A Special Message For A Special Time Part 3

Well, good morning, Saints of God, How were we today?

Good, good. Well, our message for today.

Can you hear me? OK?

I'm talking through my clip on microphone.

There you go. I think I'm hearing it now.

So we're continuing on with our sermon series and in the on the

three angels message. And even though there are three

messages, this is only, this is the third message, but it's

going to focus on the second angels message because the first

message was an overview. The second sermon was on the

first angel's message. And this is the third sermon.

So it's going to focus on the second.

So just so you're not confused, so the title is a special

message for a Special Time Part 3.

And of course, we want to welcome all of our guests and

visitors who follow us online. We love having you with us here

and we're so blessed to have you watching us.

And these are some of the platforms that we use, all of

the platforms I believe that we use.

Our website is Middletown, Portland, sda.com.

You can follow us at YouTube at MPs DAC, Facebook at MPSDAC,

Instagram at MPSDAC, Threads at MPSDAC, and then my personal

channel is Path of Prophecy, so you can follow there.

So like to begin with a word of prayer.

And we had a special incident last week where I was supposed

to preach this message, but for some reason it didn't get

preached. I can talk to you about that at

potluck. I won't burden you with that

story right now, but I believe that God bless.

So I don't know whether the the devil didn't want that message

preached or God wanted a different message preached, but

nonetheless, we want to start with a word of prayer.

So let's begin this message with a word of prayer.

Let's pray. Father God, we thank you for

your goodness and your tender mercies.

Lord, there is precious light that is in your scripture and

we're living. We recognize that we live in a

very, very Dark World, a world in which there's much turmoil,

in a world in which the love of many is waxing cold and we are

looking for answers. There are many people looking

for answers to the questions of this life.

And it's my prayer that what is shared here today would shed

precious light upon our minds. I pray that my lips would be

anointed to proclaim your word. And we also pray, Father, that

the blessing of your Holy Spirit would give us comprehension and

understanding and insight and discernment over what is shared

so that we can apply it to our own lives.

And we thank you, Father, for hearing and answering this

prayer in Jesus name, Amen. Amen.

So I have a book in my collection titled Alcohol All

Risk, No Benefits, and it was edited by Doctor Peter Landis,

the former General Conference Health Ministries director, and

Doctor Dwayne McBride, and it's published by Pacific Press.

A little book, short little book, easy reading, but just a

very powerful book about the dangers of alcohol.

Now here's what it says on page 13 of the introduction to that

book. It says a few years ago some

research findings indicated that one or two drinks of an

alcoholic beverage was related to reduced risk of heart

disease. This was often called the French

paradox because of the apparent low cardiac risks for the French

population who drank moderate amounts of wine and also

consumed a high animal fat diet. These findings were often used

by individuals to justify their personal alcohol use and by the

alcohol industry to tout the health benefits of moderate

alcohol use. Their efforts resulted in

governments defining moderate use of alcohol as part of a

healthful diet. However, the the statement goes

on. However, there were major

methodological problems with the findings that alcohol was

beneficial to health. The definition, for example the

definition of who was a non drinker was not clear because

those who stopped using alcohol and because of the health

consequence consequences were included with non drinkers.

Other positive health and health risk behaviors were also often

not included in this research. Now the most recent research has

shown that there is no safe level of alcohol use.

How much safe level is there? None No safe level of alcohol

use and that alcohol has no heart health benefits.

How many heart health benefits does alcohol have?

None. OK, measurable health

consequences exist for any level of alcohol use among all age

groups. These include cancer rates,

heart disease, and stroke. And what the editors point out

in their introduction is that there is no safe level of

drinking alcohol of any kind of any kind.

Beer, hard liquor and wine. And there is certainly no

benefit. Thus the title Alcohol, all

risk, but no benefits. OK, so any amount of drinking

alcohol puts you and potentially others at risk.

Now with that, I want to share the following with you as it

relates to how we can best understand the second of the

three Angels messages. Amen.

The second of the three Angels message.

Here's what it has to say, and I'm going to have to use the

manual clicker here. So while there are many dangers

to drinking alcoholic beverages, one of the hidden dangers of

alcoholic wine is its seductive power.

OK wine, alcoholic wine has a seductive power to it, OK, And

we want to be aware of that. There's many dangers, as the

book shares. There's no benefits, all risks,

no benefits to drinking alcohol. But one of the dangers, the

hidden dangers, particularly with with wine, is it has a

seductive characteristic about it.

Listen to the council of Scripture on this subject,

coming from none other than King Solomon, considered to be the

wisest man whoever lived. Can you imagine that if, if, if

you ever had a chance to meet and mingle with the wisest

person, whoever lived, you would want to sit at their feet and

take notes? OK.

And here's what he had to say about wine.

He says do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles

in the cup, when it swirls around smoothly.

At the last, it bites like a serpent and stings like a Viper.

Solomon gave this warning about the dangers of wine.

Why is that? Because wine creates a physical

danger for our health and the health of others.

You know, if we drink alcohol, it not only impacts us, but it

impacts those around us. OK, here's also what Solomon had

to say. King Solomon he said this wine

is a mocker, strong drink, a brawler, and whoever is LED

astray by it is not wise OK is not wise.

So here in this instance, Solomon is using Hebrew poetry

to make a point. Wine and strong drink Alcoholic

beverages have specific qualities about them that are

not positive. And when you partake of

alcoholic beverages, including why wine, Solomon makes the

judicial statement here that if you partake of these substances,

you are not wise. You're not wise, OK.

In the Bible, God is warning us about the dangers of partake.

Excuse me, didn't mean to jump ahead there.

God is warning us about the dangers of partaking of

alcoholic beverages, including wine, because of what it does to

the individual and who partakes of them makes a mocker of you.

It makes it gets starts fights, OK?

Those who drink strong drink are known for getting into fights.

Those who indulge in wine have earned the reputation of being

winos or drunks and people mock them, OK.

Solomon summarizes his point in the second-half of the verse,

telling us that the danger of these types of beverages is that

they can lead you where they can lead you astray.

So there is a danger to alcoholic beverages,

particularly wine, because of its seductive nature.

Because you think that, oh, I'm going to be having a good time

with it. But in reality, it does what?

It leads astray. It leads you astray.

It gets us to wander off the path.

OK, now this understanding is important.

This understanding what I just shared with you, what Solomon

had to say, plus what the science has to say is this.

This is important for us to understand because it helps

clarify why the apostle John employs the word wine to

describe how it leads to the demise of modern Babylon.

OK, of modern, modern Babylon, listen to what John had to say.

Millie read it to us just a few moments ago and another Angel

followed saying Babylon is fallen.

Is fallen that great city because she has made all

nations, how many nations, all nations drink of the wine of the

wrath of her fornication. Wow.

That is what the Bible tells us. That's what John wrote for our

benefit on that lonely rock out in the Aegean Sea in the OR in

the the Eastern Mediterranean on the Isle of Patmos when he was

banished there by the Roman Empire.

In vision he saw this, and another Angel followed, saying,

Babylon is fallen. Is fallen that great city?

Why? Because she has made all nations

drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

Now I know that we have a mixed multitude here with us, people

from all, no, not all nations of the world, but many nations of

the world. The Philippines is represented.

Amen. If you're from the Philippines

or have Philippine ancestry, raise your hand.

Come on, Joy. There you go.

Yeah, There you go. Yeah, There you go.

So our Filipino people are are represented.

Now, in this Bible passage, it says all nations drink of the

wine of the wrath of her fornication.

Would that include the Philippines?

That would include the Philippines.

OK. We have some people, I believe

from Brazil. Anybody from Brazil represented

or if you have Brazilian ancestry in you.

Yes. Raise your hands.

Amen. Amen.

All right. So the statement is she has made

all nations, Babylon has made all nations drink the wine of

the wrath of her fornication. Would that include Sister

Mallory? Would that include Brazil, your

beloved country, your home country?

Yes. Sadly, that would include that.

OK, Anybody from the United States of America born here in

these United States. Amen.

Yeah. Uncle Sam and apple pie.

Amen. Amen.

But sadly folks, sadly this statement from the Bible also

includes the United States. OK, very sobering fact.

Listen to it again. And another Angel followed

saying Babylon is fallen and has fallen that great city because

she has made all nations, including the Philippines,

Brazil, the United States and all nations of the world drink

the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

So here's a question I have for you.

What exactly is this wine that Babylon invites the nations of

the world to partake of? OK, is that a fair question?

What exactly is this wine? We're we saw that the science

tells us that alcoholic beverages leads to 0 benefits,

all risk but zero benefits. And that Solomon made the

observation that the danger, particularly with wine, is that

it can, it has this seductive power and it can lead people

astray. So we want to know exactly what

is the content of this wine? OK, well, hang on a second here.

Hang on a second here. Hang on a second.

I prepared a whole sermon to unpack this, so don't get ahead

of me, brother. All right, OK.

Babylon's wine is its seductive power employed over the nations

of the world. We're told that this wine is

given to all the nations of the world.

And in order for these nations to partake and to join in with

Babylon would mean that they have been seduced.

They have been seduced, OK. And so the wine of Babylon,

Babylon's wine, is its seductive power that she employs over the

nations. I'm going to unpack it further,

but just be patient here with it.

What do I mean by this? Well, here's what the Bible

says. Jeremiah chapter 51, verse 7,

Jeremiah 51:7

Babylon, talking about ancient Babylon, not modern day Babylon.

Ancient Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord's hand.

What kind of a cup? A golden cup in the Lord's hand

that made all the earth drunk. The nations drank her wine.

Therefore the nations are what? Deranged.

That's what the text tells us. OK, all the nations became

deranged, or you know what we would say in the modern

parlance, drunk. OK, they became intoxicated

under the influence of drinking from Babylon's golden cup.

The prophet Jeremiah wrote that this wrote this prophecy about

ancient Babylon when it was at the peak of its power.

The wine of Babylon had the ability to seduce the nations to

come under her influence and her authority.

And what the wine of ancient Babylon was to the nations of

the world in its day, so is the wine of modern Babylon to the

nations of the world in our day. Just as the nations of the world

in Jeremiah's time were seduced by Babylon, so the nations in

today's world are seduced by modern Babylon.

OK, Well, how is that possible? How is that possible?

Well, here's what it says. For all the nations have drunk

of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, The kings of the

earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of

the earth have become rich through the abundance of her

luxury. OK, so this is John writing

later on in Revelation. This is Revelation chapter 18,

Revelation 18:3

verse 3. And what John is telling us in

this passage is that the influence of modern Babylon is

so widespread that even the kings, the leaders, the

presidents, the prime ministers of the earth have partaken of

this wine of the wrath of her fornication.

But we still haven't answered the question yet, right?

We still need to answer the question as to what exactly is

the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

And to do that, we need to do a very brief little word study in

our Bibles. Are you ready for that?

You're ready to get into the word Amen.

Amen. Here's what it says.

Revelation chapter 18, verse 3. I had it on the screen.

Revelation 18:3

I put it up again just in this different format, says this.

For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her

fornication. Now that I'll be honest with

you, that's a funny little statement.

The wine of the wrath of her fornication.

The whine of her wrath. When I think of the word wrath,

I think of anger. OK, so why would the whine of

her anger of her fornication? That seems like a very puzzling

way of stating this. OK, well that's King James and

new King James. That's what I use in my

preaching Bible. The word in the original is the

word thumos, and it means anger, wrath, rage, indignation.

OK, so those are all synonyms. Interchangeable.

No problem there. But it can also mean an intense

expression of the inner self, frequently expressed as a strong

desire or a passion. And here is where the context

can help clarify the use of the word.

OK, so the word can mean wrath and anger, but it can also mean

passion, desire. OK, so let us be honest with

ourselves and consider some other translations.

In fact, Millie, read one of those translations, which I'm

going to quote up here. Here's one from the NIV.

Here's what it says for all nations have drunk the madding

wine of her adulteries, OK? Because again, the word thummos

can mean anger, wrath, strong passion, kind of like a

derangement, which is what Jeremiah said.

OK? So this would be a very

appropriate way of translating the passage, OK?

For all nations have drunk the madding wine of her adultery.

It's just very similar to what happened in Jeremiah's passage,

OK, Jeremiah said the nations have become deranged.

Here John is saying as it's translated, the nations have

become maddened. OK, Maddened.

OK. So I want you also to listen to

how the new Living Translation phrases this portion of the

passage and this. Is similar to how when I did my

own translation, it came out like this.

So here's the new living translation.

And I believe this is what Millie had read to us.

For all the nations have drunk the wine of her passionate

immorality. OK, her passionate immorality.

Well, who is the her? Well, it's Babylon, right?

Babylon is the her that's talked about here, and she is serving a

cup of wine to all the nations of the world.

And what is this type of wine? It is her passionate immorality.

Her passionate immorality. And I'm going to unpack this a

little bit further, and we're going to see how Scripture helps

us to understand what John is describing for us, particularly

in the second angel's message, Revelation, chapter 14, verse 8.

Revelation 14:8

OK, so I believe that the new Living Translation really

captures the description of what the vintage.

Listen carefully. What the vintage of wine.

It really is. It is her passionate immorality.

And in the next slide, I'm going to present Revelation chapter 17

Revelation 17 · chapter mention

and verse 2 using the new Living translation and the new King

James side by side to help us to better understand what exactly

this wine is that the nations are partaking.

So Revelation chapter 17, verse 2, if you want to follow along

Revelation 17:2

in your own Bibles, that's where I'm going next.

Revelation chapter 17, verse two, side by side, New Living

Revelation 17 · chapter mention

Translation and new King James. Here's what it says from the New

Living Translation. The rulers of the world have had

immoral relations with her, the great prostitute, and the people

who belong to this world have been made drunk by the whine of

her immorality. OK, the new King James says with

whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the

inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her

fornication. OK, So what is the problem that

John is describing to the reader and to the listener of this

passage? Well, what type of wine is this

that the nations of the world and the inhabitants of the earth

are partaking of? That's because that's the

question I asked in the beginning.

We need to understand what is this wine?

What is it talking about? Well, we've done a little bit of

a Bible study. We're going to continue with

this. But it describes this wine as

the wine of her immorality, OK, Her passionate immorality, OK.

So what? What's the problem here?

Well, let's go back to Revelation 14 verse 8 in the

Revelation 14:8

this time in the new King James and the new living Translations

and it says and another Angel followed followed saying Babylon

is fallen is fallen that great city because she has made all

nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

The new living Translation says. Then another Angel followed him

through the skies, shouting, Babylon is fallen.

That great city is fallen because she seduced the nations

of the world and made them drink the wine of her passionate

immorality. OK?

So Babylon uses the seductive power of her wine of passionate

immorality. And I know we have children in

our presence, so I'm going to be very careful how I say this, OK?

But Babylon is described in a female personage, and she is

committing fornication with the kings of the earth, OK.

She is having, in other words, an illicit relationship, a

relationship that is outside of the confines of marriage with

another partner, or in this case, partners.

And This is why the Bible describes her in these very

strong terms as a harlot, as a prostitute, OK, Because she

doesn't do this out of love. She does this for personal gain.

OK, Personal gain. And so what's happening here is

that Babylon uses the seductive power of her wine.

And what she does is she offers this wine to the kings of the

earth and to say come into union with me.

Come into union with me for the specific purpose of presenting

her vision of God's Kingdom rather than God's vision of

God's Kingdom. Does that make sense?

In other words, God has a Kingdom and the description of

his Kingdom is found in this book.

But what she has done, what Babylon has done, is saying,

let's put this book aside and let me give you my vision of

what the Kingdom of God will look like.

We will talk about God. We will think about God.

We will use godly language, we will use all this type of stuff.

We will even try to keep the commandments of God, but we're

going to just alter them slightly.

But we will still call it God's Kingdom.

And as a result of it, the kings of the earth sign on the dotted

line, and they commit fornication with this female,

OK? The wine is so powerful, the

kings of the earth and the inhabitants of the earth get

intoxicated with it. They buy into her vision of

God's Kingdom on earth. Listen to what it says.

Then another Angel followed them, followed him through the

sky, shouting, Babylon has fallen.

That great city has fallen because she seduced the nations

of the world. OK, that would include the

Philippines, that would include Brazil.

That would include the land of my birth, the United States of

America. All the nations of the world are

going to be seduced by this. And I believe that at this time

in Earth's history, we are witnessing a very strategic

employment of that vision. In fact, it was just this

morning when my wife was doing just a little prep work for

Sabbath school, final prep work, OK?

And this article popped up from the New York Times, I believe it

was, or the Washington Post or something like that.

And it was about making America great again and all of this

business with the Christian right, and all of this kind of

stuff. And I said, send me the article.

Just send it to me, OK? We can read it later, but even

very right right now, this is happening.

This is a current topic. OK, so here's the question.

Here's the question. I want us to give pause and ask

ourselves these questions of the text.

Is Babylon going to be successful in accomplishing her

goal? No.

The Bible says very clearly the Angel from heaven itself says

Babylon is fallen. And just to make the point again

says it's fallen. Anytime the Bible repeats

something, you need to pay attention.

Amen. And so the second angel's

message says another Angel followed saying Babylon is

fallen, is fallen. Doesn't matter how great that

city is, Don't. It doesn't matter how powerful

it is, doesn't matter how much wealth it has, doesn't matter

how much it's in the headlines, OK?

The Bible says she has fallen. She has fallen.

That means she has fallen, OK? Now she will not be successful.

Why not? Because I she falls, OK, now why

does she fall? The same reason that ancient

Babylon has fallen. OK, the same reason that ancient

Babylon has fallen. So we what we need to do is

briefly consider this story found in Daniel chapter 5, the

Daniel 5 · chapter mention

story of King Belshazzar's feast, because this will help

again clarify for us. And here's what it reads for our

online audience. Daniel chapter 5 verse one.

Daniel 5 · chapter mention

Daniel chapter 5 verse chapter 5 begins this way.

Daniel 5 · chapter mention

Belshazzar, the king made a great feast for 1000 of his

Lords and drank wine in the presence of the 1000.

So who was Belshazzar? Who was this Bible character by

the name of Belshazzar? He was a king, one of the kings

of the earth, right? He was none other than the king

of Babylon. OK.

And so since John tells us that Babylon has fallen in Revelation

Revelation 14:8

chapter 14, verse 8, we need to pay careful attention to the

story of Babylon's fall found right here in Daniel chapter 5.

Daniel 5 · chapter mention

Because what is what is initiated in the Old Testament

is repeated on a grander scale in the New Testament,

particularly in the Book of Revelation.

So This is why the entire Bible is so important.

You know, some of our Christian brothers and sisters from other

churches, they say, well, we're in fact on the way here this

morning. I passed by this church, Phil,

you probably passed by it too on Route 84.

There's a church on the right hand side of the road on 84 as

you're heading down here, Scott, you and your family probably

pass by that very same church. It says the New Testament

church, they're a New Testament church.

It looks like a hotel building that's been converted into a

church building and they they have on the sign New Testament

church. Well, that's wonderful.

Jesus is mentioned in the New Testament, but you'll never

understand that Jesus of the New Testament unless you have the

Old Testament to shed light as to who he is.

That's why we have Matthew quoting all of these Old

Testament prophecies from Isaiah, from Jeremiah and so on

and so forth for our online audience and for anybody.

You will never understand what the wine of Babylon is unless

you start getting back into the Old Testament and start reading

it. OK, so here's how it says

Belshazzar, the king made a great feast.

What kind of a feast? A great feast.

How big was this party? It was so big that 1000 of his

Lords came 1000 of his Lords. Imagine that.

OK, and what did they, what did he do at this party?

He drank wine in the presence of the 1000.

Now that's not only what he did. In fact, the Bible goes on to

tell us in Babylon and excuse me, in Daniel chapter 5.

Daniel 5 · chapter mention

I'm going to open up my Bible because I don't have a slide for

this, and I just want to tell the story here and make sure we

get our facts right. But it says Belshazzar, the

king, made a great feast for 1000 of his Lords and drank wine

in the presence of the thousand while he tasted the wine.

Verse 2, Belshazzar gave the command to bring the gold and

silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from

the temple, which had been in Jerusalem, that the king and his

Lords, his wives and his concubines might drink from

them. So we need to understand the

context of what's taking place. The book of Daniel is written

while Daniel was captive in Babylon, and Babylon had

overtaken Jerusalem and had taken the citizens of Jerusalem

captive. Daniel was one of those

captives, captives, but he not only did that, but Babylon

overtook the temple and destroyed the temple and took

the sacred vessels from the temple and brought them back to

Babylon. And it was basically King

Nebuchadnezzar's way of saying my God is more powerful than

your God. But is the Babylonian God more

powerful than the God of Daniel? No, he's not.

Yeah, at least somebody's paying attention.

The rest of you fell asleep. OK.

But yeah, Scott, thank you for answering.

I was getting a little concerned there.

OK. So, yeah, the, the, the, the God

of Babylon is not more powerful. In fact, it was the God of

Daniel who permitted the Babylonians to do this very

thing. He permitted it, and he

permitted it for a very special reason, because Judah needed to

be chastised because they had rejected the prophets of God and

they had killed the prophets of God, and they didn't want to

hear what the prophets of God had to say.

So God says, all right, you don't want to hear what I have

to say to you. I'm not going to listen to what

you have to say. Babylon have at it.

And the king of Babylon came and took them captive, and he took

the sacred vessels from the temple and put them in his

temple. It was kind of like putting the

sacred vessels into his trophy case, saying, look what we have

done. We've captured these sacred

vessels. We are more powerful than Judah.

OK. But as you see the book of

Daniel unfold, you see that no God is more powerful.

And he's allowing the nations to do these things in order to

achieve God's grand purpose. OK, God's grand purpose.

But here's something that Belshazzar did.

He crossed a line because he was a king, an earthly ruler.

He was not a priest. He was not a Levite.

He was a gentile. But what he did was he took

those sacred vessels out of the temple where his father had kept

them. His father at least had the

sensibilities to say, look, we captured them.

But here's where they stay. They stay here.

We don't bring them out for our own advantage, for our own use.

But Belshazzar at this time was already what?

He was intoxicated. Yes, he was under the influence

of the seductive power of wine. And so here's what he does next.

He claps his hand and the butlers come.

He says, bring those sacred vessels.

OK, bring those sacred vessels. And now they bring the sacred

vessels that had been in Jerusalem, that the king and

his, and so that his Lords, his wife, that the king, his Lords,

his wives, and his concubines might drink from them.

When they then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken

from the temple of the House of God, which had been in

Jerusalem, And the king and his Lords, his wives, and his

concubines drank from them. So he called them to have them

brought out so that they might do it.

And that was kind of his last opportunity and finally decided,

no, let's let's go ahead with it.

Let's do it. I'm giving everybody the green

light. Let's do it.

Party on. And so they began drinking of

them. And then to amp it up even

further, here's what he did. Listen to this verse 4.

They drank wine and praise the gods of gold and silver, bronze

and ironwood and stone. So now they're praising

different gods other than the King of kings and Lord of Lords.

And isn't that what modern Babylon does?

Modern Babylon offers its wine to the nations of the world to

praise a different God other than the one who is King of

kings and Lord of Lords. Well, God is not silent on the

matter, right? God has the last word.

And if you've ever heard the phrase, well, the handwriting is

on the wall. This is the story from where it

originates from, because here's what happened next, verse 5.

In the same hour, the fingers of a man's hand appeared and wrote

opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the

King's palace, and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.

So here they're having this party, they're drunk, they're

now partaking of this alcoholic wine, using the sacred vessels.

And instead of praising God with those sacred vessels, they're

praising false gods and they're having a wild party.

And that's when God says enough is enough.

Babylon, your time on earth is complete.

And this hand appears in this party and starts writing on the

wall. Can you imagine that?

We shouldn't be frightened by this.

We should be sobered by this. This should this is a very

sobering thought because all of us come under the judgement of

God. But there's good news in this.

OK, I'm going to share the gospel with you.

There's the gospel is in this story.

Amen. So what happened is this hand

starts writing on the wall. All they see is a hand.

They don't see a man and it's a handwriting on the wall and

starts writing. And the reaction of the king is

worthy of note. The Bible says his knees began

to knock together and his bones came out of their joints.

And he was speechless. He didn't know what to say.

Finally, when he caught his breath, he called for his

advisors, the wise men, the magicians and the say traps and

the Chaldeans to come and interpret what was written on

the wall. And they came and they looked at

it. They studied it, and they looked

at it and they studied it and they tried to interpret it, but

they had no way to understand what it meant.

And so finally the queen came into the picture.

And the queen approached Belshazzar and said, you know,

there is a man that your father used to rely upon.

His name is Daniel. He's one of the Hebrew captives.

And whenever your father Nebuchadnezzar had a great

mystery to solve, he would always go to Daniel and Daniel

would answer the question. He has the spirit of the of the

God of God with him. I would suggest to you that you

call him and bring him in to solve this problem.

And so Daniel was called in and it's worthy to note that Daniel

wasn't in attendance at the party.

Amen. The only time Daniel showed up

to the party was to prophecy, which means for us and our day,

we need to understand the prophecies because we shouldn't

be going to the parties. But I believe that in time, one

day, we will be invited to the party, not to party, but to

prophecy, because people will be at their wit's end saying what

is going on and we'll be able to give them a biblical answer of

thus saith the Lord. And thus hopefully we can win

some souls to Christ. Amen.

Amen. So Daniel came to the party.

He finally showed up and the king says, Daniel, I understand

that you have the, the spirit of the gods with you and, and I

would like for you to unravel this mystery.

And if you do that, I'll give you a purple robe and a gold

chain around your neck. And Daniel said, well, you can

keep your purple robe and your gold necklace.

But I will help you to understand this mystery.

So let's have at it. And so he began telling him the

story of his father, Nebuchadnezzar.

He says, you know, your father was a great king.

He was such a great king that God gave him his Kingdom.

And whatever he chose to do, he was able to do it.

If he wanted to execute this person, he could execute that

person. If he wanted to keep that person

alive, he could keep that person alive.

He was a very powerful King Belshazzar.

But one day his his head grew so puffed up with his own greatness

that God disciplined him and corrected him by allowing him to

leave his palace. And he became became like an

animal for seven years. And he lived out in the field

and his hair grew long and his nails grew like the claws of an

animal. And he began to eat the the

grass like an ox. You can read about this in

Daniel chapter 4. But finally it came time for

Daniel 4 · chapter mention

that season of judgment to pass upon Nebuchadnezzar.

And Nebuchadnezzar was restored to his Kingdom because he was

willing to acknowledge God as supreme and that this, all of

his greatness came from God, even though he wasn't a Jew,

even though he was a Gentile. And here's the very telling part

of it. In the story, Daniel Chapter 5,

Daniel 5 · chapter mention

it says, but you, his son Belshazzar, have not humbled

your heart, although you knew this.

OK. And that was the problem.

Belshazzar knew his father's history.

His father had it written down. Daniel had transcribed it for

us. We have it in the book of Daniel

Daniel 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4, as I said. But Belshazzar also knew this,

but he didn't learn from it. He acted very foolishly because

God provided counsel to him, but he ignored that counsel and

chose to walk away from it. OK, so Daniel went on to

prophecy, he says. But you, his son Belshazzar,

have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this, and

you have lifted yourself up against against the Lord of

Heaven. They have brought the vessels of

his house before you. And you and your Lords, your

wives and your concubines, have drunk wine from them.

And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and

iron, wooden, stone, which do not see or hear or know, and the

God who holds your breath in his hand and owns all your ways.

Listen very carefully. You have not glorified.

Do you know what Daniel was telling Belshazzar right there

at that moment? He was giving him the first

angel's message because the first angel's message is the

everlasting gospel. His father Nebuchadnezzar had a

Kingdom. The Kingdom was removed because

of what? Pride and arrogance?

But God in his goodness and mercy, which is what the gospel

is. God's goodness and mercy

restored Nebuchadnezzar. OK, Belshazzar knew the gospel,

but he rejected it in favor of praising other gods.

And the first Angel message says, Then I saw another Angel

flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to

preach to those who dwell on the earth, to every nation, kindred,

tribe, tongue and people saying, fear God and give glory to him.

Why? Because the hour of his judgment

has come and worship him who made heaven and earth and the

sea and the springs of water. Belshazzar was judged because he

knew the gospel but rejected it and failed to glorify God.

That's what the text says. Let me read it to you once

again. It's not on the screen, so I'm

going to read it to you, he says.

And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and

iron, wooden, stone, which do not see or hear or know.

And the God who holds your breath, the Creator who holds

your breath in his hand and owns all your ways, you have not

glorified. That's the appeal of the first

angel's message to fear God and give him glory.

And so as a result, as a result of rejecting the first angel's

message, Belshazzar was brought into judgement.

How do we know this? Well, Daniel went on to say,

then the fingers of the hand were sent from him, and this

writing was written. And this is the inscription that

was written. OK Menne, menne teko ufarsen.

This is the interpretation of each word.

Many God has numbered your Kingdom and finished it.

He had numbered Nebuchadnezzar's Kingdom, but he didn't bring it

to a completion because why? Because Nebuchadnezzar responded

to the gospel. OK Teko, you have been weighed

in the balances and found wanting.

Perez, your Kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes

and the Persians. OK, so let's consider a few

points about this story. God performed an investigative

judgement by weighing Belshazzar in the balances.

And as a result, he lacked from what the opportunities that were

presented to him. He failed to humble himself in

the knowledge of God, right? In other words, he failed to

accept the first angel's message by fearing God and giving glory

to him. By choosing to reject the true

God, he ended up worshipping the false gods of this world.

OK, now where was Daniel when the party started?

As I said, he was nowhere near that party.

The only reason he shows up to the party is not to participate

but because he was on a direct mission from God to prophecy to

the drunk king and explain the judgement of God that had fallen

upon Belshazzar's Kingdom and what happened.

Bible tells us Daniel chapter 5 verse 30 and 31.

Daniel 5:30

That very night Belshazzar king of the Chaldeans was slain and

Darius the Mede received the Kingdom being about 62 years of

age. OK, now the application to our

day should be very clear, and it's clarified by what the

Apostle Paul wrote to the Church of the Thessalonians.

Listen to this First Thessalonians chapter 5 verses 2

1 Thessalonians 5:2

and 3. Paul writes, For you yourselves

know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in

the night. For when they say peace and

safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them as labor pains

upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape.

Daniel chapter 5 helps us to understand this warning that the

Daniel 5 · chapter mention

return of Jesus will be like a thief in the night.

This is exactly how the Persian Empire took Babylon on the night

of Belshazzar's feast. You remember the story.

The Euphrates River ran through the center of Babylon.

Ancient Babylon and the Babylonians had walls that were

thick enough that you could have chariot races on the tops of

them. They had enough food supplied to

them for 20 years to last a siege that would last 20 years.

So basically Belshazzar, the night of his feast, was

essentially thumbing his nose at the at the Medes and the

Persians saying you can't conquer us, so we're just going

to have a party and then just enjoy ourselves.

Basically, they were crying. Belshazzar was saying there's

peace and safety in the Kingdom, there's nothing to worry about.

But what happened that very night?

The Bible says that very night El Shazar was slain and the

Medes and the Persians entered the city.

How did they enter it? Well, they were clever.

And the Bible prophesied this 150 years in advance, how this

was exactly going to happen. And that was that.

Darius had his the river dammed up the water, the table, the

water table lowered itself on the river so that the soldiers

of the Medes and the Persians could March through the

riverbank and into the city. The very night that they were

having the party, all the guards were sleeping or snoring or

drunk themselves or whatever the case was.

Nobody was watching and they snuck in and they opened the

bars of the gates of the city, let the rest of the army in, and

the rest is history. History tells us this is exactly

how it happened, just as the Bible said it was going to

happen. OK, for you yourselves know

perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the

night. For when they say peace and

safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them as labor pains

upon a pregnant woman and they shall not escape.

Listen friends, listen. God has presented to us a people

7th Day Adventist. We have a mission to share this

message with others, but we are the first recipients of the

gospel, the everlasting gospel. And when we reject God's grace

in whatever realm of our life, say no, God is not I've got,

yes, I can have God be my God here and here and here, but not

over here. I don't want him to be God over

here, OK? When we when we reject God's

grace over here, we're rejecting the essence of that first

angel's message. And the danger that we fall into

is to turn to the gods of this world and partake of the wine of

Babylon, OK? And the wine of Babylon is very

seductive because it's the idea that we can be religious and

make our Kingdom here rather than plan for God's Kingdom.

OK, But God's Kingdom has to change our hearts.

That's that's the issue. God has to have first place in

our heart, in everything, in every realm.

Nebuchadnezzar's an example. He thought he was the greatest

thing until God humbled him. And God will put us through the

paces. He will humble us because He

wants us in the Kingdom. But if we continue to reject

those opportunities that God is affording us, OK, ultimately we

too will end up becoming intoxicated with the wine of

this world that says we can have God's Kingdom here on earth

rather than in the earth to come.

OK, That's what this Christian nationalism business is all

about. And it can happen on a corporate

level, but it can also happen at the individual level.

And so that's why we need the Word of God.

That's why we need to listen to the Word of God because we don't

want to end up like Belshazzar. Amen.

Belshazzar's story is written for our Admonition.

A. So the message of the second

Angel is that Babylon is fallen, is fallen.

Why? Because she has misrepresented

God to the world in the great controversy between good and

evil. There is this great controversy

between good and evil. And Babylon says, yes, I will

mediate the relationship between you and God.

This is what God is like, and this is how we can have God's

Kingdom. We can have it right here on

earth. OK?

That's what Babylon says. But God's word says differently.

God says, no, come out of Babylon.

Come out of Babylon. Come out of the confusion where

the Bible says one thing and the church says the complete

opposite. OK, the Bible says this, but God

says, but Babylon says this. OK, God says come out of her my

people, come out of her my people, and be not partakers of

her sins. Why?

Because the fate of Babylon, you don't want to receive the fate

of Babylon. Babylon is fallen and ultimately

Babylon will be destroyed. So the message of the second

Angel is Babylon is fallen. Why?

Because she has misrepresented God with her intoxicating,

seductive wine to the world in this great controversy between

good and evil. Listen to this Prophets and

Kings, page 530. In that last night of mad folly,

Belshazzar and his Lords had filled up the measure of their

guilt and the guilt of the Chaldean Kingdom.

No longer could God's restraining hand ward off the

impending evil. Through manifold provinces, God

had sought to teach them reverence for His law.

What was God trying to teach the Babylonians?

For what? Reverence for God's law.

OK, here's what it says. We would have healed Babylon, he

declared, of those whose judgment was now reaching unto

heaven. But she is not healed.

That's what Jeremiah wrote. God wanted to heal Babylon.

Amen. That's how good and gracious God

is. OK, because of the strange

perversity of the human heart, God had at last found it

necessary to pass the irrevocable sentence.

Belshazzar was to fall, and his Kingdom was to pass into other

hands. Belshazzar was given the good

news about God and His Kingdom, but sadly he failed to glorify

him with that knowledge and submit himself into God's ways.

Friends, this story is written for our admonition, Amen.

This story is written for our benefit, Amen.

We don't want to miss, make the same mistake that belches are

made and reject the first angel's message by failing to

fear God and give glory to Him and choosing.

Remember it's a choice, choosing to worship God who made the

heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them.

The truth of the matter is this, that we are all broken, just

like Babylon, everyone of us. OK, the good news is this.

God wants to heal you like he wanted to heal Babylon.

Do you want to be healed by God? Amen.

If you want to be healed by God, raise your hand.

Amen. I want to be healed by God.

Amen. And I for our online audience,

write text to us. Write get on your little

keyboard and tell us I want to be healed by, by by God.

OK, just text that in right now. Tell us so.

So, Sister Joy up there, she'll read it about when I give her my

microphone in a few minutes after we close the service.

She can tell me. Yeah, we had three people or we

had five people or even 1. But acknowledge it.

Confess it. Say I want to be healed.

Amen. Amen.

Amen. And God will do exactly that.

Let's pray. Father God, we thank you for

your word. Your word sheds light on our

path and it's a lamp to our feet to guide us in these very, very

dark, foreboding days. Lord, there is a seductive wine

that is out there, the wine that is offered by none other than

Babylon itself. But Lord, we want the truth.

You've given us the truth. The truth is that we are all

fallen like Babylon. We are all broken like Babylon,

this God of love who wanted to heal Babylon even though she

rejected that healing. We have acknowledged we need you

to heal us. We need to be broken.

We have been broken and we need to be healed.

So Father, forgive us where we have strayed.

Forgive us for where we have praised the gods of gold and

silver and iron and wood and stone bronze.

Forgive us, Father, where we have rejected that first angel's

message, where we have strayed and tried to build our own

Kingdom just like Nebuchadnezzar did of old.

Father, grace us with your presence.

Bring healing to our hearts. We thank you for hearing and

answering this prayer in Jesus name, Amen.

Amen.