Daniel 5: Belshazzar's Feast and the Writing on the Wall

well hey if you brought your Bible would you get it out right now if you brought your Bible get it out and I want you to hold it in the air and just keep it in the air and I want everyone every single person even if you're online you can shout it in the comments I want every person on the count of three to shout word one two three word we're getting into God's word so that God's word will get into us and I was thinking as we were singing today my wife and I were having a conversation yesterday about what it means to be welcoming and when we say welcome to Journey Church it could come across kind of cliche like it's an introduction to the service welcome to Journey Church as if like somehow we're putting on a show when we say welcome it's actually a reality of the atmosphere and the environment we want we want this place to be welcoming that no matter where you came from no matter who you are no matter how old you

are you would recognize that you have a place in the kingdom of God the church is made up of people that believe in Jesus so whether you're a child or whether you're at the end of your life whether you're broken no matter what you did last night or where you've been this morning what matters right now in this moment is that you would be welcome let me just read you just a theological text so you know I'm not just making this up this is in the Book of Romans chapter 15 Paul's writing to the Romans and there's no scripture going to be on the screens because this isn't the sermon yet so just stay stay with me Romans 15 Paul's writing to the church in Rome you know how hard it would be to be a church in Rome at this time when Caesar requires you to call him Lord yet these people are confessing that there is actually one Lord is Jesus Christ and Paul writes near the end of this letter he says may the god of endurance and encouragement

what a great God we have the god of endurance and the god of encouragement are you going through something well you got a god of endurance and you've got a god of encouragement I'm in Romans 15:5 may this God of endurance and encouragement Grant you that's you just point to your neighbor and say that's you may he Grant you to live in such harmony with one another come on somebody may he Grant you to live in harmony with one another I got to warn you there are people in this room that may not vote like you next Tuesday oh snap uh things got real real fast when we claim to have Jesus we have a God that's greater than political parties so we're not in a cancell culture we say we want to live in harmony with one another here's here's how and why in accord with Christ Jesus

as my wife said this morning during our rally time this is no Country Club this is not an Elks Club a rotary club or or or something where we're just trying to do good things this is for Jesus by Jesus it's all about Jesus that together you may with one voice glorify the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ then here he keeps going therefore because of Jesus working in Harmony and unity therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you for the glory of God welcome welcome one another as as Christ has welcomed you for the glory of God so if you believe in Jesus today you should be the most welcoming person in this church not somebody who's trained or paid but you just welcome some stranger

simply for the glory of Jesus Christ so may I just say before we do anything else and get in God's word welcome welcome you're welcome here we welcome adult Teen Challenges here today we're so grateful for you who are on the journey we're so glad that you're here today may I just jump right in this is going to go from Z to 100 real fast we are at War we are at War this this is spiritual war I'm talking about your life there is a spiritual reality that there is an enemy that's going after you and the enemy would love for none other for you to be deceived so that he can destroy

your life if you would just think that somehow you're not at war that there is no spiritual war happening if you would just look in the natural instead of the spiritual if you would just focus on your life what you can see instead of that what you can't see the enemy wins but you do not have to be a defeated foe in your head or in your heart in your life in this church I declare over this region Central Oregon does not need to be defeated the state of Oregon does not need to be defeated our nation can have hope in Jesus Christ we are at War and we ought not be naive to what's happening around us the Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:7 for we walk by faith and not by sight faith is the Assurance of things hoped for I don't have it yet but I have a conviction deep

down in my heart that although I can't see it I still believe it that's what faith is Faith is not having it figured out faith is not having all the answers faith is not what you can see it's believing that which you can't see so if it's a hot mess right now I believe my God can actually do something out of that hot mess he does it over and over he takes trash and he turns it into a treasure he takes our our difficult days and he shows us that he's overcome the enemy so how can you walk by faith well God's not asking you just to figure it out to stumble in this dark world that we live in which it is a dark World the Bible says in Psalm 11915 your word and when I say your word I'm referring to the Bible we just cried out together word I'm talking about the Bible it's unlike any other book not

because it's the greatest selling book ever in history since the printing press no this word is active and alive so whenever you hear the preacher refer to the word I'm talking about the Bible but I'm not talking about a book I'm talking about God's Living Word your word Psalm 19 says is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path so how can I walk walk by faith in the world that I'm living in I've got to get in the word I can tell you according to how often you're getting into God's word and asking God to speak to you will tell you what God's doing in your life if you're not in the word of God you're missing an opportunity to witness God work in your life now I realize this book can be complicated but I'll tell you God can come alive if you would allow him through this book you don't have to start anywhere you don't even need to start in the beginning start with the

life of Jesus get into Matthew Mark Luke Luke or John God's word is alive so today we come to one of the 66 books in the Bible called Daniel everyone shout Daniel Daniel we are living in Daniel days if you brought your Bibles find that book it's in What's called the book of prophets in the Old Testament Daniel shows us that even if you're living in a dark difficult place which is where Daniel was living he was in Exile he was in the land of Babylonia it was a pagan place they worshiped many false gods and deities they had many false idols and Daniel is living in a day where he was not surrounded with people just like him he was not surrounded by by an easy life in fact he was living during difficult days yet he shows us what it looks like

to be resolved in your heart to be determined to do what's right even if everyone else is doing what's wrong and he shows us what happens when you live that life in Daniel chapter 1 we were introduced to what happened over many years in fact many C countries God had spoken to his people the Israelite people that if you don't turn to me you will experience the consequence of your decisions so you either obey God or you ignore God obey his word or ignore his word and from generation to generation the Israelites chose to rebel and ignore God's word rather than obey God's word and God did exactly what he promised through the prophet Isaiah and through the Prophet Jeremiah he sent a Pagan

Nation to come experience the wrath of God they would experience judgment your decisions now will have consequences later you may not see them right now but if you choose to ignore God's word there will be a real consequence namely it will be death for the scriptures teach us the wages of sin is death and it's in this place that God has been speaking through the centuries Daniel is one of the several who are taken from his home to Babylon when King Nebuchadnezzar came to Judah and ransacked the capital city Jerusalem he destroyed the walls he destroyed the temple but he took that which was valuable the silver and the gold vessels from the temple he brought it back to Babylon with him he took the smartest the brightest the strongest of the young men Daniel at that time was one of the young men he was only 16 at the time when he was taken into Babylon

I'm going to tell you today you're never too young to do great things for God you don't have to wait till you're older you don't have to wait till you have have it figured out you don't have to wait till one day that people look up to you in fact the Bible teaches us in the New Testament don't ever let anyone look down on you because you're young you set the example you show the world what God can do through you and here Daniel's a young man he's going through some difficult days and we pick up today in Daniel chapter 5 King Nebuchadnezzar is no longer the king he's been dead at this point for at least some 30 years and so we're going to pick up in Daniel chapter 5 and I want you to see we are living in Daniel days we are living in the Babylonian days these are dark days that are surrounding us and we do not have to live like the world we could live like the light of Jesus Christ are you with me so we pick up today with a

new person and I want to just give a little historical context in fact let me just do a little history then we'll do a little teaching and then we'll do a lot of preaching here's how this going to work we're told in Daniel chapter 1 about King Bazar let me just explain King Bazar this is absolutely fascinating if you're new to church or the Bible or you've ever heard people say oh the Bible just contradicts itself and that's why I can't trust the Bible and uh let me just tell you the Bible will never contradicts itself it constantly proves itself true over and over and over so we have here mentioned King Bazar in Daniel chapter 5 vers1 and he will be the main character in this book until the end when he dies and what we see in chapter 5 Bel shazar is mentioned as the king of Babylon which at the time is the greatest Empire in the world it's it's an absolutely awesome Empire with a lot of money huge palaces I mean uh art entertainment

education they had absolutely everything including a great big army well Bazar is not mentioned anywhere in history in historical accounts outside of the scriptures so some people over the ages would like to look at this this is uh nearly 600 years before the birth of Jesus and some would say see that's that's not true in history there is no Bazar mentioned in any secular uh w writings or articles or anything outside of of of literature than the scriptures this belaz are until right around the 1850s an archaeologists was digging in what we now know as Babylon in Iraq and they actually found uh in in in the

artifacts that are nearly 2,000 years old the name Bazar not only did they find the name Bazar they found it in the lineage of King Nebuchadnezzar so where for many a century you would say I don't know if I can trust this because that name is not mentioned anywhere else then all of a sudden archaeological facts support King Bazar now who is King Bazar he's actually not the king over Babylon he's actually second in charge his father is the king uh his father is uh I'm gonna butcher this nabonidus so you can Google that nabonidus nabonidus is the king of Babylon that's his father more than likely he was outc conquering that's what the Kings did in the days of old so

let's say nabonidus is out Conquering the territory taking more he leaves his son behind his son's name is Bazar similar to the Babylonian name that was given to Daniel which is Bazar so his name means Bell uh protects the king Daniel's name means Bell serves the king so here you have Bazar who's the second in line hence his name King a Bazar and he's young he's just a kid he's young and let me just tell you when you're young you don't have to be this but you can be young and dumb and in this case he's young and dumb he's naive he lacks wisdom he lacks experience and he's kind of focused on himself not kind of and he's about to throw the party of partes all right

that's how you know is like good it's not just a party it's a part TMZ just has to be there they sent all the journalists to this party every who's who and what's what of the entire world was at this party are okay that's the little historical background now let's dive into the teaching and then let's get to some preaching here we go Daniel 5 verse 1-4 King Bazar now you know who he is his dad's away but he's at home he made a great feast for a thousand of his Lords and drank wine in front of the Thousand you ever been to a big party like this I mean this is the party of the centuries Bazar verse two when he tasted the wine he commanded the the vessels of gold and the silver of Nebuchadnezzar his father now the word father here is not father like we

think of a dad it actually means a descendant like some of you that learned that Abraham is your father and so you sing the song Father Abraham had many son he's not your dad you're a descendant of Abraham he's the father of Faith so in this case Nebuchadnezzar is mentioned as a father but he's a descendant of Nebuchadnezzar we're going to see that several times Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem and he brought them that the king and his Lords and his wives and his concubines might drink from them then verse three says they then they brought in the golden vessels that had been taken out of the temple The House of the god in Jerusalem and the King and his Lords and his wives and his concubines they drank from them they drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver

bronze iron wood and stone so we set the stage here at this parte we have a lot of people Nebuchadnezzar is showing off he grabs all of his friends all of the people that have power he brings them to this place they bring their wives they bring their girlfriends and you have three themes here and there the same three themes that many people worship today there's girls there's gold and there's Glory we could put it this way it comes down to sex money and power these are three gods that will absolutely let you down if you serve them they're terrible Gods but these are the gods that that tempt us these are the ones that even to this very day are celebrated and elevated in the world that we live

in in America in the days in which we live in the people that are celebrated are the ones that become sex symbols the ones that have money and the ones that have power and it's in this Palace at this time this party represented these three things girls gold and Glory we could reaffirm it this way in our day sex money and power it sounds so good until it's not because this would be the last party that Bel shazar puts on in fact this would be belshazzar's last day on Earth he had no idea this would be the last party he would throw he had no idea this would be his last day on Earth and my question to

you and this is rhetorical but for you to seriously think about this what are you doing with your life what are you doing with your life because what you're doing with your life will describe what's going to happen to your life and I'll just say this and you'll see where the saying comes from the writing is on the wall with who you are the way God sees you and what you're doing with what you have and if you're not careful you will absolutely waste your life we like to make judgments like somehow we've got life figured out and we'll say simple things like this like oh that person died too soon you ever heard somebody say that you know they're a teenager they're in their 20s 30s and 40s maybe even 50s the older I get it's like too soon right it's like oh they were so young because I'm getting so older and

we say things like they died too soon because we think well they had what we're implying is they had more to live for but what I'm discovering in my life is you can live your entire life till your 70s ' 80s 90s and now so many are living into their hundreds and still live a wasted life so what really is too soon if you live for the glory of God and you die at 14 that's a great life well lived but if you lived to 84 and you did nothing with what God gave you that's a wasted life Bazar is Young he's naive he thinks he has his whole life in front of him and here he's robbing from God he takes the treasures from the Temple of Yahweh

the Lord of all Lords the one true God Elohim that created all things there are not many gods there's one true God and these vessels that were dedicated to Yahweh at the temple in Jerusalem his place Nebuchadnezzar had taken it captive brought it back to Babylon and here they make a mockery of the Lord just a complete mockery this was supposedly for this God but look what we're doing we're getting drunk we're living in debauchery we're doing whatever we want to do and my friends we doing the same thing in our day today if you're not careful you will rob God and you may ask back in your hearts how am I robbing god well you can rob God in many different ways in the Book of Malachi the last book in the Old

Testament God told his people you're robbing me and his people argue with God and say how are we robbing you and God answers back to his people in tithes and offering and they argue back we're giving tithes and offering and he says well you're giving me the leftovers you're not giving me the best you're giving me the rest you're not getting the opportunity to see God's blessing his favor his goodness because instead you decided to keep back the best and give God the rest so you're robbing him and some of you today you're robbing God you're using his name in vain you're wasting and abusing your time you're not using what God's given you God has given you everything you need may I just say there's nobody like you he decided for you to be alive at this time you might be questioning who you are as a person you might be wondering why you're still

alive or what God's doing with your life he's got a plan for you he loves you he made you and I declare over every person today you are the best of the best the very very best and if you don't believe that you'll start living like everyone else you'll start looking at the media you'll start looking at the social media you'll start looking at the people you look up to and you'll think they have a good life but I want you to know the Devil is a deceiver he's a liar don't look with your natural eyes you can live for something greater than money sex and power because those things are terrible gods they will let you down every time and and let's just just clarify here so that this doesn't get perverted in our minds but let's Let It seep to our hearts money sex and power are not in themselves evil things

the way Paul would write it to Timothy is he says it's the love of money that is the root of all kinds of evil he never said it was money that is evil it's when you love money more than you love the Lord It's when you think money will actually fix your problems instead of God it's when you actually put money on a platform so money's not bad sex isn't bad Hallelujah power's not bad in fact God is Sovereign over all power you know you can say that it's okay to celebrate what God created you just can't go outside of God's confines and do your own thing when you do it ends up in death so here they are living in debauchery drinking wine mocking God like many do today many curse the name of Jesus which is in the Ten Commandments you shouldn't do that the devil's just made the name of Jesus flippant but let me tell you that name is above every other name one day every

knee will bow and every tongue will confess and Heaven and on Earth that Jesus Christ is Lord so we cannot just treat it flippantly and say that's just what Hollywood does that's the world that we live in oh don't be approved Pastor well I'm here to tell you he's a real living God we ought to have a reverence and an awe and a Wonder to the greatness of who God is and it starts with his name not just using it flippantly it's what you listen to in your ears do not be mistaken you allow filth into your life through your ears the enemy just loves it he wants to move you away from God when you watch movies let me tell you if a movie starts with a sex scene just stop right there you don't even need to fast forward it so many times over my life I've been trying to justify oh let's just fast forward

let's just skip this scene I'll just tell you it's garbage right now you put garbage in your life Jesus said it's out of the abundance of the heart that your life is going to reflect so what you put in your life you you got to guard your heart you you got to guard what goes in there so Bel shazar and his guests they're they're praising false god oh my God let me just go here do you see this thing right here let become a really big God in our day my brother right over here called me out on it the other day we went and hung out together and he saids oh man the Lord spoke to me that I made an idol of my phone he's telling me this and right then the holy spirit's just convicting me oh Father I spend more time on this than I do in your word I don't even need to be doing evil and then he got got me

looking at how many times I pick it up and which apps I'm looking at and all of a sudden it's like man I looked at a 100 text messages today I looked at 186 emails today I looked at the news today I looked at social media today and next thing you know I was like I spend five six hours staring at a screen so we can look back in ancient history and say oh they they worship gods of gold silver wood we could look at all those that's what this is they have to go into a mine to get your little chip to make this thing happen we are doing the same thing as in Daniel's days so so un L you think like I got it figured out we all got some gods in our lives we got to recognize do not serve us well and it's in this place they're worshiping these false gods of their days the way I'd put it is you go to a

restaurant what is everybody doing they ain't talking to each other they ain't loving each other they're they're not engaging in life instead of praying instead of actually trying to do something with their lives we are sucked into the idols of our day you let the Holy Spirit speak to you there and it'll awake once you see it you can't unsee it and sometimes you wish I just wish I lived in a little more naivity but the holy spirit will show you he's got you alive for such a time as this so here they are making fun of the god of Israel they're in Babylon which is a spe it's a Babylonian Spirit just do what you want to do don't worship the true God verse 5 immediately the fingers of of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of wall of the king's Palace opposite of the lamp stand and the King saw the hand as it wrote then the king's color changed and his thoughts alarmed him and

his limbs gave way and his knees knocked together so here you got this human hand like like is it it in the you know what that that show you know you got just a hand no arm no body and and what's Supernatural to us which is even weird to us sometimes just think about this for a moment what's Supernatural to us is actually natural to God nothing is hard for him so we say this is so weird how would God do it he's God he's Eternal in power and in might he could do whatever he will whenever he wants to do it so when we see someone healed or we get to see a miracle something's grows that wasn't there God does something he shows up in a way what's Supernatural to us is natural to God which is why you ought to ask great things of God because he's the god that's able he shows up and he writes this down and what does Bazar do he's

terrified his knees begin to knock and he he's about to pass out he's faint and he needs some smelling salts because he's not going to even stand up any longer and he's freaking out and I wonder what would have happened if he would have had a pure heart because you know when God does the supernatural in your life and you're walking with the Lord you actually welcome it you actually ask God what he's saying and what he's doing you're not afraid but when you're not walking with the Lord I will tell you he gave you a conscience and we'll look at this in just a moment in Romans Chapter 2 he tells us in Romans chapter 1 that every single one of us is without excuse because deep down inside you know what's right and what's wrong and when you choose to live in debauchery and and and do whatever you feel like with sex do whatever you feel like with money do whatever you feel like with power and you redefine

what God says you know in your heart it's wrong but you're choosing to do it you're choosing to ignore what God put in your heart you're choosing instead of humbling yourself to just do things your way we've been doing that from the beginning by the way when Adam and Eve sended against God God used to walk with them in the garden he gave them the whole world to enjoy the whole garden was there and when they rebelled against God you know what they did they lived in fear they tried to hide their sexuality they tried to hide themselves from God and you can't hide from God he knows every single thing about you and if you're not right with God and God shows up and I pray today that he'll show up in some of your lives if you're not right with God it will cause some fear some anxiety

some Terror I see it all the time when people are facing death and if they don't have their hope in Jesus there's a fear that happens because you're not sure what's going to happen when your heart stops beating the Bible tells us you can be assured you can have the hope of Salvation right now you can have the free gift of eternal life right now Paul reminds Timothy in the world that he was living in for God gave us a spirit not a fear he gave us a spirit of power and love and self-control that word self-control has also been translated as sound s mine you have a sobriety in the world that you live in even if a hand shows up you don't have to freak out now here's what king Bazar did not do he did not say wow this is awesome I wonder what God has to say about me he didn't say I wonder if this is a good message he knew deep down in his heart if this

is of God and there is a God this is not going to be good because in your conscience you know like you know when you see red and blue lights in that rear of your mirror he aren't pulling you over to say how you doing they're not checking in on you to say God bless you for your good driving just want to encourage you go have a good day every once in a while that happens that happened to me pulling out of the church parking lot once I did get pull over and the first question he asked is have you had anything to drink today I said no sir except for the Holy Spirit but you know began to ask me all these questions and uh eventually it just led to this place that he just pulled me over to pull me over to check uh who I was or what I was doing and he sent me on his way I didn't get a ticket U but when you know you haven't done

something right and I even ask like may I ask the reason you pulled me over may I ask because I didn't have anything to fear when you have integrity and character you don't have anything to fear and I just want to tell you today our God is not a god of bad news he's a god of good news see we refer often here at church to the gospel gospel means what Shout It Out Jesus is the gospel of the good news he gives Liberty Freedom love peace we don't have a god of Burden he's not going to give you a whole bunch of rules and say I hope you could be good enough and if you follow this then you get into heaven no he's a God that gives you the gift of Grace he will forgive you of your sins and set you on the trajectory you didn't even know it was possible when you start understanding who he is you understand who you are the king it says in Daniel 5:7 he called loudly to

bring the enchanters the calans the astrologers and the king king declared to the wise men of Babylon whoever reads this writing whoever shows me its interpretation shall be closed with purple have a chain of gold around his neck and shall be third ruler in the Kingdom then all the king's wise men came in but they could not read the writing to make known to the king the interpretation then King Bazar was greatly alarmed and his color changed and his Lords were perplexed we are still doing the same thing Bazar did in Daniel's days we're seeking the ways of the world this is demonic it's of the devil this is spiritual this is what the enemy would like you to do is not to keep your eyes on the one that can give you wisdom the Bible says that if you would just ask God for wisdom he'll give it to you and he'll give it to you generously but you must first believe in him you must have faith in him if you do

not you're going to do what the world is doing you'll seek the ways of this world you'll turn to the stars for some answer you'll turn to astrology you'll turn to your hand for someone to read your future your your you turn to the spirits of this world which are demonic because you should turn to the one Holy Spirit you'll turn to tarot cards to see what kind of life you should be living you will turn to the things of this world and it doesn't matter what you call it doesn't matter what kind of entertainment the world makes it with Ouija boards or any other form of spiritualism it doesn't matter if it's crystals that look beautiful that will give you energy anything outside of seeking the one true God is wicked and it will end in in death and I know it might sound extreme to some of you but

it is Extreme there is one true God and you must love him and love him alone you can't mix your Gods it's the same problem that King Nebuchadnezzar did he turned to the ways of this world and it didn't work it drove them to insanity and if you keep going after the ways of this world and you think you can also get from God what God has for you it doesn't work and I want to call you to repentance today I don't care what you call it witchcraft or if you're a warlock or psychics or mediums or any other measure it might be rcky readers or spiritualists I'm here to tell you that's not of God if you seek his word he'll show you the truth I mean no condemnation with this today I mean for you to have freedom in the name of Jesus Christ what this world needs is

Hope and I just I know already the Lord's revealed to me there are many in this house that are seeking the wrong thing you come here to worship the Living God and yet day by day you're seeking the wrong things you're still reading your horoscope you're still turning to the ways of this world you're still trying to wonder is this God of the Bible the truth you can't mix worships you will be deceived earlier you may have seen some stuff here on the front of the stage at Pursuit night I made this call if you're participating in any type of Witchcraft Wiccan or anything if you know it's not of God you've been reading a book that's spiritual but it doesn't point you to Jesus if you know you've been turning to substance and that substance could be anything it could be popping a pill it

could be marijuana it it could be as Extreme as meth or heroin and we're so quick to judge someone else that does something let me tell you if you're seeking anything outside of God anything he's not comparing idols and saying well this one's way worse than this one any Idol is a false god so I just asked today if you've got any of that bring it to church lay it at this platform and we'll get rid of it we're going to get rid of it we had a testimony on Thursday night at Pursuit night a year ago there was a team from Journey Church that went to Uganda and a witch a a witch doctor gave his life to Jesus and he came back later that day and he brought all of his stuff from his witchcraft he put it in a pile and the church burned it and where I saw the bonfire to me I was like wow that's wild what would happen in America if we got rid of our our sin if we

actually burned it but it wasn't weird in Uganda there was a crossing over from Death to life like there was no like little bit of mixing anymore there was not a little bit of like well I just look at a little less pornography and then and then maybe you know W won't be as bad no just a little bit will wreck your life just a little bit of Leaven makes the whole dough rice just just a little bit so if you've got any witchcraft stuff in your life anything tarot cards Ouija boards crystals anything you can go burn it your do not give it away to a friend or on Facebook you're passing on demons bring it to church bring it to this Altar and we will get rid of it there's no judgment you bring It Forward

I will have a greater respect of someone that repents of their sins because Jesus says that's what the father celebrates one sinner that repents over 99 that need no repentance I I don't need a church full of people that need repentance I want you to grow in your faith and I knew that today would be a serious message and I don't mean to yell at you what I mean to do is to point you to the truth I I want you to know the hope of Heaven James put it this way you adulterous people do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God you just you just can't have both God wants to be your friend today Bazar can't seem to find a solution he tried it at all and it didn't work finally his mom steps and the Queen and he says actually your your grandfather my

father he he had a guy he would use his name is Daniel and she describes Daniel this way there's a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy God she didn't know what to call it there's something different about him in the days of your father light and understanding wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him and King Nebuchadnezzar your father your father the king made him the chief of magicians enchanters calans and astrologers verse 12 because an excellent Spirit knowledge and understanding to interpret dreams explain riddles and solve problems were found in this Daniel whom the king named Bazar he tried to change his identity but he couldn't do it now let Daniel be called and he will show the interpretation may I say this is a life well- lived Daniel's now in his 60s he never compromised he never caved in if you're in your 60s keep going may I just tell you if you're in your 60s

and older 70s 80s 90s come on somebody your best days are still ahead of you there's a fighter I deeply respect and he he puts it this way you're only remembered for your last fight so so if you win a whole bunch of fights and you get knocked out in your last fight you know what people remember you got knocked out but if you win victorious in your last fight do you know what people remember you're Victorious so if you're 80 and you're wondering oh I wasted my life no God still gave you breath he could redeem your life in one moment but you can also lose your life and be judged in one moment so he brings Daniel before Bel he brings Bazar brings Daniel before him and he says but I have heard that you give interpretations now if you can read this writing and make known to

me its interpretation you shall be closed with purple you shall have a a chain of gold around your neck and shall be the third ruler in the Kingdom then Daniel answered and said before the king let your gifts be for yourself let your rewards be to another nevertheless I will read the writing to the king and make known to him interpretation I love this guy he's like a boss you keep your gold in your glory I don't want to touch it I am not blessed because you put gold around my neck that's not blessing I know I'm blessed because of whose I am so I will do this work because it's the work of God I don't need to to be served but I will serve just like Jesus said the son of man came not to be served but to serve I will still do it Abraham said the same thing to the king in Sodom the

king wanted to give him gifts and Abram at the time was like I'm not going to do this because if you give this to me you're going to think that you were a part of this you'll think that somehow you had a part of what God's going to do and let me tell you when God shows up you don't need gold you don't need someone's else's Glory then in his presence verse 24 the hand was sent and this writing was inscribed this is the writing that was inscribed many many Tech Parson this is the interpretation right away Daniel gives it because he knew the language when you're close to God you know the word of God you're not afraid of the hand you say that's my father's hand I know his handwriting I've been in his word this isn't the first time I've heard from him this is the interpretation of the matter verse 26 many God has numbered the days of

your kingdom and brought it to the end tle you have weighed in the balances and found wanting Paris your kingdom is divided and given to the mes and the Persians the writing is on the wall you have not been living for God you've been living for yourself you've not given God the glory you've taken the glory just look at King Nebuchadnezzar he ended up insane like an animal this isn't going to end good men your time is short may I just tell you your time is short if no one's told you lately I'll tell you you're going to die please don't be surprised make much of your life well you can men your time is short don't think that you're going to get 80 years

or 90 years or 100 years I mean no joking about this or ill will but let me just tell you a blood coock can be released and you can die in just a moment you can you can leave the church and a car can hit you and you're gone in just a moment it could happen in a myriad of different ways or you live till you're old decrepit you can't hear taste or see and then you die but you will die your time is short then he says and you're waited and you're found wanting tle when we compare your life to Gods you fall really short if you just take the Ten Commandments and if each of us were to take the Ten Commandments say if that's what will get you into heaven being a good person none of us would get into heaven there's a lie that's passed on

from generation to generation good people get into heaven that's nowhere in the Bible because what we mean by good people get into heaven is I've never murdered someone physically even though I've probably done it mentally and so what we do is we try to weigh in our hearts the way we think God weighs it but God says no no no you need to be holy to get into heaven this is a good place I don't let Sinners into heaven I'm going to talk about that in just one moment and then finally the last thing he says is Paris your Kingdom's divide is given to the mes and Persian by the way the Babylon Empire looked like it was impenetrable but while Bazar is having a party the Persians are sneaking up on him that's how the enemy Works he gets you distracted as long as you could be doing foolish things and not caring about the things of God you're not even ready for the Judgment that's coming I mean they

cross the Euphrates they're right in his backyard and he doesn't even know it and I want you to know that God is giving you an opportunity to repent the writing on the wall is right there you know what Bel shazar should have said Daniel you're right I Repent which means I change my thinking I'm running to God I reject the things of the world I have have messed up miserably God have mercy on me that would have been a great response from Bel shazar but instead he's like hey I want to give you that gold anyways I want to give you that position anyways he he he actually thought that somehow he could interpret the writing on the wall and not live differently if you hear the word of God and you just continue to live the same way you will face judgment it doesn't matter who you are it's wild that we think that somehow in this life

I I mean no offense to this but that you're more precious than you actually are here's what I see over and over and this is like a hard reality because grieving is so hard when you lose a loved one but you know when you die the world just goes on all your hard work for a lifetime in your career in your family in your work everyone just they have to move on now some people get really hurt with grief and they get stuck and God can heal and mend and meet us in that grief but it doesn't matter how rich you are you can't buy more time doesn't matter if you're inventor you can't create more time doesn't matter if you're a politician you can't legislate more time this this is like a Level Playing Field like every one of you you have a chance to glorify God you say well I don't have

a lot of power I don't have a lot of money I don't I'm not sure I have a lot of influence let me tell you you know what God cares about our hearts he's weighing our hearts and when you wonder then how could I face god well you will face God Romans 2 let me just read verse 16 on 2:16 when according to my gospel God judges the secrets of men by Christ God knows everything about you every thought you've ever thought every deed you've ever done he knows everything that was done to you even if it was evil he knows it and he will judge in the Book of Revelation we're told that Jesus has eyes like fires eyes like fire it's apocalyptic writing it's a metaphor to say he judges everyone this is the judge you will face one day Revelation 1911 puts it powerfully when John says this is what we'll see I saw heaven opened up and behold a white horse the one sitting on the White Horse

is called faithful and true and in righteousness he judges in righteousness he judges and makes War he's the one that allow the the MEO Persians to come in and take over Babylon so how can you avoid being judged and being found wanting not good enough to get into heaven I want you to know this it's really simple the gift of Grace and it's available to you today it's free you don't have to purchase it you don't get it by going to church you don't get it by being a good person or Born Into the right family Ephesians 2:4 and5 says but God being rich and mercy because of the great love with which he has loved us he loves you my friend even when we were dead in our trespasses he made us alive together with Christ by

Grace you've been saved when when you trust in Jesus Christ you believe in what he's done for you he who is without sin went to the cross and he paid the penalty for every single one of your sins by receiving the gift of Grace he forgives you and according to John 3:36 whoever believes in the son Jesus has eternal life it's yours not someday not one day whoever does not obey the son shall not see life but the wrath of God remains on him the chapter ends it's too late the writing's on the wall you chose debauchery and death instead of love and eternal life that very night Daniel 5:30 Bazar the caldan King was

killed Darius the me received the kingdom being about 62 years old so while he was partying the enemy was planning a takeover see there are really famous people that will die and everyone shocked they died yes you two will die doesn't matter how much money power or what you have going on in your life you can think you're all that in one moment and be gone the next but do you know who did survive to the next chapter Daniel and you know what's hit me all week preparing to preach this to you I want you so badly to be Daniel I do I do I do I want to be Daniel

we're living in Babylon days but where the bazars in the story if this story points us to any person it points us to Jesus is the Daniel in this story he he's the one that was faithful he was true he was right he was consistent today is your day of reckoning Romans 623 says for the wages of sin is death death is a separation from life God is life but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our lord I want to encourage you it's not too late you can be forgiven right now you can experience eternal life right now and when Jesus says you believe in him you don't have to wait to

get to heaven to start experiencing Heaven that's good news you can actually be set free in your own heart you could be forgiven not only of your sins you could be healed all the hurt that was done to you your life can be redeemed you're no longer an orphan and spiritually you become a child of God When You Believe In Jesus it's the beginning of greater things to come it's not an easy life but it's the best life because when your heart stops beating according to 2 Corinthians 5 to be absent from the body with Jesus is to be present with the Lord no more sin no more sorrow no more suffering a glorified body you get the goodness of God for eternal life why would you not want that I am passionate and excited about this cuz I want you in heaven I don't care how old you are do not think that because you went to church

your whole life you're getting to Heaven no you'll be judged on the Holiness of God and when you believe in Jesus you're counted as holy because he's holy you're counted as righteous because he's righteous he replaces your life with his life you're born again you're a new creation it's not because you went to church it's not because you did good deeds it's because of who you believed in so today do you want to receive Jesus and if you've never done that God brought you here at this moment to say yes to him and when you say yes it changes everything you've got to start following him from this day forward you might make a mistake but you get up and you keep coming back to him you don't have to be perfect because he is perfect for you but you do have to keep being changed by him keep running back to him keep turning to him so to all who are in this room just with eyes closed right now I want to know if that's you just

throw up your hand and say yes yes I want Jesus I want to say yes forgive my sins praise God praise God praise God who else today you're here it doesn't matter how old you are you could be going to church your whole life but you might not be saved today do you want to be born again in Jesus just raise your hand nice and high I want to see who you are I want to celebrate with you this this is a great day anybody else hands all over anybody else just give up that sin give up that witchcraft praise God yes yes praise God I'm so proud of you anyone else in this moment of prayer I'm just going to ask that you pray these words with me if you You' ever believed in Jesus let's do it with those praying for the first time prayer is talking to god it's listening to the Lord just pray this out loud Lord Jesus I believe in

you forgive me of my sins I choose you give me eternal life I receive the Holy Spirit from this day forward I will follow you in Jesus name okay I want to just continue praying Lord I ask now that you would stir in the hearts of those in this room OB obedience that we would seek you and follow you obey you instead of this world father forgive us where we have ignored you when you're just speaking to us right on the wall you've said something about every person in this room and I pray that they would receive it today and run to you the author the founder the perfector of life God may your grace be great in this place in Jesus name amen oh my friends I want to turn your attention right now to this tank which is full of water we're going to have baptisms right now baptisms represents what Jesus has done for us

his death his burial and his resurrection when you go under the water it's a picture of being buried going into the Earth and when you come up out of the water it's a picture of a resurrected life you only need to get baptized one time but if you've never been baptized this is your moment to get baptized Jesus commanded Us in Matthew chapter 28 he says go therefore and Make Disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit I'm just about to do that I'm going to baptize people in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit so here's how it works at Journey Church you have to believe in Jesus to get baptized if you've not believed you don't need to get baptized if you've already been baptized you do not need to get baptized over and over again you just need to get baptized one time some people ask though well I was baptized as a baby well you didn't make that decision your parents made that decision

there comes a point in your life you have to choose to follow the lord so if you've never made the decision to get baptized this is your time there are too many people living in Disobedience some of you have believed in Jesus but you've never been baptized why are you waiting you're living in Disobedience it's time to start obeying God start living the life God has for you he'll never stop loving you but it's time to start celebrating it so what we do here is we worship over these baptisms we're praying over every person and when you see someone come up out of the water it's okay to shout it's okay to scream it's okay to clap it's okay to cry because we celebrate the welcoming in this house that no matter who you are where you come from praise be to God so if you want to get baptized you're already seeing people make their way over get up out of your

seats and come over we're going to do this quickly but get out of your seats come get baptized let's celebrate What the Lord Has Done [Applause] [Music] you for you are not though you have been broken your

inent St I hear you whisper underneath your bre I hear your rest willing [Music] in the middle of the night it's true I [Music] will there

[Music] no that cannot be covered over and over you're not Def [Music] I'll be your armor I hear you whisper underneath your breath I hear your rest your I will send out an army to

you in the middle of The Dark Night is true I will resue [Music] you I will never stop marching to reach you in the middle of the hardest finest room I will rescue you [Music] you I will down an army to find you in the middle of the night it's true I will rescue

[Music] you and I will never stop marching to reach you in the middle of the find true I will resue you I hear the whisper [Music] your I hear you whisper you have [Music]

I will [Music] outle will you I will never stop Maring to reach you in the middle of [Music] the true I will [Music] res I [Music]

will true I will res [Music] will midle the fight true I [Music] will I will s down an army to fight you in the middle of the night it's true I will resue

[Music] you and I will never stoping to reach you in the middle of the heart is find it true I will resue you [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] I will resue

[Applause] [Music] I [Music] will I will you I will outy in the midle of true

[Music] will will never stoping to reach in the middle of the [Music] heart [Music] will is there anyone else here your heart's stirring maybe your heart's pounding you're wondering is that me today and if if that if you're showing up and you're like well I'm in all my clothes what's going to happen you'll just get wet uh we'll give you a towel and we'll give you a t-shirt but I tell you you don't do this because it's convenient too many times in our American Western culture we we want things to be right we want the right people to be there we want the right setting the right date but I want to tell you when you follow Jesus it's about obedience so I just want to give you an opportunity if you're here today and you've not been baptized and you have believed in Jesus this is the day

of many steps forward of just saying yes yes it's just one day at a time and blessing follows is there anybody else just say that's that's you just come forward I don't want to miss this come on praise God let's go come right over here yes anybody else anybody else praise God praise God just one moment of Courage can change your life one moment just one moment changes everything the devil's going to lie to you and try to tell you that somehow you can't make much of your life God Made You he's got a purpose and he's got a plan for your life you just have to walk in it you have to obey him praise be to God

[Applause] will outy you in the middle of night it's true I [Music] will I will never stop Maring to reach you in the middle of [Applause] [Music] [Music]

praise be to God glory to God in the highest did anyone get blessed by God today okay that's why we came to church today we did not come here to play religious games we came here to meet with a real living God