Call me crazy, but I'm just really encouraged every time I see the kids. I'm just so encouraged by that. And also, I always feel challenged as I see the kids, because it's one thing to have a bunch of kids, but really anybody could do that. We know how to do that, to have a bunch of kids. But discipling a bunch of kids, that takes a lot of work and a lot of commitment. And I hope every time you see these kids that you take that very seriously. I was just thinking, man, we want to see every single one of those young boys and girls grow up to know and serve the Lord. And we're all in on that. Whether you own some of those, whether they're yours or not, they're all ours as a community. And so I'm thankful for the volunteers today. And I want to invite you to turn with me in your Bibles to Daniel chapter 5. Daniel chapter 5, you're going to find that about three quarters of the way through your Bible. It's in the latter half of your Old Testament. After the big Isaiah, Jeremiah, keep going. And you're going to find it after Ezekiel. So, Daniel chapter 5, and just to set the context, if you were here last week, then you heard about King Nebuchadnezzar and how God humbled him. You remember that? God warned him and Nebuchadnezzar didn't listen, and so then God brought him down so that he was like a beast in the field. And it was there in that place that God restored him. Well now, in chapter 5, we skip ahead almost 60 years. And so here we've got Daniel, he's like 80 plus years old. We've got a new king, King Belshazzar. And this is a very significant story. In fact, the more I studied this, the more I found this a fascinating story. I think I've flown by Daniel chapter 5 without realizing just how cool it is. Here we find a story that tells us about the fall of Babylon. And the fall of Babylon was one of the most significant historic moments in the Mediterranean world. Not just in biblical history, like you can read Herodotus and people talk about how this mighty kingdom fell overnight. It's remarkable. At this point, you know, the Bible picks up this picture of Babylon in the New Testament. Babylon becomes the symbol of man opposed to God. Peter talks about how Rome, he uses the term Babylon to refer to Rome. In Revelation, he uses Babylon to refer to all humanity as opposed to God. So, for instance, Revelation 18.2 says, And this image of this kingdom united against God falling overnight becomes significant in the Bible. Revelation 18.8 says, Her plagues will come in a single day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire, for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her." So the picture that we find today in chapter 5 is a picture that is picked up all throughout the Bible of judgment, unsuspected judgment that comes in an instant. Babylon was the powerhouse in the Mediterranean world. The walls around Babylon were so wide that you could turn a chariot all the way around on the walls. It was the symbol, the image of strength. And in a night, it fell. Now you can imagine, just to kind of get you to think about the significance of this, imagine we had a Christian, a brother or sister, who was in the bunker with Hitler at the time when the Third Reich fell, right? Because that was a significant moment, right? All of a sudden this this army, this kingdom, this powerhouse crumbles. And can you imagine if we had someone in the bunker talking about, here's what the generals were saying to Hitler, here's the discussion they were having, and then the fall came? That would be a precious document to see behind the scenes of this moment in history. Well, that's what we have in Chapter 5. This is a behind-the-scenes view of one of the most significant events in history. And it's a long text, and so what we'll do is we're going to walk through it piece by piece. We're going to slow down, almost like we're kind of taking a tour. We're going to point at some things, make sure we're understanding what we're seeing. We're really going to break it down into three sections. So we see a pompous king. We see a familiar and faithful prophet. and then we see a judgment decreed. And so we're gonna walk through the text now carefully, slowly, expectantly, and we wanna see all that God would have us see. And then we're gonna look at some valuable lessons we learned here. So I hope your Bible's open. Daniel chapter five, hear now God's living and active word to us today. King Belshazzar made a great feast for a thousand of his lords 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, had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem, be brought. that the kings and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. Then they brought in the golden vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. So let's stop here. Let's reflect a little bit on what we've seen. First of all, you need to know in verse 2, he refers to Nebuchadnezzar as his father. And we're going to hear that language of Nebuchadnezzar his father throughout the text. Just historically, Nebuchadnezzar was not his father. His father was Nabonidus, who was actually co-reigning with him. Nebuchadnezzar was kind of four kings back at this point. And so the reason why they're using this language of father is because Belshazzar wants to identify with the great king in Babylon's history. So in the same way that we would say that Jesus is in the line of David, he's identifying with David, Belshazzar here says, I identify with Nebuchadnezzar. So this is a statement of pride. It's like, I'm in the line of the great king. He's my father. And in his pride, he picks up and he does some really pompous, arrogant things. We mentioned that he's at war with the Medo-Persian Empire. He's in the midst of battle. There's armies outside of the wall. And so what do we find this king doing? We find him partying and getting drunk. Because again, he's surrounded by these impenetrable walls. He feels invincible. Who can touch me with this huge savings account? I mean, these huge walls around my life. He says, I'm secure. And in his security, he's getting drunk, he's reveling in his security. And then, as he's thumbing his nose at his enemy, saying, I'm not afraid of you, he begins to thumb his nose at God. So he says, I want you to bring out the vessels that we stole from the temple. And we heard about that in chapter 1, where God allowed Nebuchadnezzar to destroy the temple and to take the vessels. And here, because King Belshazzar wants to identify with that king, he says, I'll tell you what, why don't you bring out those vessels that we stole? And we're going to use those as we celebrate and worship our gods of gold and iron. That's what we find here. An invincible, or a man who thinks he's invincible, a pompous fool with no fear of the Persians and no fear of God. Let's continue to read. Beginning now in verse 5. Immediately, the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace opposite the lampstand. And the king saw the hand as it wrote. Then the king's color changed. His thoughts alarmed him. His limbs gave way and his knees knocked together. The king called loudly to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans and the astrologers. The king declared to the wise men of Babylon, whoever reads this writing and shows me its interpretation shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. Then all the king's wise men came in. But they could not read the writing or make known to the king the interpretation. Then King Belshazzar was greatly alarmed, and his color changed, and his lords were perplexed. We'll stop there. So here we have this pompous king, this fearless king, and suddenly things have changed for him. He's run into something that he doesn't have a solution for. His walls can't protect him from this. The wisdom of Babylon can't solve this. And so it describes him vividly. It says, you know, the color flushes out of his face. It tells us his knees are literally knocking, right? We're meant to see this change, right? This fearless man, all of a sudden, his knees are knocking. He's horrified. And at this point, we find a familiar character in the story, a familiar and faithful prophet. Let's continue to read now, beginning in verse 10. So the queen, this is his mother, Nabonidus' wife, the queen, because of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banqueting hall and the queen declared, oh king, live forever. Let not your thoughts alarm you or your color change. There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. 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, made him chief of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers. Because 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. Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king answered and said to Daniel, You are that Daniel, one of the exiles of Judah, whom the king, my father, brought from Judah. I have heard of you, that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that light and understanding and 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, but they could not show the interpretation of the matter. But I've heard that you can give interpretations and solve problems. Now if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation, you shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around your neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom." So let's stop there. Just a reminder, Daniel at this point is not the teenage boy that we've been reading about in chapters 1-4. Daniel is an 80-plus year old man now, so just envision that. This 80-plus year old man is summoned before yet another king. We think that there were probably three kings in between Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar. Nebuchadnezzar had a long reign, like 34 years. And then following him, there were some shorter reigns in between. And now here's Belshazzar. And in fact, Belshazzar was such a lousy king that his father, Nabonidus, had to be pulled in out of retirement. Nabonidus is watching Belshazzar work, and he says, tell you what, let's be co-regents here, and let's tackle this together. So here's Belshazzar, and Daniel is called before the king. And there's almost this kind of smarmy arrogance in the interaction. Listen to what he says to Daniel. Here comes Daniel, this revered prophet, 80 plus years old, and he says, you're that Daniel, one of the exiles of Judah, whom the king my father brought from Judah. As if to say, that's you, right? You were one of those boys that we stole from Judah? You're that one? Well, come in, I've got something to tell you here. And he'll discover that, yes, he is that Daniel. He's the same Daniel who told Nebuchadnezzar 60 some odd years ago that this kingdom would be overthrown. The same Daniel who faithfully brings the message of the God of Israel for the kings of Babylon. The same Daniel who is the tangible reminder for the Israelites, for the Babylonians, for the Persians, for all of us here today, that there is a king who reigns over every earthly king. He is that Daniel. And so he comes, this familiar faithful prophet, comes and stands before this young, pompous king. One commentator notes here, I think this is so helpful, She says, as in these cases, meaning like all these Old Testament cases, these stories, it's through a prophetic figure that God exercises his kingship, manifesting, which is making real, making known, manifesting before the human king that actually God is king. That's Daniel's role as we read through this book. It's through this prophetic figure, through this man who speaks the words of God, that God's reign is made known to these earthly powers. He is that Daniel. And he comes with a judgment, an ominous judgment, and that's what we find next in the text. Look with me now at verse 17. We're going to read to the end. Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let your gifts be for yourself. I love that. Let your gifts be for yourself. Give your rewards to another. Nevertheless, I will read the writing to the king and make known to him the interpretation. O king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar, your father, kingship and greatness and glory and majesty. And because of the greatness that he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. Whom he would, he killed. Whom he would, he kept alive. Whom he would, he raised up. And whom he would, he humbled. 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. He was driven from among the children of mankind, and his mind was made like that of a beast, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. He was fed grass like an ox. His body was wet with the dew of heaven. Until he knew that, the Most High God rules the kingdom of mankind and sets over it whom he will. And you, his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart. Though you knew all this, but you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven, and the vessels of his house have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them. And you praise the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, but the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not honored. Then from his presence the hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed, and this is the writing that was inscribed. Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parson. This is the interpretation of the matter. Mene, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end. Tekel, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting. Peres, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians. Then Belshazzar gave the command. Daniel was clothed with purple, a chain of gold was put around his neck, and a proclamation was made about him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. That very night, Belshazzar, the Chaldean king, was killed, and Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about 62 years old. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Just very briefly, I just want to consider this word of judgment, this message that's discovered. We don't know why it is that the wise men couldn't read it. I don't read Aramaic, so I've heard things about little breathing marks missing. I have no idea. For whatever reason, the wise men, they see this message, but they can't make sense of it. And so Daniel comes along and he reads this message to the king. And it's a message of measurements, these three measurements. And in the same way, in the English language, some of these measurements are both nouns and verbs. So for example, we might have number, right? Number is a measurement. And number can function as a noun. This is the number four. That's a noun. But number can also function as a verb. You are to number your pages. Does that make sense? So it can fulfill both. And in this story, that's what's happening. You've got these words on the wall, and they function as a noun, and they're communicating a message. But then he says they're also a verb, something that God is going to do to you. This is mene, which means number. He says, you know what that means, King? That means that your days are numbered. That means that God's been watching you, and that God is bringing judgment, and this king is going to be taken from you. Tekel. Tekel means that God has weighed you. He's weighed your life and he's found you wanting. Parson, that means that God is going to divide your kingdom. He's going to take it from you and he's going to give it to the Medes and the Persians. That's the message. It's a message that Belshazzar actually chooses to ignore, it appears. You look at his response to this message, and you notice, you know, he says, well, thank you, Daniel, for bringing the interpretation. Here's the robe you didn't ask for and the gold you didn't ask for. And then he says, and you will now be third in command in my kingdom, which is an odd thing to say right after Daniel just said, God is going to take your kingdom away, right? So he's got this gratitude for the message, but there's no repentance, and there seems to be a disregard for the message. One commentator notes, though human days are numbered, few number them for themselves and get a heart of wisdom. Belshazzar in this chapter presents a vivid picture of the fool, the practicing atheist, who at the end can only brazen it out with the help of alcohol, which blots out the stark reality. We find Belshazzar drunk, disregarding a warning, holding the golden chalices from God's temple, and that night he stands before the judge of all things. Can I tell you something, friends? That is not how you want to stand before the judge of all things, drunk, holding a vessel that you stole from the temple. But that's how the story ends for Belshazzar. That's how the story ends for Babylon. Her plagues will come in a single day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire, for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her. He felt invincible within his walls, and actually, historically, we know what happened. The Persian Median Medo-Persian army, that's how it goes. They've got this city surrounded, but the walls were formidable. Babylon did look invincible, but we mentioned last week, actually, the Euphrates River ran through the city. It's something they're very proud of. It was a sight to behold, and they had built a bridge over the Euphrates. And what the Medo-Persian Empire did was that they diverted the river way upstream. And so eventually the river that flows through the city got to the point where it was about knee-deep. And the army marched in, and they walked in and found a drunken king and his men, and they took the city with very little struggle at all. And so it's in the midst of his pride and his drunkenness and his rebellion that this kingdom falls down. That's the story of Daniel chapter 5. It's a story of a God who is sovereign over men who exalt themselves as immortals. It's the story of a God who reveals himself to the nations, a God who judges the proud, and a God who's large and in charge. And with the time that we have today, I wanna just pull out three lessons that I think we would be fools to miss from this story. The first lesson that I wanna put forward before you is this, that we are ambassadors for the king. So we're looking at Daniel's life, and as we have said from the beginning of this series, he is an example for us. He is faithful. God commends him. God blesses him and uses him. And one of the things that we see in this story is that he's such a faithful ambassador. I'm going to go back to that quote from Joyce Baldwin from earlier, because I think it's so helpful. As in these cases, these Old Testament stories of these faithful prophets, It's through a prophetic figure that God exercises his kingship, manifesting, making known before the human king that actually God is king. That's so profound. She says it's as these godly men stand up and proclaim God's word, God shows that he is the true king. That is the function of Daniel. And the Apostle Paul picks it up for us and he says, that's the function for us. Just think about all the times in chapters one to five when These Babylonian kings run into a problem, and they need an answer. They need to hear from God. So first, they try to hear from their own gods. They call together all their wisdom, but all the wisdom of Babylon has no answer. And so time after time, they say, well, we need to hear from that God. And people say, well, if you want to hear from that God, then you're going to need to call on that Daniel. And so Daniel comes in, and he says some hard words to some powerful people, doesn't he? Consistently. He's brought before the most powerful people in the world, and he doesn't write the message himself, right? He just receives a message from God, and each time it is a hard message. And you can just imagine what Daniel's thinking. Actually, he seems like a very courageous guy. But I can imagine if you or I received that message, it's like, not this. Don't make me say this to the king of Babylon. But he brings it, and he never sugarcoats it. He never softens it. Daniel just faithfully proclaims the message from God. That's what an ambassador does. You do not bring an ambassador in to hear their own opinions. That's not what an ambassador is for. You bring the ambassador in because you want to hear from the one who sent him. And so time after time, when Babylon wants to hear from God, they call on Daniel. And the Apostle Paul tells us, we are ambassadors for Christ. God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. We are ambassadors. And I bang this drum often and I'll bang it again. We so often fall into the trap of thinking that that is somebody else's job. that, you know, that's a different kind of Christian, that, you know, because we are a culture where we often just, we're professionals, and we get our very specific trades, and we hire people out to do those things that we're not gifted in. Right? I'm going to hire a plumber. I'm not going to touch any of the plumbing in my house, and I'm going to hire an electrician, and I'm going to hire somebody to teach my kids, and I'm going to hire somebody to do evangelism for me. We think that way, but actually God's Word tells us that we are all ambassadors for Christ. That is our task. Young and old, rich and poor, male and female, every one of us. And I've used this analogy before, but I think it's helpful just in helping us to see the function of an ambassador. You can imagine if you went to India and you went into the Canadian embassy, and you went in and you saw a woman there and she's got a Make America Great Again hat on, that'd be confusing, right? And if you come to the counter and you ask her questions and she starts kind of angrily grunting at you in Russian, that'd be confusing for you. Because when you go into the Canadian embassy, you expect to see someone who represents Canada. You expect to see someone who's overly polite, who offers you a Tim Hortons, eh? Right? And she starts just apologizing for things she has no business apologizing for, because she's Canadian. And you expect that, because she represents Canada. And Christian, you're the representative of the King to the world. Meaning your life should look like Jesus. Your speech should sound like Jesus. Your message should point to Jesus. You should be bringing God's life giving message down into the world and proclaiming it to all who will listen. Because that is the purpose of your life. Your job is not to bring your own novel reflections and thoughts and ideas. Your job is to point people to the one who sent you. Time after time in Babylon, I want to hear from that God, they say. Well, then you need that man. Here's the question. Would anybody say that about you today? Would anybody say that about you? Sometimes I think we undervalue what can be done just from a faithful witness. Now Daniel, we talk about how Daniel is this hero of the faith. We talk about how he's so commendable. You realize Daniel did not see many successes in his life. He does not see many successes. He is the man who brings messages that are ignored. He's the man who is robbed from his home and is stuck in Babylon. He's 80 plus years old at this point. Once again, bringing another message to a king who's gonna ignore his message. Probably our most notable story about Daniel, the time when we think we see the victory in his life, is the story of Daniel in the lion's den. But what happens in that story? He gets thrown in a lion's den, right? That's the story of victory in Daniel's life. He gets thrown into a lion's den, but he survives. That's his victory. He's just faithful. That's what Daniel does. He's just faithful in the midst of losses, in the midst of discouragement, in the midst of people neglecting the message. He's just faithful. Daniel doesn't get to see what's going to come of all this. Daniel doesn't get to see the glory that waits. In his life, Daniel lives as a captive. But he's faithful in it. And as I was reflecting on this text, I just thought, some of us need to hear that. Because some of us maybe undervalue what it means to be faithful in a workplace that doesn't love Jesus. And you think, what am I doing here? Am I making any difference at all? Yes. Even if you're not seeing victory, even if you're not seeing a revival on the floor of your workplace, you're being faithful, you're pointing people, you're reminding them that there is a king who reigns over them. That's your function. You are reminding a bunch of people who think that they are the kings and queens of the world that there is a king who reigns over them. and that he has a law that resides over us, that he commands us to live a certain way. That's your function. You who are grandmothers and grandfathers in families that are straying from the Lord, you're a faithful witness. You are a tangible evidence of God's kingship in your family. And there's value in that. And God uses that powerfully, even though sometimes you don't see it. You are the light of the world. You are the salt of the earth in your family, in your workplace, here in the South Ward, on your street. And something powerful happens when we take that responsibility on and we grab it with both hands and say, yes, I am an ambassador for Christ and I will live my life that way. I would challenge you to do that today. I would challenge you to live in such a way that when the people around you are confronted with a God-sized problem and they go to the wisdom of the world and there are no answers, and they go to their other peers, and nobody's able to speak into this problem, and they say, I need to hear from that Christian God, that they say, therefore, I'm gonna talk to her. I'm gonna talk to him, because I know that he or she is gonna point me to God. Let that be true of you. The second thing we learn in this text, our second lesson, is to whom much is given, much is required. I don't know if you've stopped to think about this. If you haven't, you're going to right now. In chapter 4, we have the story of Nebuchadnezzar, and we have the story of God's patience towards him. And we talked about how Nebuchadnezzar had this lifetime of unfaithfulness, a lifetime of rebellion, a lifetime of hard-heartedness, hard-headedness. And in chapter 4, Daniel brings him another message. And he ignores it again. Twelve months later, he's in his pride, and God, instead of knocking him off the wall and ending him, God humbles him and makes him like a beast in the field. And it's there in that place that Nebuchadnezzar finally comes to that point of repentance. We talked about how God is not slow, as some would count slowness. He's patient towards us, not willing that any should perish. And we warmed ourselves in that. It's so good that God is patient, because we require patience. Oh man, it's so good. Here we are in chapter 5. And Daniel comes to another king, and he says, and this is his first encounter with the king, right? His mom, Navani, is his wife. She says, there's a guy named Daniel. You should talk to Daniel. So it's not like they're peers who've been talking back and forth. It's his first time hearing from Daniel. And Daniel says, your days are numbered. You've been weighed. Your kingdom's gonna be divided. It's done. And that night he gets killed. That night, and you wonder, wait a second, isn't this the same God who was so patient with Nebuchadnezzar? Doesn't make any sense. Belshazzar has no time at all to repent. He should be allowed to make like 10 more mistakes, right? That's what happened with Nebuchadnezzar. Why? Why did God handle this so differently? Well, it's because King Belshazzar had already witnessed God's work in Nebuchadnezzar's life. He had already witnessed it. He loves Nebuchadnezzar. He identifies with him. Time after time in the story, he says, my father, I'm the son of Nebuchadnezzar. He even grabs the chalices from the temple. He's just like, yeah, this is my, I identify with him. And yet he didn't identify with the most powerful lesson in Nebuchadnezzar's life. He chose to ignore that part. He chose to neglect the lesson. And you might push back and say, well, maybe he didn't know that part of the story. But you can't say that because Daniel tells him, he says, You, his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this. You know this story, Belshazzar. You know how prideful Nebuchadnezzar was. You know that God humbled him and made him like a beast of the field. You know that everything that he had was from God, therefore everything you have is from God. And here you are, drunk with your friends, holding God's chalices in your hand, you prideful man. You know. Now, perhaps Belshazzar assumed he'd have more time. Because he's so familiar with this story, perhaps he says, well, God's going to give me 10 chances. God's patient. He's merciful. He's going to let me live this out, and then later on I'm going to repent. After all, there's no urgency. I'm living behind these big walls. I'm safe. I'm secure. I'll deal with this later. Perhaps. But he was wrong. If that's what he was thinking, he was wrong, dead wrong. Friends, if you're using your knowledge of the patience and the grace and the mercy of God to justify this ongoing sin in your life, then you are a fool. And you need to wake up. That's the message of this chapter, isn't it? In Romans, the apostle Paul corrects people who say, well, you know, God forgives our sins, so therefore, I'm just gonna keep on sinning so that God's mercy will abound. And Paul says, by no means. Don't be a fool. People say, well, you know, God's patient with us. He's gonna be patient. Eventually, I'll deal with him. And the Apostle Paul warns us. He says, do you suppose, oh man, you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? Let's just stop there for a moment. Just sit in that. I think sometimes we don't even stop to think about this. I want you to imagine that you're a business owner. and you've got an employee, and you find out they've been stealing from you, and they talk about you in derogatory ways when you're not around, disrespectful, and you hear about this, and so you approach them, and they say, oh, my family's in a hard time, so I've just been taken a little off the top, but it's because it's just, I'm sorry, I'll never do it again, and you say, okay, well, you know what? I'm going to be merciful towards you. I'm going to be patient." So then you say, you can keep your job. And then a week later, you hear a report they're doing the exact same thing. How do you respond to that if that's the business you're running? Are you going to come back and say, oh, it's OK again, and pat them on the head? We'll come back next week and see. No, you're going to judge them, aren't you? You're going to fire them and send them on the road. They've been so disrespectful. You've shown them mercy, and they spit in your face. They stole from your family. My word, you wouldn't have that. Imagine you're married to someone, and they're unfaithful to you. And then you come back to them a week later, and they're, oh, I repent. I'll never do it again. And a week later, they're unfaithful. And you come, oh, I repent. I mean, after four, five, six times, aren't you just saying, enough with you? The Apostle Paul says, that's how you operate. Maybe there's someone here who doesn't operate that way. He says, that's how we operate as people, isn't it? You who judge those who practice such things, yet do them yourself. Do you suppose you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance. But because of your hard and impenitent heart, you're storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. Paul says, don't presume upon God's kindness and use that as an excuse to justify your rebellion, your sin, your pride. Don't tell yourself, well, I'll do this tomorrow, because he's patient, isn't he? He's a patient God. He's merciful. Paul says, you're a fool if you think that way. A fool. Belshazzar was a fool. And he stood before God drunk with a chalice from the temple in his hand. He didn't know that that night he would give an account before the Lord. To whom much is given, much is required. If you've heard the truth, don't presume that you'll have another opportunity to hear it again. There is a holy God who is watching over you. And he's watching you now as you hear this message once again. And this is who God is. Maybe you've allowed your vision of God to be distorted. I sure hope that Daniel 5 is shaping part of your understanding of who God is. He is a God who is patient. He is a God who wills that none should perish. But he is a God who punishes prideful, pompous fools who reject his word. Finally, we'll learn in this text that we will all give a reckoning. We'll all give a reckoning. Numbered, numbered, weighed, divided. Your days are numbered. Do you know that? It's important that you do. In fact, God's Word tells us that you cannot even begin to be wise if you don't acknowledge that. Teach us to number our days, Psalm 90 verse 12 says. Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. You're not immortal, you're not invincible. In a church with lots of young people, hear that today? Young worship team, young married couples with little kids, we feel like we're invincible, we're not. Our days are numbered. We may not have 30 more years. We may not have 10 more years. We may not survive the drive home. Do you know that? Therefore, you need to think very carefully about the judgment that is coming on that reckoning day, because God's word says you will be weighed. You'll stand before the King of kings and the Lord of lords, the one who is holy, holy, holy, the one who searches hearts and minds, and all of the words that you've ever spoken will be put on the table. those words you've spoken to your spouse, those words you've spoken in your car when someone cuts you off, all of your thoughts will be put on the table. All the things that you did when you thought nobody was looking and you thought you could get away with it, all those times when your conscience told you, don't do this, don't do this, and you thought, well, I'll just do it. Who sees me? God sees you, and he will weigh you. 1 Samuel 2, 3 says, talk no more so very proudly. Let not the arrogance come from your mouth. For the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed. And when we stand before Him, there's not a single one of us who will say, God, I think that I was a good man. I think that I was a good woman in this life. It will all be on the table. Are you ready for that? Are you ready to be weighed? Because at the end of your life, the only thing that will matter will be the result of that hearing. It will not matter how much wealth you've accumulated. It will not matter this kingdom that you've built in this life. Just like Belshazzar, your earthly kingdom will be divided. Some of it's going to go to your kids. Some of it's going to go to the nursing home or the funeral home, or some of it's going to go to strangers and lawyers. And your legacy will be held onto for a season. And then you'll be forgotten like everyone that ever lived before you. You'll notice that there aren't many coffee mugs inscribed with many, many Tekel Parsons. It's not an uplifting message, but it's a message of life. It's a message of mercy. It's a message you need to hear. Numbered, weighed, divided. I was struck at the passing of Kobe Bryant, and I don't, I wanna be clear here, I don't know anything about his soul, and I'm not gonna pretend that I do, okay? But I do know this, that that man stood before the Lord, And God didn't care at all about 81 points in a game. He didn't care at all about 13 all-star appearances or whatever it was. None of it. He was not impressed that he had accumulated all this wealth, that he'd built a palace for himself. He wasn't impressed at all with the money that he left behind for his kids. Not any of that mattered. That even Kobe Bryant stood before an audience of one. And there was one thing that mattered. his relationship with Jesus Christ. And I just, I reflected on that, and I thought, my word, I wonder how many NBA players are stopping to say, what am I giving my life to? Like, what am I really chasing after? And then I stepped back, and I said, forget NBA players. How many of us are just wasting our lives building something that does not matter, that is going to fall, that has fallen every time throughout history? And we deceive ourselves into thinking, no, this is worthwhile, this is my legacy. It's not. It's not what matters. It's not. What matters is what happens on that day when you stand before the judge. The Apostle Peter preached a message of repentance on the day of Pentecost to a crowd of 3,000 people. We can learn so much from them. laid the same thing on the table, just let them know that you are guilty, you have sinned. And I know that because the Bible says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. So this pastor has sinned, and the person sitting next to you has sinned. We've all sinned. The wages of sin is death. People are hearing this message, and it says, when they heard this, they were cut to the heart. And they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, brothers, what shall we do? By the way, that's the right response, isn't it? Belshazzar says, Thanks for that. Here's your gold and your robe and you can have a third of my kingdom. I wonder if he had that little arrogant twinkle in his eyes right after God, God's going to take your kingdom away. We'll tell you what, Daniel, you can have a third of my kingdom. No, when they heard this, they said, brothers, what do we do? Peter said to them, repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Can I just tell you this today? You could be saved right now. You can be saved right now. Some of you, maybe you came in thinking that you were ready to stand before the king, and now you realize you've been using what you knew of him, his grace and his mercy and his patience to justify a life of rebellion and sin, thinking that you'd make it right later. You could be saved right now. Do you want to be ready for that judgment? Repent, God's word says. Point at that sin in your life and call it what it is. It's sin. It is sin, and I'm sorry, and I'm turning from it. That's repentance. Repentance is sorry. Repentance is turning and saying, I'm done with that. By the grace of God, I'm done with it. And believe. Confess your faith in Christ. These brothers did it through baptism. Baptism is this beautiful picture of faith. I'm so glad they responded this way. In baptism, they're identifying with Christ. They're saying, if my life is weighed, I'm dead. If my life is weighed, I'm going to stand before the king and I'm going to be dead forever. So instead they identify with Christ and say, no, I'm going to put Christ on the scale. And so they go under the water. And remember we say united with him in death, which means that you're saying the old me is dead. I identify with the death of Christ. The death I deserve to pay is with Christ. All my sins, paid for. I believe that. And we bring them up and we say, united with him in life. And they say, no, Christ's life is my life. Just like he rose from the grave, I'm going to live forever. Because when God goes to put my life on the scale, instead of grabbing me, he's going to pick up his son, Jesus Christ. And all of his righteousness is going to be accounted to me. and all that he's earned is gonna be accounted to me, and all of that guilt and shame that I've amassed, and friends, you have, all of that guilt and shame was put on Christ, and it's gone. And I'm gonna live forever. It communicates to the world that you identify with Christ, that you believe in Christ, that you're not ashamed of Christ, that you're an ambassador of Christ. Repent and believe. The writing's on the wall. The reckoning day is coming. You'd be a fool not to take time to look closely at your life today. Who are you living for? Which kingdom? Who receives the glory in your story? Numbered. Your days are numbered. Your earthly treasures will be divided. Your kingdom will be taken from you. Your life will be weighed. That's the truth of scripture, and you know that's true. There's only one who will be found worthy of eternal life. And it's not you, and it's not me. It's the God-man, Jesus Christ. There's only one name by which man can be saved. It's Christ. Have you identified with him, friend? But you can right now. Have you placed your trust in him? I pray that you will. I would plead with you. Be right with him. Numbered, weighed, divided. This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, this is who you are. We see all kinds of beautiful truths about your character, your nature. We delight in them, we rest in them. Help us to rest in this. You're a God of justice. You're a God who will right every wrong. You're a God before whom all will give an account. That's true. You're a God who won't give an ear to our excuses, who won't be impressed with our charades, who sees right through the facade. But you're a God who's offered us life by sending your own son to die in our place. And we could just grab hold of that right now. Right there. And your word tells us that some won't, and that breaks our heart. But your word also tells us you will that none should perish, so we plead that you would. I thank you that there's no sermon that can change a heart, because that would be manipulation, and we don't want to do that. God, I thank you that ultimately you will draw people to yourself. And I'm just asking God that you draw somebody right now. And I'm believing in faith that you are the God who saves. Would you do it today? And God, I pray that you would just give confidence and boldness to those of us who have put our trust in Christ to be ambassadors, that we would recognize the value and the the integrity of this task that we've entrusted with. God, that we get to go and proclaim to the world that there is a king who reigns. All authority has been given to you, Christ. So we go, therefore, into all the nations and we baptize and we teach them to obey all that you've commanded. And you're with us. You are the king and you speak through us and in us and to us and we ask that you would use us mightily. God, I pray that no one would grow discouraged. Lord, I think today of those who are in lost families who have been reaching out to their children and their grandchildren and their parents and their grandparents and seeing little to no fruit and wondering if maybe it's their fault. God, I pray that you would remind them today of your faithful servant, Daniel, and that it is our job to just be faithful. It's our job to sow the seeds, as you taught us, Lord Jesus. And you're going to deal with the soil. So we entrust that to you right now, in Jesus' name. And everyone said, Amen. Worship team, would you lead us?