Lessons from Belshazzar: Pride, Judgment, and God's Kingdom
Sermon Summary
Sermon Clips
"O Lord God, you have said, this is the one that you will esteem and honour, the one who is humble and contrite and trembles at your word. So let us sit under your word. Let us be instructed. Let our hearts be teachable by your spirit. And for your glory we pray. Amen." [00:07:04] (23 seconds)
"Belshazzar wants people to see him in the mold of Nebuchadnezzar, a worthy son, a worthy successor. That's how our human heart works. We proudly try to impress people. We proudly try to win their approval. We proudly, we try to prove that we're at least as good as the greats, or maybe even to outdo them." [00:15:00] (26 seconds)
"Look, it's really easy to mock Belshazzar, but how often do you feel the need to flex? You know, Grace was talking about pride before, and pride can show itself in an insecurity and shame, or it can show itself in a need to flex, to show our prowess before others, to boast of our achievements, to push the limits." [00:17:05] (21 seconds)
"Meanwhile, back at Belshazzar's party, in verse 5, immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace opposite the lampstand. And the king saw the hand as it wrote, and the king's colour changed, and his thoughts alarmed him. And his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together." [00:18:22] (23 seconds)
"Tim Keller, I like the way he refers to Daniel as the party crasher, but I also think that there's three party crashes in this story, three significant party crashes. The first is God's hand, this handwriting on the wall, and then there's Daniel, and in between is the queen. Did you notice the queen?" [00:20:06] (21 seconds)
"God gave him the authority. Oh, king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar, your father, the kingship and the greatness and the glory and the majesty. We heard that last week, didn't we? And Andy reminded us, we see that in Daniel chapter 1. In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and besieged it." [00:23:03] (20 seconds)
"This is the principle. This is the basic principle. Revelation of God's sovereignty brings responsibility. A responsibility to remember and to repent. To submit. This is the point of his guilt. Though you knew all this, though you knew that Yahweh was God, and that God is gracious to those who acknowledge him, though you knew this because God had revealed it to the one that you love." [00:25:03] (37 seconds)
"Jesus himself is like the finger of God writing on the wall. He's a party crasher. He comes and shakes up society. He prepares people for a change of empire. You know, in Luke 11, Jesus casts out a demon and his opponents say, oh, you're just doing that by the power of Satan. It's sort of by agreement." [00:38:43] (23 seconds)
"So I want you to remember that this party crasher, the Lord Jesus, comes and he does overthrow those who oppose themselves to God, but he's also throwing a party for those that wish to come in. You remember at the start we talked about how are you partying and are you doing it for yourself in your own glory?" [00:40:20] (22 seconds)
"Well, friends, to do that we need to be the kind of people that others want to be around, the ones who are attractive through our generosity, our Christ-like concern, our Christ-like love, even if we don't ply them with copious amounts of alcohol and sensuality or fancy religion. But Jesus calls on us to show his hospitality that draws people, invites people into his kingdom." [00:42:32] (25 seconds)
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"Belshazzar wants people to see him in the mold of Nebuchadnezzar, a worthy son, a worthy successor. That's how our human heart works. We proudly try to impress people. We proudly try to win their approval. We proudly, we try to prove that we're at least as good as the greats, or maybe even to outdo them." [00:15:00] (26 seconds)
"Look, it's really easy to mock Belshazzar, but how often do you feel the need to flex? You know, Grace was talking about pride before, and pride can show itself in an insecurity and shame, or it can show itself in a need to flex, to show our prowess before others, to boast of our achievements, to push the limits." [00:17:05] (21 seconds)
"Meanwhile, back at Belshazzar's party, in verse 5, immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace opposite the lampstand. And the king saw the hand as it wrote, and the king's colour changed, and his thoughts alarmed him. And his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together." [00:18:22] (23 seconds)
"Tim Keller, I like the way he refers to Daniel as the party crasher, but I also think that there's three party crashes in this story, three significant party crashes. The first is God's hand, this handwriting on the wall, and then there's Daniel, and in between is the queen. Did you notice the queen?" [00:20:06] (21 seconds)
"God gave him the authority. Oh, king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar, your father, the kingship and the greatness and the glory and the majesty. We heard that last week, didn't we? And Andy reminded us, we see that in Daniel chapter 1. In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and besieged it." [00:23:03] (20 seconds)
"This is the principle. This is the basic principle. Revelation of God's sovereignty brings responsibility. A responsibility to remember and to repent. To submit. This is the point of his guilt. Though you knew all this, though you knew that Yahweh was God, and that God is gracious to those who acknowledge him, though you knew this because God had revealed it to the one that you love." [00:25:03] (37 seconds)
"Jesus himself is like the finger of God writing on the wall. He's a party crasher. He comes and shakes up society. He prepares people for a change of empire. You know, in Luke 11, Jesus casts out a demon and his opponents say, oh, you're just doing that by the power of Satan. It's sort of by agreement." [00:38:43] (23 seconds)
"So I want you to remember that this party crasher, the Lord Jesus, comes and he does overthrow those who oppose themselves to God, but he's also throwing a party for those that wish to come in. You remember at the start we talked about how are you partying and are you doing it for yourself in your own glory?" [00:40:20] (22 seconds)
"Well, friends, to do that we need to be the kind of people that others want to be around, the ones who are attractive through our generosity, our Christ-like concern, our Christ-like love, even if we don't ply them with copious amounts of alcohol and sensuality or fancy religion. But Jesus calls on us to show his hospitality that draws people, invites people into his kingdom." [00:42:32] (25 seconds)
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