJ up here you know guy with two turntables in the microphone we're in a gold chain wearing purple you'll meet him later and then and then imagine that the baptismal set up but it's turned into a hot tub party and dudes are ripping pages out of the Bible to roll up joints and and then they break into the communion wine with the goblets and everybody's getting hammered okay that's the equivalent of what is happening the question is where's God's line now let me say this we've all got a line right we tell people this don't cry that line don't say that don't do that if you cross the line there will be consequences if we have the right to have a line god has a right to have a line the question is where is God's line let me just say they found it okay here's how the story moves forward God has a line you don't want to find how long after immediately gods like oh no no no no no this is it it doesn't say he sent them a warning he sent them an angel he gave them 10 years to repent gods like we're done now enough of this immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace opposite the light stand so there's literally a spotlight it's a dark party spotlight and a finger not a dude just a finger on a hand like this let me just tell you this this is how you get sober all right this will do it for you you know I got like oh that's different finger shows up just writing on the wall alright when God shows up people sober up that that's the moral of the story and all of a sudden God shows up and the King saw the hand is it wrote no this guy probably is thinking how much have I had to drink like I'm not in a good place for then that he looks around and everybody seeing the same thing the party stopped the DJ ends the dancing is over everybody is worried the King saw the hand as I wrote the Kings color changed right did went flush his thoughts alarm is like because this can't be good his limbs gave way some would say that he had a bowel movement some of the commentators do and his knees knocked together the dude literally he was arrogant and now now he's terrified the King called loudly right so the party stops to bring you in the enchanters the Chaldeans and the astrologers so here comes Larry Curly and Moe gonna help the situation the King declared to the wise men of Babylon here's I don't know why we call them wise men they don't ever get anything done or do anything right there's just there like community college professors like why why do we salute them hey look my goal is to offend everyone because I believe in equality so just hang in there here's the point we take ourselves so seriously we take God so lightly okay there you go all right that was free write that down okay the King declared to the Wiseman of Babylon whoever reads this writing it shows me its interpretation shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck full-on Rick Ross hip-hop lifestyle upgrade you get a chariot with rims you get to wear purple the color of kings you get a gold grill you can get tattoos up your neck you can wear a gold chain it's gonna be amazing for you it's gonna be amazing for you you're gonna get promoted to hip-hop lifestyle okay so it's it's weird how things never change then all the kings wise men came in so every guy's like oh yeah I want to go Rick Ross they all give it a shot but they could not read the writing or make known to the king its interpretation then King Belshazzar was greatly alarmed his color changed his Lords were perplexed they've got a god-sized problem sometimes you got a god-sized problem the Queen because of the words of the king and his lords came into the banqueting-hall and the Queen declared now this queen is not his wife it's his grandma we already told in chapter five verse two that the wives were present this is his grandma this is Nebuchadnezzar's wife she's an older woman but she would have been regarded like the Queen Mother so the Queen Mother comes in catching her grandson thrashing dad's house having a big party the Queen because of the words of the king and his lords came into the banqueting-hall on the Queen declared Oh King live forever and we all well just somewhere let not your thoughts alarm your color change there is a man I know a guy there is a man in your kingdom in whom is this of the holy gods or the Spirit of God the Holy Spirit in the days of your father a long time ago light and understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him and King Nebuchadnezzar your father your father the king made him chief overseer of the magicians the enchanters the Chaldeans the astrologers because of an excellent spirit knowledge and understanding to interpret dreams explain riddles and solve problems were found in this Daniel whom the king named Belteshazzar now let Daniel be called and he will show the interpretation it's really interesting here daniel is this god-given name belteshazzar was his babylonian given name his god-given name means God is my judge and they refer to him here by his god-given name because it doesn't matter what they call him he doesn't accept it he knows who he is by his identity and relationship to God that's how he can make it through Babylon and what happens here the the Queen says we got a guy and he could be helpful we need to bring him into the equation now what you may not know about this at this time Daniel is in his 80s hey chapter one he was in his teens chapter five is roughly seventy years later he's an older guy he's been faithful to God and at this point he's basically retired he's not working for the government he's just kind of off to the side of history and as we look at Daniel's life we've covered 70 years in just five chapters and the question is why are there gaps the same reason that there are gaps in your life and mine sometimes God shows up in an amazing way and then we just brush our teeth through our dishes do our laundry go to work pay our taxes it's boring for a decade and then something else happens okay as you read Daniel don't just look at what happened but the timeline and say God shows up in his life like God shows up in my life but it's not every single day that something extraordinary happens there's been large gaps of mundane time where he was just working his job and living his life now what's interesting here it's something called an anthropomorphism the Bible says that God is spirit that God is not a man but the Bible will use human language and God will use human imagery to portray truth and so the finger of God is here what is typifies and what it's literally saying is this if God wants to get something done it's this heart God wants to take down the nation there you go God wants to take down a king there you go it's what is impossible is for any nation to conquer Babylon and God just flicks this finger and it will come down and this is where it doesn't matter how much power you have he who is all-powerful cannot be thwarted cannot be overcome cannot be defeated and he works often times by his finger okay and what it's saying is God doesn't have to fully exert himself this is not difficult imagine you're watching uh let's say an Olympic weightlifting competition who one dude comes out and he's like just picks it up with his finger he'd be like that that dude's amazing it's God's Way of saying this is not heavy or hard for me and God uses his finger it says in Exodus 8 to take down the entire nation of Egypt in Exodus 31 as well God shows up and he writes the Ten Commandments with his with his finger hey kids these are the house rules for the gods family Jesus shows up and says that he cast out demons by the finger of God demon-possessed people that others are terrified of and people can't extricate this evil presence from their life Jesus shows up just does this and it's over and there's one occasion I think it's in John chapter 8 where there's a woman caught in adultery by a bunch of religious guys and it makes you wonder if it wasn't a trap because why are these religious guys all outside of her window in the middle of the night right I mean oh we caught her in adultery my question be like what were you doing there so they catch her in adultery it seems to be an entrapment and they want to put her to death by stoning and Jesus gets down and what does he do he writes something in the dirt with his finger we don't know what it is it may be their sin or the name of their girlfriends and all of a sudden every religious leader leaves from oldest to youngest God gets a lot done just with his finger and here the finger of God shows up in the palace and then the key to the whole story here as well is that Daniel is chosen because he has the Holy Spirit three times in Daniel for Nebuchadnezzar the King said that he had the Spirit of God here his wife the Queen Mother says Daniel has the Spirit of God here's the point you and I need to live our faith openly and publicly and unashamedly okay if everybody else gets to be proud of their thing we get to be proud of Jesus in everything now the pressure in the culture is this keep it to yourself that's what faith is a private matter not a public matter Daniels faith is private and it's public everybody knows who his God is that's who he worships that's who we praised - that's who he serves you and I live in Babylon there will constantly be temptations to participate in that which is evil there will also be pressure to have our faith not the public so that we don't pay some sort of negative price but if we don't live our faith publicly then they don't know that we know God and when they need God they don't call us because they don't know that we know him he lives his faith publicly and all of a sudden it's like okay we have a god-sized problem we need God does anybody know God she's I know one guy the Spirit of God lives in him the same Holy Spirit that empowered Daniel empowered the life of Jesus Christ the same Holy Spirit is given to the children of God to live by the power of God and to demonstrate the character of Daniel and Jesus and so what Nebuchadnezzar has he has Fame he has money he has power he has Laurey he has pleasure the one thing he doesn't have is the Spirit of God because the Spirit of God is the one thing that you can't achieve you can't conquer you can't obtain you need to humble yourself and receive the presence of God's power Daniel has the only thing that Nebuchadnezzar does not have though Nebuchadnezzar has everything that Daniel doesn't have let me just show you this if you have the spirit you're the rich one okay you're the rich one you're the rich one so the question is where is God's line and the main idea I want to just drive home from Daniel as this is that character counts the character counts he has been faithfully serving in Babylon by the Spirit of God and when they need help the Queen remembers I know a guy who has character you can depend on him he will tell you the truth even if you don't want to hear it he'll do what's right even if you were hoping that that was not the future that was coming so the story then continues that we all have a day of judgment then Daniel was brought in before the king the King answered and said to Daniel you are that Daniel it's interesting again he calls him Daniel see it doesn't matter what other people call you if God says you're loved you're loved if God says you're forgiven you're forgiven if God says you're clean you're clean if God says you're saved you're saved it doesn't matter what they say it only matters what he says okay so for his whole life they keep calling him Belteshazzar and he's like that ain't me I'm Daniel finally they're like okay you're Daniel you're Daniel you are that Daniel one of the exhales of Judah whom the King my father brought from Judah skipped the whole conquered your land robbed your God enslaved you castrated you it's interesting how sometimes we skip the details when we're dealing with people oh yeah it might do work for my dad that's not exactly how it went out I have heard of you that the Spirit of the Gods is in you might we live in such a way that people know who God spirit-filled people are and that light is there in a dark place and understanding because they're in a foolish and evil place an excellent wisdom are found in you now the wise men the enchanters have been brought in before me to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation this is their whole job but they could not show the interpretation of the matter but I've heard that you can give interpretation and solve problems now if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation you shall be clothed grand-prize show him what he wants on e purple and a chain of gold around your neck and you get to be number three in the kingdom because it was his dad and then this kid and then he would be number three it seems like a promotion but it's not he already works for a king and he's already going to inherit a kingdom and this kingdom is going to go down that night so it's not like this job has got a real future okay story continues next slide then Daniel answered and said before the king let your gifts be for yourself I don't work for money I work for God I am NOT for hire I am NOT a hireling the way you get a hireling as you hire somebody and sometimes people will give a lot of money to have a leader especially a religious or spiritual leader tell them what they want to hear so that they can justify that which God does not and what Daniel saying is I ain't in this for the money I'm in this for the Lord I'm not for hire he's going to be a prophet not a politician this world has too many politicians it needs more prophets let your gifts be for yourself and give your rewards to another nevertheless I will read the writing to the king and make known him the interpretation o King the Most High God that's a major theme of Daniel the Most High God overall God's religion spiritualities ideologies rulers kings and kingdoms is the Most High God he gave Nebuchadnezzar your father kingship greatness glory Majesty everything you have son that came from God you're just a spoiled kid and because of the great that he gave him all peoples nations languages trembled and feared before him whom he would he killed whom he would he kept alive who me what he raised up and whom he would he humbled it your grandpa acted like God but when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly he was brought down from his kingly throne and his glory was taken from him let me just pause here here's Daniel old guy okay I think he looks like Clint Eastwood I'm just gonna put it out there I think you want some of this I mean he's old but he's still in the game and then here's the young guy here's the young guy okay this conversation is the old guy taking the young guy too though so the woodshed are taking him to school or taking them to the school woodshed whatever you prefer this is the old guy looking at the young guy saying son you have no idea how you got here you have no gratitude for God you just spoiled an arrogant and let me tell you a story about what God has done for your family sometimes people need not just receive an encouragement sometimes they need a review what happens in Daniel five is that it is an intense and difficult section of Scripture and part of the reason that some people avoid it or struggle with it is that we live in a day when the Bible is really in some regards just to be treated as motivational quotes right so positive uplifting safe for the whole family hope you read Daniel 5 you're like finger on the wall dead people I don't know what category that fits in it fits in the category of judgment if it's in the category of sin it fits in the category of the wrath of God and when we're saved were saved from sin we're safe from the wrath of God we're safe from the judgment of God if all you ever want are soft words from God you'll end up with a hard heart against God sometimes God allows hard words to produce soft people okay and when we read of this we're reading of judgment and we're reading of wrath and we're reading of consequence and we see this man rebuking that man it is still God's grace giving that guilty man an opportunity to repent he's still alive he's not dead there's still an opportunity for him to turn from his ways and to trust in God and to receive forgiveness and to join Daniel in the service of the real King yeah we're all just like this guy are we I mean let's just be honest let's not just look at him and say I can't believe he did that if you had that much money in that much power truth be told we'd probably do the same thing we probably would and what he's saying here the problem with your grandfather was pride and he became hard-hearted pride is demonic the first being to ever become proud was Satan we live in a culture that honors pride we have we have pride movements we have pride parades don't make it the goal of your child raising to have them have good self-esteem but humility and repentance and faith in God our entire educational system is for pride self-esteem there's nothing wrong with you you're amazing everybody should celebrate you nothing needs to change you're awesome God shows up through Daniel and says your lifestyle is unacceptable to me it may be popular there may be a whole parade behind you but I am against it and it's a call to repentance it's the same call that Daniel gave to his grandfather and this is a courageous moment do you think the king wants to hear this in front of his party in his palace but it's the truth Daniel has a tender heart a soft heart so he can communicate hard truth and his hope would be that that man's heart would not harden his grandfather's but it would soften so the story continues he was driven from among the children of mankind he's telling the story of his grandfather we looked at this in Chapter four his mind was made like that of a beast his dwelling was with the wild donkeys he was fed grass like an ox his body was wet with the dew of heaven your your grandpa lost his mind son his nails grew out his hair grew out he lived in the yard and ate stuff like grass for seven years and slept outside pride is a problem with God he was fed grass until he knew that the Most High God rules the kingdoms of mankind and sets over at whom he will and you know his son Eleazar have not humbled your heart though you knew all of this how many of us God showed up in our parents life God showed up in our grandparents life and we know that God showed up and we ignore him that's what's happening but you have lifted yourself up that's pride against the Lord of Heaven and the vessels of his house have been brought in before you and you and your lords your wives your concubines have drunk from them and you have praised the gods of silver gold bronze iron wood stone which do not see or hear or know but the God in whose hands your breath but the God in whose hand is your breath son your breath is a gift and those and whose are all your ways you have not honored this is really about pride versus humility that's what he's saying Nebuchadnezzar in chapter 4 we looked God gave him a warning one year you need to repent apologize worship Daniel's God be forgiven we call it get him born again God gave him a prophecy you got one year then you're gonna lose your mind the end of one year chapter 4 Nebuchadnezzar is up on the roof of his phallus what's he doing he's looking down on everyone else and he becomes full of pride he says look at my kingdom and what I've done and how awesome I am and and what achievements I've I've and he loses his mind for seven years when you're proud you start to go crazy and then he says at the end of chapter four he said when I looked up to the king of heaven the Most High God my mind returned to me the point is this pride is what happens when we will look down on other people humility is what happens when we look up to God his problem was he looked down on people or looked in the mirror at himself but he didn't look up to God the goal is not to focus on your humility the goal is to focus on the Lord and that produces humility hear what he is saying is son you've never looked up to God you just looked down at everyone that you rule in conquer and all that you haven't possess God wants you to look up to him otherwise he's going to come down and deal with you let me pull a few principles here from the life of Daniel and the life of Belshazzar these are two men's that's two men that serve as case studies regarding Daniel don't get caught up in power praise possessions or pleasure right because what the king is telling them is you could be third and command power praise I'm going to tell everybody what you've done if you help me possessions you're gonna get gold pleasure here's a party here's a harem welcome to the party don't get caught up in those things those things are fleeting and passing and the joy of the Lord is deeper and richer and never ends okay number two the only way to conquer fear of man is with fear of God proverbs 29:25 says that fear of man is a trap or a snare how terrified would you be if you had to do Daniels job I mean this family is a situation right they've already thrown his friends into a fiery furnace I mean it's his grandpa's the Adolf Hitler of the Old Testament through military blitzkrieg he conquers nations plunders them burns them to the ground and slaves them and if the Jewish people get out of line he puts them in a furnace I mean this is not a family that you pick a fight with but Daniel is going to overcome fear of man with a fear of God some of you don't like to have hard conversations some of you don't like conflict some of you don't like consequences some of you don't want any trouble you have fear of men he has love for his enemies because he has fear of God so he no longer fears his enemies he just knows what is right he seeks to say and do that which is right no matter the consequences number three regarding this man Daniel we saw earlier that he would kneel before God and then he will stand before a king everyone else bow down except for Daniel and his buddies here we see that if you will kneel before God you can stand before kings this is where God opposes the proud but he gives grace to the humble humble yourself and he'll lift you up on its time kneeling in prayer kneeling and worship is a demonstration of humility in the heart and in the soul and if you have humility then you'll have the integrity as you kneel before God to stand before kings that's the story of Daniel in addition regarding this man's life he doesn't edit or write the mail he lets God write the mail and he just delivers it as a faithful mailman when he stands before these men and he has these hard complex difficult conversations he doesn't he doesn't withhold those things that could be a little controversial and he also doesn't add things that could be a little personal how many of you feel that God's like okay go tell that King I'm done I'm sick of them how many of you would add a little bit of your own Oh while we're here I'm castrated in Iraq and a vegetarian and you know God's gonna kill you and yeah you know so he doesn't do that when you take it personally you make it personal the next point is if somebody has a problem with God leave the problem between them and God don't put yourself in the middle right he's like okay God's got a problem with you you and God got a problem I'm not putting myself in the middle this between you and God sometimes we get frustrated with people and we get ourselves in the middle and that means it's harder for God to deal with them because we've complicated the situation Daniel just leaves it as it is between this man and God how about Belshazzar well one thing we learn is unless God is your father it's always like father like son see we have this evolutionary myth of progress if we just wait everybody gets better I don't know about you it doesn't feel like it it doesn't seem like the world is a more loving safe kind benevolent generous patient place the only way people changes they need to meet God and God becomes their father they then join the family of God they're filled with the Spirit of God they're conformed to the image of the Son of God that's the only way that change happens otherwise it's like father like son this is just generations of just drunken brutality after Nebuchadnezzar left the throne his successor was murdered by his brother they put another guy on the throne he got killed in battle so then they throw up this grandson and he gets drunk and throws a party and literally declares war on God it's three generations how many of us we don't learn from our family history we just repeat it like father like son that's the story of this family number two pride is a problem pride is a problem for God all of this is ultimately the fruit of the root of pride and I'm not saying that that pride is something that that some people struggle with all people struggle with pride the only difference is whether or not it's a problem for us and we're fighting against it or we're succumbing to it in what areas of your life are you proud you look down on others you're defiant you feel like you're the exception to the rule that you are above the law that you get to write your own life story and rules that govern your conduct that's the heart of pride that's the heart of Satan number three if you don't worship the Creator you will worship the created they worship the God of gold silver they go down the line says this in Romans 1 they exchanged the truth of God for the lie and worshiped and served created things rather than the crater God is forever praised amen I'll hit that this summer we're gonna jump into Romans after Daniel so this is the easy book just brace yourself we're gonna get into Romans a Romans 1 says that if you don't worship the creator or you worship that which is created we're all worshipers we're all passionate about someone or something we all take our money and give it some where we take our days and put them somewhere we take our energy and invest it somewhere this can be a created thing that God made this can be worshipping the environment this can be worshiping beauty this can be worshipping your pet if people cared as much for their soul as they did for their pet the world would be a better place I get people all the time like is my dog going to heaven or are you going to heaven I would start with that if the dog does make it and you don't who's going to throw the frisbee right like creative things can be our GPA it can be our income it can be our place in the pecking order at the company it can be our retirement account it can be our sports team it can be our political party it can be our favorite hobby we we worship with with religious devotion created things created things and what happens in idolatry a good thing takes God's place there by making it a bad thing so I'm not saying that food or you know good stewardship or a relationship or a pet or a hobby or a job are bad they're good they're just a bad God okay and that's what's happening here they they worship the gods of created things so this last point I want to make it very personal they had judgment come from God for using holy vessels in unholy ways true today we are the people of God part of the kingdom of God were under the rulership of King Jesus to use the analogy here in this house what are the holy vessels you are you are I'll prove it to you picking up on this theme Paul in 2nd Timothy 2:20 and 21 says in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood in play some for honorable use some for dishonorable therefore if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable he will be a vessel for honorable use set apart is wholly useful to the master of the house ready for every good work you are God's holy vessels in this house you are the holy vessels so what we can do we can look at the story and say I can't believe they did that with God's Cup then we also need to ask what am I doing with God's body they not only were partaking in a way of using the vessels as unholy the body that God gave them they also made unholy vessels repentance change holiness it's God's Way of cleansing us so that we can be pure vessels rightly used not wrongly used but we can look at these people that say I can't believe what they did with a cup and God would say I can't believe what you do with your body I'm just gonna say it some people are gluttons they don't care for the holy vessel so people are drunkards they don't care for the holy vessel some people are perverted they don't care for the holy vessel some people are self-medicating they don't care for the holy vessel and here's what I want you to know it doesn't matter how dirty you've made the vessel Jesus is the one who can make it clean okay Jesus is the one who can make it clean and so what tends to happen we think ok I've dirtied up my vessel I'm dirty no Jesus comes to not only forgive your sin but to make you clean and he does so by putting the Holy Spirit of God in you to make you a holy vessel so the same spirit of God that lived in Daniel the same spirit of God that lived in Jesus the same spirit of God that lives in you makes you clean and pure see in this story these people were using an unholy vessel and they were treating their bodies as unholy vessels Daniel is still a holy vessel you see that he comes clean pure serving God being used for God's purposes I didn't have this in my notes I didn't share it in the first service I just feel inclined to say something I believe that some of you are not serving God because you believe you're too dirty I believe that some of you are not freed from your past to enjoy your future because you are haunted with guilt shame and condemnation from mistakes error sins faults flaws and failures of your past some of you are haunted you said I can't believe I did that with my body I can't believe I touched that I can't believe I smoked that I can't believe I drank that I can't believe I can't believe I did that with that person or persons I am so dirty if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness okay the one thing that this man doesn't do is repent of his sin so he's never made clean this man Daniel repented of his sin and God made him clean how do you clean up your life you be honest about the parts that are dirty and you invite God to come clean it up so that your body can be used as a holy vessel for God's purposes but the moral of the story is don't mistreat God's holy vessels I would just say this includes your kids don't hit him or harm him this would include your wife don't lay hands on her don't mistreat God's holy vessels okay this is all very sober but it's very hopeful there's two men here and the point is you can be like this one or this one God welcomes you to receive his King Jesus be part of his kingdom the kingdom of God be filled with his spirit so you can be like this man Daniel rather than this other man who ultimately dies story concludes you never know how much time you have true and if you lost somebody you didn't see it coming you're like cancer car wreck what gone life moves very very quickly and people are making plans for days they don't have therefore we read this and I just want you to know friend you never know how much time you have then from his presence the hand was sent and this writing was inscribed and this is the writing that was inscribed many men a Tekel and parson this is the interpretation of the matter Daniels just going to give right to it many God is numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end it's over now it took generations to build an empire it took minutes for God to take it down tackle you have been weighed in the balance and found wanting your life God's not pleased you have been weighed in the balance and found wanting Peris your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and the Persians these are two joint military forces that come together against a common enemy the Medes and the Persians becomes the medo-persian Empire then Belshazzar gave the command and Daniel was clothed does Daniel want this now purple that's the color of a chain of gold a proclamation made and he gets to be number three for the kingdom that's going to go down in three minutes the point of the story is even if you get the top of a kingdom on this planet it's not a big deal wait for the kingdom that never ends that very night that very night prophecy given fulfilled the same day that very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed and darius the mede received the kingdom being about 62 years old now we read this and some people will judge God and they forget that no God is judge and some people will say I don't like God doing this in the same way that criminals don't like cops okay I don't like that well you're the criminal okay criminals don't like cops that's not the cops fault what happens is people will come to this text of like it's not so I can't worship a God of the Bible he's just hard she's mean he's angry is violent let me say this he's patient I'll prove it to you 150 years fryer through the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 13 here's what God says the Oracle concerning Babylon behold this is before they invaded before Daniel this is long before anything behold I am stirring up the Medes against them who have no regard for silver do not delight in gold their bows will slaughter the young men they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb their eyes will not pity children and Babylon the glory of kingdoms the splendor and pomp of the Chaldeans will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them its time is close at hand and its days will not be prolonged Daniel being the chief Bible teacher in Babylon was well aware of the prophecies of Isaiah and would have taught them okay it says right here the clock is set it's coming God waits 150 years let me ask you this how many of you have waited patiently with love in your heart for your enemy for 150 years God waited a hundred let me say that's a amazing I'm not shocked at the end that God judges them I'm shocked that he waited 150 years some people say I don't know how God can send people to hell I'm still perplexed at how he could get people to heaven all right I mean when you do wrong and you get judgment that seems right when you do wrong and Jesus gets judgment we call that grace in addition fifty years before daniel and jeremiah 20:7 this prophecy was given thus says the lord of hosts the God of Israel this is what you shall say to their masters it is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth with men and animals that are on the earth and I give it to whomever it seems right to me now I've given all these lands into the hands of King Nebuchadnezzar names him and his family the king of Babylon my servant Nebuchadnezzar is still ultimately ruled by a sovereign God he makes freewill decisions he will have consequences for them but God repeatedly calls this man my servant see it looks like people are defeating God they're not God is ruling over them he is still God's servant and I have also given him the beasts of the field to serve Him all the nations shall serve Him and his son and his grandson this kid knew exactly what God said until the time his own land comes then many nations and great kings shall make him their slave we read this 50 years prior God says hey told you hundred fifty years ago just to remind her fifty more years and then he sends Daniel sends him through slavery and exile gives a dream that he interpreted in Chapter two of a mighty warrior King head of gold Babylon that would be overcome supplanted by the medo-persian empire typify dwith the two arms meet on persian the kingdom of silver and daniel said okay here's where we're going and the family kept saying nah we don't believe the Bible everyone who dies and stands before God without knowing the Lord Jesus Christ after hearing about the Lord Jesus Christ is in the same position as the Babylonians God told you there's judgment God told you there is heaven and hell' God told you there is life beyond the grave and some people they think number one that's not true number two the Bible can't be trusted or number three I've got plenty of time there's a little bit of Babylon in all of us this is a counterfeit heaven the reason they feel so secure they have built heaven on earth their empire is the biggest their military is the strongest their economy is the richest surrounding their capital city of Babylon is a massive walled compound each Empire would throw another height on the wall to show that their kingdom was greater it was so large that you could run a chariot around it and turn the chariot around it was surrounded by a moat it was a fortified city in which was the king's palace in addition they had years of food as rations they could grow food within the walls of the city and they have the mighty Euphrates River flowing into it they are impenetrable they are undefeatable this is heaven on earth we're safe we're rich it's a kingdom of gold we eat and drink and play at our pleasure nothing can topple us and let me just say this we're all trying to build heaven on earth we're all trying that's right we have security on our house not saying we don't need it we put behind edik communities and we try and pay off our mortgage and we try and pad our retirement account and we try and fill up our fridge in our pantry we try and get everything we want and then we feel secure I'm safe I have no debt if trouble comes I've got the God of wealth to deliver me it's and I'm not saying it's bad to have a house it's not bad to have a job it's not bad to have a plan but if your plan isn't to trust the Lord whatever happens you've got the wrong plan okay they set up heaven on earth it's counterfeit this isn't heaven this isn't the kingdom of God and and and this is one of the most legendary stories in the history of war Herodotus he's an ancient historian reports what happens it's a legendary military move I'll tell you exactly what happened so the party's going on in the walls what's outside of the walls the joint military forces of the medo-persian empire they had marched in and what does the King say nothing to worry about we've got heaven on earth let's all get drunk and throw a party so while these guys are drinking and partying these guys are plotting and planning as their city is under siege they are ignoring reality and they are drinking heavily they can't penetrate the walls so what the what the advancing army decides is let's divert the Riu Freitas River what happens to a riverbed that dries up now it's a walkway under a wall into the city they just walk right in they walk right in and they conquer and they plunder and everything God promised came to pass let me say this you're gonna die you will stand before a king there will be a judgement and you will have an eternal desk the Bible is true God will not be mocked we do reap what we sow we do need to be forgiving we are unholy vessels we need another king in another Kingdom and we need forgiveness and to be changed from the inside out by the Holy Spirit okay and so ultimately the moral dove story is everybody needs Jesus and even if it works it doesn't work until you need it most that's what's going on here so let me say this the only secure fortress is God all the guys in the secured fortress there they're dead and enslaved the one guy Daniel who has God as his secure fortress he's fine come back next week but the next King hires him he still got a job right different King different Kingdom they're like that guys helpful he's got the Holy Spirit we'll take him the moral of the story is if your ultimate eternal fortress your strong place your place of protection your shield is anything or anyone other than King Jesus you are in grave danger because only God is a secure fortress okay a couple of things this whole storyline by the way it's about a king in a kingdom and it's all leading to Jesus as king of kings and Kingdom over all kingdoms that's where we're driving in Daniel 7 that's where we're driving to the resurrection of the Dead in Daniel chapter 12 but ultimately I want to have you see how Daniel is filled with the Holy Spirit and he is a type he is an example he is a foreshadowing of King Jesus I want to share this with you Daniel watched Babylon fall in his day and Jesus will make the spirit of Babylon fall forever on the day of his second coming Daniel and Jesus were both filled with the Holy Spirit Daniel and Jesus live far away from home in a hostile nation Daniel and Jesus traveled through the world with a few faithful friends Daniel and Jesus never got to enjoy marriage or parent Daniel and Jesus loved and served their enemies Daniel saw the hand of God write on a wall Jesus felt the hand of God nailed on a cross Daniel saw a king endure the wrath of God for his sin our King Jesus endured our wrath for our sin and Daniel saw a king drink from a cup in sin our King Jesus drank our cup of sin if you remember the story of the Lord Jesus the night before he died he was in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane and he prayed father take this cup from me it was an unclean vessel it was an unholy vessel it was a cup filled with your sin and my sin our lives are just like the Babylonians we say and do the same things they said and did and Jesus was a holy vessel and he did not want to partake of that cop to make himself sin and to endure the wrath of God as they endured and then Jesus surrendered his will to the Father as well not my will be done but your will be done and Jesus went to the cross and he drank the cup of your sin and God's wrath so that you would receive what the Babylonians did not receive forgiveness cleansing relationship a king a kingdom that never ends and new life through our King Jesus Christ we remind ourselves of this every time we take communion and we take communion every week it's to say that I was an unclean vessel Jesus was a clean vessel Jesus drank my cup and made me clean we remind ourselves of that every Sunday why because if the enemy is going to throw parties where people eat and drink against God then church is to be a place where people eat and drink in the presence of God for the glory of God to their joy that's why we're here that's why we're here let me close with this in the end there's two guys the King and Daniel you got to decide which one you're gonna follow do you know Jesus do you love Jesus have you given him your sin are you asking him to make you a holy vessel and to fill you with the Holy Spirit if not you're following the example of this fallen king if you receive Jesus if you repent of your sin if you acknowledge the goodness of God and your need for cleansing and forgiveness you're following in the example of Daniel my job is to tell the truth your job is to make the most important decision you will ever make and that is which man you will be like and watch leader you will follow in which example you will emulate with your life hear me and this you don't know how much time you've got they had no conception that an entire kingdom that had ruled for decades would come down in minutes don't presume on the grace of God run to the god of grace give yourself to Jesus get cleaned up and walk in the spirit father God thank you for an opportunity to study Daniel together God I believe that hard words produce soft people and soft words produce hard people and Lord God with love in my heart and I hope that people hear that and know that we're all unclean vessels we all need to repent we all need forgiveness we need to stop looking down on others and start looking up to our Lord and Savior who is coming again on the clouds of heaven to set up a kingdom that never ends or the party will be greater than that in Babylon and no one will have anything to regret or apologize for because it'll just be joy with Jesus and whose name we pray amen you

Channel: Real Faith by Mark Driscoll

Views: 4,783

Rating: 4.8095236 out of 5

Keywords: Mark, Driscoll, ministry, thetrinitychurch, scottsdale, arizona, bible, teaching, gospel, theology, jesus, biblestudy, faith, bibleverse

Id: YGjygfM5FsU

Length: 64min 54sec (3894 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 10 2020