When a Generation Forgets
Griffith Baptist Church – 4/6/08
P.M. Service
Text: Daniel 5
Main Verse: Daniel 5:22 - And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this;
The Introduction
The boxer Muhammad Ali was known as ’the champ," arguably the most famous athlete of his generation. He was on top, and his entourage of trainers and various helpers shared the adulation with him. But the party ended, leaving many of Ali’s loyal followers disillusioned, and in some cases, destitute. Ali himself, now halting in speech and uncertain in movement said ’I had the world, and it wasn’t nothin.’" Today in the Word, October, 1990, p. 11
What a waste to have it all and yet have nothing.
This is what the world says is achievement and it has crept into the church
Here we enter the grand celebration that Belshazzar, grandson of Nebuchadnezzer has put on.
1. The Vile Party – 5:1-4
A. A big party with thousands (1)
B. He profanes the God of Israel by using Holy instruments for debauched purposes
C. They worshipped other god’s
2. The Horrible Pause – 5:5-9
A. The hand of a man (no body) seen writing on the wall (5)
B. The king goes faint (gutless and weak) (6)
C. All the conjurers could not interpret, even being offered third place in the kingdom (7)
i. The first place was given to the king; the second, to the son of the king, or of the queen; the third, to the chief of the satraps. Belshazzar was second in command under his father, Nabonidus, who was away from Babylon at the time. Belshazzar was probably offering the interpreter a position directly below him, i.e., third from the top.
ii. Nebuchadnezzer (grandfather and most likely passed on) Nabonidus (father and first king) Belshazzar (king, especially while Nabonidus is away, probably defending the city from the Medes and Persians and losing while his weak son parties)
iii. Thus, the promotion would be 3rd place.
3. The Queen’s Proposal – 5:10-12
A. The queen tries to calm him down (10)
B. She tells him about Daniel (11-12)
4. The King’s Plea – 5:13-16
A. Daniel is brought in (13)
B. He tries to flatter Daniel (14)
5. The Prophecy’s Preparation – 5:17-24
A. Daniel is not phased or flattered (17)
B. He recounts the humbling of Belshazzars grandfather (18-21)
C. KEY VERSE: He confronts Belshazzar (22)
D. Judgment is given because of pride (23-24)
6. The Dismal Prophesy – 5:25-28
A. Your kingdom has judged you, put an end to it because you have rebelled against the God of Heaven and it has been given to the Medes and Persians which are outside your gates.
B. Notice, in verses 26-28 that it is phrased in the past tense, as if it has already happened.
7. The Prophets Promotion – 5:29
A. Daniel is clothed in the finest for third place in the kingdom
B. He is promoted to third place, despite his objections (see verse 17)
8. The King’s Passing – 5:30-31
A. That night, the Medes and Persians break through and take over the city
B. Belshazzar is killed and young Darius takes over the country
Transition Statement: With each generation comes the risk of failure. What are these?
Body
1. The Risks of Each Generation
A. Each Generation Getting Too Busy
Is reading the Bible a necessary part of your day or does it have a low priority in your life? George Mueller, after having read the Bible through one hundred times with increasing delight, made this statement: "I look upon it as a lost day when I have not had a good time over the Word of God. Friends often say, "I have so much to do, so many people to see, I cannot find time for Scripture study.? Perhaps there are not many who have more to do than I.
For more than half a century I have never known one day when I had not more business than I could get through. For 4 years I have had annually about 30,000 letters, and most of these have passed through my own hands.
"Then, as pastor of a church with 1,200 believers, great has been by care. Besides, I have had charge of five immense orphanages; also, at my publishing depot, the printing and circulating of millions of tracts, books, and Bibles; but I have always made it a rule never to begin work until I have had a good season with God and His Word. The blessing I have received has been wonderful.?
Counter Attack, Jay Carty, Multnomah Press, 1988, pp. 155ff
i. Busy making money
ii. Busy making sure we have job security
iii. Busy with hobbies, friendships, projects
iv. Today, we teach our children it’s more important have a career than to find time for the Lord or to serve in church
v. James 4:13-17 - 13Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: 14Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. 15For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. 16But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. 17Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
B. Each Generation Getting Too Lazy
Sheer laziness has probably been responsible for more shortcuts, not to mention valuable inventions, than we are ready to admit. Most of us are continually on the lookout, at least subconsciously, for easier ways to perform onerous or routine tasks.
An example of imagination spurred on by outright lethargy is contained in the story of an old mountaineer and his wife who were sitting in front of the fireplace one evening just whiling away the time. After a long silence, the wife said: “Jed, I think it’s raining. Get up and go outside and see.”
The old mountaineer continued to gaze into the fire for a second, sighed, then said, “Aw, Ma, why don’t we just call in the dog and see if he’s wet.” Bits & Pieces, April 29, 1993, p. 3
i. We are a pleasure oriented society
ii. We can be entertained whenever we choose. In fact most people view it as an entitlement.
iii. Someone has written that there are four kinds of bones in the world. The WISH BONES who spend their time wishing someone else would do the work; The JAW BONES who do all the talking, but very little else; The KNUCKLE BONES who knock everything that anyone else is trying to do; The BACK BONES who shoulder the load and do the work; Contributed by: Jim Kane
C. Each Generation Getting Too Complacent
Complacency is a blight that saps energy, dulls attitudes, and causes a drain on the brain. The first symptom is satisfaction with things as they are. The second is rejection of things as they might be. “Good enough” becomes today’s watchword and tomorrow’s standard. Complacency makes people fear the unknown, mistrust the untried, and abhor the new.
Like water, complacent people follow the easiest course—downhill. They draw false strength from looking back. Bits & Pieces, May 28, 1992, p. 15
i. Not caring about too much
ii. Moving forward, not because it is the right thing to do that benefits others and brings glory to God, but because of what they can get out of it.
iii. Certain things aren’t worth the effort
Transition Statement: Each generation has responsibilities to ensure a godly heritage.
2. The Responsibility of Each Generation
A. Determination – Joshua 24:15 – And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
i. One of my superstitions has always been when I started to go anywhere, or to do anything, never to turn back or to stop until the thing intended was accomplished. Ulysses S. Grant, quoted in Reader’s Digest
ii. Choosing and sticking with that choice
iii. Serving God and that is the entire household
iv. While children live under your roof, they are to attend church.
v. Major mistake nowadays: allowing children to have the say so when it comes to family worship.
B. Dedication – 1 Samuel 1:27-28 – 27“For this boy I prayed, and the LORD has given me my petition which I asked of Him. 28“So I have also dedicated him to the LORD; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the LORD.” And he worshiped the LORD there.
i. The first date Jim (Elliot) asked me for was to a missionary meeting at Moody Church in Chicago, late in April. Not surprising that he would choose an event like this rather than a concert or dinner out. The speaker was one of the daughters of the famous missionary to Africa C.T. Studd. She told of her father’s last hours. He lay on his cot, gazing around the little hut and at his few possessions. “I wish I had something to leave to each of you,” he said to the handful of people present, “but I gave it all to Jesus long ago.” Passion and Purity, Elizabeth Elliot, Revell, 1984, p. 43
ii. How many Christian parents have really given their children to God?
iii. You might say no to that because God just might take them and do something with them.
iv. Some are afraid:
a. They might become a missionary and move far away
b. They might enter the ministry
c. They might actually serve God and enjoy it
v. We should be encouraging our children to serve the Lord
vi. We should be setting the example for them to serve the Lord
vii. It is a crown and a privilege for a parent to have a child that loves and serves God
viii. SPECIAL NOTE: Maybe you have wayward children. It does not necessarily mean that you have failed for each child will make a choice as an adult. But continue to pray for them and be a spiritual mentor when you can to lead them back to him.
C. Reminder – Psalms 78:4-8 – 4We will not hide them from their children, showing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. 5For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: 6That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: 7That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments: 8And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not steadfast with God.
i. Wherever they turn ought to be a reminder of God and His ways – 4
ii. Each generation is responsible to make known the Word to the succeeding generation. Which means we will be judged for how we raise them and the exposure and influence of the Word of God in their lives – 5-6 (2 Corinthians 5:10-11 - 10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. 11Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.)
iii. That they should respond to God: - 7
a. Set their hope on God (not on anything else)
b. Not forget (always remember and be influenced by it)
c. Keep His commandments (obedience)
iv. A reminder of what happens when this chain of authority is broken - 8
D. Teaching – Deuteronomy 6:4-9 – 4Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: 5And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. 6And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 8And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. 9And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.
i. It begins with a heart change – salvation - 5
ii. The Word is taught and memorized everywhere
iii. The Word is applied to all of life
iv. The Word is impossible to ignore because it is everywhere
v. There is no such thing as overkill
E. Praying – Job 1:5 – And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.
i. Pray for their salvation
ii. Pray for their protection
iii. Pray for their growth
iv. Pray for their relationship to the Lord
v. Pray, pray, pray
vi. Each generation has hard work to do
Conclusion:
What will we teach the next generation?
