“…until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes”
Daniel 4:17; 4:25; 4:32; 5:21
Faith Baptist Church
Writing on the Wall
Well, good morning church. Good morning. It's good to see you this morning. We got a lot more people sitting on this side today. (congregation laughing) Wow. Well, if it gets too crowded, there's some spots over here. And the front row, usually some opening there in the front row. Well, welcome to church. I hope that you get that sense when you come to church that you're finding something real. I sense that this morning. I usually do, especially during worship. Get a sense that something's real. And most things in life, they're not as real. The reason you know is 'cause they pass away. It doesn't last forever. You see our praises, they last forever. People of God, we last forever. God's word lasts forever. But so many things don't last. And we keep seeing that in the book of Daniel as a theme of what really lasts forever. Most things fade away. And yet the things that last forever, we gotta cling to, we gotta run after, and we gotta share the world about. And the things that don't last forever, there's an expiration date on them, okay? There's kind of writing on the wall, so to speak, that there's signs that they're not gonna last forever. Every time a car breaks down, every time there's a doctor visit, it's the writing on the wall, right? It's a clue of this isn't gonna last forever, right? As much as I love this car, it's gonna get older, right? As long as, as much as I love my health, I'm gonna get older, right? And I wanna bring you to a phrase here today, which it's popularly used, okay? It's in the dictionary. And it comes from this chapter that we're looking at today. Okay, and so if we scoot ahead to the phrase, the writing on the wall, okay? And here's the definition, the definition in the dictionary, Webster dictionary, move to the next slide. Says this, if you say that the writing is on the wall, you mean that there are clear signs that something bad will probably happen soon, okay? You see the writing on the wall. And that comes from the chapter we're looking at today. There are clear signs that something bad's gonna happen. And if you look at the news, there's a little bit of the writing on the wall. There's clear signs that something bad's gonna happen. The things that aren't gonna last forever are clearly being seen as not lasting forever, okay? Kingdoms come, kingdoms go, but the kingdom of God lasts forever. And that's what we're gonna look at today. Thank you for the amen by the way. We're allowed to do that in church. And you're allowed to let me know that you're tracking with me. So thank you. And so here, I wanna share a story with you. This is someone who saw the writing on the wall, okay? And he decided to go give the gift of a warning to those who needed to hear it, of what wasn't gonna last forever. And it was back in the Revolutionary War, and most of us know of the ride of Paul Revere. It was in 1775, and the red coats were coming, okay? The British were coming, and so he rode all through the night, a sleepless night to go share the news that the red coats were coming and that people needed to prepare, okay? Their peace and prosperity wasn't gonna last. They needed to prepare. And a story a little closer to home is five years later, in 1780, we have an Iowa resident, part of the story in the Revolutionary War. Now in 1780, Iowa was not a state, but we have a resident from Dubuque. And I heard about this. We were visiting Elaine's grandparents in Dubuque doing a riverboat ride. And I was tuning in and out of the person talking over the intercom. But this story caught my attention as he shared about this man in Dubuque who canude down the Mississippi River. And what happened was the British were coming. There was a flotilla of 1,500 British soldiers, and Native American allies. They were floating down the river through Dubuque, and they were heading towards St. Louis, and they're gonna attack. And so this guy, mine in his own business, is a fur trader, saw this, and he and his buddies said, you know what? Y'all up for a nice canoe ride. And so they made over a 300 mile journey canoeing down the Mississippi River. They did a honorary expedition of this, and it took the people two weeks to do. And they said it. They predicted it was over four million strokes of the paddle to get all the way down. They went past Davenport, past Muscatine, past Kiekuk, all the way down to St. Louis. And they bought the people in St. Louis about two months time to prepare. They were able to build up a tower, set up five cannons on top. There was only 29 soldiers. The village was only 700 people, with 300 people able to hold a musket. But they set up shop. They defended against this invading force, and they repelled the British. And this guy named Jean-Marie Cardinal was the only known Iowa resident to give his life for American freedom. And he did. He died in that battle. Instead of just mine in his own business, doing fur trading in Iowa, he got the paddle, picked up his paddle. He picked up his rifle when the time was right. And he gave the gift of a warning so that people could prepare. Now thankfully, they listened to him. Isn't it frustrating when you go through all that effort and people don't listen to you? Right? I mean, it's like the British are coming. Nah, I don't believe you. You know? What would they be doing up there anyways? By Iowa, I don't believe you. Well, they were there and they were coming. And a lot of times people don't listen. It's frustrating. And the reason they don't listen is 'cause they don't trust us. You see, there's a lot of noise out there and there's a lot of messages. You can't trust every voice you hear. And especially in our generation, I believe people are very skeptical, right? We've been lied to. You go on the news and it's like, man, there's one side of the story. There's another side of the story. Fake news, a balance, I don't know what's going on. I'm just gonna swallow, hook and sink are the first person that knocks on my door, right? You gotta discern out, okay? What is the message of truth? And what is the message of love? A lot of times in the name of the church even, messages and warnings have been given in order to control and manipulate people. And that's the skepticism we receive. Even if we are doing it in truth and love, people look at us like, I think you're just trying to get something from me. I think you're just trying to get me to fall in line so that you can feel more comfortable, right? And yet our heart, like Jean-Marie Cardinal, is to say, no, I'm trying to prove to you I wouldn't have come all the way from Iowa 300 miles if this wasn't serious, right? And so we're trying to show a watching world trying to give them a warning that they can trust 'cause the consequences are so, so great. A lot of times people don't listen to those who come. 25% of the Bible are the prophets and most of the time the prophets that are coming, people don't listen, they don't listen. And so we get to this chapter, we're gonna look at two chapters and there's two kings who don't really listen. The first one is Nebuchadnezzar and the second is his son, Belshazzar. Now God's been trying to get a Nebuchadnezzar's attention for a while, this is the third time, okay? First was a dream that he had of a statue that falls over and Daniel says that that statue represents your kingdom. It's not gonna last forever, but God's kingdom will. And then later in the fiery furnace, Nebuchadnezzar throws three guys into the fiery furnace that refused about down to him and he sees that they are lasting forever and there's a fourth that walks among them and they come out. And already he forgets again, forgets again, did anyone trust the message of the gospel the first time they heard it? Or maybe it took two or three times, right? Well, for Nebuchadnezzar it took two or three times and this is a third time. He has another one of these dreams and he has a dream that there's a giant tree who provides fruit, it shelters the animals and a voice in the dream says, cut it down and down it goes. Well, it really troubles him about this dream 'cause it's not just mentioning the kingdom, but the voice says that a certain person will lose his sanity and all of his authority. Nebuchadnezzar goes, I've had one of these dreams before. I know they mean something. I know they point at what doesn't last forever and there's a certain person in the dream that is gonna be cut down and this bothers Nebuchadnezzar. So he gets his trusted Daniel. A person of God that had earned his trust over the years and asked Daniel to interpret this. The very end of the dream are the words that this person will lose his sanity and it says that so that the living may know that the most high is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes. And so Daniel is tasked with interpreting this dream. He says in verse 19 that he was greatly perplexed for a time and his thoughts terrified him. So Daniel sat on this. I'm not sure why. Says he was perplexed and terrified and yet the next end of the verse shows that he knew what it meant. He was a little worried to share it with King Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar, he catches onto this. He says, here he says, so the king said, Daniel, do not let this dream or it's meaning alarm you. And Daniel answered, my Lord, if only the dream applied to your enemies and it's meaning to your adversaries. It's not a good prophecy here. Verse 22, he says, your majesty, you are that tree. I'm struck at how Daniel felt about giving this warning. He didn't want to do it. Yet he know he had to do it. Nebuchadnezzar was relying on him to do it. Yet he goes, this isn't fun. Maybe that's the right way to approach giving a warning to our world. Not necessarily fun, okay? You can't necessarily have a smile on our face while we say, hey, you're going to hell. It's got to be with a heart that says, oh, I wish this didn't apply to you. If only this didn't apply to you. My heart breaks for you, Nebuchadnezzar. My heart breaks. And yet here's the warning is that the writing is on the wall. You've only got so much time left. He says in verse 24, this is the interpretation of your majesty. This is the decree that the most high is issued against my Lord the king. Here's a role change. Nebuchadnezzar is used to issuing decrees. Now it's the most high who says no. I'm the one who issues decrees, right? Verse 25, you will be driven away from the people and will live with the wild animals. You will eat grass like the ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven. And seven times will pass by for you. We heard this already. This is now a second time. Until you acknowledge that the most high is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes. The vision, the dream, it leaves a stump in so verse 26. It says the command to leave the stump of the tree with its roots means that your kingdom will be restored to you when you acknowledge that heaven rules. I love that line, heaven rules. See, often we give guys like Neb here. I'm gonna start nickname and I'm Neb. We give him way too much credit, right? There's heaven rules. We got an election coming up. Sometimes we give that president way too much credit 'cause heaven rules. And hopefully that person acknowledges that. Otherwise, the writing's on the wall for them. For God gives and takes the way. The authority he gives is to anyone he wishes. And so verse 27, in good tact, which Daniel's often known for doing, he says, "Therefore your majesty." I think he says this very tactfully. He says, "Be pleased to accept my advice." You're not screaming at him with a speaker in his face, okay? While he's trying to go get lunch on his lunch break. But he's saying, "Hey, buddy, here's my advice." Okay, here's my advice. Renounce your sins by doing what is right and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your prosperity will continue. So any leader, any nation, any church, any person who does not renounce their sins, who is not kind to the oppressed, they will not prosper. So Daniel says, "You gotta repent. You gotta change the way you're living." Just like Jean-Marie Cardinal came to St. Louis and says, "You gotta stop what you're doing right now, and you gotta prepare for what's coming." If you go about business as usual, it will be the end for you guys. Maybe not now, maybe not tomorrow, but it's coming. You gotta change the way you're living. You gotta change your priorities. (silence) Please listen to me. Well, we're not given what Nebuchadnezzar's reaction is, but in verse 28, says that all this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. Verse 29, "12 months later, the king was walking on the roof of his palace." And he says, "With great arrogance, is not the great Babylon I have built as this royal residence, by my mighty power, and for the glory of my majesty." As the words run, his lips, a voice came from heaven, says, "This is what is decreed for you, King Neb. Your royal authority has been taken from you, and you will be driven away." Not only did he lose his authority, but he lost his sanity. Says, "Seven times will pass by for you, until you acknowledge," this is the third time we see this repeated, "until you acknowledge that the most high is sovereign over the kingdoms of the world," and he gives them to anyone, he wishes. Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled, and he was driven away. He loses his sanity, he becomes like an animal. Verse 34, "Now it turns to the first person." And it says, "At the end of that time, this is first person now." This is Nebuchadnezzar also trying to share the message to those willing to listen. He says, "I, Nebuchadnezzar, I raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Only we had more leaders willing to raise their eyes towards heaven and have their sanity restored." And then in our own lives, and as the church, if only we raised our eyes to heaven and had our own sanity restored, 'cause we can act pretty insane sometimes too. Yeah. Insanity lives in the human heart on both sides of the aisle. And throughout all the kingdoms of the world, the calls raise our eyes to heaven, to find our place on our knees, to renounce our sins, to seek justice for the oppressed, to let God be king, to let God be Lord over our lives. Verse 35, oh, no, back to 34. Wherever we're at, the end of that. It says, "His dominion is an eternal dominion. His kingdom endures from generation to generation." That's a line that continues being repeated chapter after chapter in Daniel, this eternal kingdom. He opens the chapter with that line as a decree to the whole world. You got to know everybody what lasts forever. Uniquely, these chapters, they're written in Aramaic, very rare in the Bible for it not to be in Hebrew, and it's because it's for the whole world to know. Not just for Sunday mornings, this is for the whole world to know what lasts forever. It's gonna be the kingdom of God, nothing else, nothing else. And then verse 35, he says, "All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing." For he does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him, "What have you done?" Okay, this is Nebuchadnezzar. He had tremendous power. He was brutal. He understands what it means for his hand to have the power of life and death. And here in great humility he goes, I got it all wrong. I don't sit on that throne in heaven. God does. He has that authority. Verse 36, "At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisors and nobles, they sought me out again, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before." Oh, this is a great way to close the chapter. The moral of the story, verse 37, "Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, I praise and I exalt, and I glorify the king of heaven because he does, because everything he does is right, and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride, oh, he is more than able to humble." What a great way to end a chapter. What a great way for the moral of the lesson, for the moral of the story to come out in the end. This is the end of the story of Nebuchadnezzar. We don't hear about him anymore. This is the end of the line in the scriptures for him. He ends with his eyes towards heaven and his sanity restored, praising and exalting and glorifying the king of heaven. And I think Nebuchadnezzar is gonna be in heaven. And you might say, I don't think so. He's a pretty bad guy. He's a pretty bad guy. I mean, he wiped out God's people. He tore down the temple. Hey, Saul was a pretty bad guy. He was going church to church, killing the early Christians. And yet God says, "No, you're gonna be my chosen instrument." And because of your background, you're gonna know without a doubt not to get a big head. I'm able to use you and you're gonna be able to serve me because I know you're gonna stay humble. I think someday we might see old Neb up in heaven and say, wow, isn't our God a gracious and merciful God? And he's gonna say, amen. And he's gonna say, I'm glad you listened to what I had to say in Daniel chapter four. I wanted you to hear it. I wanted other people to know. I didn't want you to have to take three or four times to figure it out. 'Cause sometimes you don't go get three or four chances. His son in the next chapter does not get three or four chances. And his son misses it. His son doesn't listen to his dad's testimony of what lasts forever and is important in life. And his son doesn't listen to his pastor as Daniel comes to him and says, Belchazar, you're missing it. He refuses to read the writing on the wall and he continues in his ways. He does not humble himself before the Lord and he suffers greatly for it. So turn the chapter with me in chapter five. The first half of this chapter, Belchazar, gathers a thousand people together and they have a party. These Babylonians love to gather together and it pride. He did it in the Tower of Babel and Genesis. Nebuchadnezzar did it before his great statue. He does it yet again. And they pull out the goblets from the temple that they had ransacked. They take the things of God and they use them and abuse them. Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and rode on the plaster of the wall and all the nobles were baffled. Belchazar, his face turned pale and he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees were knocking. And then no one could tell him what it meant. These words, it was four words, written supernaturally on the wall right by him. Later when no one could tell him it says he grew even more terrified and his face grew even more pale. This guy was sick. And his wife says, hey, there is a guy, a trusted voice in our community who might be able to help us out and they bring in Daniel. They said, your father had relied on him. I think you can too. And he tells Daniel, I'll give you all the gifts you want. And Daniel says, you keep your money. This Daniel's older now. He goes, I don't need it. It's not gonna last any ways, right? But he goes, I will tell you what this means. And verse 18, he says, your majesty, the most high God gave your father, Nebuchadnezzar, sovereignty and greatness and glory and splendor. Because of the high position he gave him, all the nations, they feared him. Goes on to share, he could do whatever he wanted, but it was God who gave him that authority. Verse 20, but when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. He was driven away, he lost his sanity. Until, you remember this phrase? It connects it to the last chapter. This is the fourth time it says, until he acknowledged that the most high God is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and sets over them any one he wishes. Does that sound familiar? Do we get the point yet? Just to make sure we get that point, I want you to repeat that with me. Starting with the word, so until he acknowledged that and then starting with the word, the, okay? Can we do that? Will you humor me on that? All right, one, two, three. The most high God is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and sets over them any one he wishes. Great. I mean, if the scripture repeats something four times and as the pastor, it's my job to share with you what's the point of this passage? You got it. You got it. Verse 22 says, "But you, Belchus, are his son. He did not get it. He didn't want to get it. He knows better than his dad. He knows better than his pastor. So you, Belchus, are his son. You've not humbled yourself, though you knew all this. He knew. You see, the world knows. Romans chapter one says that because of creation, the world is without excuse for they have to know that there is a creator. And as we talk to the world, we appeal to them of what they already know. Many people have rejected the faith. You've got family members. Many know some more than others. Amen. And yet judgment falls in those who know and do nothing about it. Says in verse 23, "Instead, you've set up yourself against the Lord of heaven." Goes on to show how he's taking for granted these things of God. He's worshiping created things rather than the creator. He prays the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which cannot see or understand. But you, you did not honor the God who holds in his hand, your life and all your ways. Your dad tried to tell you, I'm trying to tell you. Time's running out. Therefore, he gives them the meaning of these words. They mean that God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. It means you've been weighed in the scales and found wanting. It means that your kingdom is now divided amongst the Persians and the Medes. In the very last verse of the chapter, that very night, Belshazzar, that very night, his time to respond was when he heard the word of God. Not five years later, the day is today for repentance. Because that very night, Belshazzar, King of the Babylonians was slain and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom. New president, new party, nothing lasts forever. Now three kings down the line. There was Nebuchadnezzar, there was Belshazzar, there was Darius, more to come. God's word stands forever. Daniel still standing there. Teaching us, reminding us what lasts forever and to invest there. What if there was not a trusted voice to speak to Nebuchadnezzar and to Belshazzar? We're called to be a trusted voice in this community and our nation within our families. And if they don't trust us, why not? Why are they not asking for us? Are we not found to be people of wisdom and understanding? Are we not found to be flourishing like Daniel was in chapter one? Are we not a trusted and a loving voice? Do we shrink back from those opportunities? Daniel showed great discomfort. And he knew he needed to give an answer. Or sometimes, to the breaking of our heart, people just don't want to listen. They know this, but they don't want to turn away to a new path. And to that we pray that God would change their hearts supernaturally, just as he did ours. And just as he did, old Nebuchadnezzar. Here's some news. Here's some tips I'd give you for engaging in our culture. The theme here, it grips the attention of these older kingdoms, and it grips the attention of our current one, of what lasts forever. And the world view out there, the secular world view, is no answer for what lasts forever. The answer is either nothing or nothing. Or for some reason, they believe in the eternity of the world. It's always existed, and it always will. I don't care if it's a big bang theory. Where did that come from? And that always exists. So even the secular world view knows something had to have lasted forever. That something doesn't come from nothing. And I think believing in the eternity of God and the eternity of the soul is much more logical than the eternity of chaos. So I think you can lean into that. And people, they can read the writing on the wall. They know there's expiration dates. They see it. Every time someone gets divorced, every time someone goes to a funeral, every time their car breaks down, they know expiration dates. They don't want to think about it. 'Cause it's terrifying to think those questions without an answer, but we have an answer, Church. The world needs to know. And are we willing to tell them? John Marie Cardinal, he paddled 300 miles to tell people. He gave his life to tell people. And I understand that we need to come to church and we need to learn about God. But we have all of eternity to learn the mysteries of God. But one thing you can't do in heaven is tell someone that doesn't know him about him. Now is the time to heed the handwriting on the wall. Now is the time to share that with our world. Time's coming close. Time's coming close. In the beginning of the Gospels, Matthew chapter three. John the Baptist says, the axe is already at the root of the tree. Same imagery used for Nebuchadnezzar. The axe is at the root of the tree. What you are hoping in is not gonna last forever. Therefore he says, people were confessing their sins and they were baptized. They're turning away. Even the religious leaders needed to hear this, that they needed to produce fruit and keeping with repentance. The next chapter in Matthew four, Jesus says, repent for the kingdom of heaven has come. The kingdom that will crash all other kingdoms is here. And you're invited. To prepare for eternity. And we invite others to do the same. Are we willing to bring this to others? Well, what if they don't listen? What if I tried? We are called to be that truthful and loving voice. We earn burnt being heard by the way we live our lives. I speak to a lot of young people and it's through the testimony of their grandparents that they're willing to talk to me. 'Cause they can say, yeah, their marriage lasted 60 years. They loved their family. The proof was in the pudding. I've realized that I should listen. And so we can earn the trust in how we live. And then with that voice, show them the kingdom of God has come. And that the arms of Jesus are open wide and that people like Nebuchadnezzar can find grace. We get to do some baptisms here for two young people who want to invest into what's gonna last forever. You have that opportunity in weeks to come if you have not yet baptized to commit your ways in your life to the Lord. Listen to Daniel's advice. And let's give that advice to a world that needs it. Let's pray. Lord, I thank you that everything written in the scriptures is written to encourage us to exhort us that by their example, we might have hope. I pray that any scriptures here that are meant to linger and to burn in our hearts would do so. Would fall on fertile ground that it would take root so that tomorrow morning we would continue thinking about what lasts forever and our call to share that with the world. And we do pray for our nation and our community and our families. God, that you would soften hearts to be receptive to the truth and the love of your word. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. - Please stand with us. (coughing) [BLANK_AUDIO]