I've entitled the message for
this evening, The Writing on the Wall. I'd say at one time or the other,
we've either said or heard someone say, I can see the writing on
the wall. It's an idiom in our language
that means I can see something bad is inevitable. I can see
trouble is coming. I can see there's going to be
a collapse. I can see there is going to be
a failure. Now that idiom comes from this
story where Belshazzar saw the writing on the wall. Now in chapter four and chapter
five, we have a powerful contrast between Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar. The Lord saved Nebuchadnezzar. We saw that last week. He was
an object of God's mercy. This heathen king was shown mercy
and Christ was revealed to him. Now he'd had a dream in chapter
four about a great tree that was cut down. that all these
animals lived under and were fed by, and he found out that
he was that great tree. The Lord had raised him to prosperity,
to a high place, and in his pride, God turned him into a beast for
seven years. He had some kind of mental illness
where he thought he was a cow eating grass. It was a mess looking
at his hair matted and his fingernails like bird's claws. And Daniel
interpreted that dream to Nebuchadnezzar and the dream came true. Look
in chapter four, verse 29. At the end of the 12 months,
he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. The king
spake and said, is not this great Babylon that I built? And it
was a great place. It was a majestic place. I've
read some about it. It was a fantastic place. this great Babylon that I have
built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power and
for the honor of my majesty. While the word was in the king's
mouth, there fell a voice from heaven saying, just like Daniel
said, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken, the kingdom
is departed from thee and they shall drive thee from men and
thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall
make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven years shall pass over
thee, until you know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom
of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. The same hour was the
thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar, and he was driven from men, and
he ate grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of
heaven, till the hairs were grown like eagle's feathers, and his
nails like bird claws. And at the end of the days, at
the end of that seven years, when God ended them, I, Nebuchadnezzar,
lifted up mine eyes into heaven, and mine understanding returned
unto me, and I blessed the Most High. And I praised and honored
him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion
in his kingdom from generation to generation. and all the inhabitants
of the earth are reputed as nothing. And he doeth according to his
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth. And none can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest
thou? At the same time, my reason returned unto me and for the
glory of my kingdom, mine honor and brightness returned unto
me and my counselors and my Lord sought unto me. And I was established
in my kingdom and excellent majesty was added to me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar,
praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works
are truth, and all his ways judgment, and those that walk in pride
he is able to abase. Now, 25 years pass is what I
can tell. Belshazzar is his grandson. And Belshazzar knew about all
this. I suppose Nebuchadnezzar told
him. Look in verse 18 of chapter five. O thou King, this is Daniel speaking
to Belshazzar, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar, thy
father, a kingdom and majesty and glory and honor. And for
the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations and languages
trembled and feared before him. Whom he would, he slew. And whom
he would, he kept alive. And whom he would, he set up.
And whom he would, he put down. But when his heart was lifted
up, And his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his
kingly throne. And they took his glory from
him, and he was driven from the sons of men, and his heart was
made like the beast, and his dwelling was with the wild asses.
They fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with
the dew of heaven, till he knew that the Most High God ruled
the earth. in the kingdom of men, and that
he appointeth it over whomsoever he will. And thou, his son, O
Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest
all of this." Now, Belshazzar was not any stranger to this.
He knew about it all. But what did it do for him? Absolutely nothing. He didn't fear God. He didn't
care about any of this. Now, in verse one, Belshazzar
the king, although he knew about what Nebuchadnezzar
had experienced and Nebuchadnezzar's fear of the living God, Belshazzar
the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords and drank
wine before the thousands, a drunken party. How many of those there
have been through the centuries, but Belshazzar takes it a step
further. Go on reading. Belshazzar, while
he tasted the wine, he got an idea. He commanded to bring the
golden silver vessels, which his father Nebuchadnezzar had
taken out of the temple, which was in Jerusalem, that the king
and his princes and his wives and concubines might drink, concubines
might drink therein. He's showing his contempt for
God. Go get the vessels of Jehovah that my father had brought here
and let's drink our wine out of those vessels. What brazen
lack of fear and hardness. Verse three, then they brought
the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the
house of God, which was at Jerusalem. And the king and his princes
and his wives and his concubines drank in them. They drank wine
and praised the gods of gold and of silver and of brass, of
iron, of wood, and of stone. How unclean as they praised their
man-made gods. Now, if Belshazzar would have
just left things alone and not brought in the vessels of the
Lord, I believe this party would have continued. He would have
lived life about like anybody else did and ended up facing
God in judgment. that this calls for a special
judgment of God. This is a religious sin. And how harshly does God deal
with religious sins? Verse five, in the same hour,
right while this was going on, came forth fingers of a man's
hand and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster
of the wall of the king's palace, and the king saw the part of
the hand that wrote, then the king's countenance was changed. His face drained. His brightness
left. I thought of that song, A Wider
Shade of Pale, that was sung some years ago. I think that's
what was going on here. A wider shade of pale. Can you imagine how he felt when
he saw this hand without a body riding on the wall? And his thoughts troubled him
so that the joints of his loins were loosed and his knees smoked
one against another. Now this carousing king has become
the collapsing king. He is scared to death. He doesn't
know what is going on. Verse seven, the king cried aloud
to bring the astrologers, the Chaldeans and the soothsayers.
Same thing his daddy did, and they didn't do him any good back
then. In chapter two and chapter four, he repeats his father's
mistake. And the king spake and said to the wise men of Babylon,
whosoever shall read this writing and show me the interpretation
in thereof shall be clothed with scarlet and have a chain of gold
about his neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. Then
came in all the king's wise men, but they couldn't read the writing
or make known to the king the interpretation thereof. Then
was King Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed
in him, and his lords were astonished. He was freaked out. He didn't
know what to think. He was scared to death. And if you and I would have been
in his place, we would have been scared to death too. Verse nine, now the queen, his
wife, By reason of the words of the king and his lords came
into the banquet house. And the king spake, queen spake,
and said, O king, live forever. Let not thy thoughts trouble
thee, nor let thy countenance be changed. There is a man in
thy kingdom. Now, before I go on reading,
he already knew about Daniel. Why didn't he call in Daniel?
He knew about him. He knew about what his father
or his grandfather had learned through him. But he didn't call
in Daniel. and his wife reminds him of Daniel. There's a man in thy kingdom
in whose is the spirit of the holy gods. And in the days of
thy father, light and understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of
the gods was found in him. Whom the king, Nebuchadnezzar
thy father, the king I say, thy father made master of the magicians,
astrologers, Chaldeans and soothsayers. For as much as an excellent spirit
and knowledge And understanding, interpreting of dreams, and showing,
revealing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts were
found in the same Daniel. Whom the king named Balthasar,
now let Daniel be called, and he'll show the interpretation.
And I love this description of Daniel in verse 12. It reminds
me of what the preaching of the gospel is. It's inspired by the
spirit of God. He is that excellent spirit.
And in the preaching of the gospel, there's true knowledge and understanding
that comes from God. There's the interpretation of
the scriptures. There's the showing of hard sentences. There is the dissolving of doubts.
Daniel could do all those things by the grace of God. Verse 13. Then was Daniel brought in before
the king. And the king spake and said unto
Daniel, Art thou that Daniel, which art of the children of
the captivity of Judah, whom the king, my father, brought
out of Judah? Now I don't like the way he's
speaking with Daniel. Are you Daniel, the one my father brought
out? He's letting him know in kind
of veiled terms, I'm over you. You're here because I put you
here. And he says in verse 14, I've
heard it. I have even heard of thee that
the spirit of the gods is in thee. Not the God of Nebuchadnezzar. Plural gods. He demonstrates
his unbelief. I've even heard of thee that
the spirit of the gods is in thee and that light and understanding
and excellent wisdom is found in thee. And now the wise men,
the astrologers, had been brought in before me, but they said that
they should read this writing and make known unto me the interpretation
thereof, but they couldn't show the interpretation of the thing.
I've heard of thee, that thou canst make interpretations and
dissolve doubts. Now, if thou canst read the writing
and make known to me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed
with scarlet and have a chain of gold about thy neck, and thou
shalt be third ruler in my kingdom. Then Daniel answered and said
to the king, let thy gifts be to thyself and give thy rewards
to another. Somebody that truly speaks for
God can't be bought. You don't have enough to pay
him. He said, give your gifts to somebody else. Those positions
you're promising me, give them somebody else. I'm not interested. Yet, I will read the writing
unto the king and make known to him the interpretation. Now, he begins by reminding him
of what God had done for his father. O thou king, the most
high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom and majesty
and glory, and honor. Nebuchadnezzar was the most powerful
man in the world, and it's because God made him that way. And for
the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, languages,
trembled and feared before him. Whom he would, he slew. Whom he would, he kept alive. Whom he would, he set up, and
whom he would, he put down. Now this man had absolute power,
humanly speaking, didn't he? He had absolute control and God
put him in this place. The only reason he had this is
because God put him there. Now, I can't help but thinking
about Belshazzar. The reason he's there is God
put him there. And the reason any leader is
anywhere is because God put him there. And God was in control
of Belshazzar and God was in control of Nebuchadnezzar. But
he's reminding him about his father, Nebuchadnezzar. Verse
20, but when his heart, speaking of Nebuchadnezzar, was lifted
up and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly
throne. And they took his glory from him. And when he was driven
from the sons of men, and his heart was made like the beasts,
and his dwellings was with the wild asses. They fed him with
grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven,
till he knew, this is what he was gonna find out, till he knew
that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men. Now that's
talking about God's absolute sovereignty. You know what that
means? That means every thought that
goes through your mind, he's in control of. He does according
to his will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth, and none can stay his hand. or saying to Him, what
are you doing? Give an account for yourself.
He rules. He has a will. He has the power
to make His will come to pass. He has the right to make His
will come to pass. And He always does make His will
come to pass. Always. His will is always done. Our God is in the heavens, David
said. He hath done. Not he will do,
not he wants to do. He hath done whatsoever. had pleased." Now, anybody that
God teaches, anybody that knows God, they're going to know this
is so. He rules in the kingdom of men. Yeah, He rules in heaven, but
He rules right here on earth. He is in absolute control. When
somebody says, won't you let Him be Lord, that's blasphemy.
He is Lord. Won't you make him Lord? He is
your Lord, whether you know it or not. He's Lord both of the
dead and the living. And he rules in the kingdom of
men. And somebody that doesn't know
this doesn't know him. And he tells him, you're going
to stay in this state of being a beast until you learn that
the Most High rules. You know I love that. I love
that. And if you love him, you love
that. And if you have no love for him,
you have no love for that. You know, isn't it easy to just
not, it's not easy. It's impossible apart from the
grace of God, but just rest in this. He rules. He's in control
of everybody and everything and whatever he does is right. And
I don't need to understand it. I just need to trust. He rules,
that's who he is. Verse 22, and thou his son, O
Belshazzar, you've not humbled your heart. You knew about this,
but it didn't do anything for you. You've not humbled your
heart, though you knew all about this, You didn't do what your
father did. Verse 23, but you've lifted up
yourself against the Lord of heaven. In your pride, in your
arrogancy, you've lifted up yourself. And remember this, when you lift
yourself up against the Lord, that means you're his enemy.
That means he counts you his enemy. And if God's your enemy,
you're in trouble. He's almighty and all powerful. He's demonstrating the heart
of the natural man. The carnal mind is enmity against
God. It's not subject to the law of
God. Neither indeed can be. And that's what this man did.
He lifted up himself against the Lord of heaven. And here's
what they've done in this impious, irreverent way. You've brought
the vessels of his house. Now he's talking about the temple. that Nebuchadnezzar had taken.
The vessels that would transport water, wine. As a matter of fact,
if you read in the book of Ezra, when Cyrus ordered Jerusalem
to be rebuilt, there were 5,400 golden and silver vessels that
were sent back. First chapter of Ezra. And they
were taking these vessels that were used in the tabernacle. in the place where the Holy of
Holies was, where the mercy seat was, where the high priest went
behind the veil once a year with the blood, knowing the only way
the people could be accepted is if God accepted the sacrifice. The holy things of God, the Holy
of Holies, the mercy seat, the vessels of the temple. they
arrogantly and presumptuously used to party with. Look what
it says. But thou hast lifted up thyself
against the Lord of heaven, and they brought the vessels of his
house before thee, and thou and thy lords, thy wives, and thy
concubines have drunk wine in them. And you've praised the
gods of silver and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which
see not, nor hear, nor know, and the God in whose hand thy
breath is and whose are all thy ways thou hast not glorified. Now, what I thought of when I
thought of this accusation Daniel brought against Belshazzar. You
remember when Herod in Acts chapter 12 was giving oration? And the
people said, these are not the words of a man, but of a God.
And because he didn't correct the people and give God the glory,
he was eaten of worms and died. You see, the worst thing you
and I can do is fail to give him the glory. Who gets the glory
in salvation? Who gets the glory in every aspect
of salvation? He does. And he said, my glory,
I'll not share with another. And he said, you've not glorified
that one in whose hand you are. And the very next breath you
take is according to his will. Verse 25, verse 44, then was
the part of the hand sent from him. God sent this hand, Jehovah,
the one who you're making fun of, the one who you're so irreverent
towards. He is the one who sent this hand,
and this writing was written, and this is the writing that
was written. Mene, mene, tekel, ufarsen. This is the interpretation of
the thing. Meaning, God hath numbered thy
kingdom literally the days of thy kingdom and finished it. It's over. These words are final. Tikal. Thou art weighed in the
balances and art found wanting. The balance is a strict, perfect
justice. That's God. You've been weighed
in these balances and you've been found wanting. Pyrrhus,
thy kingdom is divided. It's not yours anymore. It's
given to the Medes and the Persians. That's the writing on the wall. It's over for you. You've been
weighed in the balances. You've been found wanting and
your kingdom is given to somebody else. Then commanded, verse 29,
I think this is I almost can't figure out this, don't guess
I need to. Then commanded Belshazzar and
they clothed Daniel with scarlet and put a chain of gold about
his neck and made a proclamation concerning him that he should
be the third ruler in the kingdom. In that night was Belshazzar,
the king of the Chaldeans, slain. and of Raius, the Mediant of
the kingdom, being about three score and two years old. That very night, he was slain,
and he's been in hell ever since. What a sobering, sobering thought. What a sobering reality, the
handwriting on the wall. Now, let me close with two or
three thoughts. In this wretched man's story,
we find out what unbelief is. Do you want to know what unbelief
is? Well, first of all, it's a rejection of what you've heard.
He said, you knew about this. You knew about this, I don't
have any doubt Nebuchadnezzar told his grandson about it. You
knew about this, but it meant nothing to you. Unbelief does
not receive what it hears. Somebody says, what if you've
never even heard the gospel? Well, even if you've never heard the
gospel, you have enough life from creation that holds you without
excuse. You can see from creation that God is all powerful, eternal,
and to be worshipped, to be sought. And you haven't lived up to that
light. But unbelief, first of all, does not receive what it
hears. It rejects what it hears. and you refuse to humble yourself.
You haven't humbled yourself before God, this mighty God,
this glorious God. You've refused to humble yourself. God resists the proud and gives
grace to the humble, but you wouldn't humble yourself. You
wouldn't take the lowest position. As a matter of fact, you lifted
up yourself against the Lord. Not only did you not humble yourself,
you lifted up yourself against him. You refused to take sides
with God against yourself. Now that's what it is to humble
yourself. You're on the Lord's side. You take sides with God
against yourself and you say, whatever God says is right, I
bow to it. He refused to do that. And he
praised false gods, the gods of silver and gold and brass
and iron and wood, which can't hear, can't see, and can't speak. They're non-existent gods. And
he praised that which was not. And the God of glory, he refused
to glorify. He wouldn't give him the glory. You know, I think of that passage
in Revelation 16 when it says they were scorched with heat
and they still refused to give him glory. You know the only
people who give him glory is the ones who know they have absolutely
no right to have any glory of their own. They really believe
that. But he didn't. He didn't. Well, faith is the
opposite. It believes what Nebuchadnezzar
says. The most high rules in the kingdom
of heaven and the kingdom of men. and gives it to whomsoever
he wills. God's God. Abraham believed God. He heard the report and he believed
God. That's what faith does. It's
so simple. Faith believes God. Faith believes what God has said,
and faith humbles itself. You see, you can't come into
the presence of God without hitting the dirt. You see your own sinfulness,
your nothingness, and you're gonna take the lowest place.
You're not gonna lift up yourself against the Lord. You're gonna
take sides with God against yourself. And you're sure not gonna praise
false gods. You hate them. You know they're not true. And
you give God all the glory. That's what faith does. gives
God all the glory. Now in closing, two places thus far that the
finger of God has written. You remember the first one? God wrote the 10 commandments. They were written with the finger
of God on tables of stone. The next time, the finger of
God writes is right here. With these words to Belshazzar,
you've been weighed in the balances and found wanting. Do you remember
the third time the finger of God wrote? Well, turn with me
to John chapter eight. Verse one, Jesus went into the Mount of
Olives and early in the morning, he came again into the temple. And all the people came unto
him and he sat down and talked. I pray he's doing that tonight.
And the scribes and the Pharisees, The religious experts brought
unto him a woman taken in adultery. And when they had set her in
the midst, they say unto him, master, this woman was taken
in adultery in the very act. There's no doubt about her guilt.
We have seen this. We caught her in the very act. And every time I think about
this, I think, peeping dogs, one. The next thing I think is,
where's the man? He was just as guilty as she
was. But at any rate, here these miserable jerks come with this
message. We've caught her in the very
act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded
us that such should be stoned. And he did. He did. As a matter of fact, there are
at least 22 sins in the Old Testament that demanded capital punishment,
death. You remember when they found
that man picking up sticks on the Sabbath day, they come to
Moses and say, what do we do with him? Stone him. Put him
to death. I'm thankful that the law's been
done away with, aren't you? I'm thankful. I love God's law.
They put me to death. I'm sure it will help me at any
rate. Let's go on reading. Verse six, this they said, tempting
him that they might have to accuse him. Now, they thought they had
the Lord Jesus Christ who is omniscient in a pickle. If he says stoner, where's his
compassion? Where's his mercy? Where's his
being a friend of sinners? If he says, let her go. Why Moses in the law said not
to. You don't have any respect for
God's law. You're a lawbreaker. You're an antinomian. You don't
care anything about the law of God. They thought they had him
in a place where he couldn't get out. But Jesus stooped down and with
his finger wrote on the ground as though he heard them not. And I kind of have the feeling
It doesn't say this, but I think this is a reasonable conjecture.
I think with his finger, he was writing in the ground, thou shalt
not commit adultery. I don't think he wrote all 10
Commandments. I think he looked at these individuals. and said,
thou shalt not commit adultery. So when they continued asking
him, he lifted up himself and he said unto them, he that is
without sin among you, And I have no question he's talking about
this sin. Let's forget the others for right
now. The other will be brought up at some point, but he's talking
about this sin. If you haven't committed it physically,
you've committed it in your heart. And the Lord said, whosoever
lusteth after a woman hath committed adultery already in his heart
with her. But the Lord said, he that is
without this sin among you, throw the first stone. And again, he stooped down and
wrote on the ground. You know what I believe he was
writing? Thou art weighed in the balances,
and found wanting. And they which heard, being convicted
by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning
at the eldest, even unto the last. They weren't convicted
by the Holy Spirit. They would have come to the Lord
Jesus Christ, but they were convicted by their own conscience. They
knew they were playing the hypocrite at this time. They knew it, every
one of them. They went out. And Jesus was left alone and
the woman standing in the midst and when Jesus had lifted up
himself. Now, we read of two times in
this passage of scripture that he stooped down and lifted up
himself. This represents the Lord Jesus
stooping to become a man. What a stoop that was when the
Creator became a man. And the second stoop was when
this man became sin. What a stoop that you and I cannot
possibly understand. And now he's raised up that second
time, and he's facing this woman on resurrection ground. And he said unto her, woman,
where are those thine accusers? Where'd they go? Had no man condemned
thee? Are there no accusations set against thee? She said, no
man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, neither
do I condemn thee. You see, because he was speaking
to her on resurrection ground, there was nothing to condemn
her for. It's called justification. You're weighed in the balances
and you're found perfect. Go and sin no more. I like the first time the finger
of God wrote. I like the second time the finger
of God wrote. You know what? I like the third
time best of all. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in the name of thy
Son, That we, each one of us, might
be left alone with you, just like this woman
was. And that we might hear those
glorious words because of your two stoops, that you don't condemn
us, that we're weighed in the balances and found perfect. In Christ's name we pray, amen.
Matt, come lead us in closing in, please.