Today as we talk about evangelism I want to read the entire chapter of Daniel 5 from the NLT.
Daniel Chapter 5
1 Many years later King Belshazzar gave a great feast for 1,000 of his nobles, and he drank wine with them. 2 While Belshazzar was drinking the wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver cups that his predecessor, Nebuchadnezzar, had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem. He wanted to drink from them with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines. 3 So they brought these gold cups taken from the Temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. 4 While they drank from them they praised their idols made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.
5 Suddenly, they saw the fingers of a human hand writing on the plaster wall of the king’s palace, near the lamp stand. The king himself saw the hand as it wrote, 6 and his face turned pale with fright. His knees knocked together in fear and his legs gave way beneath him.
7 The king shouted for the enchanters, astrologers, and fortune-tellers to be brought before him. He said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever can read this writing and tell me what it means will be dressed in purple robes of royal honor and will have a gold chain placed around his neck. He will become the third highest ruler in the kingdom!”
8 But when all the king’s wise men had come in, none of them could read the writing or tell him what it meant. 9 So the king grew even more alarmed, and his face turned pale. His nobles, too, were shaken.
10 But when the queen mother heard what was happening, she hurried to the banquet hall. She said to Belshazzar, “Long live the king! Don’t be so pale and frightened. 11 There is a man in your kingdom who has within him the spirit of the holy gods. During Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, this man was found to have insight, understanding, and wisdom like that of the gods. Your predecessor, the king - your predecessor King Nebuchadnezzar - made him chief over all the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and fortune-tellers of Babylon. 12 This man Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, has exceptional ability and is filled with divine knowledge and understanding. He can interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve difficult problems. Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means.”
13 So Daniel was brought in before the king. The king asked him, “Are you Daniel, one of the exiles brought from Judah by my predecessor, King Nebuchadnezzar? 14 I have heard that you have the spirit of the gods within you and that you are filled with insight, understanding, and wisdom. 15 My wise men and enchanters have tried to read the words on the wall and tell me their meaning, but they cannot do it. 16 I am told that you can give interpretations and solve difficult problems. If you can read these words and tell me their meaning, you will be clothed in purple robes of royal honor, and you will have a gold chain placed around your neck. You will become the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”
17 Daniel answered the king, “Keep your gifts or give them to someone else, but I will tell you what the writing means. 18 Your Majesty, the Most High God gave sovereignty, majesty, glory, and honor to your predecessor, Nebuchadnezzar. 19 He made him so great that people of all races and nations and languages trembled before him in fear. He killed those he wanted to kill and spared those he wanted to spare. He honored those he wanted to honor and disgraced those he wanted to disgrace.
20 But when his heart and mind were puffed up with arrogance, he was brought down from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. 21 He was driven from human society. He was given the mind of a wild animal, and he lived among the wild donkeys. He ate grass like a cow, and he was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he learned that the Most High God rules over the kingdoms of the world and appoints anyone He desires to rule over them.
22 “You are his successor, O Belshazzar, and you knew all this, yet you have not humbled yourself. 23 For you have proudly defied the Lord of heaven and have had these cups from His Temple brought before you. You and your nobles and your wives and concubines have been drinking wine from them while praising gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone - gods that neither see nor hear nor know anything at all. But you have not honored the God who gives you the breath of life and controls your destiny! 24 So God has sent this hand to write this message.
25 “This is the message that was written: Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin. 26 This is what these words mean:
Mene means ‘numbered’ - God has numbered the days of your reign and has brought it to an end.
27 Tekel means ‘weighed’ - you have been weighed on the balances and have not measured up.
28 Parsin means ‘divided’ - your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”
29 Then at Belshazzar’s command, Daniel was dressed in purple robes, a gold chain was hung around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom.
30 That very night Belshazzar, the Babylonian king, was killed.
31 And Darius the Mede took over the kingdom at the age of sixty-two.
(Play video of Hand Writing on the Wall)
What was the condition of Israel and Judah at this point in time?
Israel had previously been divided into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah by civil war.
Even though they had been conquered because of their unfaithfulness to God the faithful servants of the Lord still had an impact for Him.
What were the Babylonians saying when they were toasting their gods with the sacred cups from the Temple in Jerusalem?
They were saying that “my god is greater than yours”.
What’s the conventional wisdom if your country has been invaded, totally disarmed, many of the leaders summarily executed and you, along with your remaining countrymen have been hauled off to various foreign lands? What’s the conventional wisdom if you wish to survive? Keep you head down!
But not Shadrach, not Meshach or Abednego, not Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zachariah or Malachi!
Joseph didn’t in Egypt.
(Briefly recount the story of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream about the statue made of gold, silver, bronze, etc. and the interpretation)
Daniel 2:46-47
“Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before Daniel and paid him honor and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him.”
“The king said to Daniel, ‘Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.’”
(Briefly recount the story of Nebuchadnezzar’s 90 foot tall statue and the response to Neb. By Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego)
Daniel 3:28-29 (firery furnace)
“Then Nebuchadnezzar said, ‘Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent His angel and rescued His servants!
“They trusted in Him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.
“Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.”
(Briefly recount the story of Daniel in the lion’s den)
Daniel 6:25-27
“Then King Darius wrote to all the nations and peoples of every language in all the earth: ‘May you prosper greatly! I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel.
“For He is the living God and He endures forever; His kingdom will not be destroyed, His dominion will never end.
“He rescues and He saves; He performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.”
What awesome examples! Does this happen for everyone who is a faithful witness for the Lord?
Hebrews 11:35b-38
“But others were tortured, refusing to turn from God in order to be set free. They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection. Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips.
“Others were chained in prisons. Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half, and others were killed with the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated.
“They were too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.”
Have you ever been to a water park?
What is this ride usually called? (The Lazy River)
Many Christians in America see the Christian life like the Lazy River. The air is warm, the water is pleasant, there is a gentle current that keeps you moving with no effort of your own and you just go around and around and around, never reaching any destination, never accomplishing anything just waiting for the time when the Lord picks you up and takes you to the mansion in the sky which you so richly deserve! NOT!!!!
Ephesians 6:12
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
We need a reality check!
What does it take for us to be warriors in the battle for the Kingdom of God instead of floaters in the Lazy river?
Jesus was never anything but The Holy Son of God!
He never needed to repent of anything!
He was and is our perfect example!
So, when I quote this verse as an example of the attitude we need in order to be useful in the battle for the Kingdom of God it has a different meaning for us than it had for Jesus.
The last words Jesus said on the cross of Calvary are recorded in
Luke 23:46
“Jesus called out with a loud voice, ‘Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ When He had said this, He breathed his last.”
When we come to that point two things will happen.
1) When I breathe out the last breath of me being in control of me that is the first time I breathe in the breath of the Holy Spirit being in control of me.
2) We become really useful in the battle for the Kingdom of God.
Communion
