May 25, 2025 • 39 mins
What happens when divine judgment interrupts your party? In this powerful exploration of Daniel 5, we witness the dramatic moment when a mysterious hand writes judgment on a palace wall during King Belshazzar's feast. Unlike his father Nebuchadnezzar who eventually acknowledged God's sovereignty, Belshazzar brazenly desecrates sacred temple vessels while praising false gods of gold and silver.
The eternal question echoes through this ancient story: what legacy will you leave behind? While Belshazzar desperately tried to use his wealth to save himself, we're reminded that money, power and possessions hold no eternal value. As Jesus taught, we must "give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's" – and what bears God's image? People do.
This message cuts to the heart of what truly matters. You are not just another face in the crowd; you bear the divine imprint that nothing else in creation carries. God values people so much that He sent His Son not to condemn but to save. Your worth doesn't come from titles, bank accounts or achievements, but from the Creator who called you His own.
The challenging truth remains: the only thing we take to heaven is people. Not buildings, brands, or belongings – just the lives we've touched and transformed through our investment in God's kingdom. When it's all said and done, the question won't be "What did you build for yourself?" but rather "Who did you bring with you?" Let's invest in what truly lasts.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:16):
God, we thank you so much for who you are and we pray
, as always, that as we diveinto this text this morning,
that we are your truth ringsthrough, that you're and
everything we need your wordteaches us.
It gives us so much more we canimagine.
And, god, as always, I praythat you protect those who are
listening here, those who mightlisten to it later, that you
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give them exactly what they need.
And it's always my prayer lessof me and more of you.
I pray you speak through me.
I pray you close my mouth whenit's necessary.
We've got to pray thateverything this morning is to
glorify and honor you.
That's why we're here, that'swhy we exist.
(00:59):
God, we love you and we thankyou.
So let me pray Amen, amen.
We love you and we thank you.
Amen.
You know, daniel is such aninteresting book.
It's prophetic in nature.
It's tied to the book ofRevelation.
We have a couple more weeks inthe series.
We're actually going to doDaniel, chapter 6, and then
(01:21):
we're going to jump to 9 andwe're going to jump to chapter
12, and the reason for that isbecause chapter 7 and 8, and
then 10 and 11 are highlyprophetic.
And it's not that I don't wantto talk about those things, but
those are let's sit down andhave a conversation, right?
Because there's a lot to unpackthere, more than I could
probably pull off on a Sundaymorning.
(01:41):
Because when you start gettinginto the book of Revelations, it
pull off on a Sunday morning,because when you start getting
into the book of Revelation, itgets interesting.
Everyone has their theories,right.
So I'm going to give you mysynopsis of Revelation, and this
is what I tell everyone whoasks me how do you understand
Revelation?
I always tell them we win.
That's what I get right.
I don't know who's who.
I don't know who the beast is.
(02:01):
I don't know who Babylon is.
I don't know who the beast is.
I don't know who Babylon is.
I don't know necessarily whoall the false prophets are, but
what I know is, in the end wewin, satan's overcome and the
world bows down to God, andthat's what I hold on to.
And so Daniel touches on theseelements a little, but we're not
going to go there.
Instead, today, we're going tofocus on Daniel, chapter 5.
(02:24):
So chapters 1 through 4 havebeen interesting.
We've seen Shadrach, meshachand Abednego and they're being
thrown into the fiery furnaceand somehow managing to walk out
unscathed.
Nebuchadnezzar recognizes thefourth man in the fire.
We've seen Daniel and Shadrach,meshach and Abednego, his
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friends.
They come in and they're inexile and they've been taken
into exile and they're offeredthe best food and they choose
not to.
They eat vegetables and waterand it turns out that they
actually look better than allthe other people.
We've seen a couple dreamswhere Nebuchadnezzar has been
warned more than once that hiskingdom will not last chapter 3.
(03:06):
Chapter 4, nebuchadnezzar iswarned that he's going to be put
into exile himself and yet herefuses to listen.
I love the book of Danielbecause I think it reflects a
couple things about God.
One it reflects that God'ssovereign God is in all and
through all and knows all.
One it reflects that God'ssovereign God is in all and
through all and knows all things.
(03:27):
Right, he's in charge.
I also think it shows God ispatient because he gives
Nebuchadnezzar a chance, right,it's not like he just comes in
and wipes him out.
He's trying to get him torealize and warn him and say
listen, if you continue downthis path, it's not going to
work out well for you.
So you get into chapter 4, andNebuchadnezzar has another dream
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about his arrogance.
And 12 months later he findshimself in the wild, separated
from his kingdom.
Seven years, right Seven yearsin exile.
And then he finally comes homeand he's restored.
Years in exile and then hefinally comes home and he's
restored.
And it takes all of this tomake him acknowledge who God is.
(04:13):
And then we get to Daniel,chapter 5.
You know, one of the thingsthat I think we learn, or we
should learn, is we should learnfrom our past mistakes, not
only ours, but we should learnfrom other people's mistakes.
I try to explain this to my kidsall the time and they don't get
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it.
They want to do something andI'll say don't do that.
And they're like why?
I'm like?
Because it's not going to endwell for you.
And they're like how do youknow?
I'm like because I did thatbefore.
Yeah, but it's going to be okay.
It's different this time.
I'm like it's not differentthis time.
It's the exact same situation.
Actually, you're doing theexact same thing that I did.
And they're like yeah, butit'll be fine.
(04:55):
And eventually, as a parent,you're like okay, and you just
watch and you go and it happens.
You're like yeah, that's what Isaid.
I wasn't trying to ruin yourlife.
I wasn't trying not to let youhave a good time, but I'm
telling you from experience I'velearned that what you're about
to step into is bad for you.
And so we come into Daniel,chapter 5, and we meet
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Nebuchadnezzar's son, belshazzar.
And Belshazzar is about asarrogant as they come, and
Belshazzar is about as arrogantas they come.
He's a young man who's comeinto power, inherited power, the
wealth.
All of the kingdom wasn't his,but his dad died and he inherits
all of the money, all of thepower.
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And I don't know about you, butI've met people who inherit a
lot of money and they tend notto be really good with it,
mainly because they didn't earnit right.
Like I always tell people, Idon't even play the lottery, but
if I ever won the lottery, I'dbe broke by the end of the year.
I'm just being honest.
I would buy stupid things.
I don't know why I would.
I would have 10 Jeeps.
I don't even have room for 10Jeeps in every color that I like
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, because I'm not smart withmoney, and I know that.
I'm aware of that.
I'm working on it.
But Belshazzar has a really bigproblem because he inherits all
of this power, all of thismoney and he decides to throw
himself a party.
By the way, if there's ever areason not to get drunk at a
party, belshazzar, is it what'sabout to unfold here.
(06:24):
This is why getting drunk andbeing in public and making
stupid decisions with stupidpeople I'm sorry, but it is a
stupid decision.
This is a warning of why not todo these things.
So, starting in verse 1, itsays King Belchazar made a great
feast for a thousand of hislords and drank wine in front of
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the thousand.
He invited a thousand people toparty with him.
It says Belshazzar, when hetasted the wine, commanded that
the vessels of gold and silverthat were never Kenezer, his
father had taken out of thetemple in Jerusalem be brought
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that the king and his lords, hiswives and his concubines might
drink from them.
So here we have Belshazzar.
He is the gods of gold andsilver, bronze, iron, wood and
stone.
So here we have Belshazzarthrowing a party not only for
thousands of his friends, buttheir wives, their concubines,
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their mistresses, and in hisdrunken stupor, he remembers all
of the gold and silver that hisfather had taken out of the
temple of Jerusalem when theybrought the people in exile.
And he has this brilliant ideato use these items dedicated to
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God to drink out of, to partywith, and then he uses this
moment to honor we're going tocall them gods, but lowercase g,
not real fake things.
He makes this decision, onebecause he's drunk and two
because, for some reason, he hasforgotten everything his dad
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went through.
He learned nothing fromNebuchadnezzar's story
Absolutely nothing.
He's full of power, he's drunk,he has this desire to worship
his gods by using the items thatwere dedicated to the God, the
one true God.
Right?
So why does that matter?
(08:41):
Right?
So why do these things?
Why are they important?
So 1 Chronicles 29, 1 through 9, says With all my resources.
This is not all of it, but itsays I have provided for the
temple of my God gold and silver.
So it said David and theleaders of Israel, they would
donate large amounts of gold andsilver expressing worship and
devotion.
2 Chronicles 2, says Skilledcraftsmen and precious materials
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were sourced and devotion.
2 Chronicles 2.
It says skilled craftsmen andprecious materials were sourced
for the temple's construction,showing the temple's
magnificence.
So you can read that in 2Chronicles 2 that when they
built the temple, they made itlavish, they built it, they
wanted to make sure that God washonored.
They worshiped God by givingthings their talents, giving of
their talents, giving of theirmoney, giving of their silver to
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make sure that God was honored.
It said, haggai 2, verses 8through 9, and this is after the
exile that says the silver ismine and the gold is mine,
declares the Lord Almighty.
So God reminds his people thatall wealth belongs to him and he
will fill the new temple withgreater glory.
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Ezra 1, verses 4 through 11 and6 through 6-5,.
It says after the exile, goldand silver articles were taken
by Nebuchadnezzar were returnedto Jerusalem to restore worship.
So the very items thatNebuchadnezzar took would
eventually find their way back.
But why does it matter?
So gold symbolizes purity,divinity and value in worship.
(10:13):
Silver, often tied toredemption and support.
The idea of giving to God, wasIsrael's leaders and people gave
freely and sacrificially fromtheir well and then, ultimately,
glory of the temple was areflection of the glory and the
holiness of God, not just humancreation.
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So these were significant items.
They were given out of a senseof devotion, out had a sense of
worship.
There's some sacrifice involvedin this as well, because giving
of gold and silver, which werevaluable items was them saying
God, we trust you witheverything.
We give you these things notjust to worship you and honor
you, but because we could sellthese for income.
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But we're not going to, becauseyou matter more to us.
Our things are just things.
We worship you, and so all ofthese are sacred, they're holy,
they're given to honor God ofcreation.
And here you have Belshazzar,who's turned them into common
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drinking utensils.
He's robbing God of the glorythat he deserves.
He's not honoring God.
In the same way, he makes amockery Again in his drunken
stupor.
He makes a mockery of God.
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He does exactly what oneshouldn't do.
So we have a problem.
The Belshazzar is partying away, going about his business,
having a good old time,blaspheming the things of God
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Again.
He hasn't learned a thing.
He hasn't learned a thing,nebuchadnezzar.
So, starting in verse 5, it saysImmediately the fingers of a
human hand appeared and wrote onthe plaster of the wall of the
king's palace.
By the way, if there's eversomething that'll get your
attention, that's it.
This hand appears and startswriting on the wall opposite of
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the lampstand, and the king sawthe hand as it wrote.
Then the king's color changed.
I can only imagine he'sterrified.
By the way, if you ever want totalk about something that's
going to sober you up, it'sgoing to be a free-floating hand
writing on a wall.
So all of a sudden he's awarehe's watching it and his
thoughts started to alarm him.
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His limbs give way and hisknees knock together.
The king called loudly to bringin the enchanters, the Chaldeans
and the astrologers.
And the king declared to thewise men of Babylon whoever
reads this writing and shows meits interpretation shall be
clothed with purple and have achain of gold around his neck
and shall be the third ruler inthe kingdom.
(13:16):
Then all the king's wise mencame in, but they could not read
the writing or make known tothe king of the interpretation.
Then King Belshazzar wasgreatly alarmed and his color
changed and his lords wereperplexed.
So here again, belshazzar doesexactly what his dad does Calls
in the wise men, the enchanters,the magicians, and it's
(13:42):
interesting because he says tothem listen, if you can tell me
what this means, I'm going togive you gold and purple robes
and I'm going to make you thehighest, like the third highest
person in my kingdom.
Belshazzar is trying to use hiswealth to save himself.
He's trying, if you just giveme what I want.
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If you tell me what it means,I'm going to bless you.
I'm going to give you so muchmoney, but none of them can do
it.
Again, not a surprise to usReally shouldn't be a surprise
to him, because none of theother dreams could be
interpreted by anyone but Daniel.
Again, why does everyone justnot go to Daniel?
I never understand this.
(14:24):
They go everywhere, but he'slike the last option.
So, starting in verse 10, itsays the queen you know she's
smart, she knows she's payingattention.
She says because of the wordsof the king and his lords came
into the banquet hall and thequeen declared O king, live
forever.
Let not your thoughts alarm youor your color change.
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There is a man in your kingdomin whom the spirit of the holy
gods in the days of your fathersaid in the days of your father,
light and understanding andwisdom, like the wisdom of the
gods, were found in him, kingNebuchadnezzar, your father,
your father.
The king made him chief of themagicians, enchanters, chaldeans
and astrologers Because of anexcellent spirit.
(15:09):
Knowledge and understanding tointerpret dreams, explain
riddles and solve problems werefound in this Daniel, whom the
king named Belteshar.
Now, let Daniel be called andhe will show you the
interpretation.
(15:30):
So here he is, belteshazzarthrowing this party.
His life's interrupted.
He tries to save himself.
He goes to what he knows.
It was the money.
He says if you give me, tell mewhat I need, I'm going to give
you all of this wealth.
But it doesn't happen.
No-transcript money will neversave you.
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I've said this before and I'vesaid it again.
I said it at the beginning ofthe service the only thing you
can take with you is people.
When you die, your moneydoesn't go with you.
Everett, actually, I thinkEverett's changing his focus.
There's a guy that lives downthe street from us that has a
couple Ford Broncos like the 80sones, the really cool ones.
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Don't worry, I like the newones, but I like the older ones
better.
And so he has like 10 of them,which is crazy.
And we were driving by hishouse the other day and
Everett's like can I get one ofthose instead of a Cybertruck?
I'm like, oh yeah, we're goingto get that.
Not only is that moreaffordable.
But again, my kids don'tunderstand, right, they like
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things and there's nothing wrongwith that, but at the end of
the day, money can't save you.
And Belshazzar is trying he'sjust trying to find a way to
come up with an answer forwhat's about to happen.
But he's about to find out thatwhen you mock god, there's
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consequences.
It says.
Without warning, the fingers ofa human hand appear and begin
writing on the palace wall.
That this dramatic interventionis significant.
It's a divine act of judgment,and one that bypasses prophets,
visions or intermediaries.
As john c Whitcomb notes inDaniel, his everyday Bible
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commissary, even apart from anyhuman representative or
instrument, the Lord was able tovindicate his name in the
holiness of Israel's sacredvessels.
This moment reveals somethingcrucial God does not need a
human voice to defend hisholiness Crucial.
God does not need a human voiceto defend his holiness when his
name or his sacred things areprofaned.
He can and will act directly.
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The handwriting on the wallwasn't just about Belshazzar's
judgment.
It was a message to all whowould dare mock or minimize what
is holy.
It reminded the court, and itshould remind us, that God sees,
god knows and God will not bemocked Again.
A harsh reality for a king whohadn't learned anything.
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God was about to remind him ofexactly who he was.
So, starting in verse 13.
It says Then Daniel was broughtin before the king.
And the king answered and saidto Daniel you are that, daniel,
one of the exiles of Judah, fromthe king my father brought from
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Judah.
I have heard of you that thespirit of gods is in you and
that light and understanding andexcellent wisdom are found in
you.
Now the wise men, theenchanters, have been brought in
before me to read this writingand make known to me its
interpretation.
But they could not show theinterpretation of the matter.
But I have heard that you cangive interpretations and solve
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problems.
Now, if you can read thewriting made known to me the
interpretation, you shall beclothed with a purple and have a
chain of gold around your neckand shall be the third ruler in
the kingdom.
By the way, this is why I loveDaniel.
Then Daniel answered and saidbefore the king let your gifts
be for yourself and give yourrewards to another.
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I don't want it, he said.
Nevertheless, I will read thewriting to the king and make
known to him the interpretation.
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He said, trembled and fearedbefore him Whom he would he
killed and whom he would he keptalive.
Whom he would he raised up andwhom he would he humbled.
But when his heart was liftedup and his spirit was hardened
so that he dealt proudly.
He was brought down and waskingly thrown so he's reminding
him of what happened to hisfather and his glory was taken
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from him.
He was driven among thechildren of mankind and his mind
was made like that of a beast,and his dwelling was with wild
donkeys.
He was fed grass like an ox andhis body was wet with the dew
of heaven.
And so he knew that the MostHigh God rules the kingdom of
mankind and sets over it whom hewill.
And you, his son Belshazzar,have not humbled your heart,
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though you knew all of this, butyou have lifted up yourself
against the Lord of heaven, andthe vessels of this house have
been brought to you before you,and you and your lords, your
wives and your concubines havedrunk wine from them, and you
have praised the gods of silverand gold, of bronze, iron, wood
and stone, which do not see orhear or know, but the God in
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whose hand is your breath, theGod whose hand is your breath
and whose all your ways you havenot honored.
Then, from his presence, thehand was sent and this writing
was inscribed.
And this is the writing thatwas inscribed Mene, mene, teke,
parson, and this is theinterpretation of the matter
Mene, god has numbered the daysof your kingdom and brought it
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to an end.
Teko, you have been weighed inthe balances and you have been
found wanting.
Perez, your kingdom was dividedand give to the Medes and the
Persians.
Then Belshazzar gave thecommand and Daniel was clothed
with purple, a chain of gold wasput around his neck and a
(21:24):
proclamation was made about himthat he should be the third
ruler in the kingdom.
That very night, belshazzar,the Chaldean king, was killed.
It's such an interestinginteraction.
Daniel comes in and he givesthis prophecy and says listen,
god has determined that yourdays are numbered.
You're not honoring him.
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You, you've been warned, you'veseen this unfold, right?
You, you've all these choicesyou're making.
God, god has decided your daysare done.
And he says the word tekel is.
You've been found wanting.
You're lacking something.
You're lacking humility.
You've been weighed, you'vebeen set upon the balance and
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God has determined that youdon't have it.
You don't have what it takes.
And then Parsons says yourkingdom is going to be divided.
Everything you've built,everything you have, all the
concubines, all the women, allthe gold, all of it will become
someone else's.
And then Belshazzar, at the endof the conversations, puts a
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robe on Daniel, gives him goldand declares him the third
person in the country,completely missing what it just
was said.
I mean, I'm honest, if that'sme, I'm like now what?
But he doesn't.
He goes to what he knows.
He tries to buy, buy salvation.
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He tries to buy, buy salvation.
He tries to.
Maybe, if I can, just maybe, ifI put it back in the temple,
maybe if I honor this prophetthat God has set before me,
maybe God will change things forme.
I'm going to trust and rely oneverything I know, instead of
giving my life and humblingmyself before the one who
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created all of it.
I love what Daniel says.
He says you're worshiping thisstatue of gold and stone and
none of them even have breath.
They can't even hear you.
They're wasting your time, butthe one who has your breath in
his hand, you've mocked him.
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Your days are numbered.
You've been found one thing andyour kingdom will be divided,
and immediately, immediately,that night, he dies.
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You know, one of the things thatI wonder about in my life is
what kind of legacy I'm going toleave.
I think about that a lot.
I turned 39 yesterday and Itold Danny we had a birthday
party for 39, because I'm nothaving one for 40.
I'm going to lock myself in myroom and you guys are going to
leave me alone.
And so I turned 41.
(24:27):
But I sat there and I wasthinking about this, because I'm
not getting any younger.
I'm not, and I know that, and Iwonder what kind of life I'm
going to live.
What are people going to sayabout me?
What are they going to ask?
What are my kids going to thinkabout me?
And listen, I find that balancetough Because I've said this
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before, I wouldn't mind beingrich.
It would be nice, there's a lotthat comes with it, but I'd like
to be able to just go out andbuy stuff, like, oh, the car's
broken down, that's okay, I'mjust going to go buy a new one.
I like my kids to be able tohave things, and every time they
ask me for a toy at the store,I'd love to say yes, but we
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don't, and that's okay, I don'tneed you to do it anyways.
I think kids need to learn thatit's okay to say no.
But I wonder what my legacy isgoing to be.
I wonder what people are goingto say about me, and I think
about Belshazzar, and all hecould think about is look at all
the money that I have, look atall the power I have.
All these people here by theway, those thousands of people
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who were there were probablyonly there because he fed them
and gave them a feast, that'sall.
They cared about Everything hehad, all the power he had all of
it.
You know, money and wealth isnot a bad thing, but money and
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wealth is not a bad thing.
But money and wealth cancorrupt.
I think we see this right.
We see this when people have alot of money and sometimes the
way they act when they live isnot godly.
On the other hand, you seepeople who have a lot of money
and they're the most generous,god-loving people I've met in my
life, because money in itselfis not evil.
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Money is money.
If you ask Griffin, we canprint it ourselves at home,
which you can, but that'sillegal.
Don't do that.
But money is just money.
But money can oftentimes revealthe heart of a person, having a
lot of it, especially so here.
Belshazzar has seen whatNebuchadnezzar went through he's
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living and glorifying himselfand in the end he loses
everything, midnight gone andhis legacy is he's the guy that
God put a hand on the wall,wrote a message and took his
kingdom from him.
That's what he's known forThroughout all history.
That's what he's known for.
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His life came to an abrupt end,and so the question has to be
if money is not something weshould value, what do we value?
What should we use our timewith?
(27:25):
When I ask the question, whatshould my legacy be at the end
of my life?
What is going to matter morethan anything?
I think that's an importantquestion Because I think that's
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going to set the tone for how weunderstand and how we embrace
what's coming.
You know Luke, chapter 22,.
Jesus tells this parable.
So he tells the parableactually of the tenants.
And the parable of the tenantsis significant because we see a
couple of tenants and they'veall been given something, and
the master of the house says nowgo and invest this.
And two of them do and they gooff and they actually get a
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return, and the third one isscared so he buries it and keeps
it hidden for himself and themaster coming back, he gives him
what exactly was gave him andthe master's like I don't
understand why you did that?
Like I've given you this.
Why?
Why did you not go do somethingwith it so shortly after that?
That parable, jesus is walkingalong and one of the things you
(28:31):
know that we all love to do ispay taxes.
Right, we all love to pay taxes.
It's the funnest part of ourentire life.
I mean, I can't wait for taxesevery year, I'm just kidding.
So Jesus is having thisconversation and the Pharisees
are trying to trap him and theysay you know, when you're
(28:52):
talking about paying taxes,should we pay taxes to Caesar or
not?
And so Jesus whips out a coinand he says hey, give me a coin.
And he holds it up and he sayswhose face is on this?
They say, well, caesar andJesus.
And I love it, man, becauseJesus is like the guy that drops
the mic and then just walksaway and you're like I don't
know what to do with this.
(29:13):
But he says to them he says nowgive Caesar what's Caesar's.
So go ahead, pay him his taxes.
That belongs to him, his imageis on it.
Give it to him.
But he finishes.
He says but give God whatbelongs to God.
Here's why this is important.
(29:33):
Jesus is actually calling backall the way to Genesis 1.
Genesis 1, verses 26 and 27,.
As God is creating the earthbefore he gets to us, he says
Now let us create mankind in ourimage, in our image, let people
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bear my image.
So when Jesus says this, hesays give to God what belongs to
God.
The answer of what has theimage of God on it is you and me
.
You know, when you look at thetemple of the Old Testament, it
(30:30):
was beautiful the gold and thesilver but none of that Old
Testament.
It was beautiful, the gold andthe silver, but none of that
really mattered to God.
Why would it?
It's everything he wants.
What's God going to do withgold?
He doesn't need it.
That was for their benefit.
But what he really cared aboutwas he cared about Israel.
(30:51):
He cared about the chosenpeople.
He protected them.
He protected them in exile.
All throughout the OldTestament we see story after
story of how he's protected them, because people matter to God.
His chosen people matter to him.
And then we get to the NewTestament and we see that it
(31:13):
shifts.
Israel has fulfilled its roleand they've brought about the
church, and the church is thepeople of God.
I read something this week thatI thought was interesting.
It was talking about churchhurt and people that have been
hurt by the church.
And the truth is we've neverbeen hurt by the church.
(31:36):
We're hurt by the people of thechurch, because the church is
people and people are infallible.
People aren't perfect, but youand I, as image bearers of God,
we matter.
He values us.
So the question at the end ofour life has to be what have we
(32:00):
invested in?
One of the words in our visionstatement is invest, and I don't
think that's by accident.
I actually have this documentif you'd like to read it, but it
says that refocused church.
We're not just trying to builda crowd, we're trying to build
lives.
We're committed to investing inpeople, because that's what God
(32:22):
values most.
People are eternal, people bearhis image and people are worth
the cost.
Eternal people bear his imageand people are worth the cost.
Everything we do is focused onhow do we invest in people?
It says.
This is the heart behind ourvision here.
(32:43):
We believe that the mostmeaningful use of our time,
money and talent is not to buildour own empires, but to invest
in what bears the image of God.
We do this intentionally whenwe invest our time, our finances
and our service to build God'skingdom.
Our goal is to increasemissions giving locally and
globally, to support localprojects that reveal God's love,
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strengthening community groupsfor discipleship, creating
service opportunities inside andoutside the church and
partnering with other churchesto maximize impact.
That is our vision is to investwith other people and invest
together into the lives of thosearound us because they bear the
image of God, which means theyhave value to God.
(33:27):
And when Jesus says, give Godwhat's God, I understand that
God wants people.
He wants people to know hisname.
He wants people to bear hisimage.
At the end of the day, what youvalue is what you worship.
(33:51):
You are not an accident.
You are not forgotten.
You are not forgotten.
You are not just another facein the crowd.
You are deeply, undeniably,intentionally valued by God.
He formed you, knows you andplaced his very image in you.
Nothing else hear me listennothing else in all of creation
(34:16):
carries that honor.
Not the stars, not the oceans,not the mountains, only you.
Your worth doesn't come fromyour job title, your bank
account, your social status oryour past.
Your worth is sealed by the onewho made you.
Your identity is found in thehands of the creator who called
(34:38):
you his own.
Here's the truth.
Nothing else will ever satisfyyour soul like God will.
The world offers cheapimitations, money, fame, success
, but they'll all leave youempty.
Only God fulfills, only Godcompletes, only God saves.
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That's it.
Belshazzar was holding on tothings that were never going to
do what he wanted them to do.
This is why it's so importantthat we invest our time and our
money and our resources into thekingdom, because the only thing
(35:23):
that God values is people.
That's what matters.
That's why Jesus came.
That's why Jesus died.
God values people so much thathe sent his only son not to
judge the world, but to save it.
Jesus didn't die for buildings.
He didn't bleed for brands.
(35:45):
He gave his life for people.
That means that life isn'tabout building our little
kingdoms, it's about buildinghis.
You build your kingdom bychasing wealth, status and
security.
You build God's kingdom byloving people, lifting up the
broken, investing in eternity.
And I've said this before andI'll say it forever the only
(36:08):
thing you get to take to heavenis people, the ones in your home
, the ones in your workplace,the ones you walk past every day
, the ones you've written off.
That's it.
That's what matters.
So, as a church.
Let's live differently, let'slove boldly, let's give
(36:28):
generously and let's investfearlessly, because, when it's
all said and done, the questionwon't be what did you build for
yourself?
It'll be who did you bring withyou?
That's my legacy.
Who did I bring with me?
(36:53):
That's the only thing in theworld worth seeking, to know
that my life made a difference.
If God grants me another 39years, that's the question that
(37:16):
should resonate, that should bepart of my everyday conversation
in my head.
Who am I bringing with me,church?
Who are we bringing with us?
Let me tell you, there's a lotof people in this world that
don't know Jesus Way more thando sometimes.
Those people matter to God, sothey should matter to us.
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Let's pray.
God, we thank you so much for who you are and we pray
, as always, that as we diveinto this text this morning,
that we are your truth ringsthrough, that you're and
everything we need your wordteaches us.
It gives us so much more we canimagine.
And, god, as always, I praythat you protect those who are
listening here, those who mightlisten to it later, that you
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give them exactly what they need.
And it's always my prayer lessof me and more of you.
I pray you speak through me.
I pray you close my mouth whenit's necessary.
We've got to pray thateverything this morning is to
glorify and honor you.
That's why we're here, that'swhy we exist.
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God, we love you and we thankyou.
So let me pray Amen, amen.
We love you and we thank you.
Amen.
You know, daniel is such aninteresting book.
It's prophetic in nature.
It's tied to the book ofRevelation.
We have a couple more weeks inthe series.
We're actually going to doDaniel, chapter 6, and then
(01:21):
we're going to jump to 9 andwe're going to jump to chapter
12, and the reason for that isbecause chapter 7 and 8, and
then 10 and 11 are highlyprophetic.
And it's not that I don't wantto talk about those things, but
those are let's sit down andhave a conversation, right?
Because there's a lot to unpackthere, more than I could
probably pull off on a Sundaymorning.
(01:41):
Because when you start gettinginto the book of Revelations, it
pull off on a Sunday morning,because when you start getting
into the book of Revelation, itgets interesting.
Everyone has their theories,right.
So I'm going to give you mysynopsis of Revelation, and this
is what I tell everyone whoasks me how do you understand
Revelation?
I always tell them we win.
That's what I get right.
I don't know who's who.
I don't know who the beast is.
(02:01):
I don't know who Babylon is.
I don't know who the beast is.
I don't know who Babylon is.
I don't know necessarily whoall the false prophets are, but
what I know is, in the end wewin, satan's overcome and the
world bows down to God, andthat's what I hold on to.
And so Daniel touches on theseelements a little, but we're not
going to go there.
Instead, today, we're going tofocus on Daniel, chapter 5.
(02:24):
So chapters 1 through 4 havebeen interesting.
We've seen Shadrach, meshachand Abednego and they're being
thrown into the fiery furnaceand somehow managing to walk out
unscathed.
Nebuchadnezzar recognizes thefourth man in the fire.
We've seen Daniel and Shadrach,meshach and Abednego, his
(02:45):
friends.
They come in and they're inexile and they've been taken
into exile and they're offeredthe best food and they choose
not to.
They eat vegetables and waterand it turns out that they
actually look better than allthe other people.
We've seen a couple dreamswhere Nebuchadnezzar has been
warned more than once that hiskingdom will not last chapter 3.
(03:06):
Chapter 4, nebuchadnezzar iswarned that he's going to be put
into exile himself and yet herefuses to listen.
I love the book of Danielbecause I think it reflects a
couple things about God.
One it reflects that God'ssovereign God is in all and
through all and knows all.
One it reflects that God'ssovereign God is in all and
through all and knows all things.
(03:27):
Right, he's in charge.
I also think it shows God ispatient because he gives
Nebuchadnezzar a chance, right,it's not like he just comes in
and wipes him out.
He's trying to get him torealize and warn him and say
listen, if you continue downthis path, it's not going to
work out well for you.
So you get into chapter 4, andNebuchadnezzar has another dream
(03:50):
about his arrogance.
And 12 months later he findshimself in the wild, separated
from his kingdom.
Seven years, right Seven yearsin exile.
And then he finally comes homeand he's restored.
Years in exile and then hefinally comes home and he's
restored.
And it takes all of this tomake him acknowledge who God is.
(04:13):
And then we get to Daniel,chapter 5.
You know, one of the thingsthat I think we learn, or we
should learn, is we should learnfrom our past mistakes, not
only ours, but we should learnfrom other people's mistakes.
I try to explain this to my kidsall the time and they don't get
(04:34):
it.
They want to do something andI'll say don't do that.
And they're like why?
I'm like?
Because it's not going to endwell for you.
And they're like how do youknow?
I'm like because I did thatbefore.
Yeah, but it's going to be okay.
It's different this time.
I'm like it's not differentthis time.
It's the exact same situation.
Actually, you're doing theexact same thing that I did.
And they're like yeah, butit'll be fine.
(04:55):
And eventually, as a parent,you're like okay, and you just
watch and you go and it happens.
You're like yeah, that's what Isaid.
I wasn't trying to ruin yourlife.
I wasn't trying not to let youhave a good time, but I'm
telling you from experience I'velearned that what you're about
to step into is bad for you.
And so we come into Daniel,chapter 5, and we meet
(05:17):
Nebuchadnezzar's son, belshazzar.
And Belshazzar is about asarrogant as they come, and
Belshazzar is about as arrogantas they come.
He's a young man who's comeinto power, inherited power, the
wealth.
All of the kingdom wasn't his,but his dad died and he inherits
all of the money, all of thepower.
(05:38):
And I don't know about you, butI've met people who inherit a
lot of money and they tend notto be really good with it,
mainly because they didn't earnit right.
Like I always tell people, Idon't even play the lottery, but
if I ever won the lottery, I'dbe broke by the end of the year.
I'm just being honest.
I would buy stupid things.
I don't know why I would.
I would have 10 Jeeps.
I don't even have room for 10Jeeps in every color that I like
(06:00):
, because I'm not smart withmoney, and I know that.
I'm aware of that.
I'm working on it.
But Belshazzar has a really bigproblem because he inherits all
of this power, all of thismoney and he decides to throw
himself a party.
By the way, if there's ever areason not to get drunk at a
party, belshazzar, is it what'sabout to unfold here.
(06:24):
This is why getting drunk andbeing in public and making
stupid decisions with stupidpeople I'm sorry, but it is a
stupid decision.
This is a warning of why not todo these things.
So, starting in verse 1, itsays King Belchazar made a great
feast for a thousand of hislords and drank wine in front of
(06:46):
the thousand.
He invited a thousand people toparty with him.
It says Belshazzar, when hetasted the wine, commanded that
the vessels of gold and silverthat were never Kenezer, his
father had taken out of thetemple in Jerusalem be brought
(07:14):
that the king and his lords, hiswives and his concubines might
drink from them.
So here we have Belshazzar.
He is the gods of gold andsilver, bronze, iron, wood and
stone.
So here we have Belshazzarthrowing a party not only for
thousands of his friends, buttheir wives, their concubines,
(07:35):
their mistresses, and in hisdrunken stupor, he remembers all
of the gold and silver that hisfather had taken out of the
temple of Jerusalem when theybrought the people in exile.
And he has this brilliant ideato use these items dedicated to
(07:58):
God to drink out of, to partywith, and then he uses this
moment to honor we're going tocall them gods, but lowercase g,
not real fake things.
He makes this decision, onebecause he's drunk and two
because, for some reason, he hasforgotten everything his dad
(08:20):
went through.
He learned nothing fromNebuchadnezzar's story
Absolutely nothing.
He's full of power, he's drunk,he has this desire to worship
his gods by using the items thatwere dedicated to the God, the
one true God.
Right?
So why does that matter?
(08:41):
Right?
So why do these things?
Why are they important?
So 1 Chronicles 29, 1 through 9, says With all my resources.
This is not all of it, but itsays I have provided for the
temple of my God gold and silver.
So it said David and theleaders of Israel, they would
donate large amounts of gold andsilver expressing worship and
devotion.
2 Chronicles 2, says Skilledcraftsmen and precious materials
(09:05):
were sourced and devotion.
2 Chronicles 2.
It says skilled craftsmen andprecious materials were sourced
for the temple's construction,showing the temple's
magnificence.
So you can read that in 2Chronicles 2 that when they
built the temple, they made itlavish, they built it, they
wanted to make sure that God washonored.
They worshiped God by givingthings their talents, giving of
their talents, giving of theirmoney, giving of their silver to
(09:27):
make sure that God was honored.
It said, haggai 2, verses 8through 9, and this is after the
exile that says the silver ismine and the gold is mine,
declares the Lord Almighty.
So God reminds his people thatall wealth belongs to him and he
will fill the new temple withgreater glory.
(09:49):
Ezra 1, verses 4 through 11 and6 through 6-5,.
It says after the exile, goldand silver articles were taken
by Nebuchadnezzar were returnedto Jerusalem to restore worship.
So the very items thatNebuchadnezzar took would
eventually find their way back.
But why does it matter?
So gold symbolizes purity,divinity and value in worship.
(10:13):
Silver, often tied toredemption and support.
The idea of giving to God, wasIsrael's leaders and people gave
freely and sacrificially fromtheir well and then, ultimately,
glory of the temple was areflection of the glory and the
holiness of God, not just humancreation.
(10:40):
So these were significant items.
They were given out of a senseof devotion, out had a sense of
worship.
There's some sacrifice involvedin this as well, because giving
of gold and silver, which werevaluable items was them saying
God, we trust you witheverything.
We give you these things notjust to worship you and honor
you, but because we could sellthese for income.
(11:01):
But we're not going to, becauseyou matter more to us.
Our things are just things.
We worship you, and so all ofthese are sacred, they're holy,
they're given to honor God ofcreation.
And here you have Belshazzar,who's turned them into common
(11:25):
drinking utensils.
He's robbing God of the glorythat he deserves.
He's not honoring God.
In the same way, he makes amockery Again in his drunken
stupor.
He makes a mockery of God.
(11:47):
He does exactly what oneshouldn't do.
So we have a problem.
The Belshazzar is partying away, going about his business,
having a good old time,blaspheming the things of God
(12:09):
Again.
He hasn't learned a thing.
He hasn't learned a thing,nebuchadnezzar.
So, starting in verse 5, it saysImmediately the fingers of a
human hand appeared and wrote onthe plaster of the wall of the
king's palace.
By the way, if there's eversomething that'll get your
attention, that's it.
This hand appears and startswriting on the wall opposite of
(12:36):
the lampstand, and the king sawthe hand as it wrote.
Then the king's color changed.
I can only imagine he'sterrified.
By the way, if you ever want totalk about something that's
going to sober you up, it'sgoing to be a free-floating hand
writing on a wall.
So all of a sudden he's awarehe's watching it and his
thoughts started to alarm him.
(12:56):
His limbs give way and hisknees knock together.
The king called loudly to bringin the enchanters, the Chaldeans
and the astrologers.
And the king declared to thewise men of Babylon whoever
reads this writing and shows meits interpretation shall be
clothed with purple and have achain of gold around his neck
and shall be the third ruler inthe kingdom.
(13:16):
Then all the king's wise mencame in, but they could not read
the writing or make known tothe king of the interpretation.
Then King Belshazzar wasgreatly alarmed and his color
changed and his lords wereperplexed.
So here again, belshazzar doesexactly what his dad does Calls
in the wise men, the enchanters,the magicians, and it's
(13:42):
interesting because he says tothem listen, if you can tell me
what this means, I'm going togive you gold and purple robes
and I'm going to make you thehighest, like the third highest
person in my kingdom.
Belshazzar is trying to use hiswealth to save himself.
He's trying, if you just giveme what I want.
(14:03):
If you tell me what it means,I'm going to bless you.
I'm going to give you so muchmoney, but none of them can do
it.
Again, not a surprise to usReally shouldn't be a surprise
to him, because none of theother dreams could be
interpreted by anyone but Daniel.
Again, why does everyone justnot go to Daniel?
I never understand this.
(14:24):
They go everywhere, but he'slike the last option.
So, starting in verse 10, itsays the queen you know she's
smart, she knows she's payingattention.
She says because of the wordsof the king and his lords came
into the banquet hall and thequeen declared O king, live
forever.
Let not your thoughts alarm youor your color change.
(14:49):
There is a man in your kingdomin whom the spirit of the holy
gods in the days of your fathersaid in the days of your father,
light and understanding andwisdom, like the wisdom of the
gods, were found in him, kingNebuchadnezzar, your father,
your father.
The king made him chief of themagicians, enchanters, chaldeans
and astrologers Because of anexcellent spirit.
(15:09):
Knowledge and understanding tointerpret dreams, explain
riddles and solve problems werefound in this Daniel, whom the
king named Belteshar.
Now, let Daniel be called andhe will show you the
interpretation.
(15:30):
So here he is, belteshazzarthrowing this party.
His life's interrupted.
He tries to save himself.
He goes to what he knows.
It was the money.
He says if you give me, tell mewhat I need, I'm going to give
you all of this wealth.
But it doesn't happen.
No-transcript money will neversave you.
(15:53):
I've said this before and I'vesaid it again.
I said it at the beginning ofthe service the only thing you
can take with you is people.
When you die, your moneydoesn't go with you.
Everett, actually, I thinkEverett's changing his focus.
There's a guy that lives downthe street from us that has a
couple Ford Broncos like the 80sones, the really cool ones.
(16:16):
Don't worry, I like the newones, but I like the older ones
better.
And so he has like 10 of them,which is crazy.
And we were driving by hishouse the other day and
Everett's like can I get one ofthose instead of a Cybertruck?
I'm like, oh yeah, we're goingto get that.
Not only is that moreaffordable.
But again, my kids don'tunderstand, right, they like
(16:38):
things and there's nothing wrongwith that, but at the end of
the day, money can't save you.
And Belshazzar is trying he'sjust trying to find a way to
come up with an answer forwhat's about to happen.
But he's about to find out thatwhen you mock god, there's
(16:59):
consequences.
It says.
Without warning, the fingers ofa human hand appear and begin
writing on the palace wall.
That this dramatic interventionis significant.
It's a divine act of judgment,and one that bypasses prophets,
visions or intermediaries.
As john c Whitcomb notes inDaniel, his everyday Bible
(17:19):
commissary, even apart from anyhuman representative or
instrument, the Lord was able tovindicate his name in the
holiness of Israel's sacredvessels.
This moment reveals somethingcrucial God does not need a
human voice to defend hisholiness Crucial.
God does not need a human voiceto defend his holiness when his
name or his sacred things areprofaned.
He can and will act directly.
(17:42):
The handwriting on the wallwasn't just about Belshazzar's
judgment.
It was a message to all whowould dare mock or minimize what
is holy.
It reminded the court, and itshould remind us, that God sees,
god knows and God will not bemocked Again.
A harsh reality for a king whohadn't learned anything.
(18:06):
God was about to remind him ofexactly who he was.
So, starting in verse 13.
It says Then Daniel was broughtin before the king.
And the king answered and saidto Daniel you are that, daniel,
one of the exiles of Judah, fromthe king my father brought from
(18:28):
Judah.
I have heard of you that thespirit of gods is in you and
that light and understanding andexcellent wisdom are found in
you.
Now the wise men, theenchanters, have been brought in
before me to read this writingand make known to me its
interpretation.
But they could not show theinterpretation of the matter.
But I have heard that you cangive interpretations and solve
(18:48):
problems.
Now, if you can read thewriting made known to me the
interpretation, you shall beclothed with a purple and have a
chain of gold around your neckand shall be the third ruler in
the kingdom.
By the way, this is why I loveDaniel.
Then Daniel answered and saidbefore the king let your gifts
be for yourself and give yourrewards to another.
(19:10):
I don't want it, he said.
Nevertheless, I will read thewriting to the king and make
known to him the interpretation.
(19:31):
He said, trembled and fearedbefore him Whom he would he
killed and whom he would he keptalive.
Whom he would he raised up andwhom he would he humbled.
But when his heart was liftedup and his spirit was hardened
so that he dealt proudly.
He was brought down and waskingly thrown so he's reminding
him of what happened to hisfather and his glory was taken
(19:53):
from him.
He was driven among thechildren of mankind and his mind
was made like that of a beast,and his dwelling was with wild
donkeys.
He was fed grass like an ox andhis body was wet with the dew
of heaven.
And so he knew that the MostHigh God rules the kingdom of
mankind and sets over it whom hewill.
And you, his son Belshazzar,have not humbled your heart,
(20:16):
though you knew all of this, butyou have lifted up yourself
against the Lord of heaven, andthe vessels of this house have
been brought to you before you,and you and your lords, your
wives and your concubines havedrunk wine from them, and you
have praised the gods of silverand gold, of bronze, iron, wood
and stone, which do not see orhear or know, but the God in
(20:40):
whose hand is your breath, theGod whose hand is your breath
and whose all your ways you havenot honored.
Then, from his presence, thehand was sent and this writing
was inscribed.
And this is the writing thatwas inscribed Mene, mene, teke,
parson, and this is theinterpretation of the matter
Mene, god has numbered the daysof your kingdom and brought it
(21:03):
to an end.
Teko, you have been weighed inthe balances and you have been
found wanting.
Perez, your kingdom was dividedand give to the Medes and the
Persians.
Then Belshazzar gave thecommand and Daniel was clothed
with purple, a chain of gold wasput around his neck and a
(21:24):
proclamation was made about himthat he should be the third
ruler in the kingdom.
That very night, belshazzar,the Chaldean king, was killed.
It's such an interestinginteraction.
Daniel comes in and he givesthis prophecy and says listen,
god has determined that yourdays are numbered.
You're not honoring him.
(21:46):
You, you've been warned, you'veseen this unfold, right?
You, you've all these choicesyou're making.
God, god has decided your daysare done.
And he says the word tekel is.
You've been found wanting.
You're lacking something.
You're lacking humility.
You've been weighed, you'vebeen set upon the balance and
(22:10):
God has determined that youdon't have it.
You don't have what it takes.
And then Parsons says yourkingdom is going to be divided.
Everything you've built,everything you have, all the
concubines, all the women, allthe gold, all of it will become
someone else's.
And then Belshazzar, at the endof the conversations, puts a
(22:35):
robe on Daniel, gives him goldand declares him the third
person in the country,completely missing what it just
was said.
I mean, I'm honest, if that'sme, I'm like now what?
But he doesn't.
He goes to what he knows.
He tries to buy, buy salvation.
(22:57):
He tries to buy, buy salvation.
He tries to.
Maybe, if I can, just maybe, ifI put it back in the temple,
maybe if I honor this prophetthat God has set before me,
maybe God will change things forme.
I'm going to trust and rely oneverything I know, instead of
giving my life and humblingmyself before the one who
(23:20):
created all of it.
I love what Daniel says.
He says you're worshiping thisstatue of gold and stone and
none of them even have breath.
They can't even hear you.
They're wasting your time, butthe one who has your breath in
his hand, you've mocked him.
(23:41):
Your days are numbered.
You've been found one thing andyour kingdom will be divided,
and immediately, immediately,that night, he dies.
(24:07):
You know, one of the things thatI wonder about in my life is
what kind of legacy I'm going toleave.
I think about that a lot.
I turned 39 yesterday and Itold Danny we had a birthday
party for 39, because I'm nothaving one for 40.
I'm going to lock myself in myroom and you guys are going to
leave me alone.
And so I turned 41.
(24:27):
But I sat there and I wasthinking about this, because I'm
not getting any younger.
I'm not, and I know that, and Iwonder what kind of life I'm
going to live.
What are people going to sayabout me?
What are they going to ask?
What are my kids going to thinkabout me?
And listen, I find that balancetough Because I've said this
(24:54):
before, I wouldn't mind beingrich.
It would be nice, there's a lotthat comes with it, but I'd like
to be able to just go out andbuy stuff, like, oh, the car's
broken down, that's okay, I'mjust going to go buy a new one.
I like my kids to be able tohave things, and every time they
ask me for a toy at the store,I'd love to say yes, but we
(25:15):
don't, and that's okay, I don'tneed you to do it anyways.
I think kids need to learn thatit's okay to say no.
But I wonder what my legacy isgoing to be.
I wonder what people are goingto say about me, and I think
about Belshazzar, and all hecould think about is look at all
the money that I have, look atall the power I have.
All these people here by theway, those thousands of people
(25:36):
who were there were probablyonly there because he fed them
and gave them a feast, that'sall.
They cared about Everything hehad, all the power he had all of
it.
You know, money and wealth isnot a bad thing, but money and
(25:57):
wealth is not a bad thing.
But money and wealth cancorrupt.
I think we see this right.
We see this when people have alot of money and sometimes the
way they act when they live isnot godly.
On the other hand, you seepeople who have a lot of money
and they're the most generous,god-loving people I've met in my
life, because money in itselfis not evil.
(26:20):
Money is money.
If you ask Griffin, we canprint it ourselves at home,
which you can, but that'sillegal.
Don't do that.
But money is just money.
But money can oftentimes revealthe heart of a person, having a
lot of it, especially so here.
Belshazzar has seen whatNebuchadnezzar went through he's
(26:43):
living and glorifying himselfand in the end he loses
everything, midnight gone andhis legacy is he's the guy that
God put a hand on the wall,wrote a message and took his
kingdom from him.
That's what he's known forThroughout all history.
That's what he's known for.
(27:04):
His life came to an abrupt end,and so the question has to be
if money is not something weshould value, what do we value?
What should we use our timewith?
(27:25):
When I ask the question, whatshould my legacy be at the end
of my life?
What is going to matter morethan anything?
I think that's an importantquestion Because I think that's
(27:47):
going to set the tone for how weunderstand and how we embrace
what's coming.
You know Luke, chapter 22,.
Jesus tells this parable.
So he tells the parableactually of the tenants.
And the parable of the tenantsis significant because we see a
couple of tenants and they'veall been given something, and
the master of the house says nowgo and invest this.
And two of them do and they gooff and they actually get a
(28:09):
return, and the third one isscared so he buries it and keeps
it hidden for himself and themaster coming back, he gives him
what exactly was gave him andthe master's like I don't
understand why you did that?
Like I've given you this.
Why?
Why did you not go do somethingwith it so shortly after that?
That parable, jesus is walkingalong and one of the things you
(28:31):
know that we all love to do ispay taxes.
Right, we all love to pay taxes.
It's the funnest part of ourentire life.
I mean, I can't wait for taxesevery year, I'm just kidding.
So Jesus is having thisconversation and the Pharisees
are trying to trap him and theysay you know, when you're
(28:52):
talking about paying taxes,should we pay taxes to Caesar or
not?
And so Jesus whips out a coinand he says hey, give me a coin.
And he holds it up and he sayswhose face is on this?
They say, well, caesar andJesus.
And I love it, man, becauseJesus is like the guy that drops
the mic and then just walksaway and you're like I don't
know what to do with this.
(29:13):
But he says to them he says nowgive Caesar what's Caesar's.
So go ahead, pay him his taxes.
That belongs to him, his imageis on it.
Give it to him.
But he finishes.
He says but give God whatbelongs to God.
Here's why this is important.
(29:33):
Jesus is actually calling backall the way to Genesis 1.
Genesis 1, verses 26 and 27,.
As God is creating the earthbefore he gets to us, he says
Now let us create mankind in ourimage, in our image, let people
(30:05):
bear my image.
So when Jesus says this, hesays give to God what belongs to
God.
The answer of what has theimage of God on it is you and me
.
You know, when you look at thetemple of the Old Testament, it
(30:30):
was beautiful the gold and thesilver but none of that Old
Testament.
It was beautiful, the gold andthe silver, but none of that
really mattered to God.
Why would it?
It's everything he wants.
What's God going to do withgold?
He doesn't need it.
That was for their benefit.
But what he really cared aboutwas he cared about Israel.
(30:51):
He cared about the chosenpeople.
He protected them.
He protected them in exile.
All throughout the OldTestament we see story after
story of how he's protected them, because people matter to God.
His chosen people matter to him.
And then we get to the NewTestament and we see that it
(31:13):
shifts.
Israel has fulfilled its roleand they've brought about the
church, and the church is thepeople of God.
I read something this week thatI thought was interesting.
It was talking about churchhurt and people that have been
hurt by the church.
And the truth is we've neverbeen hurt by the church.
(31:36):
We're hurt by the people of thechurch, because the church is
people and people are infallible.
People aren't perfect, but youand I, as image bearers of God,
we matter.
He values us.
So the question at the end ofour life has to be what have we
(32:00):
invested in?
One of the words in our visionstatement is invest, and I don't
think that's by accident.
I actually have this documentif you'd like to read it, but it
says that refocused church.
We're not just trying to builda crowd, we're trying to build
lives.
We're committed to investing inpeople, because that's what God
(32:22):
values most.
People are eternal, people bearhis image and people are worth
the cost.
Eternal people bear his imageand people are worth the cost.
Everything we do is focused onhow do we invest in people?
It says.
This is the heart behind ourvision here.
(32:43):
We believe that the mostmeaningful use of our time,
money and talent is not to buildour own empires, but to invest
in what bears the image of God.
We do this intentionally whenwe invest our time, our finances
and our service to build God'skingdom.
Our goal is to increasemissions giving locally and
globally, to support localprojects that reveal God's love,
(33:07):
strengthening community groupsfor discipleship, creating
service opportunities inside andoutside the church and
partnering with other churchesto maximize impact.
That is our vision is to investwith other people and invest
together into the lives of thosearound us because they bear the
image of God, which means theyhave value to God.
(33:27):
And when Jesus says, give Godwhat's God, I understand that
God wants people.
He wants people to know hisname.
He wants people to bear hisimage.
At the end of the day, what youvalue is what you worship.
(33:51):
You are not an accident.
You are not forgotten.
You are not forgotten.
You are not just another facein the crowd.
You are deeply, undeniably,intentionally valued by God.
He formed you, knows you andplaced his very image in you.
Nothing else hear me listennothing else in all of creation
(34:16):
carries that honor.
Not the stars, not the oceans,not the mountains, only you.
Your worth doesn't come fromyour job title, your bank
account, your social status oryour past.
Your worth is sealed by the onewho made you.
Your identity is found in thehands of the creator who called
(34:38):
you his own.
Here's the truth.
Nothing else will ever satisfyyour soul like God will.
The world offers cheapimitations, money, fame, success
, but they'll all leave youempty.
Only God fulfills, only Godcompletes, only God saves.
(35:00):
That's it.
Belshazzar was holding on tothings that were never going to
do what he wanted them to do.
This is why it's so importantthat we invest our time and our
money and our resources into thekingdom, because the only thing
(35:23):
that God values is people.
That's what matters.
That's why Jesus came.
That's why Jesus died.
God values people so much thathe sent his only son not to
judge the world, but to save it.
Jesus didn't die for buildings.
He didn't bleed for brands.
(35:45):
He gave his life for people.
That means that life isn'tabout building our little
kingdoms, it's about buildinghis.
You build your kingdom bychasing wealth, status and
security.
You build God's kingdom byloving people, lifting up the
broken, investing in eternity.
And I've said this before andI'll say it forever the only
(36:08):
thing you get to take to heavenis people, the ones in your home
, the ones in your workplace,the ones you walk past every day
, the ones you've written off.
That's it.
That's what matters.
So, as a church.
Let's live differently, let'slove boldly, let's give
(36:28):
generously and let's investfearlessly, because, when it's
all said and done, the questionwon't be what did you build for
yourself?
It'll be who did you bring withyou?
That's my legacy.
Who did I bring with me?
(36:53):
That's the only thing in theworld worth seeking, to know
that my life made a difference.
If God grants me another 39years, that's the question that
(37:16):
should resonate, that should bepart of my everyday conversation
in my head.
Who am I bringing with me,church?
Who are we bringing with us?
Let me tell you, there's a lotof people in this world that
don't know Jesus Way more thando sometimes.
Those people matter to God, sothey should matter to us.
(37:42):
Let's pray.
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