“Writing on The Wall” | Daniel 5 | Pastor Keith

You know your brain takes just 2% of the average adults weight,

but uses 20% of your oxygen intake and it has more than 1000

billion nerve cells. Signals travel along these

nerves around 360 kilometres an hour, with a message from your

head to your toe arriving in 150th of a second.

Your heart muscle today will contract more than 100,000 times

every minute of your life. Your blood will make a complete,

full circuit of your circulatory system.

The combined length of all your arteries, veins and capillaries

is some 150,000 kilometres. You will breathe an average 18

times every minute. You'll spend doing that some

25,000 times in a day. You will spend a third of your

life asleep and I'm about to do that for you now.

You're a very busy person. You probably aren't aware of all

this happening behind the scenes and every day of your living

life. None of this you have any

control of. The Australian male has an

expected age mortality right now of 84.5 years.

The life expectancy of Australian women an expected age

at death of 87.3 years. So ladies you get 3 years of.

Finally, Hebrews Chapter 9 verse 27 says it is appointed unto men

Hebrews 9:27

once to die. There's no reincarnation, no

second time around, but after this judgement, more and more

people are looking for guidance for the future.

That's why the Antichrist is coming soon will be seen as the

light, the Messiah. Finally, someone who's fixing

things, guiding things, fixing things up.

There's only one book that dares to predict the future.

Not once, not twice, but over and over hundreds of times.

That book is the Bible. More than 2/3 of Holy Scripture.

More than 2/3 is prophecy. 1/2 of the Bible's prophecies are

over. 1/2 have already been fulfilled thus far.

That means that 1/2 of the Bible's prophecies have occurred

exactly as God said they would. We're going to celebrate one of

those in 50 odd days called Christmas with that information

in mind, with those facts, I have no reason to doubt that the

remaining ones, prophecies will be fulfilled just as God's word

has predicted they will. So how do we live?

That's the series. And Daniel, how do we live as

Christians, as righteous people, godly people in a fallen,

violent world? How do we live as disciples of

Christ today, 2025? Back in chapter 1, we learned

from Daniel and his three friends that they had no

appetite for the whims and the ways of the world.

They said, no, we don't eat the King's food, drink the King's

wine. We'll eat what we we normally

eat and God will sustain us in chapter 2 when calamity comes.

Death was hungover. Each of their heads as the king

had a dream and in one of the interpretation, what did they

do? They went to prayer and God will

answer us. That's why they went to prayer.

Although either would have said just Oh well, we'll just sit

here and wait till we get to rest and we'll die.

No, they went to prayer because they knew God would answer them.

That's why you pray in chapter 3.

The king built the image, not just the head of gold, but all

of gold, didn't he? At the sound of the Babylonian

Philharmonic Orchestra, everyone bowed down the noise and there

were three standing Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

And I said we will not compromise.

We won't bow down. We won't go the ways of the

world. I won't go the the way of the

rest of my class. I won't go the way the rest of

my my sporting team. I won't go the way the rest of

my family. I won't bow down to the ways of

the world. We'll stand for Christ no matter

what the cost. A fiery furnace waited.

We will place our lives at God's disposal.

We will sacrifice. He's able, but whatever He wants

to do, I I'm happy with that. They did that.

They were living sacrifices, standing, then they're thrown

into the fire and they had Christ join them.

In chapter 4, we witnessed the grace of God as Daniel shared

another dream with Nebuchadnezzar said and said,

basically, King, please, God's given you a warning.

Change what you do, change the way you live.

And so Daniel, who loved the king, served the king, but also

said, I've got to tell you the king, king, I've got to tell you

the truth of the matter. You know, as a brother and

sister in Christ, you need to tell the truth of the matter,

but you need to tell it in love, not say.

And then a lot of people say, well, you know, you know, I love

you. And then they they hit you on

the head with a, a meat cleaver. You know, I do this in the name

of Christ. No, you're not.

You do it because you just like telling me off.

There's a way to do it. There's words, there's care, and

it's got to be backed up by prayer.

When you share the truth, you can't live together anymore.

I know that the two of you are living together.

You're still coming to truth. Listen, you can't do that if

you're serious about one another.

Separate, live apart, plan to get married, seek God.

Is this what God's will is? If God's will is not that you

live together, God's will is that you worship him and serve

Him and follow His Word. So if you do love this person,

separate, live apart and plan to get married, then do the right

thing. We had a witness of God.

Daniel did that in chapter 4. To whom we work with, to whom we

serve and to whom we share our everydays with.

When we see the signs of the times around us showing, for

instance, that the Antichrist could rise to the political

stage at any time, we know the return of Jesus is even closer.

He's coming to call his church called the rapture, take us out

of trouble, and then seven years of judgement to fall upon the

world, the tribulation. I want to ask you a question

this morning. Yes, we'll get into chapter 5.

Don't worry. Where is your life heading?

You know, people come up. Just caught you on the street.

Tell me, where's your life heading today?

What do you make right at this moment?

What do you make of the world events that seem to be just

reeling through our news outlets?

Do our homes World Economic crisis.

It's $1,000,000 to buy a house. Now think about that.

You got to be a millionaire to buy a house in Australia.

It's a crazy massive unemployment.

Islam is growing more and more throughout the western world.

You can go to church today and not hear Jesus mention it all.

Not you don't need a Bible when you go to certain churches don't

need a Bible. We don't use it because there's

lots of more relevant, new, pertinent, up to

That's not church. It's not what church is about.

Church is about you coming to know what Christ has done, what

he wants to do with you, and how your life can change.

And the bonus of that is Jesus says I have come to give you

life that more abundantly. Listen carefully.

Jesus Christ is not an add on. He's not a religious icon.

He's not an accessory, he's not an option.

He is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings.

He's the alpha and the Omega. He is the beginning and the end.

I like watching the programme This is Your Life.

Anyone seen that programme? This is your life.

Kids are going. I don't know what you're talking

about. Those of you old enough know

this is your life. You know, they get someone out

famous, they sit them down and they open this book and then

they start calling out all these people.

And as we see, we see their life unfolded includes the tragedies

they went through, times of depression and sadness.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have your life

unveiled? Perhaps you come to church

today. We get your name.

We've got all the info, we've delved in it, We've got all the

research. And next minute come up on

stage. This is your life.

Oh no. To let everyone peep into the

essence of who you are, what you are, where you've placed all

your efforts, your passions, your dreams, your desires.

There was a man called Hezekiah. He was the king of Israel.

And in Second Kings chapter 20 verse one, the Lord came to

2 Kings 20 · chapter mention

Hezekiah. He was sick, he was dying, and

the Lord sent the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amos, to him.

And this is what the prophet said, oh, I'm going to heal you.

God says I want to heal you. Can you imagine going to the

hospital being sent by the Lord? Great.

This is what the Lord said. Set your house in order where

you're going to die and not live.

This is from the Lord. Oh, OK.

You know, we this morning, everyone in this room, we're all

terminally ill. We have a disease.

It's passed down from generation to generation.

It come from our great, great, great, great, great Adam and Eve

and the disease that each and every one of us have.

It's called sin and it goes through all of our blood

vessels. It's in our every being and

we're all dying from it. Let's look at chapter 1.

Chapter first one of chapter 5. Belshazzar, the king, Crown

Prince, he's 3rd and rule, made a great feast for 1000 of his

Lords and drank wine in the presence of the 1000.

While he tasted the wine, Belshazzar gave the command to

bring the gold, the silver vessels in which his father,

actually it's his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar, had taken from

the temple in Jerusalem that the king and his Lords, his wives,

his concubines, gives you what sort of an evening it is, might

drink from them. Then they brought the gold

vessels that have been taken from the temple of the House of

God, which had been in Jerusalem.

And the King and his Lords, his wives, his concubines, drank

from them. They drank wine.

Praise the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron and wood

and stone. It was the year 538 BC, 23 years

after the death of his grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar.

Nebuchadnezzar's son is in Rule, and Belshazzar is third in Rule.

He's the Crown Prince outside of the walls at that time.

And Belshazzar knows this is the mighty army of the Medes and the

Persians. They're outside at that moment.

They've gone up to the river Euphrates further upstream, and

they are diverting the river Euphrates because the river

Euphrates went straight through the middle of Babylon.

And at each end of whether Euphrates came in and went out

were great brass gates down which stopped people coming in

and going and they could survive with this massive walled city,

the river flowing through. But the Medes and the Persians,

this massive army camped had diverted the Euphrates and the

the soldiers. And everyone's drunk.

All the soldiers are drunk because they think our place

where we staying, Babylon, it's unassailable.

So everyone's drunk and they don't notice that the water

level is dropping because the walls of Babylon were 24

kilometres long. They were at a height of 106

metres. Now this is 9 metres.

So think how big it is. It had 250 towers again on top

of those walls. Going up further the wall it was

26 plus metres thick and around Babylon was a Moat surrounding

the whole city. It's safe.

It's like the guy who said when they launched the Titanic even

God couldn't sink this boat. It was October 12th, 539 BC.

We know precisely the night that Belshazzar is life would end.

Belshazzar decides to throw a party.

Thousands are invited. He knows the needs and persons

out. He throws this party because

they can do what they're like. They weren't going to get in.

We're invincible. Let's have a party.

Showing his pride, his arrogance had learnt from his grandfather.

So the wine is flowing, the women are everywhere, and it's

in honour of the gods of Babylon, of the gods of gold,

silver and brass. The evening Revs up.

Belshazzar asked for the vessels.

Hey, let's, let's bring in all the stuff that my grandfather

took from Jerusalem. You can imagine.

Bring it all in, give it to everybody.

We're going to drink out of this stuff.

They're drinking out of all the implements taken from the temple

in Jerusalem. In verse 4, they continue their

drinking and praising of the gods.

This is the life, isn't it, man? They're outside.

This is what we did in the past. We're drinking out of this.

Yeah. Gods of gold, brass, silver, and

everything is cruising. So he thinks.

Verse 5, notice in the same hour.

Notice that preciseness. In the same hour, the fingers of

a man's hand appeared. God's graffiti and rode opposite

the lampstand on the plaster of the wall, gouging the wall of

the King's palace. And the king saw part of the

hand that wrote. The King's countenance changed

his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his hips were

loosened and his knees knocked against each other.

He was shivering in fear. The king cried aloud To bring in

the astrologers, the Chaldeans, the suicides.

The king spoke. He said to the wise men of

Babylon. Whoever reads this writing and

tells me what it means shall be clothed with purple, purple with

royalty, have a chain of gold around his neck, and he shall be

noticed. The third ruler of the Kingdom,

because he's the second. His dad is the first.

Now all the King's wise men came, but they could not read

the writing or make known to the king.

It's interpretation sounds a similar story, doesn't it?

Then King Belshazzar was greatly troubled.

This is not going good. His countenance was changed and

his Lords were astonished. I'm taken back by the words in

the same hour. You know, God is precise.

It's not like, Oh, roundabout, I believe my life and your life is

directed by God in minutes. In minutes, actually, the

proverb says God's got my life and he guides it in steps.

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.

Actually, Daniel 5 tells me that God directs my life in breaths.

He holds the very breath that I breathe.

We sang about it today. He can stop it at any moment.

Think of how many times in Scripture God uses the phrase of

time, the term, the hour. John chapter 2 verse 4.

John 2:4

Jesus said unto the woman, woman, His mum, what have I to

do with you? My hours not yet come.

Matthew 2450 The Lord of that servant shall come in a day when

he looks not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of it.

John 1223 And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour has come,

The Son of man should be glorified.

Matthew 2442. Watch therefore, for you know

not what hour your Lord does come.

Verse 10, the queen, that is his grandmother, because of the

words of the king and his Lords, came to the banquet hall.

They could hear, she could hear the commotion.

So she comes down. What's going on?

The queen spoke. Oh King, live forever.

Do not let your thoughts trouble you, nor let your countless

change. There is a man in your Kingdom

in whom is the spirit of the Holy God, and in the days of

your father, this is his grandfather lied in

understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods were

found in him. And King Nebuchadnezzar, your

father, your father the king, made him chief of the magicians,

astrologers, Chaldeans and soothsayers.

In as much as an excellent spirit, knowledge and

understanding, interpreting dreams, solving riddles,

explaining enigmas, were found in this Daniel, whom the king

Belshazzar. Named Beltashazza.

Now let Daniel, she calls him Daniel be called and he'll give

the interpretation. I reckon she she knew Daniel

pretty well. Then Daniel he's brought in.

The king spoke, said to Daniel, You that Daniel, which is one of

the captors from Judah, whom my father king brought from Judah.

I've heard of you and notice this.

You need to remember this because this is important to why

what happens at the end. I have heard of you that the

Spirit of God is in you and that light and understanding or

excellent wisdom are found in you.

Now the wise men, the astrologers have been brought in

before me. They should read this writing,

make known to me it's interpretations.

But they couldn't give me the interpretation.

And I have heard of you. He's he's heard of what Daniel

did. He's heard of the things that

happened between Daniel and his grandfather, that you give

interpretation and explain enigmas.

Now, if you can read the writing and make known to me it's

interpretation, you'll be clothed with purple chain of

gold around your neck. You shall be the third ruler in

the Kingdom. So Daniel enters the room.

He's an old guy now. He's about 80.

Between 80 and 90. He refuses any of the King's

offerings. It is said that the mercenary

spirit does not govern the life and labours of God's ministers.

Here, in the middle of this raging party, now brought to an

abrupt halt, stands a man of God.

Talk about party poopers just arrived.

Talk about the discos just turned off.

Here's a guy you know when you turn, you know your friends at

work were telling you a joke and you walk out.

They know you're a Christian. They go, you won't like this.

Everything stops. You've had that.

Tell me quickly, in whose shoes do you wish you could have been

in the king who is living a life guided by his passions,

partying, having the time of his life literally, or before him, a

man who was still a stranger in a foreign land?

Because Paul says, actually, the writer of Hebrew says, you and

I, what, we're strangers, pilgrims.

You ever wondered why you don't fit?

You know, you're the square peg in the round hole.

Since you became a Christian, you don't fit.

I remember when I became a Christian and Helen, we, we

became, you know, and our families, we had their, their

functions, their dude. We were the square pegs in the

round. Not that we did anything, but we

did it. Just it.

Everything changed. Daniel had never dropped his

guard. He was still living as if he was

in Jerusalem. That's the aim of parents, of

you raising your children. So when they go off to serve in

the defence forces or go to work on a mining site or somewhere,

they still live as Christians. They don't have a Doctor Jekyll

and Mr Hyde. That's the aim.

Daniel was still meeting with God three times a day.

Remember he did that. How often he prayed 3 times a

day. That was the time and he's still

living on the the Jerusalem calendar.

His clock went by Jerusalem, hours, hours of prayer.

He was still facing the temple. He would still face Jerusalem,

taking up Solomon's words at the dedication of Solomon's temple,

about facing the temple when you prayed.

He did that even though he's in a foreign land and no one knew

about him, even though as the temple would have been razed to

the ground, it's still stood in Daniel's heart.

Daniel chose to honour God with his life, every day of it, right

into his later years. I want you to examine your heart

this morning. Ask yourself, be realistic.

In whose shoes would your feet have been the most comfortable

at that moment, Belshazzar or Daniel?

It is interesting that as Daniel stood there, his actions and his

words were to be as powerful as they had ever been and as

straight. He hadn't changed.

Let's read them verse 17. Daniel answered and said before

the king, Hey, let your gifts be to yourself.

I don't want any of your stuff. I don't want any of your stuff.

Give your rewards to another interesting you know, I will

read the writing to the King and make known to him the

interpretation. O King, the Most High God gave

Nebuchadnezzar, and he gives him again a lesson in what he

ordering you. He's telling Belshazzar what he

ordering you. O King, the Most High God gave

Nebuchadnezzar, your father, a Kingdom, majesty, glory and

honour. And because of the majesty that

he gave him, all peoples, nations and languages trembled

and feared before him. Whomever he wished, he executed.

Whomever he wished he kept alive, whomever he wished he set

up, and whoever he wished he put down.

But when his heart was lifted up, when he became proud and his

spirit was hardened in pride, he spoke specific.

He was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory

from him. Then he was driven from the sons

of men. His heart was made like the

beasts. His dwelling was with the wild

donkeys, they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wept

with dew of heaven. 7 years remember, till he knew that the

Most high God rules in the Kingdom of men, and appointed

over whomever he chooses. Now notice verse 22.

But you, his son Belshazzar, and here's the problem.

You have not humbled your heart. And here's the real problem.

Although you knew all this, you know all this.

You see, here's the great danger.

In Luke chapter 12, verse 48, Jesus says these words.

Luke 12:48

Luke, 1248. But he you did not know yet

committed these things deserving of stripes shall be beaten with

few. For everyone to whom much is

given from him much will be required, and to whom much has

been committed of him they'll ask the more.

So the deal is this, You know, someone says, well, is it, You

know, if a Christian sins, is it bad?

It's worse. It's worse than an unbeliever

because we know, we know. In verse 17 to 22, Daniel speaks

powerfully and freely. He could do this because as a

young man he had set the cause in his life.

He chose to honour God with his life.

He knew his life and its very existence rested in God's hand.

Daniel stood in front of Belshazzar.

A living proverb. Proverbs 22.

Six parents, you need to know this one.

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he

will not depart from it. King David didn't train up his

sons, and Absalom and Solomon sadly followed paths, reflecting

their lack of fatherly training by David.

But Timothy had a Gentile father, unbelieving, they

believe. But Timothy had a godly mother

and a godly grandmother and they both trained and trained Timothy

as a child and as he grew, he did not depart from their

blessed example. Teach, this is what you're to do

with your kids. Teach, Dedicate discipline.

And I mean discipline. That means when you say

something, it means what you say.

I often watch kids in shopping centres and mum goes, stop that.

I'm telling you to stop that kid.

Just go stop. I'm telling you to stop that

kid. Just carry on.

I'm telling you, the last time stop it, nothing's happened.

The kid knows nothing's going to happen.

And I'm thinking you don't love that child.

I saw a little girl, hell, and I saw this little girl running,

running down the road, running across the road.

No, actually we're walking to school and this kid ran across

the Rd little girl cross across the roads and then and busy

streets. My mom said stop, stop, don't do

that, stop, stop. And then when they got to

school, put a harm around her and said go on, we're going to

find it. I'm thinking you got to let the

kid get run over. Where's the love for that child?

Oh, I do love my child. No, you don't.

You're abusing that child by not caring for that child.

Here's what you're going to do. Bible says admonish.

Do it with love. But you got to do that.

Teach, dedicate, discipline. Guide your child on the things

of God on the things of God your impact as a father, as a mother

on your child should be about the things of Oh man, dad taught

me how to dig a hole and I'm the best hole digger around.

Awesome. The things of God In Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 6:6

chapter 6, verse 6, God orders the children of Israel, the

fathers of Israel, to teach, admonish, instruct and minister

to your children as you go about your daily business, as you

walk, as you sit, as you stand, as you walk them to school, as

you drive into the shop, as you tying your shoelaces, as you

walk down the beach, as you're going for a surf, as you you're

mowing the lawn. You should be talking about the

things of God. They're the moments, then the

moments, then the great instructive times that you can

minister the wonders of the grace of God.

I love walking the kids grandkids to school.

Now you always ask this, OK, Pennsylvania, give us a story, a

Bible story. So we get a Bible story on the

way to school. You see, you say, well, I don't

have time. No, you do have time.

You have time for all the other stuff that you think is

important in their lives. God has got to be the most

important thing in their lives and father's your first.

It's your responsibility if your dad, if your father isn't, if

your husband isn't a Christian and mums, you can do it because

Timothy Lois Eunice trained and trained and Timothy became the

great man of God that he did Deuteronomy 66 read it, learn

it, apply it. Daniel reminded Belshazzar of

the pride of his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar and the judgement

that God laid upon him in graphic detail in verse 21.

Why did Belshazzar, why did he tell Belshazzar this?

Why didn't he just tell him what the story?

Why did he go back and say you, you know about what happened to

your grandfather? Why did he give this background?

He knew all about it. Why did he repeat it?

Because he was saying to the King, you knew all about this,

but still you lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven.

Your sin is greater than Nebuchadnezzar's.

You see, there's the difference. Your sin is greater each time

you come to church, each time you sit under the Word of God,

and each time you ignore what God instructs you to do.

It's not good. It's not good each time you hear

it and you don't apply it, it's not good.

I was reading through Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, and Micah

through this week through the minor prophets and in those

things, I think Israel, really cops are flogging by God because

they sinned and you know what God says directly and it mean

really, they really got hammered.

And you know what God says, Israel, your sin was worse, your

sin was worse. I've chosen you, you're my

chosen people. Your sins are worse.

Sins are worse than a heathen, than a Pagan.

Read it yourself. So each time I listen to the

word, Word of God, I come to a greater accountability and a

greater responsibility to obey. He told Belshazzar that his sin

was greater because verse 22, you knew all this and your sin

was against ample knowledge. And since the greater knowledge

calls forth a more severe judgement, Matthew 1120, Jesus

did the same. Jesus began to denounce the

towns where He had done so many of his miracles.

Why? Because they hadn't.

Jesus is the greatest preacher ever.

They hadn't repented of their sins and turned to God.

He said this. What sorrow awaits you, Corazan

Bethsaida? For if the miracles I did in you

had been done in wicked Tyre and Sidon, their people would have

repented of their sins long ago, clothing themselves in burlap

and throwing ashes on their heads to show their remorse.

I tell you, Jesus, reentify re emphasises.

I tell you, Tyre and Sidon will be better off on Judgement Day

than you. But there's worse.

He goes on in verse 23. And you people of Capernaum.

Capernaum is one of my favourite spots when we go to Israel,

people of Capernaum, Jesus lived there, moved from Nazareth to

Capernaum. Will you be honoured in heaven?

No, you will go down to the place of the dead.

Why? For if the miracles I did for

you had been done in wicked Sodom, what a comparison it

would still be here today. Wow, I tell you, even Sodom will

be better off on Judgement Day than you.

Isn't that? That's pretty dramatical, isn't

it? Romans chapter one, verse 21,

Paul says. Because although they knew God,

you know they did not glorify him as God, nor we're thankful,

but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish

hearts were darkened. The young foolish king is

stunned, knees still knocking, jaw dropped.

Listen to him every word. This is his life.

It's been revealed Belshazzar knew all about how God humbled

his grandfather, yet he dared to defy the Most High.

But there was more. There's 23.

You have lifted up yourself against the Lord of Heaven.

You have brought the vessels of his house before you.

And your Lords, your wives and your concubines have drunk from

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

of iron, wood and stone, which you do not see or hear or know.

And the God who holds your breath in his hand, the reason

you're alive and owns all your ways, you have not glorified.

That's a damning report on a life wasted.

Daniel tells the king, You worship dumb gods, and at the

same time you've insulted the one true living God.

No man or woman holds the lease on their life.

In Isaiah chapter 42, verse 5, the Lord says Thus says the Lord

Isaiah 42:5

God, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread

forth the earth and that which comes from it, who gives breath

to the people on it and spirit to those who walk on it.

We are each and every one of us, totally and utterly dependent

upon God for our very existence. Belshazzar had utterly denied

this great truth. He'd lived as a fool.

Foolishness is ignoring God. Daniel now reads the words

gouged in the plaster on the wall and interprets them for the

king. The message on the wall was

brief. You know life can be summed up

quite succinctly, can it? In every word carried a note of

unquestioned authority. Verse 24.

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

writing was written and this is the inscription that was

written. Many many tickle you fasten.

This is the interpretation of each word.

Many God has numbered your Kingdom and finished it tickle

you have been weighed in the balanced and found wanting.

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

and Persians many verse 26 God has numbered your Kingdom and

finished it. To number means to fix or limit

its duration. As to time, the repetition of

the word is emphasising many many that there would be no

extension of time, no second chance.

His number. You heard the term.

His number was up from here. The word many means calculation.

It tells us that God's decisions are not carelessly arrived at,

but are carefully calculated. God knows exactly how long it

will be until Jesus returns for His church.

The repetition of the word was for emphasis.

There's no extension here. Belshazzar, your number is up.

Tackle the scales of God. Why accurately and because God

deals with exactness, He deals in justice.

God weighs every man, every woman's life with perfect

accuracy. One Samuel chapter 2 verse

three, Samuel said talk no more so very proudly.

Let no arrogance come from your mouth, for the Lord is the God

of knowledge, and by him actions await.

Psalm 62 nine says, surely men of low degree are a vapour, Men

of high degree are a lie. If they are weighed on the

scales, they're all together lighter than vapour vapour.

Job 31 six Job said, Let me be weighed on honour scales, that

God may know my integrity. God, you know who I am.

Proverbs 16 two. All the ways of a man are pure

in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirits on the

perfect scales of God. Belshazzar did not weigh enough,

fell short to escape divine judgement.

You fasten, Perez. You asked rightly why the word

you fasten is changed to Perez. That's a good question.

Daniel changed the plural Paris to the singular Peres.

Because Belshazzar's Kingdom was to be broken up, divided, and

given to the Medes and the Persians.

Apparently Daniel intended to play on words for a change in

the vows, and Perez gives the word Persian.

Judgement came quickly that night.

Empires do not stand by human might.

I wish our Prime Minister would learn that man's technology or

weaponry. There is a last night for an

empire, and there is a last night for every individual on

this planet. Thousands of years ago, God

spoke to this rebellious King Belshazzar by writing an

inscription gouging it on the wall of the palace.

The prophet Daniel interpreted the writing on the wall and said

that it read You've been weighed in the balance and found

lacking. Verse 27 preceding the

interpretation Daniel gave the reason for the waste of life,

you've lifted it yourself up against the Lord of heaven.

You have not glorified him. And so the root of the problem

was that he had failed to glorify God in his living.

He'd failed to choose to honour God with his life.

You see, to glorify God means this.

It means that you choose to honour him where whenever you

can has that whenever you succeed in your endeavours, be

they in ministry, business, sports, even family, you don't

take the personal credit. You give the glory to God.

I love it when the basketball is the the football is the NFL.

Especially say I want to give glory to God.

First of all, because they know the only reason they have any

gift or talent, it comes from God.

This morning as we read this text, it's time for a weigh in

Belshazzar's life in the great Way.

And it was light and the scales fell short.

You know everyone is weighed up in the scales of life by God.

You know there is handwriting against every man and woman on

the planet earth. But Jesus made salvation

possible for every man and every woman.

Did you know the finger of God was written against your life

too? If you're an unbeliever, it's

still there, it's still written. So where does that leave us as

believers today? Paul wrote about that in

Colossians chapter 2 verse 13, and he said you being dead in

Colossians 2:13

your sins, we remember communion and the uncircumcision of your

flesh. He has quickened or made a life

together with him having forgiven you all trespasses.

Verse 14 cautions 2 Blotting out handwriting of ordinances.

That was against us. Where we fell short, where was

written down? Keith, you fall short on this,

which was contrary to us. He took it out of the way.

What did he do with it? Nailed it to his cross.

Remember the woman caught in the act of adultery.

The law said she should be bound, placed in a pit 3 feet

deep, stoned until dead. Master, what do you say where

all those who brought her caught in the ACT all got stones in

their hands? They want to catch Jesus out.

So Jesus stooped down and he wrote in the ground.

We don't know what he wrote in the ground, but I hazard a

guess. The same finger that wrote You

shall not commit adultery. The same finger that carved on

that Great Wall and that feast that night in Babylon.

The same finger carved in the ground by everyone who was

looking around with stones ready to throw at that woman.

Jesus wrote their names, 1 by 1, and their sins got to go.

I'm just calling. Left the car got to go.

They took off until what? There was none.

Then Jesus said to her, Go your way and sin no more, freeing you

to sin no more. We get freed to sin no more.

You see, you and I, as we wrap this up, are living in the last

days of this world as we know it.

It's coming to an end. God has revealed the future.

In Isaiah chapter 45, verse one, one of the greatest verses in

Isaiah 45 · chapter mention

the Bible, it says this. Thus says the Lord to his

anointed, to Cyrus his right hand I have held to subdue

nations before him, to loose the armour of kings, to open before

him the double doors, and to break the blast brass gates, 100

years before Cyrus was even born.

He tells of Cyrus in charge of the Medes and the Persians.

The gates. You know what they did with the

gates over the Euphrates? They left them up.

I forgot to close them. I diverted the the river

Euphrates and Cyrus just walked in.

You know why he walked in? Because 100 years before, before

he was even born, God said Cyrus.

He gave him his name. You're going to do this?

It shows that God is in control. There is a day yet to come, but

it's fast approaching. There'll be another time of

lives being weighed in the balance.

Did you know that they'll also be on that day writings?

But these writings won't be on a wall.

They'll be from all the books opened in heaven of every

unbeliever. The Bible says every detail and

everyone who has raised up at that judgement day.

It's called the Great White Throne Judgement Revelation,

Revelation 20 · chapter mention

chapter 20. The dead, the sea, hell,

everywhere, all the dead will be raised up.

This is the second resurrection. And each one will be stand

before God and the books will be open and you'll be judged

according to everything where you didn't glorify God because

everyone in the second resurrection is found guilty.

But for you and I and for those of you here today who have

received Christ, who have glorified him with your living,

you will not receive a judgement but a great reward.

You will not take part in the great white throne judgement,

you'll take part in the rapture of the Church.

Paul said in one Corinthians 4. Let a man so consider us as

servants of Christ, stewards of the mysteries of God.

Moreover, it is required and stewards that one be found

faithful. So this morning as the worship

team comes forward, you have heard the word of God, you now

have knowledge. So that places you into a place

of accountability, responsibility.

You can't say, well, I didn't know about it.

And so I invite you this morning as we stand to worship, at the

end of the worship time or during the worship time, if you

don't know Christ, to come forward to receive Christ

because God doesn't want you at the great white Throne

judgement. God wants to call you up at the

rapture. He wants you to receive Christ

now. He wants you to be forgiven.

That's why He sent his Son for you.

He wants to remove the things that are written against you

today because the Bible says today is the day of salvation.

Maybe you've walked with God and you're in church today, but

you're wondering you're from a distance, you're a prodigal.

And today I want you to come forward as well.

We will pray for you and pray with you because repentance is

need constantly by all of us. If you're here today and God has

spoken to you and you need to repent.

And today I want you to come forward as we stand and worship

the Lord and repent before God. We'll pray with you.

You've wandered from him. Come now, be forgiven.

The writing is on the wall. What will you do with it?