Greg Laurie - Your Number Is Up (11/21/2017)
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Pastor Greg Laurie preaches from Daniel 4 on "Your Number is Up," contrasting proud King Nebuchadnezzar—who eventually repented and praised God—with his arrogant grandson Belshazzar, who mocked God and faced sudden judgment. The message warns that life is for glorifying God, no one is beyond His reach, and we must be ready when our days are numbered.
The Purpose of Life: Enjoyment or Something Greater?
Alright. Well let's grab our Bibles and turn to Daniel chapter 4. Daniel chapter 4. And the title of my message is, "Your Number is Up". Okay. Quick question. Why am I here on this earth? What is the purpose of my existence? A poll was done among Americans and that question was asked. And 61% of those polled said, The main purpose of life is enjoyment and personal fulfillment. I find that amazing. The main purpose of life is enjoyment and personal fulfillment. I guess it's summed up in that phrase you sometimes see printed on a shirt. Life is a beach. You know, right? That's how it is for a lot of people. Life is a beach.
Here is the thing that concerns me. 50% of those that gave that answer classified themselves as born again Christians. So is that really why we are here as Christians for enjoyment and personal fulfillment? Well we are going to see that question answered in the lives of two men. Two kings. The Bible will often put two people together or two situations together to contrast them. To show them what is right and what is wrong.
Jesus talked about a Pharisee and a publican that went up to pray. One prayed right, the publican. One prayed wrong, the Pharisee. We find the story of Cain and Abel put side by side. A godly man, Abel. An ungodly man, Cain. The same with Abraham and Lot. Jesus did the same thing when He talked about the wise man who builds his house on a foundation of rock and the foolish man who builds his house on a foundation of sand. The same thing is there in the parable of the sheep and the goats or the narrow road and the broad path and so forth. So these all give us pictures.
Contrasting Kings: Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar
That is the loudest ring ever. Okay. So you must be hard of hearing. This would be a good time to mute it. If you have a phone please mute your phone because that alarmed me. Okay. Hey. Like we didn't all hear it. So people are put side by side. Situations are put side by side to show the right and the wrong. We have that here in the book of Daniel. We have two very powerful kings. They were related. First there was Nebuchadnezzar. And then there was his grandson Belshazzar.
One though wasting most of his life ultimately made the right decision. That would be Nebuchadnezzar. The younger and the foolish one made the wrong decision. And they both had the truth of God's Word presented to them. One in time accepted it. The other rejected it and faced the consequences. But you think about a guy like Nebuchadnezzar. I mean you want to talk about powerful. Nebuchadnezzar was a man that had unlimited power. Yet God got hold of him.
And I bring this up because we might think of people that we can't even imagine ever being a Christian. The very idea of them saying praise the Lord or carrying a Bible. Richard Dawkins being a Christian. Or how about Bill Maher. How about Howard Stern. How about Lady Gaga. Huh? Oh. You don't think that is possible? You don't think God could not reach any of those people no matter who they are or what they are known for? I am telling you no one is beyond the reach of God.
No One Is Beyond God's Reach
As we are going to see in this story if God could reach a guy like Nebuchadnezzar He could surely reach anyone. And we all know people that seem unreachable. But the fact is no one is beyond the reach of God. I mean here was Nebuchadnezzar. I said unparalleled wealth, power, and fame exposed to spiritual truth. And a lot of it. It was Nebuchadnezzar that threw the three Hebrew holy boys into the fiery furnace. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Because they would not bow before his golden image that he had erected of himself.
But it was also Nebuchadnezzar that saw these men spared in the midst of the fiery furnace. And an extra guy walking around in there with them who Nebuchadnezzar described as a son of the gods who we believe was probably Jesus Himself taking a Sunday stroll with his three young men. And so he saw that. He acknowledged that God preserved them. But still he did not believe. And there were other things he was exposed to. And still he did not believe. But now everything was going to come to a head.
You know sometimes when you share the gospel with someone you need to think of it like a time bomb. It may not happen today but it may detonate tomorrow. Or in a week. Or in a month. So you just sow that little seed and you say what you have to say. And maybe they blow you off. Maybe they laugh on your face. Maybe they ignore you. Maybe they say, well that is nice. Thank you. And you walk away saying, well that didn't go very well. Oh don't ever underestimate the power of God's Word. And that little seed you just sowed.
Because what may happen is a week later they may wake up in the middle of the night and suddenly your words will come crashing down on them and they will be thinking about it. So our job is to just sow that seed of the Word of God and leave it in God's hands.
God Reaches People in Unexpected Ways
You know in our crusade in Philadelphia I was told by my friend Joe Foz, two pastors at Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia, that a young lady showed up in their women's Bible study group that no one had ever seen before. So one of the ladies running the group asked this lady where she was from. She just came to Christ at the harvest crusade that we just held. That is great. But here is what is really interesting. She was a practicing Muslim. And she saw this big event at the Wells Fargo Arena. She pulled in. And what got her attention was we played a video that you saw also at the Southern California crusade of a man named Earl who was in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Also raised as a Muslim who was on his way to commit suicide. Remember Earl's story.
And instead he, well he heard an ad on the radio for a song he liked. He was listening to the music. He was going to kill himself. And I don't want to muck up the story. But anyway, he went in. He came to Christ and embraced Jesus as Lord instead of Allah. And it was that video of Earl's story that reached this other Muslim woman. God can reach anybody. I don't care who they are. What their background is.
Okay. So let's look at a potentially unreachable person who is reached. Daniel 4. Starting in verse 4. And I am going to read down to verse 9. And this is from the New Living Translation. Understand this is Nebuchadnezzar writing. "I, Nebuchadnezzar, was living in my palace in comfort and prosperity. But one night I had a dream that greatly frightened me. I saw visions that terrified me as I lay in my bed. So I issued an order calling in all the wise men of Babylon. They could not tell me what my dream meant. When all the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and fortune tellers came in, I told them the dream. But they could not tell me what it meant. At last Daniel came in before me. And I told him the dream. He was named Belteshazzar after my God. And the Spirit of the Holy Gods is in him. I said to him, O Belteshazzar, Master Musician, Magician rather, I know that the Spirit of the Holy Gods is in you. And no mystery is too great for you to solve. Tell me what my dream means."
The Dream, the Warning, and the Call to Repent
Okay. We will stop there. So what did we learn from this? Again, as I said, no one is beyond the reach of God. Here is Nebuchadnezzar, the most powerful man on earth at that time. I mean Babylon is what he ruled over. Babylon had walls that were 350 feet high. 87 feet broad at the top. Six chariots could race along the walls of Babylon side by side. Think of that this time. Historically. I think it erects something like this. There were 250 watchtowers placed in strategic locations around the circumference of the city. One palace alone covered 11 acres. One banquet hall alone could seat 1,000 people.
Here is this incredibly powerful man. How does God reach him? Through a dream. He had a dream, verse 5, that frightened him. He saw visions as he lay on his bed. God got him through a dream. You wonder how the Lord could reach this person or that person. He might do it through a dream. The book of Acts tells the story of a Roman centurion named Cornelius. Now to be a centurion in the Roman army meant that you would command 80 to 100 men. Roman soldiers were feared but centurions were really feared at this time.
But despite his position of great power with Rome he believed in God but he didn't know Him yet. What he knew of God he believed. He liked the Jewish people. He was sort of ruling over. Enforcing Rome's authority over. He didn't believe in the pagan gods of Rome. He believed in the God of Israel but he didn't know how to approach Him. How did the Lord reach Cornelius? Well the Lord reached him through a vision. He had a vision. And he was told to turn. He was told to call for Simon Peter who was also directed by the Lord. And they came together. So God can work through some unusual means to reach a person.
So having this vision or this dream, Nebuchadnezzar rounds up the usual suspects. The magicians. The enchanters. The astrologers. The fortune tellers. Asking for help. You know there are still fortune tellers out there today. Psychics that people will actually go to and pay their hard earned money to trying to find some kind of an answer. And then as a last resort he calls in Daniel.
And we read in verse 19 that Daniel was overcome for a time, a guess at the meaning of the dream. The king said, Belteshazzar don't be alarmed by the dream. Tell me what it means. Daniel was replying and said, I wish the events foreshadowed in this dream would happen to your enemies my Lord, not to you. See Daniel understood the dream. And he realized this dream was a warning from heaven. That Nebuchadnezzar was about to face a certain judgment.
Amazingly Daniel had developed sort of an affection for this crazy king. And so he didn't really want to tell him. Because see this was not good news. And people had died for saying less to Nebuchadnezzar. He could just snap his finger and you are gone. So to tell him that God is going to judge him was hard.
The Hard Truth of Judgment and the Hope of Repentance
You know it is hard sometimes to tell the truth. Isn't it? I think of doctors who run a series of tests on someone. And you want to tell them everything is okay. Don't be alarmed. You are all right. But then you find that spot. Or you find that lump. Or you find something else. And you have got to tell the person the truth. Because you want to prescribe a course of treatment. Or maybe a surgery. Or depending on what it is. The things that they should do to get better. But you have to tell them the truth first.
And in the same way as Christians we have to declare the whole counsel of God. But sometimes we edit out stuff we are uncomfortable with. Like hell. Or judgment. We will say believe in Jesus and He will make you a happier person and bring you fulfillment. And there will be joy and happiness in your life. And the person says, well I don't want to believe in Jesus. What happens if I don't believe in Jesus? I would rather not discuss that. Quick question. Do you like warm climates? No way. You need to just tell them.
Well here is what the Bible says. You don't tell them with a smile on your face. You tell them with a tear in your eye. You say, well the Bible says there is a judgment. And if we don't believe in Jesus Christ there actually is a place called hell. And you know it is hard to say those things. But we have to tell them the truth. And Daniel knew the truth. And now he has to reveal it to the great Nebuchadnezzar.
He effectively says judgment is coming. But there is still hope. But you can repent. Verse 27. "O King Nebuchadnezzar please listen to me. Stop sinning. Do what is right. Break from your wicked past by being merciful to the poor. Perhaps then you will continue to prosper." Listen king. There is still hope if you will repent. But if you don't repent judgment is going to come on you. Effectively that is what Jonah did. He went and preached to the Ninevites. Also a very wicked people. He said 40 days in Nineveh will be over throne. Actually there was hope in that message. Because the fact that they were being warned implied that there could be a forgiveness if they turned from that sin.
For instance when God brought His judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah there was no warning. There was no prophet Jonah walking through the streets. It just came on them like a ton of bricks. It was well deserved. But in the case of Nineveh God gave them a chance. In the case of Nebuchadnezzar God was giving them a chance. And God does give a lot of chances.
The Consequences of Pride and the Wheels of Justice
I think the problem is sometimes we confuse God's grace with leniency. Or maybe even ignorance. By that I mean because you don't face the full I just woke up two people here. Because. Welcome back. Because you don't face the immediate consequences of your actions you might think you are getting away with it. But the Bible says your sin will find you out. And if we were to go back and translate that from the original language it would translate out to say your sin will find you out. And what it means is your sin will find you out. It means you will reap what you sow no matter what.
Now it may be in a year. It may be ten years. It may be in a month. It may be in a week. It could be in ten minutes. But it is going to come. But we will say oh well nothing happened. So maybe God wasn't paying attention. Maybe God doesn't care. Or worse yet we will deceive ourselves into thinking maybe God is okay with this. You know I prayed about it. Lord I was going to have sex with my girlfriend. I know what the Bible says. But what do you say? And the Lord spoke to me and said I am cool with that. Now that was you speaking to you. Okay. God didn't say that. Because God will never contradict His Word.
But the point is you are going to face it. But God was giving an opportunity to repent. Ecclesiastes 8:11. "Because God does not punish sinners instantly people feel it is safe to do wrong." Listen. The wheels of God's justice may grind slowly but they grind surely. Let me repeat that. The wheels of God's justice may grind slowly but they grind surely.
Nebuchadnezzar he was one wicked cat. I mean the things he did. He was ready to butcher an entire class of men just because they could not recall to him a dream he had had and actually had forgotten. He was ready to put to death any who would not worship the image he erected. And he had King Zedekiah the king of Jerusalem witness the execution of his own sons before he gouged that man's eyes out of the sockets. So you get an idea of what a creep Nebuchadnezzar was. Yet God in His grace was giving this creep an opportunity to repent.
And so now he doesn't repent. And now the judgment comes. Daniel 4 verse 28. "All these things did happen to King Nebuchadnezzar. Twelve months later he was taking a walk in this flat roof at the royal palace in Babylon. And he looked out across the city and said, Look at the great city of Babylon. I by my own power have built this beautiful city as my royal residence has an expression of my royal splendor."
While he was still speaking these words a voice came down from heaven saying, "O King Nebuchadnezzar this message is for you. You are no longer ruler of the kingdom." A man boasting on earth hears a voice from heaven. Nebuchadnezzar is taking credit for all he has done. It is interesting. He wasn't a Christian. He wasn't a believer in the Lord God of Israel. He is just saying, I did this all.
But the point of it is, is anything that any man or any woman accomplishes in life has been given to them in effect as a gift from God. I mean I don't care what you have discovered or what you have invented or how much money you have amassed or how successful you have been. That life was given to you by God. The beat of the heart was given to you by God. The intellectual capacity to come up with those things was given to you by God. So one day you say, look how successful I am. Look at how clever I am. Hold on now. Be careful. And remember it is all a gift. Because that heart stops beating and the party is over.
From Pride to Madness and Back to Praise
As it was for Nebuchadnezzar's grandson. It is good to remember everything we have is from the Lord as I said. Deuteronomy 8:17 says that be careful to not think you have been made wealthy by your own strength and energy. Remember it is the Lord that gave you the power to become rich. And He does it to fulfill the covenant He made with your ancestors. So God did it. God gave it to him. But He took credit. And God's judgment came on him.
So what happened? Nebuchadnezzar had some kind of a mental breakdown. We don't know exactly what it was or what we might diagnose it as today. But it was some kind of mental illness where He was reduced to an animal-like state eating grass in the field. His hair grew out long. It was matted just as the prophet had predicted. He was given 12 months to repent from His moment of glory to ending up in the field. And so He was brought down.
And by the way He is not the first world leader that was brought down. You know you look at these people. They seem all powerful. And then they face the consequences of their sins and their crimes. Adolf Hitler. You know with his Nazi war machine. Marching over Poland. Marching over France. Trying to wipe out the British people. Wanting to rule the world effectively. Trying to eradicate the Jewish people. He ends up in his little bunker holding a gun up to his face and killing himself.
Or Saddam Hussein with all of his boasting and all of his arrogance found hiding in a cave. Or Muammar Gaddafi with his cruel tyrannical ways for so many years. And he is actually killed by his own people. And I think of the French leader Napoleon in his battle of Waterloo. History tells us, On the morning of the battle, the little dictator stood gazing on the field of battle. And he described to his commanding officer the strategy for that day's campaign. And by the way, Napoleon was a brilliant military tactician.
And he said, We are going to put the infantry here. We are going to put the cavalry there. We will put the artillery over here. And at the end of the day England will be at the feet of France. And Wellington, who was leading the British forces, will be a prisoner of Napoleon. Well after a pause, Napoleon's commanding officer boldly said, Well we must not forget that man proposes but God disposes. With arrogant pride Napoleon shot back. I want you to understand that Napoleon proposes and Napoleon disposes.
Victor Hugo, who by the way wrote Les Miserables, commenting on this, said, and I quote, "From that moment on Waterloo was lost. For God sent rain and hail so the troops of Napoleon could not maneuver as he had planned. And on the night of battle it was Napoleon who was a prisoner of Wellington and France was at the feet of England." End quote. Interesting.
So we think, Oh I am in control. I am in power. I will decide. No you won't. No you won't. Fear God. Reverence God. Remember God has the final word on every subject no matter what. And things might look bleak for you right now. Oh man this is never going to change. This is the end. God will have the last word.
Belshazzar's Arrogance and the Writing on the Wall
Things were looking bleak for the Christian church as a wave of persecution came against them from the Roman emperors. In fact starting with Diocletian. Excuse me. Starting with Nero up to Diocletian. There were ten major attempts to wipe Christianity off the face of the earth. Believers were fed alive to wild animals in Roman arenas for sport. Torn apart. Tortured. And many burned at the stake. Diocletian the emperor of Rome was so confident he had completely wiped out Christianity. He had a coin struck that said, "The Christian religion is destroyed and the worship of the Roman gods are restored." End quote.
How did that work out for Rome? Not so well. Christianity, alive and well. Thank you very much. Rome, nice place to visit. Great pasta. Nice ruins. Caesar. What do we remember about them? Caesar. Nice name for a dog. You don't name your kid. You name your kid Caesar and you name your dog. Or excuse me. You name your dog Caesar and you name one of your children after an apostle or a biblical character. We have Caesar salad. That is pretty nice. You know. But Roma is come and gone.
But God gave a second chance to Nebuchadnezzar. Verse 34. After his descent into madness, Nebuchadnezzar comes to his senses. "After this time had passed, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven. My sanity returned. I praised and worshipped the Most High and honored the One who lives forever. His rule is everlasting and His kingdom is eternal." Nebuchadnezzar believes in God. Nebuchadnezzar has the Old Testament equivalent of a conversion. He believes in the Lord.
I was doing a radio broadcast the other day and someone asked the question, Do you think we will see Nebuchadnezzar in heaven? And I had to say, I think we probably will. Because He did turn from all of that sin to the true and living God. Pretty amazing story.
So number two. No one is beyond the reach of God. Number two. Having been reached we need to pass it on to others. We have a responsibility to pass on what God has given us. Pastor Chuck Smith did an amazing job of taking what God had given him and passing it on. Not only to people sitting in the pews enjoying his teaching year after year, decade after decade. But he passed it on to hundreds of young men that went out and started churches all around the world.
And this is what Paul said to Timothy. These things commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. And so he did that job well. But we have a responsibility. You have a responsibility to pass the truth of God to your children. And then to your grandchildren. And if you live long enough your great grandchildren. That is something we are all commissioned to do.
You might say, Well I believe I am called to be more of a silent witness. Well here is what Romans 10:14 says. "How can they call on Him to be saved unless they believe in Him. And how can they believe in Him if no one ever tells them about Him. And how can they hear that message unless someone tells them."
So Nebuchadnezzar, he didn't seem to do a very good job on passing this on. He dies basically one year after his conversion. He has a son amazingly named Evil Meridoc. What kind of a parent names their child that? Evil Meridoc. That was the son's name. Well Evil Meridoc didn't live very long. And by the time chapter 5 opens we have the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar Belshazzar going out of his way to blaspheme and insult the true and living God.
Turn over to Daniel chapter 5 now. This is the second king in our story. Verse 1. "A number of years later King Belshazzar gave a great feast for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them. While Belshazzar was drinking he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver cups that his predecessor Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem so that he and his nobles, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. They brought these gold cups taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem. The king and his nobles they drank toasts to honor their idols made of silver and gold and bronze and iron and wood and stone."
So this guy now is going out of his way to mock God. And look what happened. Verse 5. "At that moment they saw the fingers of a human hand riding on the plaster wall of the king's palace near the lampstand. The king himself saw the hand as it wrote and his face turned pale with fear. Such terror gripped him. His knees knocked together and his legs gave way beneath him."
I love that story. Don't you? So they are all just having a good old drunken time. And they see a hand. No. Just a hand. Not an arm. A hand riding on the plaster of the wall. So here is a message from God Himself. Just a good reminder that drinking makes you do really stupid stuff. Doesn't it? I read a four-year study that was just completed that determined the following. And I quote, "Young adults who binge drink frequently are more likely to show disadvantageous decision-making patterns than their peers who don't drink." You need a four-year study to figure that out? Seriously? Oh. Drunk people do stupid things. They don't do the same things that sober people do. Yes. Exactly.
The Writing on the Wall and the Final Judgment
But this wasn't just a drinking problem. This was a pride problem. Belshazzar, the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, inherited everything he had from his grandfather who had been humbled and restored. But like many young people he did not learn from his elders. You know for years now in America we have had a fixation with youth. You know everything is about youth culture. And youth is celebrated. We look to the younger people for our style cues. We look to them for our slang. We look to them for what we perceive as cool. Sometimes even our world view. When it really should be the very opposite. We should be looking to older people for the cues.
Now I am not saying if you are old you have wisdom. Because I have met a lot of stupid older people. But there are some. And maybe there is a lot. Especially those who have walked with the Lord. Who have learned a lot. And you can learn a lot from them. Proverbs 20:29 says, "The glory of the young is their strength. The gray hair of experience is the splendor of the old." The Bible celebrates gray hair. I would celebrate any hair. I don't care what color it is. But at the first sign of gray we want to wash that gray right out of our hair. Right?
You know when I became a Christian at the age of 17 I sought out the wisdom of older men. I didn't care what people my age had to say. I thought they are as stupid as I am. I want to talk to people who have lived life. I want to talk to people who have walked with God. I want to talk to people who know the Bible. And I want to learn from them. And then one day I woke up and guess what? I was one of the older guys.
I liked it when my aunt got up. She is in her 80s. And led in prayer at a crusade this year and referred to me as this young man, Greg Laurie. I said, Yes. This is why I hang around people in their 90s now. I feel young again. But this is the thing is Belshazzar foolishly thinks, What can anyone tell me? I know everything. And I am just going to live the way that I want to live.
So in all of his glory and splendor partying away he didn't realize judgment was at the door. Now here is where this story gets really interesting. The prophet Jeremiah foretold the judgment of Babylon. Jeremiah actually wrote, All nations will serve Nebuchadnezzar and his son, remember him, and his son's son or grandson, that would be Belshazzar until the time of the judgment come.
Not only did the Scripture in Jeremiah and Isaiah predict that the kingdom of Babylon would end with Belshazzar but it named the guy who was going to bring him down Cyrus as a coming conqueror would come through two open gates. While Belshazzar is partying with his concubines and his lords and his buddies, the Medo-Persian forces were amassing outside under the leadership of Cyrus.
Now you would have thought that Belshazzar would have said, Wait, wait, wait. Wasn't there something written by these prophets about the kingdom ending? Yes there was. What was the name of the guy who was going to lead the forces against us? Cyrus. What is the name of that guy with all those armies outside the gate? Cyrus. Here is the thing that is amazing. How did the prophecy say he would get into the kingdom? Two gates would be left open. Yeah. Maybe we should check the gates. He didn't do that.
You know why? Sin makes you stupid. And you think all this. It won't happen to me. I know it has happened to all these other people. It won't happen to me. Yeah it will. And God has given us warnings in Scripture just like He gave to Belshazzar. There will be consequences. Again, as I said, the Bible warns to all would-be Belshazzars, your sin will find you out.
Verse 5 again. The fingers of a human hand writing on the plaster wall. And the king himself saw the hand as it wrote. The writing was on the wall. That is where that expression comes from. One day those same fingers of stone back in, or same fingers I should say, wrote on stone these words, "I am the Lord. That is my name. And my glory will I not give another, neither my praise to graven images." Those same fingers, that same finger of God wrote, "you shall have no other gods before me."
So now that hand is writing again. But the king is ignoring it. Now he is going to find out God means what He says. And He says what He means. The king turns pale. His knees start knocking. It has been said, when your knees start knocking, kneel on them. Did Belshazzar kneel and pray? No. He calls in the astrologers and the soothsayers and the fortune tellers to help him out. Of course they don't have an answer.
And then his grandmother comes walking in. That would be the wife of Nebuchadnezzar. And she tells him about this prophet in the kingdom still named Daniel who could interpret dreams. So. Belshazzar calls for Daniel. And the prophet is brought in and he interprets the dream. And he says, okay, this is the dream. Daniel 5 verse 25. "This is what was written. Many, many, tekel, parson."
Here is what it means. Many means numbered. God has numbered the days of your reign and He has brought it to an end. Tekel means weighed. You have been weighed in the balances and you have failed the test. Parson means divided. Your kingdom has been divided and it will be given to the Medes and the Persians. Loose paraphrase. Your number is up. The party is over.
We don't know when our number is going to be up. We don't know how long we will live. Psalm 90 verse 10 says, "70 years are given to us. Some may even reach 80." And you know, many make it to 70. Some make it into their 80s. Pastor Chuck was 86. Billy Graham is in his 90s. George Beverly Shea, Billy Graham's longtime worship leader, made it past 100. And some people don't make it to 70.
So you don't know when your number is going to be up. So we need to just deal with that reality. The Bible says, "teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom." Now if you are younger don't tune me out. Yeah. Tell that to the old people. You know what, you know, nobody knows. Because your life could end in your 40s or in your 30s. The Lord called my son home at age 33. That would have never been my plan. I can guarantee that. But he was ready to meet the Lord. And that is why we all need to be ready to meet God.
And then of course Christ could come back and call us to heaven and the rapture even before death comes. So we need to be ready. There is nothing you can do to turn the clock back. I read that $13 billion worth of anti-aging cosmetics are sold annually. $13 billion worth. And that is South Coast Plaza only. I am kidding. But listen. All of those ointments and creams and whatever else you are doing isn't going to stop the march of time.
I hope this doesn't depress you. Because, you know, for Christians it is win-win. Right? When we leave this world we go to heaven. That doesn't mean we want to die. But it means we are ready. And when the day comes we know we will meet the Lord. But it should make us want to make every day count.
Your Life's True Purpose: Glorify God
So here is what he heard. Your days are numbered. Tekel you have been weighed in the balances and found lacking. I don't know about you but when I get on a scale I never like what I see. And I always weigh more than I want to weigh. I can't think of a time in recent history where I weighed way less than I thought. And I was like, oh I can't believe I weigh this much. You know. And so God's scales are different.
See on our scales we want to weigh less. On God's scales you want to weigh more. Because it is talking about the weight of a life. The depth of a life. The substance of a life. So here is effectively what Daniel was saying to Belshazzar. You have been put on God's divine scales. And buddy you are a light weight. There is nothing of substance in your life. Your life has been lived for nothingness. And then now there is going to be a dividing. Your number is up.
Verse 29. Then at Belshazzar's command Daniel was dressed in purple robes. A gold chain was hung around his neck. A grill was put on his teeth. I made that up. I just want to see if you are listening. He was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom. And that very night Belshazzar, the Babylonian king, was killed. Too little too late.
He wants to give all the stuff to Daniel. He is like, Daniel is like, did you hear what I just told you? Cyrus and the Medo-Persian forces are coming in. This kingdom is over with. I really don't care about all of your rewards right now. Never did. Never would. And that was it. And there is a last night for every nation, for every person. There will be a last meal, a last statement, a last breath, then eternity.
So that brings me back to the question I raised earlier. Why am I put here on this earth? Well that question is answered. What did the prophet say to Belshazzar? He said to him, You have not glorified God. See that was the root of his problem. You have not glorified God. The God you have not glorified he said.
So why am I here on this earth? Here is the answer. You don't write down anything else. Write this down. I am here on this earth to bring glory to God. Isaiah 43 verse 7. "Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, the Lord says, whom I formed and made." Psalm 29 says, "Ascribe to the Lord the glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name."
That is what we should do on earth. Because that is what we will do in heaven. Revelation 4:11 says, "You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created everything, and it is for your pleasure they exist and were created."
No. I am not here on this earth to find personal fulfillment and happiness. I am here on this earth to bring glory to the God who made me. But here is the good news. If I fulfill the purpose for which I was created, to glorify God, I will find personal fulfillment and happiness. Not from seeking it, but from seeking Him.
Seek first the kingdom of God, Jesus says, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. What are these things? Jesus said, Don't be like the nonbelievers who worry about what they are going to eat. What they are going to wear. Don't worry about that. Focus your energies and your passion toward putting God first and having His rule and reign in your life. Seeking first the kingdom. And God will give you the things that you need. You will find that fulfillment you want by knowing the God who made you.
Well Belshazzar did not do that. And his number was up. Now I have done a lot of funeral services over the years. None are easy. But let's just say some are, well, they are easier to do than others. Let me put it that way. Especially when an older Saint dies. You know, we knew it was coming. They serve God. You can talk about how they live for Christ. How they are receiving their reward. Someone like Pastor Chuck. Though you miss them and it is sad. There is also a joy in knowing this was a life well lived.
When someone dies young those are very hard services to do. Because, you know, we think of the promise and the potential there and they are hard. But the worst kind of funerals to do for a pastor are funerals for nonbelievers. And I have done those. Because there will be a family that has a loved one die and they don't go to church. And they don't know any Christians. And so they will call us and say, could you come and do the service for them?
And what do you say? You know, you always try to find something nice to say about a person. You don't want to... It would be kind of scary if we really told the truth at funerals, you know. So everything, you know, they are the best person who ever lived. The nicest person that ever lived. And they were just, you know, sweetness and light. You know. And some of the people listening go, that's not the guy I remember. But okay. Whatever. You know. We try to find the positive things, right?
Isn't it interesting that the things that are important to us now are not important then? I mean you are not going to talk about, you know how much this guy was worth? That would be really weird to say. Or he was so good looking. You wouldn't say that. Oh listen. Let me, no you won't. You try to say, well he was kind. He was considerate. And some people there is not a lot to talk about. They paid their taxes, I think. They recycled. There you go. Some people just waste their lives. They just throw their lives away. They live lives without substance.
How much better it is to hear those words, "well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord."
Final Lessons from Daniel 4 and 5
So let's wrap this up. Four last points. Just really summations of what we have seen. Number one, no one is beyond the reach of God. If God could reach someone as powerful as Nebuchadnezzar, a wicked man like Him, He can reach anyone. Anywhere.
Number two, having been reached we need to pass it on to others. We have a sacred trust given to us by God that passes on to the next generation. To share the gospel with people we know. Certainly to share it with our family. To pass on that spiritual heritage. That was not done in the case of Nebuchadnezzar. The message never even made it to his grandson Belshazzar. In fact this Belshazzar did not even know about Daniel until his grandmother told him.
Number three, we are put here on this earth to glorify God. That was the problem with Belshazzar. He did not do it. And if you fail to glorify God everything is going to break down ultimately. And if you don't believe me read Romans 1 later. Romans 1 talks about these people that did not glorify God and then all the sin and depravity that followed.
And number four, one day we will all be weighed in God's divine scales. We will reap what we sow whether it be good or bad. Again the wheels of God's justice may grind slowly but they grind surely. God will be looking for weight and substance not lightness.
So how are you living your life? Are you seeking to glorify God? Or are you chasing after happiness? Or personal fulfillment? Or things? Or success? Or whatever? If you are you are like the proverbial dog chasing his tail. Going nowhere. Don't do that. Don't throw away this precious thing called life. Don't waste this valuable commodity called time. Use it well for God. And when the day comes and He says, come on. You are coming home. Then you are saying, I am ready Lord. And you don't have regrets. Live it well.
You know there might be some of you here that have never put your faith in Jesus Christ. Earlier on in my message I said that there is a hell. And you know there is a hell. And God doesn't want anyone to go there. That is why He sent Jesus to die on the cross on our place. Jesus took God's judgment upon Himself so we don't have to face it. And by the way we deserve God's judgment because every one of us have sinned. Every one of us have broken His commandments so many times.
But God loved us and wanted to show that love in a tangible way. So He sent Jesus to live that perfect life and then to die that perfect death on the cross. And then to rise again from the dead. And Jesus now stands at the door of our life and He knocks and says if we will hear His voice and open the door He will come in.
You might say, there is a door in my heart? I don't feel it anywhere. Is it small? No. No. It is a metaphor. The idea is Jesus is saying, I want to come into your life. So it is sort of like if you went home later in the night and there was a knock at your door and it was someone you wanted to come in you open the door and invite them in. And here is Jesus saying, I want to come into your life but I won't force my way in. It is your choice. You have to invite me in.
Now if you invite me in Jesus is saying I will forgive you and you can have the hope that you will go to heaven when you die and I will give you the meaning and purpose in life you desire. If you reject Him by not opening that door then you will face the consequences in life on earth and you will face the final judgment. Now the choice is yours.