The Writing is on the wall

[0:00] The handwriting is on the wall. We see that phrase is popularly used today. It relates back to Daniel 5, verses 1-31, where it talks about Belshazzar the king.

[0:15] He made a great feast to a thousand of his lords and drank wine before the thousand. Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem, that the king and his princes, his wives and his concubines might drink therein.

[0:40] Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God, which was at Jerusalem. And the king and his princes, his wives and his concubines drank in them.

[0:51] They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood and of stone. In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace.

[1:10] And the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Then the king's countenance was changed and his thoughts troubled him so that the joints of his loins were loosed and his knees smote one against another.

[1:25] The handwriting is on the wall. What a party it was. Hundreds of people were there. And it was a banquet fit for a king. Extravagant, delicious food was served.

[1:39] Wine flowed. People frolicked. They sang and they shouted. The king called for the holy vessels that they'd taken from God's temple. They carried on in their drunken, sinful jesting, using the vessels from the holy temple as part of their profane celebrations.

[1:57] And then suddenly a hand appeared, out of nowhere, and wrote on the wall. And the king's whole body shook. The colour drained from his face.

[2:08] He was terrified. His knees started knocking together. He cried out in fear. He screamed out for help. What could this mean? The king called for the wise men of his kingdom to tell him.

[2:22] What did this shocking sign mean? He wanted someone to read it, to explain it to him. His astrologers and magicians could not. They just couldn't work it out.

[2:33] They were perplexed. They just couldn't read it. The king was troubled. He went as white as a ghost. He was at his wit's end. And his officials were also at a loss as to what to do.

[2:45] Then the queen recommended Daniel. Daniel came and he read it and gave the interpretation from verse 18. He revealed its meaning in verse 25.

[2:58] And this is the writing that was written. Mene, Mene, Tekel, Aphasen. This is the interpretation of the thing.

[3:10] Mene, God hath numbered thy kingdom and finished it. Tekel, thou art weighed in the balances and art found wanting. Perez, thy kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.

[3:25] Now the party was cut short. What a festival it had been. A drunken orgy. The drunken guests had feasted and partied. They'd sang their songs to their gods of silver and of gold, to their gods of brass, of iron, of wood and stone.

[3:41] Then along comes Daniel. What a party pooper. Daniel's message was, judgment has come. From verse 18, Daniel reminded Belshazzar that he had been warned already.

[3:58] If only he had taken notice of the judgment that had fallen on his grandfather. If only he had learnt from watching the example of Nebuchadnezzar, who had ruled in the glory which God had given to him.

[4:14] But he had not. He had not honoured God. He had dishonoured him. He had not humbled his heart. His mind had hardened. And he had lifted up himself in pride.

[4:25] His kingdom was taken from him. Verse 20, He had gone stark raving mad, acting like a caged animal. Daniel told Belshazzar that he also had dishonoured God.

[4:38] He had refused to worship. He had refused to listen. He had refused to worship the God who gave him breath. Verse 22, And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this, but hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven.

[4:57] And they have brought the vessels of his house before thee. And thou and thy lords, thy wives and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them. And thou hast praised the gods of silver and gold, of brass, iron, wood and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know.

[5:14] And the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified. The message was, judgment has come.

[5:29] Numbered, weighed, divided. Weighed and found wanting. He was finished. Daniel's message was that the land was going to be divided and broken.

[5:41] That same night, God's judgment fell. on Belshazzar. And he was slain. Now this account gives rise to a saying we commonly use today.

[5:55] The handwriting is on the wall. It means that judgment is come. Australia, judgment is coming. Some today are like the drunken guests of Belshazzar's party.

[6:08] Maybe they didn't notice. They didn't realize where they were at. In case you haven't noticed, godlessness abounds in our land. As abortion, divorce, teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases abound, families are being destroyed right across our nation.

[6:27] You just have to watch the news and hear the stories that illustrate such trends. Godless laws. There was a Swedish court that sentenced a preacher to prison.

[6:39] His crime? He was found guilty of having offended homosexuals in a sermon. There was a news report from Pennsylvania that said, hate crime laws worries pastors.

[6:51] Some consider liability insurance to cover pulpit remarks. Dare we speak the truth any longer? Certainly judgment is coming. There's a decline in morals as gay rights activists are pushing for more and more ways to propagate their sin.

[7:10] The Anglicans have consecrated openly gay ministers, bishops. Other so-called churches are going this way. Certainly judgment is coming.

[7:21] We see religious confusion. There's this religious globalisation spiritual summit with religious leaders and followers of Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism and Islam assembling together.

[7:36] They're all there. Muslim clerics, Buddhist monks and Roman Catholic cardinals together with gurus, cult followers and mystics. These are things that have been going on for some years now.

[7:48] Judgment is coming. There's a corruption of young people as the education system is being infiltrated and children are being given books to read about the homosexual lifestyle as if it were a normal thing.

[8:01] They read about homosexual parents in books such as Heather Has Two Mommies or Daddy's Roommate. These books are written for age groups from five to eight. Another homosexual kids book is called King and King.

[8:15] It's a bestseller. A North Carolina couple expressed their outrage after their first grade daughter came home from her public school library with the book. The book ends with Prince Bertie and Prince Lee marrying and sharing a kiss.

[8:30] This book is aimed at children as young as six years old. Romans 1, 26 through 27, it says this, For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections, for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature.

[8:48] And likewise also the men leaving the natural use of the woman burned in their lust one toward another. Men with men working that which is unseemly and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meat.

[9:03] These things are plain evil and wrong. As Christians, we stand solidly against such evil. We will not laugh and mess with it. The Bible says fools mock at sin.

[9:14] There's nothing funny about it. And yet there's cartoons such as The Simpsons where they regularly make fun of Christians and mock Christianity. They teach disrespect of parents and cursing and vulgar humour and other such cartoons.

[9:29] Hollywood. It actually means a witch's wand. Witch's wands are wooden and they are made from holly. Hollywood. What did we get from Hollywood?

[9:40] Violence. Godless movies. Friends, there's an avalanche of sick modern films mocking Christians in the Bible. One such example is a film called Saved.

[9:52] There's also violent video games so harmful to children. Harry Potter. That's dangerous too. Some would consider not but it's witchcraft and all witchcraft is evil.

[10:04] God tells us to abhor what is evil. Hate it and cling to what is good. Romans 12 verse 9. Certainly friends' judgment is coming.

[10:16] We see an increasing hatred of Christians. In some nations the hatred of Christians is more overt. In Sudan there was a woman travelling home who was accosted by police officers dragged from the bus and she was clothed modestly in long sleeves and an ankle length skirt but she was sentenced to 40 lashes on the back and a fine of 10,000 dinars the equivalent of a month's wage.

[10:44] Her crime? She was not wearing the headscarf in the 100 degrees heat. Friends, there's much violence as we see places in Africa where people are being killed and driven from their homes.

[10:57] Judgment is surely coming. Weak Christianity is another sign another sign of that handwriting on the wall. God's judgment we're seeing despite the rise in the US population the numbers of Americans who don't go to church has nearly doubled.

[11:14] Judgment is coming. Television is another example where we see various TV programs that are coming in that are quite anti-God.

[11:25] There's a lot of explicit immorality that's going on. A British MP says once you let standards slip you lose them altogether. Producers then compete with each other to see who can go on to the next level.

[11:38] And some of the things you see on television today would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. The reality is we're breeding a whole generation of couch potatoes. TV addicts.

[11:50] The amount of time people spend watching TV is astonishing. Individuals in the industrialised world devote three hours a day fully half of their leisure time more than any single activity save work and sleep.

[12:05] And at this rate someone who lives to 75 would spend nine years in front of the tube. Judgment is coming. Look at gambling. In gambling there are no winners.

[12:16] If you gamble and win you are taking money that someone else cannot afford to lose. If you gamble and lose you're still supporting an industry that is destroying individuals and families.

[12:28] Gambling it's a catalyst for domestic violence divorce and bankruptcy. The crime rate in gambling communities is nearly double the national average. It's not a harmless form of entertainment or fun.

[12:41] Judgment is coming. Drinking Why is it when people get drunk they have a tendency to vomit? Because your stomach knows a deadly poison when it comes down.

[12:53] No wonder the bartender says name your poison and when a man is drunk he is intoxicated. Do you know what toxic is? Webster's Dictionary defines toxic as poisonous.

[13:07] A person drinking alcohol is literally intoxicating or poisoning themselves. There's a clear distinction between fermented liquor and new wine or grape juice.

[13:20] Speaking of fermented liquor Proverbs 23 says Look not thou upon the wine when it is red speaking of fermentation when it giveth his colour in the cup when it moveth itself aright speaking of the bubbling and carbonation at the last it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder.

[13:39] The Bible says do not even look at it much less drink it. Judgment is coming. The charismatic deception is very evident these days.

[13:51] Many Christians are following subjective experiences. One example of this is the utter lie of the so called slaying in the spirit. It's an absolute error. It's not in the Bible.

[14:02] The most dangerous lie is the lie which most closely resembles the truth. Many Christians in these churches have a complete lack of discernment. Instead of following the infallible inerrant word of God as the absolute trustworthy source of doctrine and truth they are swept along to follow men with deceptive new revelations.

[14:22] people get into trouble when they abandon the clear teaching of the word of God.

[14:34] Jesus said hell was everlasting fire. Matthew 25 41 eternal damnation Mark 3 29 weeping and gnashing of teeth Matthew 8 verse 12 22 verse 13 25 verse 30 a place of torment Luke 16 28 outer darkness Matthew 8 verse 12 22 verse 13 and everlasting punishment Matthew 25 verse 46 the horror and torment of hell is as real as the wonder and glory of heaven.

[15:11] They both come from the same book. If there was no hell there would be no Calvary no gospel no purpose no saviour and no hope. Friends the handwriting!

[15:22] is on the wall the writing is on the wall weighed and found wanting see godless laws a decline in morals religious confusion the corruption of young people the hatred of Christians we see weak Christianity gambling drinking the charismatic deception how we need grace and truth.

[15:46] Thank God John 1 17 it says for the law was given by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ in these days of impending judgment we had better be ready we had better be saved.