Mockery and Faith

Well friends, it's lovely to see you this morning.

My name is Graham, if you've not met.

I'm the pastor here of the church

and it's a real joy to get back into Daniel chapter five today.

So why don't we pray just as we get going this morning.

But this is the one to whom I will look.

He who is humble and contrite in spirit

and trembles at my word.

And so Father, we pray for that spirit today

in each of our hearts as we come to your inspired holy word.

Father, that you would raise our eyes

as we've been singing at the start

and set our minds on the fact that you are the God

who is so far above the things of this earth.

And so Father, may we leave today

with a bigger picture of who you are today

because we have heard from you in your word.

And we pray these things in Jesus's wonderful name.

Amen.

So friends, as we get back into Daniel chapter five today,

here's what I want you to do really simply for us to do

is just take a couple of deep breaths.

So apparently we take about 2,000 of those breaths a day.

I don't know how people work that out,

but apparently we take 2,000 breaths a day.

Now, if the 2,000 times table is not your strong point,

that works out at about 730,000 breaths

that you and I take a year.

Now, that's a lot of breaths.

And it'll be no bad thing for us to be aware of our breathing

over the next 30 minutes or so,

because this is what the Bible tells us.

It tells us that the very first one,

the very last one,

and every single breath that we take in between

are given to us by the God who created us.

Now, the book of Daniel has been so good for our souls

because it's helped anchor our hearts

and our minds in the truth of God's sovereignty

so that every single thing that happens in our world

happens according to his plan and his purposes.

So that sovereignty of God,

it extends all the way up to the mega narrative of history,

and it extends all the way down

to the micro narrative of our existence.

And this is the words of J.I. Packer,

who we started this series with.

He said,

to know that nothing happens in God's world

apart from God's will may frighten the godless.

And this is what we're going to see.

But it stabilizes the saints.

And so two things flow from that truth about breath.

Two things flow from it.

Number one is that breath is gift.

This three-in-one God who we worship today,

this holy God,

Father, Son, and Spirit,

out of his fullness,

delighted to create life in all its beauty

and in all its diversity.

And that means that we are dependent on our creator

for absolutely everything.

We breathe today not because we decided to get up.

We breathe today because this God is gracious

and he is good.

Breath is gift.

And also breath is accountability.

So one day we're going to have to stand before our maker

and we're going to have to give an account to him

of what we did with those breaths that he gave us.

Now we all like to know,

if you're a student here today,

I've had many conversations with you guys

over the last couple of weeks,

we love to know the exam questions before they come up.

Yeah?

Maybe you were that annoying kid at school.

Is this going to be in the test?

Well, here's the exam question right at the end.

God gives us it before the end of time.

He says, and you'll see this in the passage,

Daniel says it to Belshazzar,

really simply,

did you honour me with the breath that I gave you?

And this is a passage that is going to throw us upon

a bigger view of God

than I think we often have.

Do we understand that every breath that we have,

everything that we have

is from his wonderful, gracious and good hands?

That's precisely the message that we see

a nobly need 80-year-old exile

from Jerusalem called Daniel

delivered to a young, hot-headed gun king

who thinks that he owns the world.

This passage asks us to consider the question,

who is the man?

Right?

As we see, these two men have a word off.

Who is the man in this passage?

Now, here's the context

that gets us to the beating heart of this chapter.

You won't necessarily get it

from a plain reading of the text.

Here's the context.

20 years have passed in the narrative

since the end of chapter 4,

which you could argue

was a huge high point of the book

because you had,

if you remember this from a few weeks ago,

you had,

this was the news at 10.

This was the news that was doing the rounds

in Babylon.

From the highest point,

from the highest person,

he was declaring,

King Nebuchadnezzar,

the guy at the top of the food chain,

the top of the world,

he was declaring at verse 3

that God's kingdom

is an everlasting kingdom.

God's kingdom,

not mine,

his.

And that is an astonishing admission

in the book of Daniel.

And you can understand

that the first readers of this book,

when they come up with,

come up against chapter 4,

they're thinking to themselves,

is now the time?

Is now the time

that God is going to show

his glory to the world?

Is now the time

that revival in Babylon

is going to kick off?

But that is not how

the next 20 years go.

You ready for a wee

potted history lesson here?

You seem really keen.

Let's dig in and dive.

Okay.

Nebuchadnezzar,

this king,

he dies in the year 526.

He's had a really long reign,

43 years by that time.

He is succeeded by his son.

And the story goes

that his son

is assassinated

by his brother-in-law.

You keeping up?

Before that brother-in-law's son

takes over after his death.

And then that son-in-law

is taken out.

And this man called Nabonides

is placed on the throne.

And at some point,

he goes away on royal business.

Now whether he's pushed,

whether he jumped,

we're not sure,

but he goes away

in royal business.

And his son,

Belshazzar,

takes his place

as the de facto king.

And that's the guy

that you meet

in verse 1 of chapter 5

if you're wondering

who he is.

So a lot has happened

in 20 years

in terms of the throne.

And that explains,

if you notice

that little detail

in the text,

why Belshazzar,

he can only offer

to whoever

interprets this dream

the title of being,

did you notice it?

Third in the kingdom.

Because he is second

and his dad is first.

So again,

this is just history,

why this stands up

to history.

This is why he can say

and only offer

the third in the kingdom.

But here's the point

of that history lesson.

It's more than just

that thought.

This passing of time,

this cloak and dagger thing

that's going on

at the top of the food chain

for power in Babylon,

what that means

is that

Nebuchadnezzar's confession

in chapter 4,

not only has it been

massively diluted

with the passing of time,

but I imagine

by the time

that you hit chapter 5,

it's been all but forgotten.

Who is the Lord?

And Daniel is no longer

a mover and shaker

in Babylon.

He is just consigned

to the sides.

And Belshazzar

is intent on mocking

any God

who is not his.

Now those three things

come together

to make a royal triage

of discouragement

for God's people.

So here's the question.

Is all that stuff

we thought about

about breath up top,

is it still true

even when I can't see it?

Is it still true

when I go to the office

tomorrow

and I go to that

end of year's drinks party

and it gets way out of hand

and as I hear,

and this is what's been

so great about that

sermon survey

that we've run

over the past number of weeks,

we'll do it again

at the end

to hear about

what some of us

are facing,

the work cultures

that we're in.

Is God still giving

this breath thing

when I hear people

mocking his name,

when I'm surrounded

by gossip and slander,

when people don't seem

to care to hoots

about the Lord?

When you have

that family gathering,

when people are

just not interested

in the slightest

about your faith?

When the 4th of July

rolls around,

our one,

not the American one,

and new people

with new agendas

are going to be

elected to power?

Is it still true?

I don't know

if you saw

the Scottish census results

that were released

this week,

the one where

apparently now

51.1% of people

in our country

tick the no religion box.

That is up

from 36.7%

in 2001.

Is God still sovereign

when all I see

around me

is this Belshazzar spirit

that just wants

to defy and mock God?

Is it still true?

Friends,

here's two things

that Daniel chapter 5

Daniel 5 · chapter mention

teaches us.

And if you're taking notes,

these are our two points

that we want to get

across today.

Here's the first one,

and it's a warning

from God to the world.

It's that you're playing

a dangerous game

if you're mocking

his purposes.

You're playing

a really dangerous game

because at verse 1,

do you see how

Belshazzar effectively,

he throws a massive

drinking party,

doesn't he?

There's been enough

corporate nights out,

uni football nights out

to know what these

things are like.

Just notice

who is there

in the text.

Again, notice

who's there in the text.

A thousand of his lords,

his wife,

plural,

his concubine,

plural.

And it's repeated twice

there in the text,

and so it's a great

thing to notice

when you're reading

our Bibles

when things are repeated.

It's not because

the authors just ran

out of things to say

trying to fill words.

It's repeated for emphasis.

So do you see how

it's repeated there twice?

It's not just a lot

of people,

it's people who he

has put around his life

who are there

to serve his pleasures

and to satisfy

his appetites.

He surrounded himself

with yes people.

He surrounded himself

with people who are there

to satisfy him,

to sing about his glory.

Notice what is there

because at some point

during this feast,

he calls for the vessels

of gold to be brought out.

Now this is interesting

because these are

the instruments

that were devoted

to the worship of Yahweh

that were taken

from the temple

in Jerusalem.

And make no mistake,

if you look at verse 22

in the text,

and this backs it up,

that Belshazzar

knows exactly

what he's doing

when he calls on

those vessels

to be brought in

so that they could be used

for this drinking game.

He knows exactly

what he's doing.

He knows what the history books

say about what happened

to his,

I guess his father-in-law

down the line,

Nebuchadnezzar,

and yet he's thinking

to himself,

that could never happen

to me.

Now one of the algorithms

on my phone,

do you not love

those things?

Because I watched

a lot of footage

of that sub

that went down

when they were going

to visit the wreck

of the Titanic.

Now my Facebook feed

is just all Titanic stats.

Here's one

that I learned recently.

Do you want one?

That apparently

on the Titanic

there were only

14 proper lifeboats

on that ship.

Coupled with a few

emergency ones,

a few collapsible ones,

but that number

is significant

because it accounted

for half of the people

that were on board

that ship.

If you've seen that film

and that was

peak 90s,

wasn't it?

Rose mentions that fact.

Only half of the people

on this ship

are going to survive

because we've only got

half the number

of lifeboats

that we should have had.

And the call

that they make

when they're making

that ship

is that we prefer

more space on deck

than we would

thinking about

people's safety.

Why do we do that?

It all boiled down

to what they called

that ship.

What did they call it?

The unsinkable ship.

Nothing's going

to take us out.

We are sailing

from what, Liverpool?

We're going to live

in New York

and we're going

to do it ahead of time.

And that epitomizes

the defiant human spirit

that thinks

tomorrow

is guaranteed.

Belshazzar drinks

from these.

Do you see how he

toasts his gods

of gold, iron,

wood, and stone.

Make no mistake

that he is using

the vessels of God

to worship his God.

He is mocking

the holiness

of the living God.

What he's doing

is he toasts it.

He toasts it.

He is saying,

I hold it.

I own this God.

And the God of the Bible

will not be mocked,

friends.

And so if you're here today

and that's your mindset,

if you think

you will get away

with it

because he can't see,

know that he will

have the last say

on your life.

Nothing escapes

the gaze of this

all-knowing,

all-seeing God.

And it is little wonder

that verse 5

roars in with that word

you see it.

immediately.

Immediately.

Belshazzar sees

the writing

on the wall.

In case you're wondering

where that phrase

that we use

all the time

comes from.

And the sham

and the folly

of what's going on here

is exposed.

The writer wants us

to see straight

through it.

And he wants us

to see straight

through it.

If you're struggling

with this today,

all the mockery

that's going on,

all the drinking games,

all the success,

all these things,

the writer wants you

to see straight

through it as well.

As this young buck

who thinks he's

on top of the world,

who's taken on

the king of the universe,

he turns to jelly.

And this is meant

to make us laugh,

I think,

as the reader.

You know,

my friend Andy

is the chaplain

of Hearts

men's football team.

I remember him

telling me that

when it comes

to his work

as he gets in

amongst the guys,

he tells me,

see when the team

is flying,

see when they're

banging in the goals,

no one wants to talk

about the big questions

of life.

No one wants to think

that this career

might end one day.

But he tells me,

as soon as the team's

form dips,

and especially

when a player

gets a life-threatening

injury,

all of a sudden

this confidence

of this 25-year-old guy

who thinks he owns

the joint,

all of a sudden

he's scared

that it's curtains

for his career.

And Jesus tells

that parable,

doesn't he?

Of the rich farmer

who sets about

building bigger barns

so that he can have

more stuff,

so that his life

could be at ease.

And he sits back

in the deck chair,

I imagine,

in that parable,

and that very night

God says,

you fool,

that very night

your life

will be taken

from you.

And the joke

in this passage,

I think,

is that the only adult

in the room

is the queen.

Now she's not his wife,

the queen is the queen mother

you can understand

her to be.

So the joke

in the text

is this guy

who's flexing his muscles,

this young guy

who thinks he owns

the world,

is granny

who has to come

to the rescue.

Right?

Granny has to come

and she has to bring

some common sense

in the room.

She's the only adult

in the room.

And she remembers

this man,

verse 11.

And I think

this is fascinating.

Do you see in the text,

I should have written it down,

I ain't,

verse 12.

She doesn't use

his Babylonian name.

Do you see in the text

she uses his Jewish name?

There is this man

called Daniel.

That tells you tons,

doesn't it?

It tells you

that Daniel

has stuck rigidly

to his God-given identity

in Babylon.

Even though tons

of time has passed

since that episode

in chapter 4,

Daniel is clinging

to God's promises.

This is who I am.

Now let me ask you,

in your circles,

friends,

all of our circles,

how are we known?

Not in terms of just

what we do,

but how are we known

in terms of who we are?

You know,

I've told this story before,

but I love it

because he popped up

on my Facebook feed

this week,

reminded me of him.

See,

when I was in halls

at university,

there was four Daves

in our year.

And what people did

was just give people

nicknames to differentiate

them, right?

So we had Disco Dave,

we had Scary Dave,

we had Hairy Dave,

and then we had

my friend

who people called

Christian Dave.

All sorts of other

adjectives they could have

picked to describe him,

but they went for that one

because they saw

what his life was all about.

How are we known

in our circles?

These,

this Queen Mum rather,

she calls for Daniel.

And in comes this,

what comic scene

this must have been,

this near 80-year-old man

man who's likely lost

his physical edge,

but boy,

does he go toe-to-toe

as he spars

with this young man

who thinks

he owns

the world.

And Daniel goes

to task

here.

And he exemplifies

what God's people,

I think,

are meant to take

from this.

And this is the second,

I think,

an invitation

that God

makes to his people,

and it's this,

that if you're trusting

his promises,

dear friends,

we are playing

the long game.

Daniel exemplifies

for us

what it means

to trust

God's sovereignty

in the slow

plod

and often

the mundane

nature

and the seeming

silence

of life.

if tomorrow

just feels

like another

day,

and let me say

with kids,

it often

does.

You realise

you're not that

creative

when you have

to think

of things

to cook

at night.

Each day

feels the same

often.

And yet,

Daniel's been

teaching me

this week

that I want

to take

every step

of my life

playing the long

game

with God's

promises,

promises,

that I can

glorify him

as I change

nappies,

as we do

all of that

gig.

I can glorify

him.

Because here's

the question,

right?

What has Daniel

been doing

for the last

20 years?

Chapter 6,

if I can verse

creep onto Archie's

next week's

chapter,

he's not here

so I'm going

to do it,

it gives us

the answer.

Daniel,

as his influence

in Babylon,

wanes.

Daniel,

as his physical

body in Babylon

withers.

He's not been

topping up

his tan,

he's not been

saving on the

side for

retirement,

that sweet,

sweet thought.

This man has

been getting

down on his

rickety knees

and he's been

praying three

times a day,

day after day

after day.

Here is a man

who has been

investing himself

in the promises

of God,

getting scripted,

into his system

in the everyday

nature of life

because this

confidence that he

oozes here has

not come out of

nowhere.

He's not all of a

sudden just got his

confidence thing to

speak before the

king.

This is the result of

a life of a man

who has spent many,

many,

many years walking

with his God,

investing himself in

the ordinary means

of grace,

or what I like to

call holy habits.

Getting up each

day,

reading his Bible,

praying,

getting up the next

day,

reading his Bible

and praying.

And we were

thinking as an

elders team yesterday

about how we can

create that culture,

continue to do it

in this church here.

Let me ask you,

friends,

all of us,

what are we doing

to create those

holy habits?

What is our

exposure to God's

words like?

Maybe some of us

off the back of

today,

just resolutely

determined to just

even spend five,

ten,

fifty minutes each

day just reading

God's word,

getting his promises

for the long game

into our system.

Daniel is a

wonderful example

here of what Paul

in 2 Corinthians 4

talks about,

about how the

outer man is

fading away but

the inner man is

being renewed day

after day after day

as he looks not to

that which is seen

but as he looks to

that which is unseen.

Can I maybe just

make a really

specific application

to those of us

in the room?

He's looking very

much at his notes

who are at the

Daniel age and

stage of life.

You know,

one of the comedy

programs that was

popular on British

TV when I was

growing up,

I would ask for

showing the hands

in the air but

let's not do that,

okay,

it was called

One Foot in the

Grave.

The central

character to One

Foot in the Grave

is this man

called Victor

Meldrew,

right?

YouTube's your

friend if you

don't know what

this is and he

had this line all

the time,

I don't believe

it and he's just

moaning and he's

grumping about the

things of life and

the reason that

these shows connect

with us,

is it not true

that we see

ourselves in these

shows?

I take it that's

why observational

comedy is a massive

thing in our

culture because

people just look,

they perceive and

they make fun.

Is it not generally

speaking true,

dear friends,

that people in our

culture getting

older often makes

them more cynical

about life?

We didn't do that

in my day.

Cannot believe what

we're doing in this

day.

And so often it's

tied up with the

fact that people

are struggling to

come to terms with

the fact that their

best days are not in

front of them.

Their best days are

behind them.

If you are a seasoned

saint here this

morning, never lose

sight of the fact that

the promises of God

tell you that your

best days are ahead

of you.

They are ahead of you.

show it to your

neighbours and your

family.

Show it to those who

live in your stairwell,

who you live in your

flat, in your home.

Show it to us.

I need you to help me

remember that the

greatest days of our

lives are not mid-twenties.

It's when we be with

the living God.

I love Daniel.

I love him and this is

why he's taught me so

much this week.

He is playing the long

game with the promises

of God.

I think in our

culture today, friends,

we are conditioned to

play the short game.

Everything's instant.

Everything's now.

Trying to explain to my

kids that Gladiators is

live TV.

You can't just watch the

next one.

Everything's now.

Everything's instant.

And how quickly we tap

out.

At the stage of life now

where I love the verbs

to describe the Christian

life, ones that speak to

me so much at this

moment,

patience and endurance

and long-suffering.

In other words,

play the long game.

Daniel has found and is

living for a far greater

treasure.

I take it that's why he

says, Belshazzar, just

keep your stuff.

But before he interprets

the dream, do you see

how he explains the

dream?

You need to learn the

lessons that Nebuchadnezzar,

before you did Belshazzar,

this God who gave him,

and this God who took

from him,

is meant to help us

realize, verse 21,

that the Most High God

rules.

And you are making that

exact same mistake.

Many, many, numbered.

Tekel, Wade,

Parsin,

divided.

And it's interesting,

isn't it,

the reaction that he

makes, Belshazzar,

to this is really

strange.

It's not the one that we

think he should make,

maybe the one that we

expect him to make,

but it tells us all about

this guy and how he

thinks.

Instead of repenting,

what does he want to do?

Like some kind of

corporate away gig.

He just wants to shower

him and stuff.

He thinks,

I imagine still,

this stuff is going to

save him.

And then have a look

at verse 30 as we

begin to wind this up

this morning.

This is what history

tells us.

And again,

remember,

this is why we've

always gone to the

kind of historical

accuracy of this book

to help us understand.

This is not a fairy tale.

This actually happened.

Look at verse 30.

Here's what history

tells us.

It tells us that the

Medes and the Persians,

and I love this.

If you ever look to

take a city,

go with this.

The Medes and the Persians

in history,

they divert the

Euphrates River.

And why,

if they divert it,

what they do is they

cause the water level

to drop.

And they sneak in

through the sewers

of the city.

And that's how

they capture Babylon.

Which means at this

point,

when he is toasting

his success

and his glory,

it may well be the

case that the Medes

and the Persians

are ready to pounce.

They're right

underneath the city.

Belshazzar is killed

as they rout the place.

And Darius the Medes,

and notice the key words,

the ESV I think

captures it better

than the NIV,

but I think you roll

with the punches

and you see it still.

Here's the key word.

What did he do?

He didn't win the kingdom.

He received the kingdom.

There's a lot of dynamite

in that one verse.

Let me just pick out

just a couple of

really quick ones.

Because he's received

the kingdom,

it means that there's

a new superpower

on the world stage.

Remember we said

chapter one,

this is like a big game

of risk,

world domination.

So there's a new

superpower

have just been crowned

at this point.

Crucially,

it's the one that

God had said

that he would use

to make a way

for his people

to go back

to their homeland.

So this is a big moment

in biblical history.

It's one verse,

massive moment.

And yet,

we need to understand

that Darius

receives the kingdom.

God gives him

the kingdom.

But kings and kingdoms

will just come and go.

We'll see this

in the weeks to come.

Kings and kingdoms

will just keep

spinning round.

And yet,

with every single one,

this Belshazzar spirit

will live on.

So we're right back

to that original question.

Is there all this stuff

about breath?

Is it true

when I don't see it

round about me?

Is God still sovereign?

Is he reigning

on the throne

on his purposes,

ripening fast

every hour?

In the words of

William Cowper,

even when all around

I see,

is the Belshazzar spirit

alive and kicking?

What do we do?

How do we live?

I take it that

we are privileged

to live this side

of the cross.

And this calls us

to consider

and draw confidence

from,

friends,

another king

who received

a kingdom.

And you cannot help

but contrast

King Belshazzar

with King Jesus

in this episode,

can you?

Belshazzar,

he drinks from a cup

raised to his own glory.

But Jesus drank

from a cup,

one that symbolized

our sin

and rebellion

against this God

who gives us breath

and he drank

the dregs

of that cup dry

as he paid

the price

of our sin

on the cross.

Completely contrasting

kings and kingdoms.

And God declared

of Belshazzar,

numbered,

numbered,

tried in one thing,

but God the Father

declares of his Son,

because he went

to the cross

to accomplish

the plan of salvation,

hatched before

the foundation of world

to his Father's glory.

God declared of Jesus,

this is my Son

with whom I am

well pleased.

Contrasting kings

and kingdoms.

And this King Jesus

we need to understand.

Our King

has received,

as we were singing

at the start

and what a pick

that song was,

he has received

an unshakable kingdom.

kingdom.

And this Christ,

he loves us

and he holds

history

and he holds

our breaths

in his hand.

And by faith

in King Jesus,

friends,

we have received

a kingdom

that will never

be toppled

or shaken.

And one day

all of creation

will need to answer

to this king.

So what should we do?

Let's just close

with this thought.

You know,

our youngest daughter,

she's going through

a bit of a frozen spell

at the moment.

I've kind of coined

the phrase,

I call her a fraudler.

Okay?

And I hear her

the other morning

on her baby monitor

singing,

let it go,

let it go.

I don't think she gets

the rest of the song

but those three words

she has nailed.

Let it go,

let it go.

Trying to branch her out

into Frozen 2

because I'm getting a bit

sick of the repetitive

nature of it.

If you've seen Frozen 2,

one of the hit songs

of that film

that Anna sings

is called

The Next Right Thing.

The Next Right Thing.

All she sees around her

is darkness

in that scene.

She doesn't know

what's up ahead

but she's just doing

the next right thing.

And that's what Daniel 5

I think calls

God's people to do.

When we see darkness

around,

when we don't know

what's up ahead,

God just calls us

to trust him,

to know his promises

and do the next

right thing.

What's that going to look like

for you tomorrow

in the office?

What's that going to look like

for you tomorrow

as you look after your kids?

What's that going to look like

tomorrow

when you meet up

with your friends

and family?

Doing the next

right thing.

Trusting him

for the long haul,

being obedient

to his words.

I take it this is what

Eugene Peterson called

a long obedience

in the same direction.

Just do the next

right thing.

Here's what we can know.

When we do that,

when we walk by faith

with this vision

of this glorious Christ

in our minds

and in our hearts,

when we walk by faith

rather than sight

in our circumstances,

friends,

we are standing

in a long

and beautiful tradition.

And be

so aware

that as the clock

ticks over

mundanely,

he is working out

his purposes

perfectly.

And let's close

with this.

This is

Jen Wilkin

who is doing

some fantastic

work

in women's ministry

heading it up

in the States.

She writes this

in her book

In His Image.

If you're looking

for something

just devotionally

to mix it up,

that's a book

to get.

She just writes this,

the church must be

a bastion of patience

as the rest

of the world

chases the next

new thing

every eight seconds

or less.

Eight seconds

means that we have

a less attention span

than a goldfish

if you're needing

humbled this morning.

we must be those

who turn our eyes

toward the long view.

Amen.

Amen.