Well, it's lovely to see you all out again tonight. And as it's already been said, we bid you a very warm welcome in our Savior's name. Thank Andrew for that lovely word of testimony, and also to David for leading the meeting. You know, there's a little verse in the book of Job, chapter 33, verse 14. And it says there, God speaketh once, yea, twice, yet man perceiveth it not. In other words, there are times whenever God will speak to you, and because of your dullness of hearing in a spiritual sense, you'll not discern the voice of God. And then God in grace and mercy comes again, and God speaks a second time, and maybe God speaks a third time, and God speaks a fourth time. And it's all because God wants you to listen, and God wants you to hear what he's trying to communicate to you. Now I know I can speak for David as well as myself whenever I say that night after night we have sought God earnestly for messages. And I believe tonight that God has given me a message, and it's a message that many of you will have perhaps heard before. Indeed, a lot of what David said last night confirmed this message that God had laid upon my heart on Friday and Saturday as well. Because I want you to turn tonight to the book of Daniel, chapter 5, and I want to speak upon the subject, the night God gatecrashed Belshazzar's party. the night God gatecrashed Belshazzar's party. If you were in the meeting last night, you'll know that David mentioned Belshazzar's impious feast from Daniel chapter 5. And that's the very message that God had laid upon my heart on Saturday. And therefore, I can say with confidence that I believe that this is God's message for maybe one soul or more in this meeting tonight. God speaketh once. yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. Could it be tonight that God is trying to reaffirm what was said last night to your soul in this Monday night meeting? It's Daniel chapter 5. We're going to read together from the first verse. It says there, Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords and drank wine before the thousand. Belshazzar, whilst he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple, which was in Jerusalem, that the king and his princes and his wives and his concubines might drink therein. Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God, which was at Jerusalem, and the king and his princes, his wives, and his concubines drank in them. They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and of silver and of brass, of iron, wood and of stone. In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace. And the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. And then over to verse 25. And this is the writing that was written, meaning, This is the interpretation of the thing. God hath numbered thy kingdom and finished it. Tycho, thou art weighed in the balances and art found wanting. Perez, thy kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians. Then commanded Belshazzar and they clothed Daniel with scarlet through the chain of gold about his neck. and made a proclamation concerning him that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. And that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldean slain, and Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about three score and two years old. We know that God will bless this reading of his word to every heart. Now let's still our hearts and seek God's face in a word of prayer together. Let's pray. Our Father in Heaven, we thank Thee, O God, for this meeting so far. We thank Thee, O God, for a life that has been saved and converted. We thank Thee, O God, for the testimony that we have heard tonight. And Father, it's our earnest prayer that as a result of this meeting that there will be many more testimonies wrought under heaven to God's saving grace. Father, we thank Thee tonight, O God, for Thy providence. We thank Thee, O God, that every person who has been brought into this house tonight has been brought in in the will of God to hear this message. And Father, we pray that Thou wilt speak with the voice that wakes the dead. We pray in Jesus' name and mercy that Thou wilt come again. And Lord, may we reaffirm what Thou hast already been saying in these meetings. And Father, we pray tonight that there will be a response from the heart of unsaved men and women to the call of the Gospel. And, Father, we pray that thou wilt save. And, Father, we pray that thou wilt have mercy. And, Father, we pray that in answer to prayer, and for the glory of King Jesus, that, Father, thou wilt snatch sinners as brands from the burning, set their feet upon the rock, Christ Jesus, put a new song in their hearts, establish their goings, and set them free from Satan and from sin. Father, I confess tonight that I need thy help. Lord, I'm just clay. Lord, I'm just weak, just a sinner saved by grace. But, Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast said in Thy Word, ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you. And, Father, tonight I am trusting Thee for power. Thine can never fail. Words which Thou Thyself shall give shall and must prevail. We pray all these things with a single eye to Thy glory. giving thanks in Jesus' name, for he alone is worthy. Amen. About 540 years before the day that Jesus Christ entered into this world, a man by the name of Belshazzar was the richest man on this earth. Not only was he the richest man, but he was also the most famous man. Belshazzar was king of Babylon. Babylon at that time was the biggest city in God's earth. It was a world empire. It was the biggest city. It was the most rich city in the world. It was the most lucrative city. And Belshazzar was king of Babylon. The richest man of the richest city on all of God's earth. Now the city of Babylon was established right upon the river Euphrates. The river of Euphrates flowed underneath the city. And there were great walls that surrounded Babylon that were built upon that river on great bridges, and they surrounded the city. Those walls were about 135 feet thick, so wide and so strong worthy that several chariots could pass around the walls of that city side by side. Babylon was not only famous for its great walls and for the great river that flowed through the city and for the great king that sat upon the throne, that Babylon was also famous because of its hanging gardens. Most of us tonight have heard of the seven wonders of the world and one of those seven wonders is the famous hanging gardens of Babylon. And so we know tonight that Babylon was a real city. Now in Daniel chapter 5 verse number 9, this great king Belshazzar, the king of Babylon, decides that he's going to organize a great feast and a great party. And it reads there in the first verse of chapter 5 that Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords. And so here's the most powerful man in the world. And he invites the next thousand most powerful men in the world to come to his palace to indulge in this great party. I dare say tonight that this was the largest party that the world had ever seen. In all probability, it was the most expensive party that had ever been organized. And the most lavished feast that the world had ever seen was now set in the midst of these 1,000 people. And it was just a night of drunkenness and a night of revelry, a night that the world had never seen such a party of this magnitude before. And then midway through the party, something happened. You see, Belshazzar had invited 1,000 of his lords, 1,000 lords and princes of this world to come into his party. But dear friends, he forgot to invite one person into his heart, and into his palace, and into his home, and into his life. And that person was God. And then suddenly, unexpectedly, without invitation, an uninvited guest came to Belshazzar's party. And that uninvited guest was God. You see dear friend, if you do not invite God into your life, and you do not invite Jesus Christ into your life to be your saviour, you will by your sin, invite God one day to come and to be your judge. Your sin is inviting the wrath of a holy God even as we speak in this meeting tonight. God was an uninvited guest in this wonderful party as far as the world was concerned. You know, this world is just like the kingdom of Babylon. I believe that there's a Babylonian spirit that is coming into society that is just like the spirit in Babylon all those years ago. If you read the book of Revelation, you will find that the spirit and the kingdom of Babylon, before the Lord Jesus Christ comes back to this world, will be resurrected. And the spirit of Babylon was a pleasure-crazed spirit. And we are living in a world tonight that is pleasure-crazing. We are living in a world that has forgotten about eternity. We are living tonight in a world that has forgotten about God and forgotten about the Bible and forgotten about sin and about righteousness and about a great white throne judgment that is to come. The spirit of Babylon is prevalent and present in the world tonight. And dear friend, I want to tell you that it's present in this town in which we find ourselves tonight in this meeting. And I want to tell you something else. God was an unexpected and uninvited guest to this party. And the Bible says, be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh. Jesus Christ, who died upon the cross, shed his blood to save sinners, and was buried and rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures, the Bible says he's coming back again. Dear friend, he's coming back to a world that is neither expecting him, nor inviting him, and certainly does not want him. Scripture says, as the days of Noah were, so also shall the coming of the Son of Man be. What sort of days did Noah live in? He lived in a pleasure-crazed society. Men were marrying. There's nothing wrong with that. Men were eating and drinking. And there's nothing wrong with eating and drinking things that we need for the body. But I believe they were doing much more than that. They were consumed with their eating. They were consumed with their drinking. They were consumed with their own lifestyles until the day that Noah and his family entered into the ark and God came and the flood came and took them all away. And the Bible says that the day that Jesus Christ comes, the world will be exactly the same. People will be eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage, completely unaware that judgment is coming. And maybe tonight you are like King Belshazzar. You say to me, how can I be like that king? I don't have the money that he had. I don't have the palace that he had. I don't have the kingdom that he had. I am not like Belshazzar in any shape or form. I don't even speak the language that Belshazzar spoke. No, but you are like Belshazzar in that tonight, if you're not saved, your pleasure quiesce, and you're living for sin, and you're living for self, and your sin is inviting the judgment of God upon your soul. And I want to speak to you tonight and warn you that one day, unexpectedly, God's going to end your party. And one day, perhaps unexpectedly, you'll be ushered out into eternity and the party will be over and it'll be judgment. And I want to speak tonight upon the night God gatecrashed Belshazzar's party. Some things that I want you to notice. First of all, we'll look at Belshazzar's extravagant party. You know, he threw this great party and it was just so extravagant. There's nothing wrong with getting together with a few friends and at innocency enjoying a bit of fellowship with them and enjoying a bit of crack and maybe going out for a meal together. But this was much more than that. This was absolute extravagance. And there were certain things that characterized and marked this extravagant party. The first thing is in verse number one, and I believe it's indulgence. This party was marked by indulgence. And God hates indulgence. Verse 1, Delshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords and drank wine before the thousand. You see, I believe that this party and these thousand men were just bent on entertainment. Come and entertain us. Just bent on lust. That's all they wanted. Just to fulfill the lusts of the flesh. And that entirely was the spirit of Babylon. They were bent on entertainment. And the wine flowed all night. And as the wine flowed in, the wits went out. You just read the first four verses. It speaks about the wine. It speaks about the drink. And it just seemed to flow all night long. Verse number one, they drank wine before the thousand. And then in verse number two, it says, whilst they tasted the wine. Verse number three, it says, at the end of the verse, his wives and his concubines took these vessels and drank in them. Verse number four, they drank wine and they praised the gods of gold and silver. And you see, this party centered around drunkenness. Drunkenness. And I want to tell you tonight that alcohol is no friend to any man, least of all a Christian. You know what the Bible says about alcohol? In Proverbs chapter 20, verse number 1, it says, wine is a mocker. Strong drink is raging. You know what the Bible says? It says, look not upon the wine. Now people come to me and they say, Roger, do you think a Christian should drink? You know, the Bible says don't even look at the stuff. And if the Bible says don't look at the wine and don't look at the strong drink, it hardly gives you a license to go and guzzle the stuff, now does it? Don't even look at it, the Bible says. It says, who hath woe and who hath sorrow? And if sorrow of heart and redness of eyes, they that tarry long at the drink. And I'll tell you, these thousand men in Belshazzar's party, while they could put on a smile and a bit of a laugh, I'll tell you something, I bet they were absolutely miserable. Because the Bible says that wine is a mocker. You might think it's a good thing and a wise thing to go out and get your fill of drink. I'll tell you, one day your wine will mock you. You know, I've spoken to alcoholics and they can't get the victory over the bottle. And as they look at that bottle and they've got absolutely no victory or authority to get over that drink and they just would get rid of it if they could, but they've got a physical and mental addiction to it and they look at that bottle, it's as if that bottle mocks them. You can't even get victory over a bottle. You see, wine is a mocker. Strong drink is raging. One of the best Baptist preachers that ever lived in this country was a man by the name of Willie Mullen. Whenever Willie Mullen was a young man of 13 or 14 years of age, and you can read about it in his little book, Tramp After God, Willie Mullen spoke to a man about a certain horse race. And he says, you know, there's a horse, and I hear it's a real good one, and if you put money on it, you'll probably get a good return. And that man bet on that horse that came in, and he won a small fortune. And so he went and found young Willie Mullen in the town of Newtownards, and says, listen, that horse won. Come on in, and they'll buy you a drink. And so young Willie Mullen, as a young man, went into a pub, and he says, I took my first drink that day. And not only did I have my first drink, but he came out of that pub, and I was an alcoholic. I've never met a person yet that'll stand up and say, I decided one day that it would be a good thing to become an alcoholic. Doesn't work that way. See, wine's a mocker. Whenever I was 16 years of age, I got a job one summer. I was studying at Tech and was doing a course in engineering and I got a job one summer. up and lurking there. And I was working for this engineering company. It was a very small company. And one day, this bench came in to get shot, blasted, and welded. It was an old antique thing. And the lady that sent that in says, you know, I've got a little bit of painting that you could come and do at the house. And so I said, certainly. And I ended up painting for a day. And this lady, there was something about her. She was just lonely. And I went to learn about how to weld, and engineer, and turn lathes, and milling machines. And I spent nearly all summer at this lady's house painting. She lived in this vast estate in Lurgan. And I painted the house, and I painted the outhouses, and I painted fences, and I painted all sorts of things. And you know what? That lady, she lived her life. She'd get a small fortune from her parents that was given down to her. And every Monday morning, she would get into her sports car. She would drive off to the supermarket. She would come back with just a few little things to eat. And she'd come back with maybe six bags of Contro and strong drink. And she looked so normal on a Monday. And then she used to come out every afternoon full drunk. And she was the loneliest woman I ever met. And you know, that scared me. Because at that time in my life, there were people that I was coming across that said that although they went to church, there's nothing wrong with taking a drink. And I began to think, how did that lady end up like that? She decided one day that she was going to become an alcoholic. And dear friend, I want to tell you, watch the indulgence. Be careful of it. You know, I've never seen an advertising company yet for tannins, or smithics, or bass, or whatever it is, that will show you the end result of alcohol. They'll show some big tough guy standing in a bar and he's got a six pack. He'll never have a beer belly. He'll never have about three chins. He'll never have flab hanging down under his arms. He'll never have a big red nose and big red ears and an empty wallet. But he'll be standing at a bar with a pint in his hand and the chest stuck out and the foot up in the bar stool talking to some beautiful woman and he just looks like a man. It'll not show some teenager on his nose and mouth vomiting into the pavement. It'll not show some little boy of five or six years old sitting up on his bed crying because he just wonders where his daddy is and he'd love to see him. It doesn't show some wife beaten black and blue showing the results of alcohol. Doesn't show that. Doesn't show people sitting crying in a circle at Alcoholics Anonymous saying, I can't get victory. It'll never show you that. And I'm warning you tonight, just be careful. Don't listen to the devil's lies. Not only was there an abundance of drink, but there was an abundance of food. There were gluttons. Christians don't like to talk about that. It's easy to talk about people that drink too much, but it's about people that eat too much. We don't sometimes eat until we're sick. Many times we eat a Chinese and sit down before it and get finished, and you're just lying over the table. Boy, I'm never going to eat a Chinese again. And then two days later, you're thinking, I don't know what they're putting in this stuff, whether it's MSG or BSE or whatever they're putting in it. I don't know what it is. But there's something in us that just craves for this. And these people were belly worshipers. You know, the Bible talks in Philippians 3, verse 19 about people whose God is their belly. And they're belly worshipers. They just worship their belly. They fill it with drink and they fill it with food. And then the Bible says that their end is destruction. And so this party was marked by indulgence. It was also marked by idolatry. And God hates idolatry. Look at verse number two. Belshazzar, whilst he tasted the wine, commanded them to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem. Verse three, they brought out the golden vessels and then it says that they drank in them and praised the gods of gold and silver and brass. wood, iron, and stone. There was idolatry. Babylon as a city was the most godless city in all the world. It was founded by a man who was a great hunter, and his name was Nimrod. And you might recall the time in scripture that speaks about the Tower of Babel, whenever all the world got together and tried to build their own way into heaven, just like a lot of people tonight, and they were idolaters. And whenever God destroyed that tower and scattered, it wasn't long before Babylon rose up again. And then after Babylon's destroyed, the Bible says, Babylon's going to rise up again. And the spirit of Babylon is in the world because we live in a world that is full of idolatry, sacraments. You see, Belshazzar, his father, before he got converted to God and to Jehovah, stole vessels out of the temple in Jerusalem that were to be used to worship Jehovah God. And then old Belshazzar says, well, bring out the fancy vessels, and let's fill them a drink, and let's praise the gods of Babylon. And they were committing idolatry. Now, I'm sure there's nobody tonight that's stolen vessels from Israel, and you're worshiping gods of gold and silver and stone. But there's respectable sacrilege in the Church of Jesus Christ today. I've stood at many a funeral. some poor man or woman's give up the ghost and everybody stands around and they'll say their prayers, they'll say amen and then they're off to the pub. Or they'll bring some little baby into the church and they'll stand up and they'll promise that they're going to bring it up in the fear and admonition of the Lord and they'll get a little bit of water sprinkled around its head. And they'll never open the Bible again. And they'll tell the poor old preacher, you know, I'll go back to your church someday. Thanks for what you've done. And they're never back until it's a wedding, a funeral, or another birth. Hatches, matches, and dispatches. That's why most people are in God's house today. I wonder, is there any idols in your life? Maybe that boyfriend, or that girlfriend, or that car. Maybe that job you've got. Maybe it's your CD collection. Maybe it's something else you have. Maybe I don't know what it is. Maybe it's a musical instrument. I don't know. But I wonder, is there idolatry in your life? God hates idolatry. Not only was there idolatry, and not only was there indulgence, but there was immorality at this party. And I dare say there's hardly a party that you could go to, especially if there's drink at it, where there'll not be immorality. It says there in the end of verse number two, that he drank with his princes, his wives, and his concubines. That little word, concubines, is an interesting word. It's translated three different ways in the original Hebrew language, which the Old Testament scripture is written in. And this time it's translated. It comes from a little verb that means to become rancid, or to become obscene, or to become corrupt. And that's the word that's used to describe these ladies. They were ladies that were rancid, obscene, and corrupt. And Belshazzar had brought them into his house because he knew that they could get whatever he wanted of them. They had absolutely no respect for themselves. And there was immorality in this party. You know, we live in a world that's full of immorality. David spoke upon it last night. Fornication, adultery, homosexuality, Cheating. Unwanted pregnancies. You know what, I think that's one of the biggest tragedies. Some young girl goes out and gets drunk. Commits an act of sexual sin. Finds in a few weeks time or a few months time that she's pregnant. Decides that this baby that's now in her womb, this life that's in her womb, is going to be an inconvenience to her. Just go across the water and get it sucked out and go back to your early life. Forget about it. I'll be your friend. You'll not forget about it. You'll not forget about it. Tragedy, immorality. And I'll tell you something else that's in the church as well. Now, I know tonight that there's people who say the church is full of hypocrites. And you're probably right. There's a lot of them. And people who come to church, And people will come to gospel meetings, and people will come to youth rallies, and people will come to gospel missions, and they'll stick their hat on their head. They'll put a suit on. They'll stick a tie on. They'll come with the Bible on their arm. You know why they're there? Because they just want to spy out the talent. They want to see who's there, and who's single, and who isn't. And they haven't a thought in the world of what the preachers preach. They just want to get over and get the little. It used to be, when I was young, it was the little black book. And the little black book wasn't the Bible, but it was a little book in his head. And he used to leaf through the book and get the number. Now it's the text messages. And you come out and you see how many text messages you can get in one night. And it's just like some person going out to a pub or a disco or a dance and asking for as many numbers and trying to get a date. People bring it into the church. And I'll tell you, if that's your motive for being here tonight, you're here for the wrong reasons. This isn't some sort of Christian dating agency. Party was also marked by indifference. You see, as these people were partying, all thousand of them, Not one of them had a thought of God. There wasn't one of them that had a care in the world. They were just so indifferent as to what was going on spiritually within their souls and what was going on in the spiritual realm and in the eternal realm. They were completely indifferent. Their philosophy was eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die. Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die." They'd no thought of God, they'd no thought of their soul, and they'd no thought of eternity. I wonder, do you ever think? Do you ever actually think about things? Christianity's a thinking man's religion, you know. It's for people that think. There's nothing as intellectually satisfying as Christianity. There's nothing as mentally stirring and stimulating as studying the Bible. It's intellectually satisfying and Christianity is for people who think. The problem today is people don't think. They don't think about their soul. They don't think that their life might not be right with God. They don't think that there might be a heaven and there might be a hell. And all that we see around us is not all that there is. Do you ever think? It's amazing. I don't know about you, but whenever I grew up in Lisbon, I used to watch these young fellas, and back in those days it was little SRnovas, and they would have this beat going, and they would sit in the driver's seat, and they would be almost sitting as far over on top of the gear stick, and they'd be driving down the road like this, with the elbow out the window, and this beat, beat, beat going, and then they'd get out of the car, they'd put in the Walkman or the iPod, they'd go into a shop, they'd take it out, the music's going, they'd jump back into their little car with this big exhaust, and they'd put on the beat again, and they'd trail their girlfriends up the street like this here, Like they are somebody and they've got their little baseball cap on, and their cap attracts it, and all the rest of it. And then they go home and they stick it on the computer, the internet, the TV, the CD, all because they don't want to be alone with their own thoughts. I challenge you now. Soon after you're leaving this meeting, get into your car and turn the radio off. Go home. Don't turn on the television. Don't turn on your CD player. Don't turn on your iPod or whatever it is. Get changed, drink it into bed and think. Because the devil will always occupy your mind because he's scared, lest people should think about their latter end. The Bible says, consider your ways. But these people in this party, there's so much just to entertain them that they just didn't want to think. All of them. You see, that's why there's absolutely no comfort at all in being with the majority. The majority is not always right, you know. In fact, so often the majority is totally wrong. The Bible says, broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many there be that find. But narrow is the way that leadeth to life, and few there be that go in thereat." You see, whenever Noah built the ark, only eight people thought this was the right thing to do. And all the world thought that Noah was wrong. But you know something? Noah was right. And I don't care tonight how many people stand with me. I don't care how many people tonight will say, Roger, you're right, we're going with you. You're right, the Bible's right, the Gospel's right. It doesn't matter how many people go with me. God says it, I believe it, and that settles it. I don't need the majority, because one man with God is always a majority. You know the tragedy with the church tonight is this? They're thinking, if we can get some famous person seen, get some basketball player, some footballer, some pop star, or some movie star to trust Christ, then it will legitimize the whole thing and will not look stupid. Jesus Christ legitimizes Christianity. All I need to know is that Christ died for my sins, that he was buried, and his resurrection is enough to convince me that Christianity is the real deal. And I don't need Britney Spears or anybody else to come along and say, I've done the right thing. I've got the witness of the spirit within. And sir, that's enough for me. You might be indifferent tonight. Belshazzar and his thousand men were indifferent, but judgment was at the door. Not only were they indulgent, and idolatrous, and immoral, and indifferent, but they were entirely ignorant. They were ignorant that judgment was about to come. You see, what Belshazzar did not realize was this. And Herodotus, who was an Astorian, and Josephus will tell us that that city that was built upon the river Euphrates, that very night, the Medo-Persian army had cut off the river and dammed it off, and were now channeling all the water from that Euphrates River into a nearby lake. that they might pass on a dry riverbed under the city's walls, infiltrate the city, and come up from underneath. And Belshazzar knew absolutely nothing about it. And the sad thing was that the watchmen that were sitting upon the walls did not see what was going on either, because they were drunken as well. See how wide is a locker? And you'll get yourself into some sort of stupor that you think everything's OK. Whenever I was younger and those nights you'd have gone out to different places that I shouldn't have been as a Christian and some fellow would have come up with starry eyes and put his arms around you and everything's love and he's all so happy but I'll tell you the drugs were if he pinched your wallet or did anything. And maybe tonight you're in some respectable religious stupor and you think that everything is well. Remember the Titanic? Whenever they got into the Titanic and they had the big ballroom there, and you've maybe read the books or seen the documentaries about it or the film, and they were all singing and they were dancing, and they didn't realize that there was an iceberg ahead. And whenever the iceberg hit the ship and tore the side out of it and the water was coming in, people just danced away. And they didn't realize that they were sinking and they were going down. Belshazzar did not realize that he was sinking and he was going down, and judgment was at the door. But I'll tell you, whenever the ship began to fill with water, they soon changed their tune because whenever the ship was going down, what were they singing? Nearer, my God, to thee. The old engineer, it says, God himself will not even sink this ship. You see, there's no atheists on a battlefield. There's no atheists on a battlefield. Whenever life's going down and judgment and eternity and death is near, dear friend, there's not so many atheists. Because there's something in the heart that bears witness to the reality of judgment to come. Because we know, we know that there's payday someday. Belshazzar's extravagant party. But you'll notice something else here, and it's Belshazzar's extreme perplexity. You see, as this party was in full swing, and King Belshazzar was standing in the middle of this party, singing and dancing and laughing, All of a sudden, the tone of the party changed. And Belshazzar looked, and he saw on a great wall a large image of a man's hand that began to write upon the wall. It says in verse 5, in the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand that wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace, and the king saw part of the hand that wrote. Now, what was the writing? Well, it was writing in the Chaldean tongue, meenie, meenie, tickle ye first. Now, I want to tell you tonight that Belshazzar, as he looked at that, he could understand what the words read. But he couldn't understand what they meant. In the English language, it would be like a hand coming tonight and writing in this wall behind me the words numbered, numbered, weighed, divided. And we could all understand what the words are. But the problem with Belshazzar was that he could not understand what the words meant. And as many as a person will lift up the Bible, and they'll read it, and they can understand the English of it, they can understand the grammar of it, they can read the words, and they can understand what the words are, but there's a spiritual blindness that they can't discern really what the words mean. And maybe you're the same tonight. You can understand, ye must be born again, but you don't understand what that means. And you can make a kind of mental assent to the truth of what God is writing upon the wall and to what God is writing in scripture, but you can't understand it. And all of a sudden, Belshazzar's filled with fear. The Bible says that thoughts troubled him. It says his very countenance was changed. It says the joints of his loins were loosed. Now, I remember whenever I was learning how to drive, And wee this wee driving instructor and I'll tell you, he let you away with absolutely nothing. And we'd be sitting at a roundabout, and he'd say, now, hold the clutch at biting point. And you would hold the clutch, and he would make you hold it, and hold it, and hold it, and keep the handbrake on until the front of the car rose up. And I was that nervous, in case he'd shout at me, that the legs started to shake. And you're on kangaroo petrol. And whenever you let the handbrake off, the little car bounced, and bounced, and bounced, and either stalled, or eventually got going. And it was just like the joints of your loins were loosed, and the old leg was shaking. And that's what happened to Bill Chesire. And he was filled with fear. And he was out of his depth now because something had happened that he couldn't explain and he couldn't understand and something supernatural had happened. And I'll tell you that's why people get so nervous whenever you speak to them about the things of God. Well, you talk to a person about the Bible, so have you ever thought about it, and they get all hot below the collar, and they'll start backpedaling, and they'll start closing the door on your face, and they'll say, I've got stuff to do, I've got children to put to bed, I've got something in the oven, there's somebody on the phone here, and they just feel out of their depth. Because they cannot understand what they're experiencing, and they can't understand something concerning the Word of God. You see, Belshazzar's life was changed in an instant. And your life could be changed in an instant. A text message could change your life. A phone call could change your life. A doctor's appointment could change your life. Anything could change your life. God has a thousand ways of getting you to listen. But the problem was with Belshazzar that he listened too late. And the message was a message of judgment. You know, sometimes Christians will quote that verse in prayer. It's time for thee, O Lord, to work, for they have made void thy law. And that's right. But we have this kind of idea that God is obligated to work in mercy because people have broken God's law. And God is obligated to save and send revival. But God is more obligated to send judgment because they've made God's law void. You see, the king's sin had invited God's judgment. King's heart hadn't invited God's mercy, and the king was in a terrible state. He was filled with fear, and he was filled with confusion, and he was filled with discouragement, and he was depressed, and he was downcast. And how many people are there like that in the world tonight? Filled with fear. Can hardly get out of bed in the morning, unless they've got a load of Prozac and Valium into them. And I'll tell you, some of these prescription drugs are the best friends that people have in all the world. Because we're living in a world that's filled with fear and filled with confusion and filled with depression. And it's because we've made void the law of God, and there's nobody to stand up and discern and to tell people what they're writing in the wall says. The authorities will try and close your mouth. You notice something else. The vanity of the world's comfort. The vanity of the world's comfort. You would have thought that this might have called Belshazzar to cry unto God, but it didn't. You look there at verse 7, the king cried aloud to bring forth the astrologers, or bring forth the New Age boys, bring forth the people that dabble in the occult, bring forth the horoscopists, bring forth the astrologers, the people that look at the stars, and they'll give me the answers, but they didn't. Then he says, bring forth the soothsayers. And they couldn't give him any answers either. And then he tried to find the answer with money. And he says, if you can give me the answers, I'll clothe you in purple, put a ring on your finger. I'll give you whatever you want. But just give me the answers. Now, I was stopped by a guy on Saturday in Belfast. And he got me to fill in a little form. I thought maybe he was a Christian. And it was all these relevant questions. And then I asked him where he was from. And he says, well, I'm from England. And I says, who are you with, or what are you with? And he says, well, it's a group called Dianetics. And I says, oh, I've heard of them boys. L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology. You know, I'd be born again Christian. And I just said, well, that's great. And he just walked off. It's amazing how you can start the conversation by telling people that you're a Bible-believing Christian. And it's just another New Age philosophy repackaged And you look at boys like Tom Cruise, and Kirstie Alley, and Oprah Winfrey, and some of these people that have got everything, but they don't have anything. Because they're still looking for answers, and they're turning to all these wonderful and weird religions just to try and get answers. Maybe you've tried to find the answers in religion. You'll not find it there. Maybe you've tried to find the answers in astrology or horoscopes, because you want to know what the future holds. You'll not find it there either. Maybe in social workers, shrinks, or politicians, or doctors, or lawyers, or whatever it is, economists. And you just cannot find the answers. You only find the answers, dear friend, in Jesus Christ. I don't know if you ever listened to Talkback, or Nolan, or any of these things. But I just think it just shows me the vanity of the world's comfort. Some person comes on complaining about something, that the neighbour's cat's doing its business in their garden, and then they'll phone somebody else, and some boy will come on, and somebody else is depressed because of the smell, and somebody will come on and say, well you need to try this, and we need to get more police on the streets, and we need to get more money into the economy, and we need to set up another committee, and we need to get the politicians involved, and we need to take out the stormant, and dear friend, they've been saying it for years, and people still haven't got the answer. Is society a better place tonight than it was 50 years ago? Is it? I don't think it is, dear friend. Vanity of the world's colour. Acres of diamonds. Mountains of gold. Rivers of silver. Jewels on toll. All these together couldn't buy you and me peace in the valley or a conscience. It's free. How's your conscience today? Plagued with sins of the past? Plagued with the life that you've lived? Maybe lying on your bed at night, hoping your past doesn't catch up with you. Hoping that that lie you told never gets uncovered and found out, or that relationship that you had, or that sin that you committed never be found out, and tonight your conscience isn't free. And your conscience is condemning you. And that's why you get into your little SR Nova and turn on the bass and get the subwoofer going in the back because you can't face up to the conscience and the conviction of it. Dear friend, you need to be careful. Because the Bible says that you can sear your conscience with a hot iron. I don't know if you've ever burned a finger or something like that and the skin after a couple of days goes crusty and hard. And you can stick pins in it and do whatever. And you just don't feel that anymore. Jesus said to Saul of Damascus, he said to Saul of Damascus, why kick ye against the pricks? Because you'll come a day or never, you'll not feel the pricks anymore. And God will just let you go down the valley into God's hell. Then the king calls for Daniel. Verse number 10, it says, the queen, by reason of the words of the king, this was the king's real wife. And obviously, for some reason, she'd been shut out of this party. And then she heard about what had happened, and she came in, and she said to the king, oh, king, live forever. Let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed. And she goes on and on. And then she says about a young fella. Well, he's not a young fella anymore, because he's been in Babylon for 70 years. He's an old man now. And his name's Daniel. And old Daniel, he'll be able to help you out, because he's got the spirit of the gods upon him. See, she didn't realize that it was the Holy Ghost. Daniel was a man filled with God, the Holy Ghost, and so the king calls for Daniel. Verse 13, Daniel was brought before the king, and the king spake unto Daniel, Art thou that Daniel which art of the children of the captivity of Judah? Starts asking all these questions, points to the writing in the wall, tells them that can't find the answer in the world, and the soothsayers, the astrologers, but oh Daniel, if you can find the answer, I'll give you whatever you like. Isn't it amazing that whenever everything is said and done, and a man or a woman's lying in their deathbed and they're troubled about eternity they'll call for the old preacher or they'll call for the priest or they'll call for somebody to come and pray with them and try and comfort them because they know that there's something out there they know that there's something out there Daniel verse 17 refuses his money not interested in money and Daniel also purposes in his heart to tell him the truth I don't know where you worship or where you go, but I just hope your minister is telling you the truth. Not saying that if you live a good wee life, you'll get to heaven. But he's telling you that you need to be born again. So you didn't come to gloss over sin, then. You didn't come to try and get favor with Belshazzar. And I want to tell you tonight that we don't come to try and maybe make you feel good. We do come to tell you there's a God in heaven that loves you and a God in heaven that will save you. But dear friend, we need to hit the right buttons and pay him sin for what it really is. One old Puritan by the name of Hugh Latimer stood one day before King Henry VIII and all the kind of fella he was. Not many wives he had, but not many of them survived. And old Latimer stood before King Henry VIII, and Henry VIII asked him to preach. And he preached in the text in Hebrews, whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. Henry VIII just listened, and old Latimer went his way. A couple of weeks went by, and Latimer was brought back. And the king says to him, listen, Latimer, I remember the message that you preached the last time. Just you remember who I am. I am the king of England, and I could take your head off your shoulders. He says, oh, you might be the king of England, but I serve the king of kings. And he can destroy both body and soul in hell. And he opened up his Bible and preached whoremongers and adulterers. God will judge. And Daniel reminds Belshazzar of his privileges. Talks about his father, Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar was a man that had been converted and saved. And maybe you can look at people in your family that are converted and saved, but it doesn't seem to affect you. Then he tells Belshazzar about his pride. Verse 22, thou hast not humbled thine heart. And it's dirty, rotten, stinking old pride, Belshazzar, that you'll not let go. And then he reminds Belshazzar of his knowledge. Oh, you've got enough knowledge to save you. Thou knewest all this. You've heard your father's testimony. How did he turn to the living God, and you're not following in his footsteps? And then he told him of his rebellion. Verse 23, thou hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven. Then he talked about his sacrilege in verse 23 as well, about the gods of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of iron. And then most of all, at the end of verse 23, he says these words, and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, thou hast not glorified. You asked me the question tonight, why did God put me upon this earth? God put you upon this earth that you might glorify him. And whenever man sins and goes his own way, his life no longer glorifies God. And your breath tonight is just like Belshazzar, and it's in the hand of God. And then you'll notice, lastly, Belshazzar's eternal peril. Because Daniel interprets the writing in the wall, and he reads the word, mene. Verse number 26, God hath numbered thy kingdom and finished it. Belshazzar, your time has expired. This is it, this is your last night upon God's earth and tonight God will require your soul of you. God has finished your time and your time has expired. Do you know whenever Queen Elizabeth was dying, do you know what her last words were? I will give my millions for one more inch of time. You know, a famous atheist by the name of Voltaire from the land of France said in his lifetime, before I die, Christianity will have been eradicated, and the only place you'll find a King James Bible is in a museum. You know, after he died, his very house that he lived in became a printing press for the distribution of scriptures. You know what that atheist's dying words were in his deathbed? There is a God, there is a hell, and I am lost. You see, as time had expired. But a sentence was also expressed, because he translated the word Tikal, Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. Belshazzar, you're guilty, and your time is up, and you're going out to meet God. And the sentence is expressed. No dear friend shall not the judge of all the earth do right. One day God will bring insurmountable evidence against you. And God hates injustice. God hates a false balance. And then lastly, he says, your kingdom, your fortune, is divided and given to the means of the persons. Judgment is executed. Time expired. Sentence expressed. Judgment executed. And do you know whenever Daniel left the king's palace, We read then in verse number 30, in that very night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans. You see, as soon as Daniel left, the Medes and the Persians had come along on that dry riverbed, they'd infiltrated the city, and they executed judgment, and Belshazzar was gone. Dear friend, what if God was to say to you tonight, your time's expired, and your sentence is expressed, and judgment is executed. You might say tonight, well, you know, you're talking about these balances, and I'm weighing the balances. No, surely my good works will outweigh my bad ones. No, they will not. Your good works at best and my good works at best are like filthy rags. And the only things that will tip the scales is Jesus Christ, his love, his mercy, and his salvation. Dear friend, that's what you stand off in me tonight. Come to Christ. Trust him. as Saviour and Lord. Because if you go on without Him and you don't invite Him into your heart to be Saviour and Lord, there could come a time whenever your sin will invite God's judgment. May God have mercy upon you. Let's pray. Our Father and our God, we still our hearts at Thy feet tonight. And Father, we pray earnestly that Your Spirit, Lord, will strive and that You will speak to hearts in this meeting. Father, there are people here tonight and they're not saved. Lord, I pray that you'll reveal Christ and save their precious souls. We pray in Jesus' precious and worthy name. We've got a few little booklets with us, just called The New Beginning. I'll be standing at the door. And if you'd like one of these little booklets, you can come and ask for one. David will be in the meeting as well and in the hall here. And if you'd like to speak to him about salvation, I trust and pray that you will. But don't leave. come to Christ and taste and see that God is good. God bless you.