Good morning again. Hebrews chapter
4 says let us therefore fear. Lest a promise being left us. Of entering into his rest. Any
of you should come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached
as well as unto them. But the word preached did not
profit them. not being mixed with faith in
them that heard it. For we which have believed do
enter into his rest. That's what faith is. Faith is
resting in Christ, trusting the Lord Jesus Christ for all the
hope of your salvation, all your righteousness, all the forgiveness
of your sin accomplished in the Lord Jesus Christ. Resting from
our labors as he lested from his rested from his The rest
of that verse says which were done before the foundation of
the world in the covenant of grace the Lord accomplished the
salvation of his people what hope pray God will give us the
Ability to to rest in Christ this morning Tom's gonna come
lead us in the hymn on the back of your bulletin. Let's stand
together you Though troubles assail and dangers
affright, Though friends should all fail and foes all unite,
Tis one thing secures us, whatever be tide, His promise assures
us the Lord will provide. The bird without barn or storehouse
are fed. From them let us learn to trust
for our bread. His saints, what is needed, shall
ne'er be denied. So long as tis written, the Lord
will provide. His call we obey, like Abram
of old. We know not the way, but faith
makes us bold. For though we are strangers,
we have a sure guide, and know in all dangers the Lord will
provide. No strength of our own, nor goodness
we claim. Our trust is all cast on his
precious name. In this our strong refuge, for
safety we hide. The Lord is our refuge, the Lord
will provide. When life is most o'er and death
is in view, The Word of His grace will see us safe through. ? Not fearing nor doubting ?
? With Christ on our side ? ? We hope to die shouting ? ? The
Lord will provide ? Please be seated. Ephesians chapter two. Last week Michael brought the
call to worship with Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter
1 tells us what God has done for us in eternity past. He chose
us so we'd be before him holding without blame. The Lord Jesus
Christ accepted us and was a surety for our sins and the Holy Spirit
was the earnest of our inheritance. Chapter 2 tells us what God does
for us in this life, in time, the things that God does for
his children. Chapter 2 and verse 1, you hath
he quickened who were dead in trespassage and sins. That's
not an invitation. You don't issue an invitation
to dead people. God first raises us from the
dead, borns us again, and then he does this and removes us from
our sins and our trespasses. You hath he quickened who were
dead in trespasses and sins, where in times past we walked
according to the course of this world, the course of the spirit
of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience,
among whom we also had our conversation in times past, in the lust of
the flesh, in the fulfilling of the desire of our flesh and
of our mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as
others. But God, who is rich in mercy,
For his great love, wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, has quickened us together with Christ, by grace
are ye saved, and raised us up together, and made us to sit
together in heavenly places in Christ, that in the ages to come
he might show the riches of his grace through his kindness toward
us in Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast, for we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them. Wherefore, remember that ye,
being in times past Gentiles in the flesh, called uncircumcision
by them which are called the circumcision made in the flesh
by hands, that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens
from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants
of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But
now, by the blood of Jesus Christ, we are made nigh because he is
our peace. Free will religion calls God
a liar. It makes the blood of Jesus Christ
of none effect. And it's blasphemy against the
Holy Ghost. Anyone in free will religion,
unless God intervenes, they are without Christ. They are aliens
from the Commonwealth of Israel. They are strangers to the covenants
of promise. They have no hope. And they're
without God in this world. There's no salvation in free
will religion. Father, we come before you this
morning, Father, almost in total ignorance, Father. But you've
opened our eyes, Father, to the fact that salvation is of the
Lord. You've opened our eyes to the
fact, Father, that we're sinners when we're born. We live as sinners. We're called as sinners, and
we are sinners until the day we die, Father. Every hope Every
hope we have father is in the Lord Jesus Christ. We're thankful
father that you saved us because we're unable to save ourselves.
We'd ask father you'd be with Greg. Give him an understanding
of the scriptures father. Give him the grace to bring the
scriptures before us father that your name might be glorified.
We ask these things in Christ name, amen. Let's all stand together one
more time for hymn number 158 and the hardback timbrel number
158. ? Come Holy Spirit, heavenly dove
? ? With all thy quickening powers ? ? Kindle a flame of sacred
love ? ? In these cold parts of ours ? Look how we grovel
here below, fond of these earthly toys. Our souls, how heavily
they go to reach eternity. In vain we tune our formal songs. In vain we strive to rise. Hosannas languish on our tongues. And our devotion dies. at this poor dying rate. Our love so faint, so cold to
thee, and thine to us so great. Come Holy Spirit, heavenly dove,
With all thy quickening powers, come shed abroad the Savior's
love, and that shall kindle ours. Please be seated. Nothing either great or small,
nothing sinner, no. Jesus did it, did it all long,
long ago. It is finished, yes indeed, finished
every jot. Sinner, this is all you need,
tell me is it not? When he left his lofty throne,
stooped to do and die. Everything was fully done, hearken
to his cry. It is finished, yes, indeed,
finished every jot. Sinner, this is all you need. Tell me, is it not? Weary, working, burdened one,
wherefore toil you so? Cease your doing, all was done
long, long ago. It is finished, yes, indeed,
finished every jot. Sinner, this is all you need. Tell me, is it not? Only in Christ's work, you see,
can you truly rest. Doing is a deadly thing. Doing ends in death. It is finished, yes, indeed,
finished every jot. Sinner, this is all you need. Tell me, is it not? Cast your deadly doing down,
down at Jesus' feet. Stand in Him, in Him alone, gloriously
complete. It is finished, yes, indeed,
finished every jot. Sinner, this is all you need. Tell me, is it not? Thank you, Tom. If you're a sinner, that's all
you need. It's finished. Will you open
your Bibles with me to Daniel chapter 5, please? Daniel chapter
5. I've titled this message, The
Handwriting is on the Wall. The handwriting is on the wall.
and only believers will heed its warning. I've come to understand over
the years that every time I speak from God's Word about a warning
or an admonition, I'm hopeful that someone who doesn't believe
the gospel will hear it, and inevitably they don't, and the
believer does. When we say, sin shall not have
dominion over you for you're not under the law but under grace,
believers are smitten in their hearts and thinking, oh no, it
seems to me that sin does have dominion over me. And the unbeliever
thinks, sin's not a problem for me. I can quit anytime. When I Quote that often passage
from the Old Testament, Isaiah chapter 6, they will have ears
but they will not hear, the eyes they will have but they will
not see. And the one who cannot hear and cannot see doesn't give
any regard to it. The one who can see thinks, oh
no, oh no, have I deceived myself? Is it that I have not really
heard the gospel? that I just know things about
God and I don't really know him. You see, it's the child of God
that's smitten in the heart over the warnings of Scripture. It's
the child of God who holds himself suspect all the time and who
tries himself to see whether to be in the faith. The unbeliever
just When we read in John, love not the world nor the things
that are in the world. For them that love the world,
the love of the Father is not in them. And the child of God
thinks, oh, I'm so in love with this world. Maybe I don't have
the love of the Father. And the unbeliever says, I'm
good. Don't have a problem. They don't
hear it. They don't hear it. when we say God gives grace to
the humble and he resists the proud. The unbeliever thinks,
I'm deserving of God's grace for I'm humble. And the child
of God says, oh, how much pride I see in my heart. Lord, don't
resist me. Don't resist me. The handwriting
is on the wall, but only the child of God will heed its warning. This message is for God's people
as all gospel messages are. If the Lord doesn't give us ears
to hear, we won't hear. Listen to what the Lord said
in John chapter 8 verse 43. Why do you not understand my
speech? Even because you cannot hear
my word. The Lord Jesus Christ said of
the unbelievers, you can't hear my word. You are of your father
the devil. I've come into the world, light's
come into the world, but men love darkness rather than light.
You are unable to hear it. So, child of God, I understand
from my own personal experience how the warnings of Scripture,
just like the one we read in Hebrews chapter 4 a while ago, you know, not to be presumptuous
about God's grace and how oftentimes we think, Lord, that's me, that's
me. When the Spirit of God comes,
he will convict the world of sin because they believe not
on me. Only the child of God sees the
unbelief that's in their heart. And they see it only because
the Spirit of God causes them to see it. You see, the unbeliever
just rests and thinks, well, you know, I believe. I've made
that decision. I'm good to go. I'm fine. That's not for me. Not for me. If you don't know, well, we read
in the study before the service, if you have not the Spirit of
God, you're none of his. Oh, the Spirit of God's the one
who causes the child of God to not be comfortable with himself. And it's that conviction that
forces us to look to Christ, isn't it? Because once the Spirit
of God makes us to be a sinner, and this is a faithful saying,
Christ Jesus came into the world only to save sinners, only to
save sinners. And once He makes us a sinner,
then what did the Lord say the Spirit of God would do? He will
convict the world of sin because they believe not on me. Lord,
that's my problem. I've got so much unbelief. It's
the sin that does so easily beset me. It's the cause of all my
problems. It's my unbelief of righteousness
because I go to my Father. Oh, there is one. There is one. who always believed God with
all of his heart, all of his mind and all of his soul all
the time. And he's my righteousness and
he's gone before me into glory. He's my forerunner. He's opened
up the gates of heaven. He's seated at the right hand
of God. He's all the hope of my salvation and of judgment
and of judgment because the Prince of this world has been judged.
Sin's been put away. Justice has been executed and
God is satisfied with the work that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished
on Calvary's cross. And he's my only hope. Every
time I look to myself and I consider the admonitions and warnings
of scriptures, I have nothing but fear that grips my heart
and that causes me to turn and look. and find all my comfort
and all my hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now Belshazzar took the
vessels from the tabernacle that his grandfather had taken from
Jerusalem and involved them in his pagan worship of gold and
silver and iron and brass and stone and wood. What a description
of man-made religion. I'm very careful, I'm very careful
not to say something that an unbeliever won't do. I've heard
preachers say, well, unbelievers won't do that, they won't do
that, do this. Boy, that would cause fear in
your heart, wouldn't it? We look at Peter, we look at
Solomon, we look at David, we look at Lot, just Lot. What is
it that an unbeliever won't do? Believers are capable of doing
anything an unbeliever will do. By the grace of God, restrain
us. But I tell you something that
a believer won't do. They won't take the vessels from
the Holy Temple, the things of God, and go engage in pagan worship. They won't do it. They won't
do what Belshazzar did. A person can hear the gospel, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, The Lord delivers them once and for
all from that godless, pagan, Babylonian religion of free will
and good works. He does. You have your Bibles open to
Daniel chapter 5. Will you look with me at Daniel's words to
Belshazzar, beginning in verse 22, And thou, his son, O Belshazzar,
hast not humbled thy heart, though thou knew all this. Daniel reminded
Belshazzar of what his grandfather went through in chapter 4, and
how the Lord had humbled him, and how his grandfather had taught
him better. Belshazzar, you knew better than
this. Your grandfather already told you about those holy vessels
and about the God who is, and you've turned and worshiped that
pagan God. But thou hast lifted thyself
up against the Lord of heaven, verse 23, and they have brought
the vessels of his house before thee, and thou and thy lords
and thy wives and thy concubines have drunk wine in them, and
thou hast praised the gods of silver and gold and brass and
iron and wood and stone. which see not, nor hear, nor
know. And the God in whose hands thy breath
is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified? Now, the Lord's exercising judgment
against Belshazzar, you've gone back to the pagan gods, even
though you knew better. Verse 24, then was the part of
the hand sent unto him, and this writing was written. And this
is the writing that was written, mene, mene, tekel, ufarsin. And this is the interpretation
of the thing, mene, God hath numbered thy kingdom and finished
it. Tikal, thou art weighed in the
balance and found wanting. Piraeus, now somebody, well,
Piraeus is not Eupharsin. Why has the word changed? Eupharsin
is the plural for Piraeus. And what Daniel's saying is that
God has divided your kingdom. And what the handwriting on the
wall is a reference to the two nations that it's gonna be divided
to. Perez, thy kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and the
Persians. Then commanded Belshazzar and they clothed Daniel with
scarlet and put a chain of gold upon his neck and made a proclamation
concerning him that he should be the third ruler of the kingdom.
In that night was Belshazzar, the king of the Chaldeans slain.
And Darius the Midian took the kingdom being about three score
and two years old. Now we know from the book of
Isaiah that Darius was at the gate. He was at the gate when
this prophecy was interpreted. What Belshazzar thought, I don't
know. Maybe he thought, well, okay,
that'll be somewhere down the road. And that very night his
life was required of him. Unbelief always thinks, well,
you know, I'll settle things with God later. When God is pleased to save a
soul, there's always a handwriting on the wall and the message is
the same. The message is the same. You
see, what God said to Belshazzar is either going to be said to
you and me in the new birth or it's going to be said in the
day of judgment when we're separated from God for all eternity. Either God's gonna speak to our
hearts now and say, I've numbered your kingdom and I finished it. You see, man by nature rules
his own kingdom, doesn't he? And in the work of the new birth,
the Lord says to us, I've numbered your kingdom, I've finished it,
I'm done. You've been weighed in the balance and you've been
found wanting. And now, now you're going to
have two natures from here on out. Now that's either going to be
our experience now or that's going to be our experience in
eternal judgment. Oh, how we want the Lord to speak
now, don't we? When God writes, it's settled. There's no changing
the word of God. There are three times in the
Bible where God writes with his finger. The first time is when
God wrote on the tablets of stone on Mount Sinai and gave to Moses
and the children of Israel the law. That writing was never meant
to be a means of salvation. You and I are not able to keep
the law. That writing was not even meant to be a rule of life. That writing was given to us
in order to show the perfection of the Lord Jesus Christ, our
inability to keep God's law, and our need for grace. But the
people didn't understand the writing. Or as soon as Moses
came off the mountain with the law of God, which had been written
by the finger of God on those tablets of stone, the children
of Israel said, we'll do it. We'll do it. We'll obey the law
of God. You know what Moses said to him?
You can't obey the law of God. And he made a sacrifice. He made
a sacrifice. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. God
requires a blood sacrifice for the violation of his law. Did
he not say to Adam in the garden, in the day in which you eat of
this fruit, you shall surely die? And then in Romans the scripture
says, in the wages of sin is death. And without the shedding
of blood, there's no remission of sins. Sin is a violation of
God's law. And that's all you and I do is
break God's law. The children of Israel, those
who were not able to understand the admonitions and the warnings
of scriptures, they said, we'll do it. We'll do it. And Moses said, you can do it.
And he made a blood sacrifice. Oh, thank God for the sacrifice
of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, which satisfies the demands
of God's justice for our having broken God's law. That's the
first time the finger of God wrote. The second time the finger
of God wrote, or the third time, this is the second in Daniel
chapter five, the third time that the finger of God wrote
was when those self-righteous hypocritical Pharisees brought
that woman who was caught in adultery before the Lord Jesus
Christ. And you remember what they said?
We caught her in the very act How'd they do that? I'll tell
you how they did it. They set her up. They set her
up. They worked it out so that it
could happen at a certain place at a certain time and they broke
in and they were ready to, and nothing said about the man. I'm
sure he was probably one of the Pharisees, but they brought this
woman before the Lord. And they asked the Lord, they
said, Moses' law requires that she be stoned. She was caught
in adultery. And the scripture says the Lord
bends over and begins to write with his finger on the ground. And one by one, beginning with
the eldest down to the youngest, their conscience, the scripture
says, convicted them. And they began to walk away. Now, the scripture is not clear
about what the Lord was writing, but he wrote the first time those
laws on the tablets of stone, and I suspect, well, Romans chapter
3 verse 19 says, now we know that whatsoever the law saith,
it saith to them that are under the law that every mouth may
be stopped and all the world will become guilty before God. I suspect the Lord was writing
commandments of God right there. And beginning with the oldest,
those men who had more experience, right down to the youngest, their
conscience convicted them. Their mouths were silenced before
God. They couldn't, they could no
longer accuse this woman of what she was guilty of. And the Lord looked up and he
said, where are thine accusers? And she in shame said, Lord,
there are none. And the Lord said, I accuse you
not either. Go send them more. Oh, the finger of God, the grace
of God. Once God's finger has written. It's established, it's settled. And the only hope of having the
violation that we've made of God's law forgiven is by the
Lord Jesus Christ's sacrifice on Calvary's cross. And what
hope and forgiveness we have in Him. Let me ask you a question. Has God said to you, I have numbered thy kingdom and finished it." Has God said that to you? He said it to Saul of Tarsus
who were breathing out threatenings and arresting God's people and he
arrested him, didn't he? Stopped him in his tracks, said,
thy kingdom is finished. I've numbered your days and it's
finished. You're not going to take another
step against the people of God. He said it to Matthew, who was
the money changer there at the table. He looked at him and he
said, Matthew, you follow me. You're finished with that now.
You're finished with that. No more of that. He said to Zacchaeus,
when he told Zacchaeus, Zacchaeus, you come down, I must go to thy
house this day for salvation has come to thine house. He said
to the disciples when they wanted to go away from Samaria and he
said, I must needs go through Samaria. I've got people in Samaria. I'm
going to bring an end that poor woman at the well. He brought
an end to her kingdom, didn't he? It's what the Lord says to each
one of his children when he saves them. Now, Belshazzar didn't
heed the warning. And for him, it was judgment.
And these words will be spoken either in grace or in judgment. These words will either be the
hope of our salvation. I have numbered thy kingdom and
finished it. No longer do you reign sovereign
over your salvation. No longer do you remain on the
throne of God as we saw in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. I've numbered your
kingdom. I have finished it. I have brought
you to bow before me. The time of your rebellion, the
time of your unbelief is over. When God finishes something,
it's just finished. It's finished. That's why I said
when God teaches a sinner the gospel, they can't go back to
works religion. They cannot go back. They won't
go back. It's finished. I finished your
kingdom. I've delivered you from that.
The first time we read of the word finished in the scriptures
is Genesis chapter 2 verse 1 when the scripture says, and the heavens
and earth were finished and the host of them. When God finished
creation, it was finished. You know, the lie of evolution
has creation continuing, doesn't it? More things are being created
because they're involved. Now, the truth is that the world
has been devolving ever since God finished it. it was perfect
when he finished and it's been declining and evolving ever since
there's no truth there's no truth to evolution God finished scripture says in James chapter
1 verse 15 sin when it is finished bring it forth death now that'll
either be sin when it's finished in our physical death, bringing
spiritual death, the second death, or it'll be when God enlightens
the eyes of our understanding and shows us that our sin is
our unbelief and that we're no longer. You see, if we were still
in bondage to sin, we wouldn't be able to believe God. We wouldn't
be able to believe God. We wouldn't be able to believe
the gospel. That's what it means to be delivered from sin. Sin
blinds men from Christ. And James said, sin, when it
is finished, bringeth forth death. And when the sin of a child of
God is finished, it causes him to die. to be put to death spiritually
and made alive in the Lord Jesus Christ. God says to every one
of His children, I have numbered your kingdom and I have finished
it. In Hebrews chapter 4 verse 3,
the scripture says that His works were finished from the foundation
of the world. So before the world ever began
in the covenant of grace, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is called
the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world, finished the work
of redemption. And it can't be changed. It cannot
be changed. Paul said in 2 Timothy chapter
4, I fought a good fight. I have. finished my course I've
kept faith by the grace of God he keeps us from falling and
when we're finished this course no ultimately ultimately the
final and sure assurance of salvation is perseverance if you look to You look to your
works for assurance of your salvation. You look to a change of life.
You look to what you're doing or not doing as assurance of
salvation. You look to a feeling or to an experience that you
had in the new birth as assurance of salvation. You're going to
find yourself deceived, aren't you? Ultimately, the assurance
of salvation is to say with the Apostle Paul, I finished my course.
I've kept the faith. I believe God. See, once God
gives faith, if it's God-given faith, it will. It will remain. It will remain. And if it's not
God-given faith, it'll fall away. You've heard me say it before,
I'll say it again. If you can quit believing and fall away
from Christ, you will. If you can, you will. The only
people that won't are those who can't. John chapter 17, the Lord's praying
to this father. And he says, I have finished
the work which thou gave us me to do. What was the work? Well,
you remember the first words that are recorded in the scriptures
from the unfeigned lips of the Lord Jesus Christ. Or when he
spoke to his mother at the age of 12, there in Jerusalem, when
they lost him for those three days. And the Lord said, did
you not know that I must be about? My father's business. Why'd you
look at, you knew this is where I'd be. And then his last words
spoken on Calvary's cross, tell us what his father's business
was. When he cried, it is finished. It's finished. Has God said to
you, I have numbered your kingdom and I have finished it. Because
he's either going to say that to each one of us now or he's
going to say that to us in judgment. By God's grace, Lord, speak that
to me now. I have finished your kingdom.
It's finished. 1 Kings chapter 6 verse 14, Solomon
built the house of God and finished it. He finished it. When God
finishes something, it's finished. Has God finished your rebellion
against him? Has God finished your unbelief?
Has God finished your perceived control over your own salvation? as God brought an end to your
works, brought an end to your will, brought an end to your
kingdom. Don't you love it when Naomi
said to Ruth after Ruth had met Boaz and Naomi realized what
was happening and Naomi said to Ruth, she said, you sit still,
don't move a muscle, for the man will not rest until he's
finished the work. Boaz is a picture of the Lord
Jesus Christ who went to the threshing floor and reckoned
with that kinsman that was nearer to Ruth than he was. That's the Lord Jesus Christ
going to the cross and reckoning with the law of God. And he finished
the work. And when he finishes our kingdom,
he shows us that the work of redemption's finished. He causes
us to stop trying to atone for our own sins. He causes us to
stop bringing our works before Him in hopes of our acceptance
before Him. And He causes us to rest in the
finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Has God said to you, Meanie? Meanie. There it is right
there. Look at our text. Daniel chapter
5, meaning God hath numbered thy kingdom and finished it. You see, every unbeliever's experience
is to work himself into heaven, to establish the kingdom by his
own works. And when God saves a sinner,
he brings an end to that kingdom. he finishes it. Verse 27, Tikal. Thou art weighed in the balance
and are found wanting. Now everybody's got in their
mind's eye an imaginary scale in heaven with their name on
it. And they think that their sin is going on one side and
that their good deeds is going on the other side and their hope
is that when they die, their good deeds will outweigh their
bad deeds. It's just self-atonement. It's self-righteousness. What
they don't realize is that the things that they're putting in
hopes on the other side of their sin are actually going on the
sin side. Men don't know that. They don't know that they're
just making the scale worse by their righteousness. Turn to me to Proverbs chapter
11 please, Proverbs chapter 11. Verse 1, a false balance is abomination
to the Lord, but a just weight. Now that, you can look it up,
that word just weight translated actually means perfect stone. Now an unscrupulous businessman
would put a would put a 15 ounce stone on one side of the scale
and call it a pound and sell the goods on the other side for
the value of a pound when really it was only 15 ounces. And the
Lord is saying, that's an abomination to me, to be a liar, to be a
cheat, to say something's one thing when it's not. But the
spiritual meaning here, a perfect stone is his delight. A false balance is an abomination
to the Lord, but a perfect stone is His delight. The Lord Jesus
Christ is the only perfect stone. He's the only one. You see, all
of our righteousnesses, all the things we're ashamed of and all
the things we're proud of are all going on one side of the
scale. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
the perfect stone that balances out the other side. And what
God shows each one of His children when He when he brings an end
to their kingdom. And when he finishes their rebellion
against him, their unbelief, he shows them that everything
they trusted in for the hope of their salvation, they've been
found wanting. You've been weighed in the balance
and you've been found wanting. There was a time when you thought
that you had some virtue, some quality, some hope of salvation
based on something you did and God said you've been weighed
in the balance and you've been found wanting. You're in absolute,
complete, total and desperate need of that perfect stone to
balance out the scale for an unjust balance is an abomination
to God. only in reach up you see these
words are either going to be spoken to us now in the new birth
or they're going to be spoken to us as they were to belch as
are in the in the day of our death and judgment god is still writing the handwritings
on the wall can you read it can you hear his voice has he said
to you I brought it into your kingdom I finished it As he said
to you, you've been weighed in the balance and you've been found
wanting. Or are you going to be like that,
the goats who are separated from the sheep on the day of judgment
and the Lord says, depart from me you workers of iniquity for
I never knew you. Lord, we've done many wonderful
works in your name. We've cast out demons in your
name. We've been good people. The Lord says you've been weighed
in the balance and you've been found wanting. All those things
you thought you were doing that were good to balance out the
guilt of your sin were actually only adding to your guilt. The delight of the Lord is the
perfect stone. The handwriting's on the wall.
This is God's message for each one of us. It'll either be heard
now or it will be heard then. Once God writes something, you
can't change it. You can't change it. And the
child of God is saying, oh Lord, let me hear your voice now. Bring
it into my kingdom. Weigh me in the balance. and
show me how wanting I am, show me how dependent I am on the
Lord Jesus Christ for all the hope of my salvation. And notice
the third thing that the Lord says, thy kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and the
Persians. Now Medes translated means middle
ground or no man's land and Persia translated means pure. Pure. Only the regenerate child of
God knows anything about having two natures. You don't know anything about
your old man until you've been given a new man. The perfection, the pureness,
the glory of the new man reveals the no man's land of that old
man, doesn't he? That's what Paul was talking
about in Romans chapter seven, when he said, oh, wretched man
that I am, he's talking about that old man. He said, with the
flesh I serve sin. I know the law is holy and good
and just, but I'm a slave to, my flesh is, it can't serve the
law of God. I've got an old man that's corrupt,
that's sinful. Oh, but the hope of my salvation
doesn't have anything to do with that old man. There is now therefore
no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, for as He
is, so are we. We have the nature of Persia,
the purity and perfection of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is
without sin. Thy kingdom is divided, is divided. Are you a contradiction to yourself?
Do you have a divided nature? You've got an old man that just
plagues you every day and the only time you find any peace
and comfort and hope is to realize that you've got a perfect nature
in Christ? you got a new man before God
and that that old man one day is going to go to the grave. Then he's going to be raised
a new man, isn't he? The corruptible shall be made incorruptible.
The mortal shall be made immortal. What hope we have. God will either write on the
wall, irreversible, irrevocable. These words now in grace and
in salvation. I brought an end to your kingdom.
I finished it. I've weighed you in the balance
and I found you wanting. And now, your kingdom's going
to be made up of two kingdoms. The spirit's gonna war against
the flesh and the flesh against the spirit the rest of your days
here on this earth, so that you cannot be what you would be. Or like Belshazzar, we will hear
these words when it's too late. Our merciful Heavenly Father,
how very hopeful we are that you would be gracious to speak
these words to our hearts now, for we ask it in Christ's name.
Amen. Brother Tom, I'm so sorry. I've asked the men to distribute
the elements from the table, please, the wine and the bread.
Thank you. We'll sing hymn number 191. Just
remain seated. 191. Here, O my Lord, I see thee face
to face. Here would I touch and handle
things unseen. Here grasp with firmer hand eternal
grace. And all my weariness upon Thee
lean Here would I feed upon the bread of God Here drink with
thee the royal wine of heaven. Here would I lay aside each earthly
load. Here taste afresh the calm of
sin forgiven. I have no help but thine, nor
do I need another arm save thine to lean upon. It is enough, my Lord, enough
indeed. My strength is in thy might,
thy might alone. Mine is the sin, but thine the
righteousness. Mine is the guilt, but thine
the cleansing blood. Here is my robe, my refuge, and
my peace. Thy blood, thy righteousness,
O Lord my God. If the Lord has brought an end
to your kingdom, if he's weighed you in the balance and found
you wanting and giving you a new nature in Christ, then you are
invited to come to the table, partake the bread and the wine. We do this as a testimony of
our faith in Christ, don't we? This bread being unleavened is
a picture of the sinless life of the Lord Jesus Christ. be
in all our righteousness before God. The Lord said, as often
as you do it, do it in remembrance of me. The only hope of having our sins
atoned for is to have them covered by the
blood of Christ. Without the shedding of blood, there's no
remission of sins, but oh, His precious blood is sufficient
to cover every sin. God said, when I see the blood,
I'll pass by you. We do this in remembrance of
Him. And all God's people said, Amen,
let's stand together. Brother Norris, would you close
us in prayer, please?