In Daniel chapter 4, three times
Nebuchadnezzar heard these words. In verse 17, look down in about
the middle of the verse, to the intent that the living may know. And might I add the living do
know this, the living do, those who have spiritual life, that
the living may know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom
of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over
it the basest of men. In verse 25, about the bottom
third of Then shall they drive thee from men, and thy dwelling
shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee
to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of
heaven, and seven years shall pass over thee, till thou know
that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth
it to whomsoever he will. Nebuchadnezzar spake in his pride,
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 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, 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 thou know
that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth
it to whomsoever he will." At the same hour was the thing fulfilled
upon Nebuchadnezzar. And he was driven from men, and
did eat grass as an oxen, and his body was wet with the dew
of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagle feathers, and
his nails like birdclaws. And at the end of the days, the
end of the seven years, he lifted up his mind, his understanding
returned, and he learned during this time that the Most High
ruleth. He learned something about the
sovereignty of God. Now, Nebuchadnezzar had a son
whose name was Belshazzar, and his son witnessed all of this. Look in Daniel chapter 5, verse
18. 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, 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 an oxen, and his body was like
oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till he knew
that the Most High God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that
he appointeth over it whomsoever he will. And thou, his son, O
Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest
all this." Belshazzar saw all this take place. Now, I've entitled this message,
The Writing on the Wall. You've all heard that saying,
the writing on the wall, this is where it came from, in Daniel,
chapter 5. Let's look in verse 1. Daniel, chapter 5, verse 1. Belshazzar
the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords and drank
wine before the thousands. He's having a big party. Now,
there were many parties just like this before this and many
more parties just like this after this took place. A bunch of unbelievers
getting together and having a good time. Now, I believe it would
have remained just like this until Belshazzar crosses the
line. And a providential judgment of
God comes upon him. You see, every time in the Scriptures,
without exception, that you see a special, providential judgment
of God, it's for a religious sin. It's for men messing around
with the things of God. And that's what took place here.
Now let's go on reading. Now he's having a good time,
and you know that happens all the time. People enjoying themselves. They were drinking wine before
the thousand, verse 2. Belshazzar, while he tasted the
wine, perhaps he had become intoxicated, and perhaps through that his
inhibitions were gone, and he was doing things that maybe he
would have not normally done. But look what he did. While he
tasted the wine, he commanded to bring the golden and 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 his concubines might drink therein." Now, in arrogant insolence,
he says, let's drink our wine out of the vessels of Jehovah. He was demonstrating, though
he knew better, his utter contempt for the living God. Let's take
the vessels of Jehovah and drink out of them. Verse 3, 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,
his wives and his concubines drank in them. They drank wine
and praised the gods of gold and of silver, of brass, of iron,
of wood, and of stone. A gradation of six different
kinds of gods. starting with gold and ending
up with stone. Six being the number of man,
man was created on the sixth day, all the different types
of man-made gods he was praising. Verse 5, in the same hour 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. Perhaps while he was drinking
he saw this. And can you imagine how terrifying
that must have been? All of a sudden he sees a hand
writing Verse 6, then the king's countenance
was changed. He's not so arrogant and cocksure
now, and his thoughts troubled him so that the joints of his
loins were loosed and his knees smoked one against another. Then
the king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans
and the soothsayers. And the king spake, and said
to the wise men of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and
show me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet,
and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third
ruler of my kingdom." He was scared, and he was going
to do whatever he could to fix this problem. Verse 8, Then came
in all the king's wise men, but they could not read the writing.
nor 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. Worldly wisdom can never understand
the writing of God." Do you know whatever God has to say is a
closed book to you and to me unless God is pleased to make
it known. You can't figure this thing out.
We're totally dependent upon revelation. Anything you truly
know and truly understand is what God has revealed to you.
You can't figure it out. And all these wise men could
not figure this out. Verse 10. Now the Queen By reason of the words of the
king and his lords, came into the banquet house, and the 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 in whom is the spirit of the holy gods." Now, Belshazzar
knew about this fellow. He knew about Daniel. He grew
up and saw what Daniel had interpreted. And yet he doesn't call him.
His wife comes and does it, but he doesn't do it. Why? You say,
that's crazy. A lost man is crazy. A man who doesn't know God is
crazy. He may be a very brilliant man. He may be a very intelligent
man, but in the things of God, he's crazy. His wife tells him
about Daniel. Verse 11, There is a man in thy
kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods, and 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, the father, made master of the magicians,
astrologers, Chaldeans and soothsayers. For as much as an excellent spirit
and knowledge and understanding and interpreting of dreams and
showing of hard sentences and dissolving of doubts, untying
of knots, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and
he will show thee the interpretation. Now that excellent spirit in
him is the Holy Spirit. That's why he has this understanding
of what's going on. So 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 Jury? I have 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
that they should read this writing and make known of the interpretation
there, but they could not show the interpretation of the thing.
And I've heard of thee, that thou canst make interpretations. You can tell us what something
means, and you can dissolve doubts. We sure can't. Now, if thou canst
read the writing and make known to me the interpretation thereof,
it was still there on the wall. Thou shalt be clothed with scarlet,
and have a chain of gold about thy neck, and thou shalt be the
third ruler in my kingdom." Daniel knew this man. He had
watched him grow up, and he knew what a wicked man he was. And
look at the way he responds to Belshazzar. Then Daniel answered
and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another."
You see, a true prophet isn't about money. He's just not. I love the way he says this.
Keep the stuff you want to give me for yourself. Yet, I will
read the writing unto the king and make known to him the interpretation. O thou king, the Most High God
gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom and majesty and glory
and honor. Where did he get it? God gave
it to him. That's why he was in the position he was in. And
where you are right now and where I am right now is where God has
placed me. God put him in this position.
Verse 19, 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,
You remember the last thing Nebuchadnezzar said in chapter four? Those who
walk in pride, he's able to abase. 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 beasts, and his
dwelling was made 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." in the kingdom of men,
and he appointeth over it whomsoever he will." God is absolutely sovereign. He is the cause of causes. He controls everything. That's the sovereignty of God.
He has a will, He has the power to make sure His will comes to
pass, and He does make sure His will always comes to pass. He doeth according to His will
in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth,
and none can stay His hand or say unto Him, What doest thou?
Give an account for yourself. He doesn't have to. Nebuchadnezzar
learned this. Verse 22, And thou his son, who
witnessed all this, O Belshazzar. Now, in the next few verses,
Daniel brings a five-fold accusation against Belshazzar. And here's the first thing he
says in verse 22, Thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled
thy heart. Now, if I don't humble my heart
by the grace of God, I'm going to be humiliated. If I don't
humble my heart Now there is an unalterable law in the kingdom
of heaven. You've heard of physical laws,
like the law of gravity, the force which draws all objects
toward the center of the earth. You throw up a ball and it comes
back down, going toward the center of the earth. It's a physical
law. Well, there are spiritual laws that are always in place. He that exalts himself, what? Shall be abased. And he that
humbles himself, shall be exalted. God hates pride. I want to repeat that. God hates
pride. Pride of face, pride of race,
pride of place, and most especially Pride of grace. It's so senseless. It's so groundless. It's so arrogant. It's so evil. And God hates pride
so that the scripture says He resists the proud. He's against the proud. And if God's against you, you're
in trouble. He is against the proud. But he gives grace to
the humble. Listen to this scripture from
Isaiah 57, 15. Thus saith the high and lofty
one who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy, I dwell in the
high and holy place with him that is of a contrite and humble
spirit. That's who God dwells with. Hold
your finger there in Daniel 4 and turn to Luke chapter 18. Luke chapter 18, verse 9. And he spake this parable unto
certain which trusted in themselves, that they were righteous. and despised looked down their
nose at others. Now, what is self-righteousness? Beloved is any righteousness
that comes from self. That's simple enough, isn't it?
That's self-righteousness. And let's go on reading. He said
in verse 10, two men went up into the temple to pray, the
one a Pharisee and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood
and prayed thus with himself. He thought he was praying to
God, but he wasn't. He was praying to himself. God, I thank Thee
that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers,
or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week. I give
tithes of all that I possess. Let me tell you something about
this fellow. Number one, he was a liar. Everything he said he
didn't do, he did do. And the commandments he said
he kept were commandments God never gave in the first place.
God never said fast twice in the week. But here's his righteousness. Verse 13. And the public, standing
afar off, would not lift up so much as
his eyes unto heaven, But he smote upon his breast, saying,
God, be merciful to me, the sinner. The definite article is actually
there. Not a sinner, the sinner. He believed himself to be absolutely
the worst man alive. That's what this fellow thought
about himself. The most sinful man alive. You ought to listen
to Bruce Crabtree preach. This week, actually, I was listening
on TV, and he made a statement I've never heard anybody say,
but he said, I'm not shocked by hell. I'm
shocked by heaven. It's something that I understand
hell real easy. What I'm so amazed by is heaven. that a sinner can be brought
there. And this man cried, God be propitious is the word. God
be propitious. Not just merciful in a general
way. Be propitious. Let your reason for anger be
removed through the blood sacrifice is what this fellow said. He
couldn't believe anything else. That's all he could believe.
Be propitious. Look at me for Christ's sake.
Look at me through the sacrifice. And look what the Lord says. I tell you, this man went down
to his house, not forgiven, though he was,
not pardoned, though he was, but justified. Justified. Not guilty. What about his sin? If you're
justified, you don't have any sin. Now, I remember hearing
somebody make the comment about this parable. They said the Lord
said regarding this fellow, he went down to his house justified
rather than the other, and he never gave a comment as to what
that meant. But he uses the entire Bible
to explain it. The entire Bible tells what he
meant by that, and look what the Lord says next in verse 14.
For everyone that exalts himself, shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself
shall be exalted." Now, he said, you've not humbled your heart.
Back to our text in Daniel chapter 5. Though thou knewest all this,
you sinned against great light. You knew all this and you did
it anyway. The more light you have, the
more knowledge you have, the greater will be your condemnation. He said you knew what you were
doing. Now, Lord, my sin is against
light. Have mercy on me. You know, I look at the men and
women in this congregation. If you don't believe, if after
hearing the gospel, you don't believe, You'll have it worse
in hell than others because of the gospel that you've heard.
If I don't believe, if I'm just going through the motions of
saying this and I don't really believe, the hottest place in
hell will be reserved for me. You've sinned against great light. You knew about all of this. But
verse 23, he says, here's the third charge. But you've lifted
up yourself. against the Lord of Heaven. You've lifted up yourself against
God. Now, understand this about sin.
I wish we could get a hold of this. I wish I could get a hold
of it. Sin's against God. That's why it's so bad. I don't
think we must believe that, or we don't much think about it.
But the reason sin is so bad is it's against God. David said,
And thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight,
that ye might be justified when ye speak, and ye might be clear
when ye judge." Sin is against God. Now, David sinned against
Bathsheba. David sinned against her husband,
Uriah, when he murdered him. But he understood the root problem
against thee. and thee only have I sinned."
Belshazzar, you've lifted up yourself against the Lord God
of heaven. Sin is an attack against God.
It's trying to take his place, this lifting up himself. He showed
what contempt he had for God when he brought the vessels of
the temple in. Now, I do believe God would have just ignored him
and dealt with him on Judgment Day if they were just going on
the way they were. You know, but when he brings the temple,
the vessels of the temple in, that's when the handwriting comes
against the wall. And let's go on reading. Verse
23. You've lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven, and
they brought thee vessels of his house before thee, and thou
and thy lords, 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, he tells it like it is, with regard to these idols,
these man-made gods, nor hear, nor know. You've been an idolater,
and here's the fifth charge. And the God in whose hand thy
breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified? You have failed. to glorify God. Now, won't you listen to me real
carefully? God's glory is more important to Him than
anything else. It's why He does all that He
does. His own glory is why He does what He does, and any motive
other than that would be beneath the dignity of His person. God
seeks His glory in all things. Now, somebody may ask, what is
meant by His glory? Well, hear from the words of
His own mouth. When Moses said in Exodus 33, 18, show me Your
glory, and He gave an answer. He said, I'll make all my goodness
to pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord
before thee, and I will be merciful to whom I will be merciful, and
I will show compassion to whom I will show compassion." That's
His glory. His goodness is His capacity
to save somebody like me. Somebody as sinful and worthless
as me. His name is His attributes, all
of which are displayed in His salvation. And He has mercy on
whom He will have mercy. Sovereign mercy. Now that is
His glory. Belshazzar, you've not acknowledged
His glory. You've not sought His glory.
You've not given Him glory. You've not loved his glory. You've
been indifferent toward that which is most precious to himself,
his own glory. Now, Belsh's argue will glorify
him. You'll glorify his justice when
he damns you. But wouldn't it have been better
for you to acknowledge, to seek, to love, and to give him glory? How can I? Well, I'm looking
at this. He says to Belshazzar, he says, you didn't give me glory.
The God in whose breath, in your breath is in his hand, he can
take it right now? You failed to glorify him. How
in the world can I glorify him? Well, hold your finger there
and turn to Romans chapter 4. Romans chapter 4. It said of Abraham, beginning
in verse 19, in being not weak in faith, Romans 4, 19, he considered
not his own body, now dead, when he was about a hundred years
old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb. He staggered
not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith. What does it say next? Giving
glory to God. being fully persuaded that what
God had promised he was able also to perform. Now, my dear
friend, if you share in that faith with him, you give glory
to God. Now, back to Daniel chapter 5. After those charges are brought
against him, he says, Verse 24, "...was the part of the hand
sent from him, and this writing was written." And this is the
writing that was written, meaning, meaning, titel upharsin. This is the interpretation of
the thing, meaning, God hath numbered thy kingdom and finished
it. It's all over, Belshazzar. Tikal,
thou art weighed in the balances, the balances of absolute justice. Now, I think of Belshazzar. He
had a good time while he lived here. I mean, he would have parties
for the thousands. He'd drink his wine, and he would oppress
people. It's hard telling how many people he had put to death
and oppressed in his wicked reign. And he thought Everything's okay
for me. Nothing's ever going to happen.
But he didn't realize that he's going to be weighed in the balances
of absolute justice. Everybody is. You're weighed
in the balances. And you're found wanting. Now, you and I understand something
about that. But listen to this. You remember that poor old publican
we just read about? Who by his own admission cried,
God be merciful to me, the sinner. He was weighed in the balances and he came out perfect. In the balances of God's justice,
he came out perfect. And so does everyone who believes
on the Lord Jesus Christ, because they're justified. I'm going
to be weighed in the balances of God's most strict justice,
and I'm going to come out perfect. That's the heritage of every
believer. Thou art weighed in the balances
and found wanting. Prez, thy kingdom is divided
and given to the Medes and Persians. Remember, he's learning now,
God rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whomsoever he
wills. So your kingdom's over. It's
given to somebody else. Then commanded Belshazzar, and
they clothed him, Daniel, with scarlet and put a chain of gold
about his neck. Maybe he thought if he did this, maybe it wouldn't
happen. And he made a proclamation concerning him that he should
be the third ruler in the kingdom. That night was Belshazzar, the
king of the Chaldeans, slain. And Darius the Median took the
kingdom, being about three-score-and-two years old. You see, the handwriting
was on the wall. Now, we read a passage of scripture
like that, and it's scary, isn't it? It's scary to see what happened
to this man. I want to humble my heart before
him. And you know how I humble my
heart before him? It's not by groveling. It's not by talking
about how bad I am and trying to let everybody know how bad
I am and all that. There can be more pride in that
than anything. Here's the way you humble your
heart before him. You believe the gospel. It's that simple. You believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and you've humbled your heart before him. Now, we're
going to observe the Lord's table together, and I want to read
one scripture. Turn to 1 Corinthians 11. First Corinthians, Chapter 11.
Now, this is a sermon that every believer is going to preach right
now. Verse 26. First Corinthians, Chapter 11,
verse 26. For as often as you eat this
bread and drink this cup, you do show forth the Lord's death
till he come. And here's what I'm showing and
showing forth the Lord's death. Because of his death, I'm put
on the scales of absolute justice. And I'm not found wanting. I'm
found perfect. You do show forth the Lord's
death. You know, I love the Lord's life.
But what would his life be without his death? You show forth the Lord's death
until He comes. Amen. We're going to pass out
the bread and wine.