Well friends, it's lovely to see you this morning.
My name is Graham, if you've not met.
I'm the pastor here of the church
and it's a real joy to get back into Daniel chapter five today.
So why don't we pray just as we get going this morning.
But this is the one to whom I will look.
He who is humble and contrite in spirit
and trembles at my word.
And so Father, we pray for that spirit today
in each of our hearts as we come to your inspired holy word.
Father, that you would raise our eyes
as we've been singing at the start
and set our minds on the fact that you are the God
who is so far above the things of this earth.
And so Father, may we leave today
with a bigger picture of who you are today
because we have heard from you in your word.
And we pray these things in Jesus's wonderful name.
Amen.
So friends, as we get back into Daniel chapter five today,
here's what I want you to do really simply for us to do
is just take a couple of deep breaths.
So apparently we take about 2,000 of those breaths a day.
I don't know how people work that out,
but apparently we take 2,000 breaths a day.
Now, if the 2,000 times table is not your strong point,
that works out at about 730,000 breaths
that you and I take a year.
Now, that's a lot of breaths.
And it'll be no bad thing for us to be aware of our breathing
over the next 30 minutes or so,
because this is what the Bible tells us.
It tells us that the very first one,
the very last one,
and every single breath that we take in between
are given to us by the God who created us.
Now, the book of Daniel has been so good for our souls
because it's helped anchor our hearts
and our minds in the truth of God's sovereignty
so that every single thing that happens in our world
happens according to his plan and his purposes.
So that sovereignty of God,
it extends all the way up to the mega narrative of history,
and it extends all the way down
to the micro narrative of our existence.
And this is the words of J.I. Packer,
who we started this series with.
He said,
to know that nothing happens in God's world
apart from God's will may frighten the godless.
And this is what we're going to see.
But it stabilizes the saints.
And so two things flow from that truth about breath.
Two things flow from it.
Number one is that breath is gift.
This three-in-one God who we worship today,
this holy God,
Father, Son, and Spirit,
out of his fullness,
delighted to create life in all its beauty
and in all its diversity.
And that means that we are dependent on our creator
for absolutely everything.
We breathe today not because we decided to get up.
We breathe today because this God is gracious
and he is good.
Breath is gift.
And also breath is accountability.
So one day we're going to have to stand before our maker
and we're going to have to give an account to him
of what we did with those breaths that he gave us.
Now we all like to know,
if you're a student here today,
I've had many conversations with you guys
over the last couple of weeks,
we love to know the exam questions before they come up.
Yeah?
Maybe you were that annoying kid at school.
Is this going to be in the test?
Well, here's the exam question right at the end.
God gives us it before the end of time.
He says, and you'll see this in the passage,
Daniel says it to Belshazzar,
really simply,
did you honour me with the breath that I gave you?
And this is a passage that is going to throw us upon
a bigger view of God
than I think we often have.
Do we understand that every breath that we have,
everything that we have
is from his wonderful, gracious and good hands?
That's precisely the message that we see
a nobly need 80-year-old exile
from Jerusalem called Daniel
delivered to a young, hot-headed gun king
who thinks that he owns the world.
This passage asks us to consider the question,
who is the man?
Right?
As we see, these two men have a word off.
Who is the man in this passage?
Now, here's the context
that gets us to the beating heart of this chapter.
You won't necessarily get it
from a plain reading of the text.
Here's the context.
20 years have passed in the narrative
since the end of chapter 4,
which you could argue
was a huge high point of the book
because you had,
if you remember this from a few weeks ago,
you had,
this was the news at 10.
This was the news that was doing the rounds
in Babylon.
From the highest point,
from the highest person,
he was declaring,
King Nebuchadnezzar,
the guy at the top of the food chain,
the top of the world,
he was declaring at verse 3
that God's kingdom
is an everlasting kingdom.
God's kingdom,
not mine,
his.
And that is an astonishing admission
in the book of Daniel.
And you can understand
that the first readers of this book,
when they come up with,
come up against chapter 4,
they're thinking to themselves,
is now the time?
Is now the time
that God is going to show
his glory to the world?
Is now the time
that revival in Babylon
is going to kick off?
But that is not how
the next 20 years go.
You ready for a wee
potted history lesson here?
You seem really keen.
Let's dig in and dive.
Okay.
Nebuchadnezzar,
this king,
he dies in the year 526.
He's had a really long reign,
43 years by that time.
He is succeeded by his son.
And the story goes
that his son
is assassinated
by his brother-in-law.
You keeping up?
Before that brother-in-law's son
takes over after his death.
And then that son-in-law
is taken out.
And this man called Nabonides
is placed on the throne.
And at some point,
he goes away on royal business.
Now whether he's pushed,
whether he jumped,
we're not sure,
but he goes away
in royal business.
And his son,
Belshazzar,
takes his place
as the de facto king.
And that's the guy
that you meet
in verse 1 of chapter 5
if you're wondering
who he is.
So a lot has happened
in 20 years
in terms of the throne.
And that explains,
if you notice
that little detail
in the text,
why Belshazzar,
he can only offer
to whoever
interprets this dream
the title of being,
did you notice it?
Third in the kingdom.
Because he is second
and his dad is first.
So again,
this is just history,
why this stands up
to history.
This is why he can say
and only offer
the third in the kingdom.
But here's the point
of that history lesson.
It's more than just
that thought.
This passing of time,
this cloak and dagger thing
that's going on
at the top of the food chain
for power in Babylon,
what that means
is that
Nebuchadnezzar's confession
in chapter 4,
not only has it been
massively diluted
with the passing of time,
but I imagine
by the time
that you hit chapter 5,
it's been all but forgotten.
Who is the Lord?
And Daniel is no longer
a mover and shaker
in Babylon.
He is just consigned
to the sides.
And Belshazzar
is intent on mocking
any God
who is not his.
Now those three things
come together
to make a royal triage
of discouragement
for God's people.
So here's the question.
Is all that stuff
we thought about
about breath up top,
is it still true
even when I can't see it?
Is it still true
when I go to the office
tomorrow
and I go to that
end of year's drinks party
and it gets way out of hand
and as I hear,
and this is what's been
so great about that
sermon survey
that we've run
over the past number of weeks,
we'll do it again
at the end
to hear about
what some of us
are facing,
the work cultures
that we're in.
Is God still giving
this breath thing
when I hear people
mocking his name,
when I'm surrounded
by gossip and slander,
when people don't seem
to care to hoots
about the Lord?
When you have
that family gathering,
when people are
just not interested
in the slightest
about your faith?
When the 4th of July
rolls around,
our one,
not the American one,
and new people
with new agendas
are going to be
elected to power?
Is it still true?
I don't know
if you saw
the Scottish census results
that were released
this week,
the one where
apparently now
51.1% of people
in our country
tick the no religion box.
That is up
from 36.7%
in 2001.
Is God still sovereign
when all I see
around me
is this Belshazzar spirit
that just wants
to defy and mock God?
Is it still true?
Friends,
here's two things
that Daniel chapter 5
teaches us.
And if you're taking notes,
these are our two points
that we want to get
across today.
Here's the first one,
and it's a warning
from God to the world.
It's that you're playing
a dangerous game
if you're mocking
his purposes.
You're playing
a really dangerous game
because at verse 1,
do you see how
Belshazzar effectively,
he throws a massive
drinking party,
doesn't he?
There's been enough
corporate nights out,
uni football nights out
to know what these
things are like.
Just notice
who is there
in the text.
Again, notice
who's there in the text.
A thousand of his lords,
his wife,
plural,
his concubine,
plural.
And it's repeated twice
there in the text,
and so it's a great
thing to notice
when you're reading
our Bibles
when things are repeated.
It's not because
the authors just ran
out of things to say
trying to fill words.
It's repeated for emphasis.
So do you see how
it's repeated there twice?
It's not just a lot
of people,
it's people who he
has put around his life
who are there
to serve his pleasures
and to satisfy
his appetites.
He surrounded himself
with yes people.
He surrounded himself
with people who are there
to satisfy him,
to sing about his glory.
Notice what is there
because at some point
during this feast,
he calls for the vessels
of gold to be brought out.
Now this is interesting
because these are
the instruments
that were devoted
to the worship of Yahweh
that were taken
from the temple
in Jerusalem.
And make no mistake,
if you look at verse 22
in the text,
and this backs it up,
that Belshazzar
knows exactly
what he's doing
when he calls on
those vessels
to be brought in
so that they could be used
for this drinking game.
He knows exactly
what he's doing.
He knows what the history books
say about what happened
to his,
I guess his father-in-law
down the line,
Nebuchadnezzar,
and yet he's thinking
to himself,
that could never happen
to me.
Now one of the algorithms
on my phone,
do you not love
those things?
Because I watched
a lot of footage
of that sub
that went down
when they were going
to visit the wreck
of the Titanic.
Now my Facebook feed
is just all Titanic stats.
Here's one
that I learned recently.
Do you want one?
That apparently
on the Titanic
there were only
14 proper lifeboats
on that ship.
Coupled with a few
emergency ones,
a few collapsible ones,
but that number
is significant
because it accounted
for half of the people
that were on board
that ship.
If you've seen that film
and that was
peak 90s,
wasn't it?
Rose mentions that fact.
Only half of the people
on this ship
are going to survive
because we've only got
half the number
of lifeboats
that we should have had.
And the call
that they make
when they're making
that ship
is that we prefer
more space on deck
than we would
thinking about
people's safety.
Why do we do that?
It all boiled down
to what they called
that ship.
What did they call it?
The unsinkable ship.
Nothing's going
to take us out.
We are sailing
from what, Liverpool?
We're going to live
in New York
and we're going
to do it ahead of time.
And that epitomizes
the defiant human spirit
that thinks
tomorrow
is guaranteed.
Belshazzar drinks
from these.
Do you see how he
toasts his gods
of gold, iron,
wood, and stone.
Make no mistake
that he is using
the vessels of God
to worship his God.
He is mocking
the holiness
of the living God.
What he's doing
is he toasts it.
He toasts it.
He is saying,
I hold it.
I own this God.
And the God of the Bible
will not be mocked,
friends.
And so if you're here today
and that's your mindset,
if you think
you will get away
with it
because he can't see,
know that he will
have the last say
on your life.
Nothing escapes
the gaze of this
all-knowing,
all-seeing God.
And it is little wonder
that verse 5
roars in with that word
you see it.
immediately.
Immediately.
Belshazzar sees
the writing
on the wall.
In case you're wondering
where that phrase
that we use
all the time
comes from.
And the sham
and the folly
of what's going on here
is exposed.
The writer wants us
to see straight
through it.
And he wants us
to see straight
through it.
If you're struggling
with this today,
all the mockery
that's going on,
all the drinking games,
all the success,
all these things,
the writer wants you
to see straight
through it as well.
As this young buck
who thinks he's
on top of the world,
who's taken on
the king of the universe,
he turns to jelly.
And this is meant
to make us laugh,
I think,
as the reader.
You know,
my friend Andy
is the chaplain
of Hearts
men's football team.
I remember him
telling me that
when it comes
to his work
as he gets in
amongst the guys,
he tells me,
see when the team
is flying,
see when they're
banging in the goals,
no one wants to talk
about the big questions
of life.
No one wants to think
that this career
might end one day.
But he tells me,
as soon as the team's
form dips,
and especially
when a player
gets a life-threatening
injury,
all of a sudden
this confidence
of this 25-year-old guy
who thinks he owns
the joint,
all of a sudden
he's scared
that it's curtains
for his career.
And Jesus tells
that parable,
doesn't he?
Of the rich farmer
who sets about
building bigger barns
so that he can have
more stuff,
so that his life
could be at ease.
And he sits back
in the deck chair,
I imagine,
in that parable,
and that very night
God says,
you fool,
that very night
your life
will be taken
from you.
And the joke
in this passage,
I think,
is that the only adult
in the room
is the queen.
Now she's not his wife,
the queen is the queen mother
you can understand
her to be.
So the joke
in the text
is this guy
who's flexing his muscles,
this young guy
who thinks he owns
the world,
is granny
who has to come
to the rescue.
Right?
Granny has to come
and she has to bring
some common sense
in the room.
She's the only adult
in the room.
And she remembers
this man,
verse 11.
And I think
this is fascinating.
Do you see in the text,
I should have written it down,
I ain't,
verse 12.
She doesn't use
his Babylonian name.
Do you see in the text
she uses his Jewish name?
There is this man
called Daniel.
That tells you tons,
doesn't it?
It tells you
that Daniel
has stuck rigidly
to his God-given identity
in Babylon.
Even though tons
of time has passed
since that episode
in chapter 4,
Daniel is clinging
to God's promises.
This is who I am.
Now let me ask you,
in your circles,
friends,
all of our circles,
how are we known?
Not in terms of just
what we do,
but how are we known
in terms of who we are?
You know,
I've told this story before,
but I love it
because he popped up
on my Facebook feed
this week,
reminded me of him.
See,
when I was in halls
at university,
there was four Daves
in our year.
And what people did
was just give people
nicknames to differentiate
them, right?
So we had Disco Dave,
we had Scary Dave,
we had Hairy Dave,
and then we had
my friend
who people called
Christian Dave.
All sorts of other
adjectives they could have
picked to describe him,
but they went for that one
because they saw
what his life was all about.
How are we known
in our circles?
These,
this Queen Mum rather,
she calls for Daniel.
And in comes this,
what comic scene
this must have been,
this near 80-year-old man
man who's likely lost
his physical edge,
but boy,
does he go toe-to-toe
as he spars
with this young man
who thinks
he owns
the world.
And Daniel goes
to task
here.
And he exemplifies
what God's people,
I think,
are meant to take
from this.
And this is the second,
I think,
an invitation
that God
makes to his people,
and it's this,
that if you're trusting
his promises,
dear friends,
we are playing
the long game.
Daniel exemplifies
for us
what it means
to trust
God's sovereignty
in the slow
plod
and often
the mundane
nature
and the seeming
silence
of life.
if tomorrow
just feels
like another
day,
and let me say
with kids,
it often
does.
You realise
you're not that
creative
when you have
to think
of things
to cook
at night.
Each day
feels the same
often.
And yet,
Daniel's been
teaching me
this week
that I want
to take
every step
of my life
playing the long
game
with God's
promises,
that I can
glorify him
as I change
nappies,
as we do
all of that
gig.
I can glorify
him.
Because here's
the question,
right?
What has Daniel
been doing
for the last
20 years?
Chapter 6,
if I can verse
creep onto Archie's
next week's
chapter,
he's not here
so I'm going
to do it,
it gives us
the answer.
Daniel,
as his influence
in Babylon,
wanes.
Daniel,
as his physical
body in Babylon
withers.
He's not been
topping up
his tan,
he's not been
saving on the
side for
retirement,
that sweet,
sweet thought.
This man has
been getting
down on his
rickety knees
and he's been
praying three
times a day,
day after day
after day.
Here is a man
who has been
investing himself
in the promises
of God,
getting scripted,
into his system
in the everyday
nature of life
because this
confidence that he
oozes here has
not come out of
nowhere.
He's not all of a
sudden just got his
confidence thing to
speak before the
king.
This is the result of
a life of a man
who has spent many,
many,
many years walking
with his God,
investing himself in
the ordinary means
of grace,
or what I like to
call holy habits.
Getting up each
day,
reading his Bible,
praying,
getting up the next
day,
reading his Bible
and praying.
And we were
thinking as an
elders team yesterday
about how we can
create that culture,
continue to do it
in this church here.
Let me ask you,
friends,
all of us,
what are we doing
to create those
holy habits?
What is our
exposure to God's
words like?
Maybe some of us
off the back of
today,
just resolutely
determined to just
even spend five,
ten,
fifty minutes each
day just reading
God's word,
getting his promises
for the long game
into our system.
Daniel is a
wonderful example
here of what Paul
in 2 Corinthians 4
talks about,
about how the
outer man is
fading away but
the inner man is
being renewed day
after day after day
as he looks not to
that which is seen
but as he looks to
that which is unseen.
Can I maybe just
make a really
specific application
to those of us
in the room?
He's looking very
much at his notes
who are at the
Daniel age and
stage of life.
You know,
one of the comedy
programs that was
popular on British
TV when I was
growing up,
I would ask for
showing the hands
in the air but
let's not do that,
okay,
it was called
One Foot in the
Grave.
The central
character to One
Foot in the Grave
is this man
called Victor
Meldrew,
right?
YouTube's your
friend if you
don't know what
this is and he
had this line all
the time,
I don't believe
it and he's just
moaning and he's
grumping about the
things of life and
the reason that
these shows connect
with us,
is it not true
that we see
ourselves in these
shows?
I take it that's
why observational
comedy is a massive
thing in our
culture because
people just look,
they perceive and
they make fun.
Is it not generally
speaking true,
dear friends,
that people in our
culture getting
older often makes
them more cynical
about life?
We didn't do that
in my day.
Cannot believe what
we're doing in this
day.
And so often it's
tied up with the
fact that people
are struggling to
come to terms with
the fact that their
best days are not in
front of them.
Their best days are
behind them.
If you are a seasoned
saint here this
morning, never lose
sight of the fact that
the promises of God
tell you that your
best days are ahead
of you.
They are ahead of you.
show it to your
neighbours and your
family.
Show it to those who
live in your stairwell,
who you live in your
flat, in your home.
Show it to us.
I need you to help me
remember that the
greatest days of our
lives are not mid-twenties.
It's when we be with
the living God.
I love Daniel.
I love him and this is
why he's taught me so
much this week.
He is playing the long
game with the promises
of God.
I think in our
culture today, friends,
we are conditioned to
play the short game.
Everything's instant.
Everything's now.
Trying to explain to my
kids that Gladiators is
live TV.
You can't just watch the
next one.
Everything's now.
Everything's instant.
And how quickly we tap
out.
At the stage of life now
where I love the verbs
to describe the Christian
life, ones that speak to
me so much at this
moment,
patience and endurance
and long-suffering.
In other words,
play the long game.
Daniel has found and is
living for a far greater
treasure.
I take it that's why he
says, Belshazzar, just
keep your stuff.
But before he interprets
the dream, do you see
how he explains the
dream?
You need to learn the
lessons that Nebuchadnezzar,
before you did Belshazzar,
this God who gave him,
and this God who took
from him,
is meant to help us
realize, verse 21,
that the Most High God
rules.
And you are making that
exact same mistake.
Many, many, numbered.
Tekel, Wade,
Parsin,
divided.
And it's interesting,
isn't it,
the reaction that he
makes, Belshazzar,
to this is really
strange.
It's not the one that we
think he should make,
maybe the one that we
expect him to make,
but it tells us all about
this guy and how he
thinks.
Instead of repenting,
what does he want to do?
Like some kind of
corporate away gig.
He just wants to shower
him and stuff.
He thinks,
I imagine still,
this stuff is going to
save him.
And then have a look
at verse 30 as we
begin to wind this up
this morning.
This is what history
tells us.
And again,
remember,
this is why we've
always gone to the
kind of historical
accuracy of this book
to help us understand.
This is not a fairy tale.
This actually happened.
Look at verse 30.
Here's what history
tells us.
It tells us that the
Medes and the Persians,
and I love this.
If you ever look to
take a city,
go with this.
The Medes and the Persians
in history,
they divert the
Euphrates River.
And why,
if they divert it,
what they do is they
cause the water level
to drop.
And they sneak in
through the sewers
of the city.
And that's how
they capture Babylon.
Which means at this
point,
when he is toasting
his success
and his glory,
it may well be the
case that the Medes
and the Persians
are ready to pounce.
They're right
underneath the city.
Belshazzar is killed
as they rout the place.
And Darius the Medes,
and notice the key words,
the ESV I think
captures it better
than the NIV,
but I think you roll
with the punches
and you see it still.
Here's the key word.
What did he do?
He didn't win the kingdom.
He received the kingdom.
There's a lot of dynamite
in that one verse.
Let me just pick out
just a couple of
really quick ones.
Because he's received
the kingdom,
it means that there's
a new superpower
on the world stage.
Remember we said
chapter one,
this is like a big game
of risk,
world domination.
So there's a new
superpower
have just been crowned
at this point.
Crucially,
it's the one that
God had said
that he would use
to make a way
for his people
to go back
to their homeland.
So this is a big moment
in biblical history.
It's one verse,
massive moment.
And yet,
we need to understand
that Darius
receives the kingdom.
God gives him
the kingdom.
But kings and kingdoms
will just come and go.
We'll see this
in the weeks to come.
Kings and kingdoms
will just keep
spinning round.
And yet,
with every single one,
this Belshazzar spirit
will live on.
So we're right back
to that original question.
Is there all this stuff
about breath?
Is it true
when I don't see it
round about me?
Is God still sovereign?
Is he reigning
on the throne
on his purposes,
ripening fast
every hour?
In the words of
William Cowper,
even when all around
I see,
is the Belshazzar spirit
alive and kicking?
What do we do?
How do we live?
I take it that
we are privileged
to live this side
of the cross.
And this calls us
to consider
and draw confidence
from,
friends,
another king
who received
a kingdom.
And you cannot help
but contrast
King Belshazzar
with King Jesus
in this episode,
can you?
Belshazzar,
he drinks from a cup
raised to his own glory.
But Jesus drank
from a cup,
one that symbolized
our sin
and rebellion
against this God
who gives us breath
and he drank
the dregs
of that cup dry
as he paid
the price
of our sin
on the cross.
Completely contrasting
kings and kingdoms.
And God declared
of Belshazzar,
numbered,
tried in one thing,
but God the Father
declares of his Son,
because he went
to the cross
to accomplish
the plan of salvation,
hatched before
the foundation of world
to his Father's glory.
God declared of Jesus,
this is my Son
with whom I am
well pleased.
Contrasting kings
and kingdoms.
And this King Jesus
we need to understand.
Our King
has received,
as we were singing
at the start
and what a pick
that song was,
he has received
an unshakable kingdom.
kingdom.
And this Christ,
he loves us
and he holds
history
and he holds
our breaths
in his hand.
And by faith
in King Jesus,
friends,
we have received
a kingdom
that will never
be toppled
or shaken.
And one day
all of creation
will need to answer
to this king.
So what should we do?
Let's just close
with this thought.
You know,
our youngest daughter,
she's going through
a bit of a frozen spell
at the moment.
I've kind of coined
the phrase,
I call her a fraudler.
Okay?
And I hear her
the other morning
on her baby monitor
singing,
let it go,
let it go.
I don't think she gets
the rest of the song
but those three words
she has nailed.
Let it go,
let it go.
Trying to branch her out
into Frozen 2
because I'm getting a bit
sick of the repetitive
nature of it.
If you've seen Frozen 2,
one of the hit songs
of that film
that Anna sings
is called
The Next Right Thing.
All she sees around her
is darkness
in that scene.
She doesn't know
what's up ahead
but she's just doing
the next right thing.
And that's what Daniel 5
I think calls
God's people to do.
When we see darkness
around,
when we don't know
what's up ahead,
God just calls us
to trust him,
to know his promises
and do the next
right thing.
What's that going to look like
for you tomorrow
in the office?
What's that going to look like
for you tomorrow
as you look after your kids?
What's that going to look like
tomorrow
when you meet up
with your friends
and family?
Doing the next
right thing.
Trusting him
for the long haul,
being obedient
to his words.
I take it this is what
Eugene Peterson called
a long obedience
in the same direction.
Just do the next
right thing.
Here's what we can know.
When we do that,
when we walk by faith
with this vision
of this glorious Christ
in our minds
and in our hearts,
when we walk by faith
rather than sight
in our circumstances,
friends,
we are standing
in a long
and beautiful tradition.
And be
so aware
that as the clock
ticks over
mundanely,
he is working out
his purposes
perfectly.
And let's close
with this.
This is
Jen Wilkin
who is doing
some fantastic
work
in women's ministry
heading it up
in the States.
She writes this
in her book
In His Image.
If you're looking
for something
just devotionally
to mix it up,
that's a book
to get.
She just writes this,
the church must be
a bastion of patience
as the rest
of the world
chases the next
new thing
every eight seconds
or less.
Eight seconds
means that we have
a less attention span
than a goldfish
if you're needing
humbled this morning.
we must be those
who turn our eyes
toward the long view.
Amen.