Daniel

Are You Praising The Wrong God?

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Old Testament Studies

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2020-04-11

Synopsis: In this sermon, Pastor John Weaver examines Daniel 5 to warn against praising a false god of one's imagination rather than the one true God revealed in Scripture. He argues that many professing Christians unknowingly worship an idol of their own making, and that such idolatry leads to judgment, as seen in the death of Belshazzar. The sermon emphasizes learning from biblical history, the danger of pride, and the certainty of divine judgment, while urging believers to praise God daily through Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] Daniel chapter 5, and let's read a few verses. I'd love to read the entire chapter, but we will come to most of it later. The title of the message is, Are You Praising the Wrong God? Are you praising the wrong God? Daniel chapter 5, look at it beginning there with verse 1. Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords and drank wine before the thousand. Belshazzar, while 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, 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 princess, his wives, and his concubines drank in them. They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and of silver, brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.

[John Weaver] In the same hour came forth the 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. Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him so that his joints of his loins were loose and his knees smote one against another. The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers.

[John Weaver] And the king spake and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing and show me the interpretation thereof shall be clothed with scarlet and have a chain of gold about his neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. Then came in all the king's wise men, but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof. Then was King Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonished. Now the queen, by reason of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banquet house, and the queen spake and said, O king, live forever. Let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed.

[John Weaver] There is a man in thy kingdom in whom the spirit of the holy gods and in the day of his father lied in understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods was found in him. whom the king Nebuchadnezzar, thy father, the king, I say thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers. For as much as an excellent spirit and knowledge and understanding, interpreting of dreams and showing of hard sentences and dissolving of doubts were found in this same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called and he will show thee the interpretation. Then was Daniel brought in before the king, and the king spake and said unto Daniel, Art thou that Daniel, which art of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out a jury? I have even heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in thee. And now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof.

[John Weaver] But they could not show the interpretation of the thing. And I have heard of thee that thou canst make interpretations, and to solve doubts. Now, if thou canst read the writing, and make it known to me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about thy neck, and thou shalt be third ruler in the kingdom. And I love verse 17. Then Daniel answered and said before the king, let thy gifts be to thyself and give thy rewards to another, yet I will read the writing unto the king and make known unto him the interpretation.

[John Weaver] Told you that the title of this message was are you praising the wrong God? I hope that you're under you understand that we are obligated To praise the one true in the Living God. In fact, there are a multitude of scriptures That tell us that we are to praise him praise him with with the sound of music praise him in song praise him in Anything that hath breath praise the Lord. In fact, the Bible tells us in Psalm 33 in verse one, that praise is comely for the upright. So therefore we are duty bound, we're obligated, we're responsible, and moreover, we're privileged to honor and praise him. However, there are many people that really do not know him, and therefore it is impossible for them to praise him. How in the world can you praise someone that you do not know?

[John Weaver] And the answer is you cannot. So when individuals begin to praise ignorantly their God, What they're doing, in essence, is praising a false god. Let me show you what I'm talking about. I want you to hold Daniel 5, but look in your Bibles, first of all, to Deuteronomy chapter 32, and then we're going to go to 1 Corinthians chapter 10. So if you'll go to Deuteronomy chapter 32, and look if you would please at verse 17. Deuteronomy 32 in verse 17.

[John Weaver] Because the Bible is telling us about Israel who actually transgressed God's law and left him. The Bible says in verse 16, they provoked him. That is the one true, the living God to jealousy with strange gods with abominations provoked him to anger. Now look at verse 17. They sacrificed unto devils, not to God, to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not. So they just either made up God or took any god of the he that they heard about. And the Bible says that they sacrificed unto devils. If you look in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, the apostle Paul uses this same truth. First Corinthians chapter 10, look if you would please at verses 20 and 21. He asked, but I say, he asked in verse 19, what say I then? But in verse 20 he says, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, in this instance that would be the heathen, the unsaved, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils and not to God.

[John Weaver] And I would not that you should have fellowship with devils. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of the devils. You cannot be partaker of the Lord's table and of the tables of devils. Note, he said, but the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice unto God. It is important not only to know whom you are worshiping, but also whom you are praising. Unhappily, I believe today that a vast majority of professing Christians are worshiping the God of their imagination and not the God of Holy Scripture. In fact, they have no idea who the God of Holy Scripture really and truly is. They know what they have heard. They know what they've been taught all of their lives, but they've never really read the Bible. They've never really studied the Bible and they've never seen who the God of the Bible really is.

[John Weaver] I related this probably to you sometime back. You probably have forgotten it, but years ago I was in a pastor's office and we were discussing theology and his door was open. It was not anything that was secret. The door was open and his secretary's desk was right outside that door. And so we got around to the doctrine of election and we were talking about the biblical doctrine of election.

[John Weaver] And all of a sudden, his secretary, who was not even involved in the conversation, although she could hear, she jumped up, ran into the office, looked at the pastor and said, I don't care what the Bible says. I know that God's not like that. And the pastor looked at her and said, did you hear what you just said? Let me tell you, the only God that is, is the God of the Bible. And if you don't know him as he's revealed in the Bible, then you're worshiping some false God. You're worshiping a God of your imagination. God is not how you imagine. God is as he's revealed himself.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles back a few pages to the book of Jeremiah, chapter 13. Let me show you this. We'll look at three passages in Jeremiah. Jeremiah, chapter 13. Look, if you would please, at verse 10. Jeremiah, chapter 13. Note, if you would please, verse 10. Look what God says. And he's talking here about Israel. Jeremiah 13 in verse 10, he says, this evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart and walk after other gods to serve them and to worship them, shall even be this girdle, which is good for nothing. But note, if you would, he calls them an evil people. No, they refuse to hear his word. And note what is happening.

[John Weaver] They're walking after their imaginations. And because they're walking after their imaginations, they're walking after other gods. If you would look in your Bibles to Jeremiah 16 and verse 12. Jeremiah 16 and verse 12. He tells them, and you have done worse than your fathers. For behold, you walk everyone after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me. So anyone then who is walking after his own imagination is refusing to listen to God. He's refusing to hear the Word of God. Then if you look at Jeremiah 18 and verse 12, Jeremiah 18 and verse 12, here's what the people said, and they said, there is no hope. But we will walk after our own devices, and we will everyone do the imagination of his evil heart. In other words, we're not going to listen to God. We're not going to change. We're going to do what we want to do, and we will walk after the imagination of our own heart. Now, when you look at Daniel 5, which we're going to come back there shortly, Belshazzar and all of his people were worshiping gods of their own hearts.

[John Weaver] They were worshipping gods of their own imagination. They were worshipping idols, false gods. Now, if you will turn back to Psalm 115, let me show you what the Bible says concerning these idols, these false gods. Psalm 115, and let's read the first eight verses. Watch carefully. Psalm 115, beginning with verse one. The scripture says, not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake.

[John Weaver] Wherefore should the heathen say, where is now their God? But our God is in the heavens. He's done whatsoever he's pleased. So our God is sovereign. And here now he is contrasted with the gods of the heathen. Look, if you would please, in verse four, their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not. Eyes have they, but they see not.

[John Weaver] They have ears, but they hear not. Noses have they, but they smell not. They have hands, but they handle not. Feet have they, but they walk not, neither speak they through their throats. They that make them are like unto them. So is everyone that trusted in them. So just like an idol is nothing but a dumb, lifeless piece of wood or stone or material. He said, those that make them are like unto them and those that trust them are likened to them.

[John Weaver] In other words, It's worthless, worthless, worthless. Most professing Christians would never fall down before an idol, but however, they will easily, readily, and quickly place themselves, their desires, their will, their way ahead of God and his word. Anytime you put anything on an equal par with God, or anytime you try to place anything above God, it is idolatry. Many times people place their children before God. They'll place their mates before God. They'll place any and everything before God.

[John Weaver] Now, in doing so, they are nothing more than idolaters. Belshazzar did not know, recognize, or honor the one true God. He gave all of his praise and all of his worship to idols such worship is not only an abomination But according to Scripture it is an affront to God Because it is a denial to God They worship their idols, but they refuse to worship the one true in the Living God Isaiah 42 in verse 8 says this I am the Lord that is my name and And my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. So mark that down. God has said he is not going to give his glory to another. He is not going to give his praise to graven images. Now, we're going to find that giving praise to the wrong God brings death. In fact, In our text in Daniel chapter five, Belshazzar died that very night. But however, God says that he desires that the wicked live, that the wicked repent. If you would turn in your Bibles to the book of Ezekiel on the way back to Daniel, Ezekiel chapter 33.

[John Weaver] And look, if you would please, at verse 11, Ezekiel 33. verse 11 watch carefully Ezekiel 33 and verse 11 say unto them as I live saith the Lord God I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live turn ye Turn ye from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel? In other words, God says, if you do not repent, if you do not turn, then you are going to die. It's just that simple. And when you look back. And Daniel chapter five, I want you to note verse six. When he saw the handwriting on the wall, Look at verse six, Daniel five.

[John Weaver] Then the king's countenance was changed and his thoughts troubled him so that the joints of his loins were loosened and his knees spoke one against another. I will tell you very plainly. Belshazzar was scared. He was frightened. But he did not repent. His thoughts were troubled, but he did not repent. And if you'll look in verse 30 of Daniel chapter 5, here's what happened in that night. Was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain? He died that very night. So all of his being frightened and all of his being scared and all the thoughts that went through his head did not change him. Now, here's my question. How did Belshazzar arrive at this point in his life? How did he arrive at the point of God's judgment and wrath? Let me try to enlarge the question. How does anyone arrive at this point? Look around us today.

[John Weaver] The truth of the matter is this. When someone arrives at God's judgment, it did not happen in a vacuum. It did not happen overnight. What is the path? What are some of the things that will bring us to God's bar of judgment? Well, I want you to look with me at Daniel chapter five and give you a couple of things. First of all, I want you to look, if you would, in verses 18 through 21. Here's the first step in coming to God's judgment. And I'll put each of us involved with this, as well as others who are listening.

[John Weaver] We, like Belshazzar, disregard the examples of history, even though we know them. So look in verse 18. Daniel is speaking. Verse 17, then answered Daniel. Now watch verse 18. Here's what Daniel tells him. O thou King, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar, thy father, a kingdom and majesty and glory and honor. And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him.

[John Weaver] Whom he would, he slew. And whom he would, he kept alive. And whom he would, he set up. And whom he would, he put down. But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him. And he was driven from the sons of men, and his heart was made like the beast, and his dwelling was like the wild asses, and they fed him with a grass-like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointed over it whomsoever he will.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to understand that one of our major problems is unbelief. Coupled with unbelief is ignorance. When you have unbelief and when you have ignorance, you must also add unthoughtfulness, laziness, apathy, and an unwillingness to consider and meditate on things that we know absolutely.

[John Weaver] Now, the point I'm trying to make is this. Belshazzar was obligated to learn from what happened to Nebuchadnezzar. I'm going to show you a verse, but listen to me carefully. Belshazzar was obligated to learn from the work of God in the life of Nebuchadnezzar. If you would hold Daniel 5, but turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 21, and look if you would please at verse 32. Matthew 21, verse 32. Watch carefully. Matthew 21. Verse 32, look what our Lord told the Pharisees. Matthew 21, verse 32.

[John Weaver] He said, for John, that is John the Baptist, came unto you in the way of righteousness, and you believed him not. But the publicans and the harlots believed him.

[John Weaver] Now watch this, and you, when you had seen it, repented not afterwards that you might believe. Now he said, you bunch of Pharisees, You didn't believe the preaching of John. You wouldn't listen to him. But the publicans, the tax collectors, the thieves did, the harlots did. And they were changed. And you, when you had seen it, repented on afterwards that you might believe. In other words, our Lord is saying, look, you are responsible to profit from the work of God in the lives of those that you know. Did Belshazzar know Nebuchadnezzar? Well, of course. Now, there are some people will say that Nebuchadnezzar was his grandfather and that Nebuchadnezzar's son was the ruler.

[John Weaver] You will find in the Bible many times the founder of a dynasty is always called the father. For instance, you can read about individuals who were not like David, their father. Well, David was not necessarily their earthly father, but he was the head of that dynasty. He was the head of that clan, so to speak. Well, whether Nebuchadnezzar was his father or grandfather in one sense of the word does not matter. If he was the grandfather, Belshazzar should have known. If it was his father, he certainly should have known. Well, what happened to Nebuchadnezzar? Look back to Deuteronomy, not Deuteronomy, I'm sorry, Daniel chapter four, just one chapter back, Daniel chapter four. Now, Nebuchadnezzar was a very proud, arrogant, and haughty monarch. So, in Daniel chapter four, beginning there with verse 27, Daniel is speaking to Nebuchadnezzar, and he says this.

[John Weaver] Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquility. In other words, he had already told him what God was going to do to him. He says, now here's the answer. You need to repent. You need to change your life. Well, he didn't listen. So verse 28, all this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar.

[John Weaver] At the end of 12 months, he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. The king spake and said, Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power and for the honor of my majesty? While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven saying, O King Nebuchadnezzar, To the, it is spoken. The kingdom is departed from the, and they shall drive the from men and by dwelling shall be with the beast of the field.

[John Weaver] And they shall make the grass as oxen. And seven times at a seven years shall pass over the watch until vow. No, that the most high Ruth in the kingdom of men. and give it to whomsoever he will. The same hour was a thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar. And he was driven from men, and he did grass as oxen. This is known as Boanthropy. And his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagle's feathers, and his nails like bird's claws. And at the end of the days, that is the end of seven years, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes into heaven, And mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation, and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. And he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?

[John Weaver] At the same time, my reason returned into me, and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honor and brightness returned into me, and my counselors and my Lord sought unto me, and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added to me." Now watch.

[John Weaver] Now, I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of Heaven, all whose works are truth and His ways judgment, and those that walk in pride He is able to abase. Now, let me ask you this question. Why was Nebuchadnezzar driven insane for seven years? So he could learn one lesson that God was absolutely sovereign. There was one God. He is in control. He is sovereign. He reigns over all, even the heathen. And Nebuchadnezzar said, I learned this. It took me seven years of insanity. It took me seven years of eating grass and living like an ox, but I finally lifted my eyes to heaven and I recognized there's one God that I should praise and that I should honor.

[John Weaver] Did you know that in Psalm 46 in verse 10, the Bible says, be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen and I will be exalted in the earth. And then when you get to Psalm 47 verse eight, the Bible said, God reigneth over the heathen. God sits upon the throne of his holiness. And how about this one? Proverbs 21 in verse 1 the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord as rivers of water He turneth it with this river. He willeth So God is sovereign.

[John Weaver] This is exactly What Belshazzar should have learned It was either his father or his grandfather, but he should have learned it. It was in the family there are sometimes secrets and in families, but only the family members know. But this was no family secret. This was done out in the open. Everyone in the kingdom knew that Nebuchadnezzar was crazy for seven years. And he had to learn one lesson.

[John Weaver] Now, let me tell you something. There are 12 books of history in the Bible. However, all of the Bible is history. It teaches us in every book, if we will read, if we will listen, if we would learn, we could profit not only from its counsels, its admonitions, but also from its warnings and its examples. So let me show you. I want you to hold Deuteronomy, not Deuteronomy, but Daniel chapter five and turn in your Bibles to second Peter, second Peter chapter two. Second Peter chapter two.

[John Weaver] And let's begin reading there with verse four. We're talking about examples. We're talking about history. Just like Belshazzar was obligated to learn from the history of Nebuchadnezzar. We're obligated to learn from history as well. So second Peter chapter two, verse four, the Bible says, for if God spared, not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell and deliver them into chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment and spared, not the old world, but save Noah, the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing the flood upon the world of the ungodly. and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them with an overthrow, making them an example unto those that should live ungodly, and delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked.

[John Weaver] For that righteous man dwelling among them, and seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds, The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to reserve the unjust until the day of judgment to be punished. Now, turn right over just a few pages to the book of Jude, right before the book of Revelation, the book of Jude. And look, if you would please, at verse seven, because here it is again. In fact, let's read verse six.

[John Weaver] You will see the two examples here. And the angels, which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, either reserved into everlasting chains under darkness, under the judgment of that great day, even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

[John Weaver] Now, here's what the scripture tells us. God did not spare the angels at sin. God did not spare the old world. God did not spare Solomon Gomorrah. God did not spare the cities of the plain. And the Bible repeatedly tells us these are examples. When you get to first Corinthians chapter 10, he uses Israel for an example as well and tells us that we are to learn from how he judged Israel as well.

[John Weaver] So when you stop and think about not only biblical history, but our history, look at the fall of the tyrants. Look at the fall of wicked politicians. Inevitably, invariably, we should be learning from history. Wow. Let me give you one more example. You don't have to turn there, I'll quote it, but it's Romans 8 and verse 32. Let's know what the Bible says. He that is God, the father, he that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all. How shall he not also with him free to give us all things. Now listen again, he that spared not his own son. So God did not spare the angels at sin. God did not spare the old world. God did not spare Sodom and Gomorrah. God did not spare the cities of the plain. And when sin was imputed to his own dear son, the Lord Jesus Christ, he did not spare him. What makes anyone think that somehow, some way, some unrepentant, God-hating, God-denying, reprobate who spits upon God and tramples the Lord Jesus Christ under his feet and denies his word will escape the judgment of God?

[John Weaver] I got news for you folks. If God did not spare his own son, he's not going to spare anyone who rebels and sins against him. This is what I'm saying. Nebuchadnezzar, he learned the hard way. Belshazzar never learned at all. We need to learn from history. We need to learn from the experience of God and the works of God in the people that we know. It is true that Belshazzar saw the handwriting on the wall. But the truth of the matter is Belshazzar himself Is the writing on the wall for us. Belshazzar is the writing on the wall. Now, let me show you a second thing that brought Belshazzar to the place of judgment.

[John Weaver] Look back in Daniel chapter five in verses 22 and 23, Daniel chapter five, verse 22. Watch carefully. He's already told him you didn't learn from Nebuchadnezzar.

[John Weaver] Now he tells him, we like Belshazzar display pride, arrogance, and haughtiness. Watch verse 22. He said, and thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this, but hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven. And they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them. And thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, and brass, and iron, and wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know. And the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified? Ah, go back to verse 22. And thou his son, O Belshazzar, has not humbled thine heart, verse 23, but has lifted up thy self. Pride is a root sin. Pride is the foundation of practically every other sin. It is pride, arrogance, a know-it-all attitude that fights against truth. It fights against the Word of God. It fights against God Himself.

[John Weaver] So let me spell it out for you. Belshazzar had lifted up himself against God. Do you realize when someone fights against God, God fights against them. And inevitably, God is going to be the winner. The Bible tells you in James 4 and verse 6, wherefore he saith, God resisted the proud, but he gave the grace to the humble. The word resisted means to fight against. God fights against the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. He said it again in 1 Peter 5 and verse 5, God resisted the proud and give the grace to the humble.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to note this. He says, in verse 23, but has lifted up by self against the Lord of heaven. I want you to note that Belshazzar did not rant and rave against God. He didn't curse God. Moreover, he did not write a dissertation denying the existence of God. Moreover, he did not even start an organization to try to separate government from God. Let's be honest, Belshazzar was religious. Belshazzar believed in gods. In fact, he was worshiping, he was praising, but he was worshiping and praising the wrong God. The Aramaic word here for he lifted up himself literally means to exalt, to lift oneself up and to set oneself up above. Literally, he was elevating himself above God.

[John Weaver] He was following not only the example of Pharaoh, but Sennacherib and even Nebuchadnezzar, by the way. There's another one that did the same thing in the New Testament. If you will hold Daniel 5, but turn in your Bibles to Acts chapter 12. Let me show you what happened to Herod. Look in Acts chapter 12. Acts 12. Note, if you would please, beginning there with verse 20. Acts 12 and verse 20. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts. Acts chapter 12, look in verse 20. And Herod was highly displeased with them of Tyre and Sidon, but they came with one accord and having made blasts as the king's chamberlain, their friend desired peace because their country was nourished by the king's country. And upon a set day, Herod in royal apparel sat upon his throne and made an oration unto them.

[John Weaver] And the people gave a shout, saying, it is the voice of a God and not of a man. And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him because he gave not God the glory and he was eaten of worms and gave up the ghost. Immediately God smote him. I got news for you. All of the tyrants, all the politicians, who refuse to honor and worship the one true and the living God, will sooner or later be smitten. God will not give his praise to another, nor his glory to false idols.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to understand, as you go back to Daniel chapter five, that Belshazzar failed in three particular areas. There are three particular accounts in which he transgressed against God. First of all, he profaned and dishonored that which was holy. All of these vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple were vessels that had been dedicated to God. and they were to be used only in the service and worship of the one true and the living God. And so what Belshazzar did, he took these dedicated holy vessels to drink wine in them and to party with them for his wives and his concubines and his lords. The second thing as Belshazzar praised and honored that which was dishonorable and unholy. So he took something that was dedicated to the one true God and then turned around and used it to praise and worship those which were no God.

[John Weaver] The gods of wood and stone and gold and silver and metal, which could not see nor hear nor speak nor move nor walk. There were nothing but dumb idols. And he took that which was holy and dedicated to God and used it to praise these false gods. And thirdly, he refused to praise the one true the living God who held his life in his hands. He refused to give God the glory. Who held all of his ways in his hands.

[John Weaver] I want to read you a comment on this passage by John Calvin. You know, I'm not summing this up. It's a long paragraph, but I want you to listen. He says this. The prophet Daniel continues his own sentence and confirms what I've said. Namely, King Belshazzar was intractable and willfully blind to God's judgment. For thou hast raised thyself, says he, against the Lord of heaven. If he had raised himself thus insolently against men, his sin would be worthy of punishment.

[John Weaver] But when he had provoked God on purpose, this arrogance neither could nor ought to be born. Again, therefore, the prophet increases the guilt of the king's pride by saying he raised himself against the king of heaven. He also expresses the manner of his doing so by commanding the vessels of the temple to be brought to sight. He drank from them. This profanation was an indecent sacrilege, but Belshazzar was not content with that indignity. He used these vessels for luxury and foul debauchery, abusing them in the company of concubines and abandoned women, and added a yet greater reproach against God in praising his gods of silver, gold, brass, and iron, wood, and stone, which cannot feel.

[John Weaver] This had not been previously, but since Daniel here sustains the character of a teacher, he does not relate the events so shortly as at first. When he said at the beginning of this chapter, Belshazzar celebrated this impure banquet, he spoke historically, but now he execute, as I have said, the office of the teacher. Thou, says he, hast praised the gods made of corruptible material, who neither see nor hear nor understand, but thou hast defrauded the living God of his honor, and whose hand is thy life, on which thou dependest, and whence all in which thou boastest proceeds, because thou hast so despised the living God, who

[John Weaver] has been so gracious unto thee. This ingratitude was so base and shameful. We see, therefore, how severely the prophet reproves the impious tyrant of sacrilege and mad rashness and foul ingratitude toward God. No wonder you read, in verse 30, and Belshazzar was slain that very night. What brought Belshazzar? What brings people to God's judgment? Not only failure to understand history, the history of the Bible, the history of the world, not only a failure to understand history, but to profit from the example of others and the work of God in the lives of others. And secondly, pride.

[John Weaver] It always lifts us up. and somehow makes us think that we are going to escape the judgment of God. I never will forget when I was in college many, many moons back, I forget how many bank robberies there were in Greenville, South Carolina, the four years that I was in undergraduate school. But out of all the bank robberies, Not one robber ever made it out of the city limits. They caught them all before they ever got out of the city limits. And I had to think to myself, why are they so stupid?

[John Weaver] And here's the answer I came up with. Because every criminal thinks the criminals before him were stupid, but he's smart. They got caught, but he won't. He won't be caught. Do you realize that's how people rationalize fighting against God? God may damn everybody else. God may destroy everybody else. God may judge everybody else, but not me. I'll be the exception. No, you will not be the exception.

[John Weaver] The pride of your heart will deceive you. Thirdly, I want you to know this. We like Belshazzar will face God's judgment for our failure to acknowledge and to worship him alone. Look, if you would, in Daniel five, beginning there with verse 24, then was the part of the hand sent from him. And this writing was written. And this is the writing that was written. Many, many take up arson.

[John Weaver] And this is the interpretation of the thing. Many God numbered by kingdom and finished it. Techo, the art find in the art weight in the balances and found warning. Perez, the kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and the Persians. This commandment, this commanded Belshazzar, then commanded Belshazzar. And they clothed Daniel with scarlet and put a chain of gold about his neck and made a proclamation concerning him that he should be the third ruler of the kingdom. Didn't last long. In 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. So Daniel's third ruler just for a few hours. Wow.

[John Weaver] Let me tell you something, folks. We will be weighed. We will be found warning. And whatever we hold dear above God and his truth will be destroyed and taken away from us. We hold our idols in our hearts, in our minds, in our imaginations. Moreover, the truth of the matter is we really and truly do not hold God's word and God's worship as sacred because we so easily refuse to attend to it. We so easily and quickly refuse to do it.

[John Weaver] Most people stay out of church if they have a toe ache. I mean, They go to work, but they would not go to church. The evidence is very clearly manifested when we refuse to worship God and only when we refuse to worship him, when we refuse to praise him for everything that he has done. And not just during worship, but on a daily basis. Every time I see one of those crosses beside the road, where someone has been killed, I always stop and thank God again for life and health.

[John Weaver] I passed by Jasper coming down here, saw a huge man sitting in a wheelchair, couldn't do anything else. And again, I thanked God for life and health. I'm just simply saying, folks, we have so much we should praise Him for. Did you know the Bible says, In Psalm 50 and verse 23, whosoever offer the praise glorified me. If you want to glorify God, you need to learn to praise Him. You need to learn to praise Him on a daily basis. Praise Him for your children. Praise Him for your wife. Praise Him for your husband. Praise Him for life and health. Praise Him for everything. Now, I want you to look at this. Look in your Bibles to Daniel 5 and verse 5. Look at it again. Daniel 5 and verse 5. Here's something that we need to consider. Daniel 5 and verse 5.

[John Weaver] 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. I want you to understand that the judgment written against Belshazzar was not only plain, it was public. And it was done supernaturally. Do you realize, folks, The judgment written in his word is plain and public, and it is the supernatural revelation of God.

[John Weaver] If you would turn in your Bibles to the book of Acts chapter 17, the apostle Paul has been preaching on Mars Hill and he's bringing his sermon to a close. And I want you to see what he says. Acts chapter 17, look, if you would please at verses 30 and 31. Acts 17 verses 30 and 31. And the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commanded all men everywhere to repent. Why does God command all men everywhere to repent? Here's why. Because he God hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness By that man whom he hath ordained as Jesus Christ watch Whereof he had given assurance unto all men in that he had raised him from the dead How do I know that there's going to be a judgment? And the answer is God's judgment is just as sure as a resurrection of Jesus Christ is from the dead, just as surely as God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, just that surely there's going to be a judgment.

[John Weaver] And may I tell you something else? Jesus Christ will be the judge. The Bible says in John 5 verses 21 through 23, as the father raises up the dead and quickeneth them, even so the son quickeneth whom he will. For the father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment to the son, that all men should honor the son even as, equally to, as they honor the father. He that honoreth not the son honoreth not the father. So yes, There will be a judgment. And if you will look in your Bibles to the book of Luke, back just a few pages, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Luke chapter 24.

[John Weaver] You see, one of the reasons God has ordained the preaching of his word is for warning and instruction. It was Daniel who was called. It was Daniel, the prophet of God, the man of God that interpreted the writing on the wall. If you would look in Luke 24, beginning there with verse 46, we're talking about his disciples. Look what he says to them. And he said unto them, thus it is written plainly, publicly. Thus it is written. And thus it behoove Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day. And that repentance and remission of sin should be preached in his name among all nations beginning in Jerusalem.

[John Weaver] And you are witnesses of these things. He said, you're the ones that have seen them. You're the ones that know them. You are the ones that are responsible to proclaim them. Now, it is true. It is true that the wicked will face God in judgment. But it is equally also true that Christians will have to give an account of our lives, our service, our worship and our praise. So here's a question. Have you ever prayed and sought the Lord and ask him to help you to love him more, to serve him more, and to praise him more. Certainly you understand what the scripture says when it declares that he is worthy of all honor, all praise, and all glory. Here's another question. Have you ever been praying and bewailed before God your own neglect your own feebleness, your own apathy, your own lukewarmness? Have you ever asked God to stir you up and really allow you to worship Him and praise Him and give Him honor and glory?

[John Weaver] One thing for sure, folks, we do not want to be Belshazzars. We want to praise the one true and the living God who's revealed Himself in the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's a couple things we have to learn. The first one is this. Praising the wrong God brings death. The only God that exists is the God that has revealed himself in the Bible through the Lord Jesus Christ. There is one God.

[John Weaver] And he said, besides me, there is none other. We need to make sure that we praise the one true and the living God through Jesus Christ. The second thing is this. We must understand that our attitudes, our actions, our lives are indeed praising some God. How we talk, how we think, how we walk, how we live, in essence, inevitably, is going to be praising some God. It may be the God of self. It may be what the world calls luck, chance, fate, or fortune. But it's going to be praising someone.

[John Weaver] Just the week before Christmas, when that tornado came through our town, I was at a place of business where I buy feed. And the man who owned the business, I said, I heard there was a tornado in the area. He said, yes, it's on its way here now. Well, I just got in the feed, so I got in my truck and I left. And just evidently after I passed through, it hit. And within a hundred yards of the place of business that I purchased the feed, houses were destroyed, barns were destroyed, trees, I mean trees this big around, piled up one on top of the other. I mean, it was a total devastation, a royal mess. In fact, in that one area, they're still cleaning up.

[John Weaver] And that's been nearly two months now. I went back the next week to get more feed. I said, Did you see what happened 100 yards from you? And he looked at me and he said, Yes, we were lucky. I said, No, sir. You were blessed. God protected you. Then he looked at me and he said, That's right. I've got news for you. I'm not interested in praising luck, chance, fate, or fortune. I'm not interested in praising myself. I want to praise the one true and the living God who holds my times and my life in his hands.

[John Weaver] We just need to remember that our attitudes, our actions, our lives, ever how we live, we're praising someone or something every day. Make it the one true and the living God who's revealed himself in Jesus Christ. Father, help us today. We pray that you'd give us wisdom, understanding, that you'd help us to render unto thee the fruit of our lips, thanksgiving and praise and honor to thee who deserves all honor, praise and thanksgiving. We thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you for life and health. We thank you how you have provided for us, protected us, preserved us. We thank you for your kind and gracious providence. Thank you, Father. And we praise thy holy name through the Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen. you you you

Are You Praising The Wrong God?

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	O_1EZeRsPQg
Subject	Old Testament Studies
Course	Daniel
Genre	Sermon
Date	2020-04-11
Dictation Name
Book	Book 087: Daniel — Chapter 12
Source Timed Segments	71

Formatted Transcript

Introduction: The Obligation to Praise the True God

Weaver introduces the topic by reading Daniel 5:1-4 and stating that while we are commanded to praise God, many praise a false god because they do not know the true God of Scripture.

Daniel chapter 5, and let's read a few verses. I'd love to read the entire chapter, but we will come to most of it later. The title of the message is, "Are You Praising the Wrong God?" Are you praising the wrong God? Daniel chapter 5, look at it beginning there with verse 1.

Scripture Reading — Daniel 5:1-4

Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords and drank wine before the thousand. Belshazzar, while 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, 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, brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.

The Danger of Worshiping a God of Imagination

Using Deuteronomy 32:17 and 1 Corinthians 10:20-21, Weaver explains that worshiping any god other than the biblical God is sacrificing to devils. He illustrates this with a story about a secretary who rejected the doctrine of election, preferring her own imagination over Scripture.

Because the Bible is telling us about Israel who actually transgressed God's law and left him. The Bible says in verse 16, "They provoked him"—that is the one true, the living God—"to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger." Now look at verse 17. "They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not." So they just either made up God or took any god of the heathen that they heard about. And the Bible says that they sacrificed unto devils. If you look in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, the apostle Paul uses this same truth. First Corinthians chapter 10, look if you would please at verses 20 and 21. He asked—he asked in verse 19, "What say I then?" But in verse 20 he says, "But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice"—in this instance that would be the heathen, the unsaved—"but I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God."

"And I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils." Note, he said, "But the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils." It is important not only to know whom you are worshiping, but also whom you are praising. Unhappily, I believe today that a vast majority of professing Christians are worshiping the God of their imagination and not the God of Holy Scripture. In fact, they have no idea who the God of Holy Scripture really and truly is. They know what they have heard. They know what they've been taught all of their lives, but they've never really read the Bible. They've never really studied the Bible and they've never seen who the God of the Bible really is.

I related this probably to you sometime back. You probably have forgotten it, but years ago I was in a pastor's office and we were discussing theology and his door was open. It was not anything that was secret. The door was open and his secretary's desk was right outside that door. And so we got around to the doctrine of election and we were talking about the biblical doctrine of election. And all of a sudden, his secretary, who was not even involved in the conversation, although she could hear, she jumped up, ran into the office, looked at the pastor and said, "I don't care what the Bible says. I know that God's not like that." And the pastor looked at her and said, "Did you hear what you just said? Let me tell you, the only God that is, is the God of the Bible. And if you don't know him as he's revealed in the Bible, then you're worshiping some false God. You're worshiping a God of your imagination. God is not how you imagine. God is as he's revealed himself."

Idolatry as Walking After One's Own Imagination

Weaver cites Jeremiah 13:10, 16:12, and 18:12 to show that walking after one's imagination is equivalent to worshiping other gods. He then reads Psalm 115:1-8 to contrast the living God with lifeless idols.

Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles back a few pages to the book of Jeremiah, chapter 13. Let me show you this. We'll look at three passages in Jeremiah. Jeremiah, chapter 13. Look, if you would please, at verse 10. Jeremiah, chapter 13. Note, if you would please, verse 10. Look what God says. And he's talking here about Israel. Jeremiah 13 and verse 10, he says, "This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods to serve them and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing." But note, if you would, he calls them an evil people. No, they refuse to hear his word. And note what is happening.

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 13:10

They're walking after their imaginations. And because they're walking after their imaginations, they're walking after other gods. If you would look in your Bibles to Jeremiah 16 and verse 12. Jeremiah 16 and verse 12. He tells them, "And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me." So anyone then who is walking after his own imagination is refusing to listen to God. He's refusing to hear the Word of God. Then if you look at Jeremiah 18 and verse 12, Jeremiah 18 and verse 12, here's what the people said, and they said, "There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart." In other words, we're not going to listen to God. We're not going to change. We're going to do what we want to do, and we will walk after the imagination of our own heart. Now, when you look at Daniel 5, which we're going to come back there shortly, Belshazzar and all of his people were worshiping gods of their own hearts.

They were worshipping gods of their own imagination. They were worshipping idols, false gods. Now, if you will turn back to Psalm 115, let me show you what the Bible says concerning these idols, these false gods. Psalm 115, and let's read the first eight verses. Watch carefully. Psalm 115, beginning with verse one. The scripture says, "Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake."

"Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God? But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased." So our God is sovereign. And here now he is contrasted with the gods of the heathen. Look, if you would please, in verse four, "Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not." "They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: they have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat. They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them." So just like an idol is nothing but a dumb, lifeless piece of wood or stone or material, he said, those that make them are like unto them and those that trust them are likened to them.

In other words, it's worthless, worthless, worthless. Most professing Christians would never fall down before an idol, but however, they will easily, readily, and quickly place themselves, their desires, their will, their way ahead of God and his word. Anytime you put anything on an equal par with God, or anytime you try to place anything above God, it is idolatry. Many times people place their children before God. They'll place their mates before God. They'll place any and everything before God.

Belshazzar's Failure to Learn from History

Weaver argues that Belshazzar should have learned from Nebuchadnezzar's humbling in Daniel 4. He uses Matthew 21:32 and 2 Peter 2:4-9 to stress that we are obligated to profit from God's works in history.

The truth of the matter is this. When someone arrives at God's judgment, it did not happen in a vacuum. It did not happen overnight. What is the path? What are some of the things that will bring us to God's bar of judgment? Well, I want you to look with me at Daniel chapter five and give you a couple of things. First of all, I want you to look, if you would, in verses 18 through 21. Here's the first step in coming to God's judgment. And I'll put each of us involved with this, as well as others who are listening.

We, like Belshazzar, disregard the examples of history, even though we know them. So look in verse 18. Daniel is speaking. Verse 17, then answered Daniel. Now watch verse 18. Here's what Daniel tells him.

Scripture Reading — Daniel 5:18-21

"O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour: and for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him."

"Whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down. But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him: and he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will." Now, I want you to understand that one of our major problems is unbelief. Coupled with unbelief is ignorance. When you have unbelief and when you have ignorance, you must also add unthoughtfulness, laziness, apathy, and an unwillingness to consider and meditate on things that we know absolutely.

Now, the point I'm trying to make is this. Belshazzar was obligated to learn from what happened to Nebuchadnezzar. I'm going to show you a verse, but listen to me carefully. Belshazzar was obligated to learn from the work of God in the life of Nebuchadnezzar. If you would hold Daniel 5, but turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 21, and look if you would please at verse 32. Matthew 21, verse 32. Watch carefully. Matthew 21. Verse 32, look what our Lord told the Pharisees. Matthew 21, verse 32.

He said, "For John"—that is John the Baptist—"came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him." Now watch this, "and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him." Now he said, you bunch of Pharisees, you didn't believe the preaching of John. You wouldn't listen to him. But the publicans, the tax collectors, the thieves did, the harlots did. And they were changed. "And ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him." In other words, our Lord is saying, look, you are responsible to profit from the work of God in the lives of those that you know. Did Belshazzar know Nebuchadnezzar? Well, of course. Now, there are some people will say that Nebuchadnezzar was his grandfather and that Nebuchadnezzar's son was the ruler.

You will find in the Bible many times the founder of a dynasty is always called the father. For instance, you can read about individuals who were not like David, their father. Well, David was not necessarily their earthly father, but he was the head of that dynasty. He was the head of that clan, so to speak. Well, whether Nebuchadnezzar was his father or grandfather in one sense of the word does not matter. If he was the grandfather, Belshazzar should have known. If it was his father, he certainly should have known. Well, what happened to Nebuchadnezzar? Look back to Deuteronomy—not Deuteronomy, I'm sorry—Daniel chapter four, just one chapter back, Daniel chapter four. Now, Nebuchadnezzar was a very proud, arrogant, and haughty monarch. So, in Daniel chapter four, beginning there with verse 27, Daniel is speaking to Nebuchadnezzar, and he says this.

"Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity." In other words, he had already told him what God was going to do to him. He says, now here's the answer. You need to repent. You need to change your life. Well, he didn't listen. So verse 28, "All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar." "At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee. And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field."

"And they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen"—this is known as boanthropy—"and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws. And at the end of the days"—that is the end of seven years—"I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?"

"At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me." Now watch. "Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase." Now, let me ask you this question. Why was Nebuchadnezzar driven insane for seven years? So he could learn one lesson: that God was absolutely sovereign. There was one God. He is in control. He is sovereign. He reigns over all, even the heathen. And Nebuchadnezzar said, I learned this. It took me seven years of insanity. It took me seven years of eating grass and living like an ox, but I finally lifted my eyes to heaven and I recognized there's one God that I should praise and that I should honor.

Did you know that in Psalm 46 and verse 10, the Bible says,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 46:10

"Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth."

And then when you get to Psalm 47 verse eight, the Bible said, "God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness." And how about this one? Proverbs 21 and verse 1: "The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will." So God is sovereign. This is exactly what Belshazzar should have learned. It was either his father or his grandfather, but he should have learned it. It was in the family. There are sometimes secrets in families, but only the family members know. But this was no family secret. This was done out in the open. Everyone in the kingdom knew that Nebuchadnezzar was crazy for seven years. And he had to learn one lesson.

Now, let me tell you something. There are 12 books of history in the Bible. However, all of the Bible is history. It teaches us in every book, if we will read, if we will listen, if we would learn, we could profit not only from its counsels, its admonitions, but also from its warnings and its examples. So let me show you. I want you to hold Deuteronomy—not Deuteronomy, but Daniel chapter five—and turn in your Bibles to Second Peter, Second Peter chapter two. Second Peter chapter two.

And let's begin reading there with verse four. We're talking about examples. We're talking about history. Just like Belshazzar was obligated to learn from the history of Nebuchadnezzar, we're obligated to learn from history as well. So Second Peter chapter two, verse four, the Bible says, "For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; and spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; and delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked."

"(For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;) The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished." Now, turn right over just a few pages to the book of Jude, right before the book of Revelation, the book of Jude. And look, if you would please, at verse seven, because here it is again. In fact, let's read verse six.

The Sin of Pride and Lifting Oneself Against God

Weaver highlights Belshazzar's pride in Daniel 5:22-23, noting that he profaned holy vessels, praised false gods, and refused to glorify God. He references James 4:6 and Acts 12:20-23 to show God's opposition to the proud.

Now he tells him, we like Belshazzar display pride, arrogance, and haughtiness. Watch verse 22. He said, "And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this; but hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified." Ah, go back to verse 22. "And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart," verse 23, "but hast lifted up thyself." Pride is a root sin. Pride is the foundation of practically every other sin. It is pride, arrogance, a know-it-all attitude that fights against truth. It fights against the Word of God. It fights against God Himself.

So let me spell it out for you. Belshazzar had lifted up himself against God. Do you realize when someone fights against God, God fights against them. And inevitably, God is going to be the winner. The Bible tells you in James 4 and verse 6, "Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble." The word "resisteth" means to fight against. God fights against the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. He said it again in 1 Peter 5 and verse 5, "God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble."

Now, I want you to note this. He says, in verse 23, "but hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven." I want you to note that Belshazzar did not rant and rave against God. He didn't curse God. Moreover, he did not write a dissertation denying the existence of God. Moreover, he did not even start an organization to try to separate government from God. Let's be honest, Belshazzar was religious. Belshazzar believed in gods. In fact, he was worshiping, he was praising, but he was worshiping and praising the wrong God. The Aramaic word here for "he lifted up himself" literally means to exalt, to lift oneself up and to set oneself up above. Literally, he was elevating himself above God.

He was following not only the example of Pharaoh, but Sennacherib and even Nebuchadnezzar, by the way. There's another one that did the same thing in the New Testament. If you will hold Daniel 5, but turn in your Bibles to Acts chapter 12. Let me show you what happened to Herod. Look in Acts chapter 12. Acts 12. Note, if you would please, beginning there with verse 20. Acts 12 and verse 20. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts. Acts chapter 12, look in verse 20. "And Herod was highly displeased with them of Tyre and Sidon: but they came with one accord to him, and, having made Blastus the king's chamberlain their friend, desired peace; because their country was nourished by the king's country. And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them."

"And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man. And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost." Immediately God smote him. I got news for you. All of the tyrants, all the politicians, who refuse to honor and worship the one true and the living God, will sooner or later be smitten. God will not give his praise to another, nor his glory to false idols.

The Certainty of Divine Judgment

Weaver explains the writing on the wall (MENE, TEKEL, PERES) and Belshazzar's death that night. He cites Acts 17:30-31 and John 5:21-23 to affirm that God has appointed a day of judgment through Jesus Christ.

"And this is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians." Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. Didn't last long. "In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old." So Daniel's third ruler just for a few hours. Wow.

Let me tell you something, folks. We will be weighed. We will be found wanting. And whatever we hold dear above God and his truth will be destroyed and taken away from us. We hold our idols in our hearts, in our minds, in our imaginations. Moreover, the truth of the matter is we really and truly do not hold God's word and God's worship as sacred because we so easily refuse to attend to it. We so easily and quickly refuse to do it.

Most people stay out of church if they have a toe ache. I mean, they go to work, but they would not go to church. The evidence is very clearly manifested when we refuse to worship God and only when we refuse to worship him, when we refuse to praise him for everything that he has done. And not just during worship, but on a daily basis. Every time I see one of those crosses beside the road, where someone has been killed, I always stop and thank God again for life and health. I passed by Jasper coming down here, saw a huge man sitting in a wheelchair, couldn't do anything else. And again, I thanked God for life and health. I'm just simply saying, folks, we have so much we should praise Him for. Did you know the Bible says, in Psalm 50 and verse 23, "Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me." If you want to glorify God, you need to learn to praise Him. You need to learn to praise Him on a daily basis. Praise Him for your children. Praise Him for your wife. Praise Him for your husband. Praise Him for life and health. Praise Him for everything. Now, I want you to look at this. Look in your Bibles to Daniel 5 and verse 5. Look at it again. Daniel 5 and verse 5. Here's something that we need to consider. Daniel 5 and verse 5.

"In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote." I want you to understand that the judgment written against Belshazzar was not only plain, it was public. And it was done supernaturally. Do you realize, folks, the judgment written in his word is plain and public, and it is the supernatural revelation of God. If you would turn in your Bibles to the book of Acts chapter 17, the apostle Paul has been preaching on Mars Hill and he's bringing his sermon to a close. And I want you to see what he says. Acts chapter 17, look, if you would please at verses 30 and 31. Acts 17 verses 30 and 31. "And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent." Why does God command all men everywhere to repent? Here's why. "Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." How do I know that there's going to be a judgment? And the answer is God's judgment is just as sure as the resurrection of Jesus Christ is from the dead, just as surely as God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, just that surely there's going to be a judgment.

And may I tell you something else? Jesus Christ will be the judge. The Bible says in John 5 verses 21 through 23, "For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him." So yes, there will be a judgment. And if you will look in your Bibles to the book of Luke, back just a few pages, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Luke chapter 24. You see, one of the reasons God has ordained the preaching of his word is for warning and instruction. It was Daniel who was called. It was Daniel, the prophet of God, the man of God that interpreted the writing on the wall. If you would look in Luke 24, beginning there with verse 46, we're talking about his disciples. Look what he says to them. "And said unto them, Thus it is written"—plainly, publicly—"Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."

Application: Praising the True God Daily

Weaver urges believers to examine their lives, repent of neglect, and praise God continually. He shares a personal story about a tornado to illustrate giving glory to God rather than luck.

One thing for sure, folks, we do not want to be Belshazzars. We want to praise the one true and the living God who's revealed Himself in the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's a couple things we have to learn. The first one is this. Praising the wrong God brings death. The only God that exists is the God that has revealed himself in the Bible through the Lord Jesus Christ. There is one God.

And he said, "besides me there is none other." We need to make sure that we praise the one true and the living God through Jesus Christ. The second thing is this. We must understand that our attitudes, our actions, our lives are indeed praising some God. How we talk, how we think, how we walk, how we live, in essence, inevitably, is going to be praising some God. It may be the God of self. It may be what the world calls luck, chance, fate, or fortune. But it's going to be praising someone.

Just the week before Christmas, when that tornado came through our town, I was at a place of business where I buy feed. And the man who owned the business, I said, "I heard there was a tornado in the area." He said, "Yes, it's on its way here now." Well, I just got in the feed, so I got in my truck and I left. And just evidently after I passed through, it hit. And within a hundred yards of the place of business that I purchased the feed, houses were destroyed, barns were destroyed, trees, I mean trees this big around, piled up one on top of the other. I mean, it was a total devastation, a royal mess. In fact, in that one area, they're still cleaning up. And that's been nearly two months now. I went back the next week to get more feed. I said, "Did you see what happened 100 yards from you?" And he looked at me and he said, "Yes, we were lucky." I said, "No, sir. You were blessed. God protected you." Then he looked at me and he said, "That's right." I've got news for you. I'm not interested in praising luck, chance, fate, or fortune. I'm not interested in praising myself. I want to praise the one true and the living God who holds my times and my life in his hands.

Conclusion: Make Your Praise Count for the True God

Weaver concludes that our attitudes and actions are always praising some god, and we must ensure it is the God revealed in Jesus Christ. He closes with a prayer of thanksgiving and praise.

We just need to remember that our attitudes, our actions, our lives, ever how we live, we're praising someone or something every day. Make it the one true and the living God who's revealed himself in Jesus Christ. Father, help us today. We pray that you'd give us wisdom, understanding, that you'd help us to render unto thee the fruit of our lips, thanksgiving and praise and honor to thee who deserves all honor, praise and thanksgiving. We thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you for life and health. We thank you how you have provided for us, protected us, preserved us. We thank you for your kind and gracious providence. Thank you, Father. And we praise thy holy name through the Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

The Danger of False Worship

Summary: Many people praise a god of their own imagination rather than the God of the Bible, which is equivalent to idolatry and sacrificing to devils.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'Unhappily, I believe today that a vast majority of professing Christians are worshiping the God of their imagination and not the God of Holy Scripture.' He cites Deuteronomy 32:17 and 1 Corinthians 10:20-21.

Learning from Biblical History

Summary: Believers are obligated to learn from God's judgments in history, such as Nebuchadnezzar's humbling, to avoid similar judgment.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'Belshazzar was obligated to learn from what happened to Nebuchadnezzar.' He references Matthew 21:32 and 2 Peter 2:4-9.

The Sin of Pride

Summary: Pride is a root sin that leads people to lift themselves against God, and God actively resists the proud.

Evidence: Weaver explains, 'Pride is a root sin. Pride is the foundation of practically every other sin.' He cites James 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:5.

The Certainty of Divine Judgment

Summary: God's judgment is as sure as the resurrection of Christ, and all will be weighed and found wanting if they do not repent.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'God's judgment is just as sure as the resurrection of Jesus Christ is from the dead.' He cites Acts 17:30-31.

The Necessity of Praising the True God

Summary: Believers must actively praise the one true God through Jesus Christ in all aspects of life, not just in formal worship.

Evidence: Weaver urges, 'We need to make sure that we praise the one true and the living God through Jesus Christ.' He shares a personal story about giving glory to God rather than luck.

Key Arguments

Ignorance of God leads to false worship

Summary: If you do not know the God of the Bible, you cannot praise Him; instead, you praise a false god of your imagination.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'How in the world can you praise someone that you do not know? And the answer is you cannot.'

Idolatry is sacrificing to devils

Summary: Worshiping any god other than the biblical God is not neutral but is demonic, as taught in Deuteronomy 32:17 and 1 Corinthians 10:20.

Evidence: Weaver reads, 'They sacrificed unto devils, not to God' and 'the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils.'

Rejecting Scripture is walking after imagination

Summary: Those who refuse to hear God's Word and follow their own hearts are walking after their imagination, which is evil.

Evidence: Weaver cites Jeremiah 13:10: 'This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart.'

Belshazzar should have learned from Nebuchadnezzar

Summary: Belshazzar knew of Nebuchadnezzar's humbling but did not humble himself, making him more guilty.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'Belshazzar was obligated to learn from the work of God in the life of Nebuchadnezzar.'

Pride leads to lifting oneself against God

Summary: Belshazzar's pride was demonstrated by profaning holy vessels and praising false gods, which was a direct affront to God.

Evidence: Weaver explains, 'He profaned and dishonored that which was holy... praised and honored that which was dishonorable... refused to praise the one true the living God.'

God resists the proud

Summary: God actively fights against those who are proud, as stated in James 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:5.

Evidence: Weaver quotes, 'God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.'

Judgment is certain and public

Summary: The writing on the wall was plain and public, just as God's judgment is plainly revealed in Scripture and will be executed through Christ.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'The judgment written against Belshazzar was not only plain, it was public. And it was done supernaturally.'

Our lives are always praising some god

Summary: Every attitude and action is an act of worship to something, whether the true God, self, or false gods like luck.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'Our attitudes, our actions, our lives, ever how we live, we're praising someone or something every day.'

Scripture References

Daniel 5:1-4

Context: Read at the beginning to introduce Belshazzar's feast and idolatry.

Daniel 5:5-9

Context: Describes the handwriting on the wall and the king's fear.

Daniel 5:10-12

Context: The queen recommends Daniel to interpret the writing.

Daniel 5:13-17

Context: Belshazzar offers Daniel rewards, but Daniel refuses them.

Deuteronomy 32:17

Context: Used to show that sacrificing to false gods is sacrificing to devils.

1 Corinthians 10:20-21

Context: Paul's teaching that Gentile sacrifices are to devils, not God.

Jeremiah 13:10

Context: Shows that walking after imagination is evil and leads to idolatry.

Jeremiah 16:12

Context: Further evidence that walking after imagination is rebellion.

Jeremiah 18:12

Context: The people's declaration to walk after their own devices.

Psalm 115:1-8

Context: Contrasts the living God with lifeless idols.

Isaiah 42:8

Context: God will not give His glory to another or His praise to graven images.

Ezekiel 33:11

Context: God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked but desires repentance.

Daniel 5:6

Context: Belshazzar's fear at the handwriting.

Daniel 5:30

Context: Belshazzar is slain that night.

Daniel 5:18-21

Context: Daniel recounts Nebuchadnezzar's humbling to Belshazzar.

Matthew 21:32

Context: Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for not repenting after seeing others believe.

Daniel 4:27-37

Context: Nebuchadnezzar's pride, insanity, and restoration.

Psalm 46:10

Context: God will be exalted among the heathen.

Psalm 47:8

Context: God reigns over the heathen.

Proverbs 21:1

Context: The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord.

Historical References

Nebuchadnezzar's humbling (Daniel 4)

Context: Weaver uses Nebuchadnezzar's seven years of insanity as an example Belshazzar should have learned from.

Herod Agrippa I's death (Acts 12)

Context: Cited as an example of God striking down a proud ruler who accepted worship.

John Calvin's commentary on Daniel 5

Context: Weaver reads a lengthy quote from Calvin emphasizing Belshazzar's sacrilege and ingratitude.

Bank robberies in Greenville, SC

Context: Weaver recalls that during his college years, all bank robbers were caught, illustrating the folly of thinking one will escape judgment.

Tornado near Jasper

Context: Weaver shares a personal story about a tornado to illustrate giving glory to God rather than luck.

Important Quotes

Unhappily, I believe today that a vast majority of professing Christians are worshiping the God of their imagination and not the God of Holy Scripture.

Significance: This quote captures the central concern of the sermon: that many Christians have a false view of God based on imagination rather than Scripture.

I don't care what the Bible says. I know that God's not like that.

Significance: Weaver uses this anecdote to illustrate how people reject biblical truth in favor of their own ideas about God.

The only God that is, is the God of the Bible. And if you don't know him as he's revealed in the Bible, then you're worshiping some false God.

Significance: This quote emphasizes the exclusivity of the biblical revelation of God.

Pride is a root sin. Pride is the foundation of practically every other sin.

Significance: Weaver identifies pride as the underlying cause of Belshazzar's rebellion and all sin.

Belshazzar himself is the writing on the wall for us.

Significance: Weaver applies the story directly to the listener, making Belshazzar a warning example.

Our attitudes, our actions, our lives, ever how we live, we're praising someone or something every day. Make it the one true and the living God who's revealed himself in Jesus Christ.

Significance: This concluding exhortation summarizes the practical application of the sermon.

Discussion Questions

What does it mean to worship a 'God of your imagination' rather than the God of the Bible?

Context: Weaver argues that many professing Christians do this unknowingly.

How can we ensure that our understanding of God is based on Scripture and not on personal preference or cultural ideas?

Context: The sermon emphasizes the need to know God as He has revealed Himself.

In what ways might we be guilty of 'walking after the imagination of our own heart' as described in Jeremiah?

Context: Weaver connects this to refusing to hear God's Word.

Why is pride considered the root of so many other sins, and how did it manifest in Belshazzar's life?

Context: Weaver identifies pride as the foundation of Belshazzar's rebellion.

What historical examples from the Bible or from our own lives should we learn from to avoid God's judgment?

Context: Weaver stresses the importance of learning from history, such as Nebuchadnezzar and the flood.

How does the certainty of God's judgment through Jesus Christ affect the way we live and share the gospel?

Context: Weaver cites Acts 17:30-31 to show that judgment is as sure as the resurrection.

What are some practical ways we can praise God daily, not just in formal worship?

Context: Weaver encourages praising God for life, health, and daily blessings.

How can we examine our lives to see which 'god' we are truly praising through our attitudes and actions?

Context: Weaver concludes that our lives are always praising something.

Applications

Examine your view of God

Summary: Ensure that your understanding of God comes from Scripture, not from imagination or cultural assumptions.

Evidence: Weaver warns against worshiping a God of imagination and tells the story of the secretary who rejected biblical election.

Learn from biblical history

Summary: Study the examples of God's judgment in the Bible to avoid repeating the same sins.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'We need to learn from history. We need to learn from the experience of God and the works of God in the people that we know.'

Humble yourself before God

Summary: Recognize pride in your life and repent, knowing that God resists the proud.

Evidence: Weaver emphasizes that Belshazzar 'hast not humbled thine heart' and quotes James 4:6.

Praise God continually

Summary: Make it a daily practice to praise God for His blessings, rather than attributing them to luck or self.

Evidence: Weaver shares the tornado story and says, 'I'm not interested in praising luck, chance, fate, or fortune.'

Repent and believe the gospel

Summary: Turn from sin and trust in Christ, because judgment is certain for those who do not repent.

Evidence: Weaver cites Acts 17:30-31 and Ezekiel 33:11, urging repentance.

Evaluate what you are truly worshiping

Summary: Consider whether your attitudes and actions are praising the true God or an idol.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'Our attitudes, our actions, our lives, ever how we live, we're praising someone or something every day.'

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T18:11:13Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T10:25:00Z

Clean Transcript

Are You Praising The Wrong God?

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

Daniel chapter 5, and let's read a few verses. I'd love to read the entire chapter, but we will come to most of it later. The title of the message is, "Are You Praising the Wrong God?" Are you praising the wrong God? Daniel chapter 5, look at it beginning there with verse 1. Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords and drank wine before the thousand. Belshazzar, while 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, 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, brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.
#1 | 0:13 to 1:18 | cleaned
In the same hour came forth the 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. Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him so that the joints of his loins were loosed and his knees smote one against another. The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers.
#2 | 1:18 to 1:43 | cleaned
And the king spake and said to the wise men of Babylon, "Whosoever shall read this writing and show me the interpretation thereof shall be clothed with scarlet and have a chain of gold about his neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom." Then came in all the king's wise men, but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof. Then was King Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonished. Now the queen, by reason of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banquet house, and the queen spake and said, "O king, live forever. Let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed."
#3 | 1:44 to 2:24 | cleaned
"There is a man in thy kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar, thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers. Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and showing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation." Then was Daniel brought in before the king, and the king spake and said unto Daniel, "Art thou that Daniel, which art of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Jewry? I have even heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in thee. And now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof."
#4 | 2:24 to 3:30 | cleaned
"But they could not show the interpretation of the thing. And I have heard of thee, that thou canst make interpretations, and dissolve doubts. Now, if thou canst read the writing, and make known to me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt be the third ruler in the kingdom." And I love verse 17. Then Daniel answered and said before the king, "Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation."
#5 | 3:31 to 4:07 | cleaned
I told you that the title of this message was "Are You Praising the Wrong God?" I hope that you understand that we are obligated to praise the one true and the living God. In fact, there are a multitude of scriptures that tell us that we are to praise him—praise him with the sound of music, praise him in song, praise him—"Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord." In fact, the Bible tells us in Psalm 33 and verse 1, that praise is comely for the upright. So therefore we are duty bound, we're obligated, we're responsible, and moreover, we're privileged to honor and praise him. However, there are many people that really do not know him, and therefore it is impossible for them to praise him. How in the world can you praise someone that you do not know?
#6 | 4:09 to 5:05 | cleaned
And the answer is you cannot. So when individuals begin to praise ignorantly their God, what they're doing, in essence, is praising a false god. Let me show you what I'm talking about. I want you to hold Daniel 5, but look in your Bibles, first of all, to Deuteronomy chapter 32, and then we're going to go to 1 Corinthians chapter 10. So if you'll go to Deuteronomy chapter 32, and look if you would please at verse 17. Deuteronomy 32 and verse 17.
#7 | 5:06 to 5:39 | cleaned
Because the Bible is telling us about Israel who actually transgressed God's law and left him. The Bible says in verse 16, "They provoked him"—that is the one true, the living God—"to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger." Now look at verse 17. "They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not." So they just either made up God or took any god of the heathen that they heard about. And the Bible says that they sacrificed unto devils. If you look in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, the apostle Paul uses this same truth. First Corinthians chapter 10, look if you would please at verses 20 and 21. He asked—he asked in verse 19, "What say I then?" But in verse 20 he says, "But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice"—in this instance that would be the heathen, the unsaved—"but I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God."
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"And I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils." Note, he said, "But the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils." It is important not only to know whom you are worshiping, but also whom you are praising. Unhappily, I believe today that a vast majority of professing Christians are worshiping the God of their imagination and not the God of Holy Scripture. In fact, they have no idea who the God of Holy Scripture really and truly is. They know what they have heard. They know what they've been taught all of their lives, but they've never really read the Bible. They've never really studied the Bible and they've never seen who the God of the Bible really is.
#9 | 7:06 to 8:06 | cleaned
I related this probably to you sometime back. You probably have forgotten it, but years ago I was in a pastor's office and we were discussing theology and his door was open. It was not anything that was secret. The door was open and his secretary's desk was right outside that door. And so we got around to the doctrine of election and we were talking about the biblical doctrine of election.
#10 | 8:07 to 8:34 | cleaned
And all of a sudden, his secretary, who was not even involved in the conversation, although she could hear, she jumped up, ran into the office, looked at the pastor and said, "I don't care what the Bible says. I know that God's not like that." And the pastor looked at her and said, "Did you hear what you just said? Let me tell you, the only God that is, is the God of the Bible. And if you don't know him as he's revealed in the Bible, then you're worshiping some false God. You're worshiping a God of your imagination. God is not how you imagine. God is as he's revealed himself."
#11 | 8:35 to 9:20 | cleaned
Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles back a few pages to the book of Jeremiah, chapter 13. Let me show you this. We'll look at three passages in Jeremiah. Jeremiah, chapter 13. Look, if you would please, at verse 10. Jeremiah, chapter 13. Note, if you would please, verse 10. Look what God says. And he's talking here about Israel. Jeremiah 13 and verse 10, he says, "This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods to serve them and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing." But note, if you would, he calls them an evil people. No, they refuse to hear his word. And note what is happening.
#12 | 9:20 to 10:11 | cleaned
They're walking after their imaginations. And because they're walking after their imaginations, they're walking after other gods. If you would look in your Bibles to Jeremiah 16 and verse 12. Jeremiah 16 and verse 12. He tells them, "And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me." So anyone then who is walking after his own imagination is refusing to listen to God. He's refusing to hear the Word of God. Then if you look at Jeremiah 18 and verse 12, Jeremiah 18 and verse 12, here's what the people said, and they said, "There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart." In other words, we're not going to listen to God. We're not going to change. We're going to do what we want to do, and we will walk after the imagination of our own heart. Now, when you look at Daniel 5, which we're going to come back there shortly, Belshazzar and all of his people were worshiping gods of their own hearts.
#13 | 10:11 to 11:28 | cleaned
They were worshipping gods of their own imagination. They were worshipping idols, false gods. Now, if you will turn back to Psalm 115, let me show you what the Bible says concerning these idols, these false gods. Psalm 115, and let's read the first eight verses. Watch carefully. Psalm 115, beginning with verse one. The scripture says, "Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake."
#14 | 11:29 to 12:08 | cleaned
"Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God? But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased." So our God is sovereign. And here now he is contrasted with the gods of the heathen. Look, if you would please, in verse four, "Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not."
#15 | 12:09 to 12:37 | cleaned
"They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: they have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat. They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them." So just like an idol is nothing but a dumb, lifeless piece of wood or stone or material, he said, those that make them are like unto them and those that trust them are likened to them.
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In other words, it's worthless, worthless, worthless. Most professing Christians would never fall down before an idol, but however, they will easily, readily, and quickly place themselves, their desires, their will, their way ahead of God and his word. Anytime you put anything on an equal par with God, or anytime you try to place anything above God, it is idolatry. Many times people place their children before God. They'll place their mates before God. They'll place any and everything before God.
#17 | 13:14 to 13:59 | cleaned
Now, in doing so, they are nothing more than idolaters. Belshazzar did not know, recognize, or honor the one true God. He gave all of his praise and all of his worship to idols. Such worship is not only an abomination, but according to Scripture it is an affront to God because it is a denial to God. They worship their idols, but they refuse to worship the one true and the living God. Isaiah 42 and verse 8 says this: "I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images." So mark that down. God has said he is not going to give his glory to another. He is not going to give his praise to graven images. Now, we're going to find that giving praise to the wrong God brings death. In fact, in our text in Daniel chapter five, Belshazzar died that very night. But however, God says that he desires that the wicked live, that the wicked repent. If you would turn in your Bibles to the book of Ezekiel on the way back to Daniel, Ezekiel chapter 33.
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And look, if you would please, at verse 11, Ezekiel 33. Verse 11, watch carefully. Ezekiel 33 and verse 11: "Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?" In other words, God says, if you do not repent, if you do not turn, then you are going to die. It's just that simple. And when you look back in Daniel chapter five, I want you to note verse six. When he saw the handwriting on the wall, look at verse six, Daniel five.
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"Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another." I will tell you very plainly. Belshazzar was scared. He was frightened. But he did not repent. His thoughts were troubled, but he did not repent. And if you'll look in verse 30 of Daniel chapter 5, here's what happened: "In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain." He died that very night. So all of his being frightened and all of his being scared and all the thoughts that went through his head did not change him. Now, here's my question. How did Belshazzar arrive at this point in his life? How did he arrive at the point of God's judgment and wrath? Let me try to enlarge the question. How does anyone arrive at this point? Look around us today.
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The truth of the matter is this. When someone arrives at God's judgment, it did not happen in a vacuum. It did not happen overnight. What is the path? What are some of the things that will bring us to God's bar of judgment? Well, I want you to look with me at Daniel chapter five and give you a couple of things. First of all, I want you to look, if you would, in verses 18 through 21. Here's the first step in coming to God's judgment. And I'll put each of us involved with this, as well as others who are listening.
#21 | 17:49 to 18:34 | cleaned
We, like Belshazzar, disregard the examples of history, even though we know them. So look in verse 18. Daniel is speaking. Verse 17, then answered Daniel. Now watch verse 18. Here's what Daniel tells him. "O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour: and for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him."
#22 | 18:34 to 19:06 | cleaned
"Whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down. But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him: and he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will."
#23 | 19:07 to 19:48 | cleaned
Now, I want you to understand that one of our major problems is unbelief. Coupled with unbelief is ignorance. When you have unbelief and when you have ignorance, you must also add unthoughtfulness, laziness, apathy, and an unwillingness to consider and meditate on things that we know absolutely.
#24 | 19:49 to 20:19 | cleaned
Now, the point I'm trying to make is this. Belshazzar was obligated to learn from what happened to Nebuchadnezzar. I'm going to show you a verse, but listen to me carefully. Belshazzar was obligated to learn from the work of God in the life of Nebuchadnezzar. If you would hold Daniel 5, but turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 21, and look if you would please at verse 32. Matthew 21, verse 32. Watch carefully. Matthew 21. Verse 32, look what our Lord told the Pharisees. Matthew 21, verse 32.
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He said, "For John"—that is John the Baptist—"came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him."
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Now watch this, "and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him." Now he said, you bunch of Pharisees, you didn't believe the preaching of John. You wouldn't listen to him. But the publicans, the tax collectors, the thieves did, the harlots did. And they were changed. "And ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him." In other words, our Lord is saying, look, you are responsible to profit from the work of God in the lives of those that you know. Did Belshazzar know Nebuchadnezzar? Well, of course. Now, there are some people will say that Nebuchadnezzar was his grandfather and that Nebuchadnezzar's son was the ruler.
#27 | 21:19 to 22:16 | cleaned
You will find in the Bible many times the founder of a dynasty is always called the father. For instance, you can read about individuals who were not like David, their father. Well, David was not necessarily their earthly father, but he was the head of that dynasty. He was the head of that clan, so to speak. Well, whether Nebuchadnezzar was his father or grandfather in one sense of the word does not matter. If he was the grandfather, Belshazzar should have known. If it was his father, he certainly should have known. Well, what happened to Nebuchadnezzar? Look back to Deuteronomy—not Deuteronomy, I'm sorry—Daniel chapter four, just one chapter back, Daniel chapter four. Now, Nebuchadnezzar was a very proud, arrogant, and haughty monarch. So, in Daniel chapter four, beginning there with verse 27, Daniel is speaking to Nebuchadnezzar, and he says this.
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"Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity." In other words, he had already told him what God was going to do to him. He says, now here's the answer. You need to repent. You need to change your life. Well, he didn't listen. So verse 28, "All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar."
#29 | 23:16 to 23:47 | cleaned
"At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee. And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field."
#30 | 23:48 to 24:19 | cleaned
"And they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen"—this is known as boanthropy—"and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws. And at the end of the days"—that is the end of seven years—"I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?"
#31 | 24:19 to 25:27 | cleaned
"At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me." Now watch.
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"Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase." Now, let me ask you this question. Why was Nebuchadnezzar driven insane for seven years? So he could learn one lesson: that God was absolutely sovereign. There was one God. He is in control. He is sovereign. He reigns over all, even the heathen. And Nebuchadnezzar said, I learned this. It took me seven years of insanity. It took me seven years of eating grass and living like an ox, but I finally lifted my eyes to heaven and I recognized there's one God that I should praise and that I should honor.
#33 | 25:45 to 26:39 | cleaned
Did you know that in Psalm 46 and verse 10, the Bible says, "Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth." And then when you get to Psalm 47 verse eight, the Bible said, "God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness." And how about this one? Proverbs 21 and verse 1: "The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will." So God is sovereign.
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This is exactly what Belshazzar should have learned. It was either his father or his grandfather, but he should have learned it. It was in the family. There are sometimes secrets in families, but only the family members know. But this was no family secret. This was done out in the open. Everyone in the kingdom knew that Nebuchadnezzar was crazy for seven years. And he had to learn one lesson.
#35 | 27:13 to 27:44 | cleaned
Now, let me tell you something. There are 12 books of history in the Bible. However, all of the Bible is history. It teaches us in every book, if we will read, if we will listen, if we would learn, we could profit not only from its counsels, its admonitions, but also from its warnings and its examples. So let me show you. I want you to hold Deuteronomy—not Deuteronomy, but Daniel chapter five—and turn in your Bibles to Second Peter, Second Peter chapter two. Second Peter chapter two.
#36 | 27:45 to 28:29 | cleaned
And let's begin reading there with verse four. We're talking about examples. We're talking about history. Just like Belshazzar was obligated to learn from the history of Nebuchadnezzar, we're obligated to learn from history as well. So Second Peter chapter two, verse four, the Bible says, "For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; and spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; and delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked."
#37 | 28:32 to 29:31 | cleaned
"(For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;) The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished." Now, turn right over just a few pages to the book of Jude, right before the book of Revelation, the book of Jude. And look, if you would please, at verse seven, because here it is again. In fact, let's read verse six.
#38 | 29:32 to 30:05 | cleaned
You will see the two examples here. "And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire."
#39 | 30:06 to 30:37 | cleaned
Now, here's what the scripture tells us. God did not spare the angels that sinned. God did not spare the old world. God did not spare Sodom and Gomorrah. God did not spare the cities of the plain. And the Bible repeatedly tells us these are examples. When you get to First Corinthians chapter 10, he uses Israel for an example as well and tells us that we are to learn from how he judged Israel as well.
#40 | 30:38 to 31:08 | cleaned
So when you stop and think about not only biblical history, but our history, look at the fall of the tyrants. Look at the fall of wicked politicians. Inevitably, invariably, we should be learning from history. Wow. Let me give you one more example. You don't have to turn there, I'll quote it, but it's Romans 8 and verse 32. Let's know what the Bible says. "He that"—that is God the Father—"he that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" Now listen again, "he that spared not his own Son." So God did not spare the angels that sinned. God did not spare the old world. God did not spare Sodom and Gomorrah. God did not spare the cities of the plain. And when sin was imputed to his own dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, he did not spare him. What makes anyone think that somehow, some way, some unrepentant, God-hating, God-denying, reprobate who spits upon God and tramples the Lord Jesus Christ under his feet and denies his word will escape the judgment of God?
#41 | 31:08 to 32:34 | cleaned
I got news for you folks. If God did not spare his own Son, he's not going to spare anyone who rebels and sins against him. This is what I'm saying. Nebuchadnezzar, he learned the hard way. Belshazzar never learned at all. We need to learn from history. We need to learn from the experience of God and the works of God in the people that we know. It is true that Belshazzar saw the handwriting on the wall. But the truth of the matter is Belshazzar himself is the writing on the wall for us. Belshazzar is the writing on the wall. Now, let me show you a second thing that brought Belshazzar to the place of judgment.
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Look back in Daniel chapter five in verses 22 and 23, Daniel chapter five, verse 22. Watch carefully. He's already told him you didn't learn from Nebuchadnezzar.
#43 | 33:28 to 33:41 | cleaned
Now he tells him, we like Belshazzar display pride, arrogance, and haughtiness. Watch verse 22. He said, "And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this; but hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified." Ah, go back to verse 22. "And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart," verse 23, "but hast lifted up thyself." Pride is a root sin. Pride is the foundation of practically every other sin. It is pride, arrogance, a know-it-all attitude that fights against truth. It fights against the Word of God. It fights against God Himself.
#44 | 33:43 to 35:17 | cleaned
So let me spell it out for you. Belshazzar had lifted up himself against God. Do you realize when someone fights against God, God fights against them. And inevitably, God is going to be the winner. The Bible tells you in James 4 and verse 6, "Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble." The word "resisteth" means to fight against. God fights against the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. He said it again in 1 Peter 5 and verse 5, "God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble."
#45 | 35:18 to 36:05 | cleaned
Now, I want you to note this. He says, in verse 23, "but hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven." I want you to note that Belshazzar did not rant and rave against God. He didn't curse God. Moreover, he did not write a dissertation denying the existence of God. Moreover, he did not even start an organization to try to separate government from God. Let's be honest, Belshazzar was religious. Belshazzar believed in gods. In fact, he was worshiping, he was praising, but he was worshiping and praising the wrong God. The Aramaic word here for "he lifted up himself" literally means to exalt, to lift oneself up and to set oneself up above. Literally, he was elevating himself above God.
#46 | 36:06 to 37:15 | cleaned
He was following not only the example of Pharaoh, but Sennacherib and even Nebuchadnezzar, by the way. There's another one that did the same thing in the New Testament. If you will hold Daniel 5, but turn in your Bibles to Acts chapter 12. Let me show you what happened to Herod. Look in Acts chapter 12. Acts 12. Note, if you would please, beginning there with verse 20. Acts 12 and verse 20. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts. Acts chapter 12, look in verse 20. "And Herod was highly displeased with them of Tyre and Sidon: but they came with one accord to him, and, having made Blastus the king's chamberlain their friend, desired peace; because their country was nourished by the king's country. And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them."
#47 | 37:19 to 38:28 | cleaned
"And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man. And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost." Immediately God smote him. I got news for you. All of the tyrants, all the politicians, who refuse to honor and worship the one true and the living God, will sooner or later be smitten. God will not give his praise to another, nor his glory to false idols.
#48 | 38:30 to 39:15 | cleaned
Now, I want you to understand, as you go back to Daniel chapter five, that Belshazzar failed in three particular areas. There are three particular accounts in which he transgressed against God. First of all, he profaned and dishonored that which was holy. All of these vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple were vessels that had been dedicated to God, and they were to be used only in the service and worship of the one true and the living God. And so what Belshazzar did, he took these dedicated holy vessels to drink wine in them and to party with them for his wives and his concubines and his lords. The second thing is Belshazzar praised and honored that which was dishonorable and unholy. So he took something that was dedicated to the one true God and then turned around and used it to praise and worship those which were no God.
#49 | 39:15 to 40:32 | cleaned
The gods of wood and stone and gold and silver and metal, which could not see nor hear nor speak nor move nor walk. They were nothing but dumb idols. And he took that which was holy and dedicated to God and used it to praise these false gods. And thirdly, he refused to praise the one true the living God who held his life in his hands. He refused to give God the glory. Who held all of his ways in his hands.
#50 | 40:34 to 41:14 | cleaned
I want to read you a comment on this passage by John Calvin. You know, I'm not summing this up. It's a long paragraph, but I want you to listen. He says this. "The prophet Daniel continues his own sentence and confirms what I've said. Namely, King Belshazzar was intractable and willfully blind to God's judgment. For thou hast raised thyself, says he, against the Lord of heaven. If he had raised himself thus insolently against men, his sin would be worthy of punishment."
#51 | 41:15 to 41:55 | cleaned
"But when he had provoked God on purpose, this arrogance neither could nor ought to be borne. Again, therefore, the prophet increases the guilt of the king's pride by saying he raised himself against the King of heaven. He also expresses the manner of his doing so by commanding the vessels of the temple to be brought to sight. He drank from them. This profanation was an indecent sacrilege, but Belshazzar was not content with that indignity. He used these vessels for luxury and foul debauchery, abusing them in the company of concubines and abandoned women, and added a yet greater reproach against God in praising his gods of silver, gold, brass, and iron, wood, and stone, which cannot feel."
#52 | 41:56 to 42:49 | cleaned
"This had not been previously, but since Daniel here sustains the character of a teacher, he does not relate the events so shortly as at first. When he said at the beginning of this chapter, Belshazzar celebrated this impure banquet, he spoke historically, but now he execute, as I have said, the office of the teacher. Thou, says he, hast praised the gods made of corruptible material, who neither see nor hear nor understand, but thou hast defrauded the living God of his honor, and whose hand is thy life, on which thou dependest, and whence all in which thou boastest proceeds, because thou hast so despised the living God, who"
#53 | 42:51 to 43:35 | cleaned
"has been so gracious unto thee. This ingratitude was so base and shameful. We see, therefore, how severely the prophet reproves the impious tyrant of sacrilege and mad rashness and foul ingratitude toward God." No wonder you read, in verse 30, "and Belshazzar was slain that very night." What brought Belshazzar? What brings people to God's judgment? Not only failure to understand history, the history of the Bible, the history of the world, not only a failure to understand history, but to profit from the example of others and the work of God in the lives of others. And secondly, pride.
#54 | 43:37 to 44:24 | cleaned
It always lifts us up and somehow makes us think that we are going to escape the judgment of God. I never will forget when I was in college many, many moons back, I forget how many bank robberies there were in Greenville, South Carolina, the four years that I was in undergraduate school. But out of all the bank robberies, not one robber ever made it out of the city limits. They caught them all before they ever got out of the city limits. And I had to think to myself, why are they so stupid?
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And here's the answer I came up with. Because every criminal thinks the criminals before him were stupid, but he's smart. They got caught, but he won't. He won't be caught. Do you realize that's how people rationalize fighting against God? God may damn everybody else. God may destroy everybody else. God may judge everybody else, but not me. I'll be the exception. No, you will not be the exception.
#56 | 45:13 to 45:45 | cleaned
The pride of your heart will deceive you. Thirdly, I want you to know this. We like Belshazzar will face God's judgment for our failure to acknowledge and to worship him alone. Look, if you would, in Daniel five, beginning there with verse 24, "Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written. And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN."
#57 | 45:46 to 46:14 | cleaned
"And this is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians." Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. Didn't last long. "In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old." So Daniel's third ruler just for a few hours. Wow.
#58 | 46:15 to 47:00 | cleaned
Let me tell you something, folks. We will be weighed. We will be found wanting. And whatever we hold dear above God and his truth will be destroyed and taken away from us. We hold our idols in our hearts, in our minds, in our imaginations. Moreover, the truth of the matter is we really and truly do not hold God's word and God's worship as sacred because we so easily refuse to attend to it. We so easily and quickly refuse to do it.
#59 | 47:01 to 47:36 | cleaned
Most people stay out of church if they have a toe ache. I mean, they go to work, but they would not go to church. The evidence is very clearly manifested when we refuse to worship God and only when we refuse to worship him, when we refuse to praise him for everything that he has done. And not just during worship, but on a daily basis. Every time I see one of those crosses beside the road, where someone has been killed, I always stop and thank God again for life and health.
#60 | 47:36 to 48:17 | cleaned
I passed by Jasper coming down here, saw a huge man sitting in a wheelchair, couldn't do anything else. And again, I thanked God for life and health. I'm just simply saying, folks, we have so much we should praise Him for. Did you know the Bible says, in Psalm 50 and verse 23, "Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me." If you want to glorify God, you need to learn to praise Him. You need to learn to praise Him on a daily basis. Praise Him for your children. Praise Him for your wife. Praise Him for your husband. Praise Him for life and health. Praise Him for everything. Now, I want you to look at this. Look in your Bibles to Daniel 5 and verse 5. Look at it again. Daniel 5 and verse 5. Here's something that we need to consider. Daniel 5 and verse 5.
#61 | 48:18 to 49:13 | cleaned
"In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote." I want you to understand that the judgment written against Belshazzar was not only plain, it was public. And it was done supernaturally. Do you realize, folks, the judgment written in his word is plain and public, and it is the supernatural revelation of God.
#62 | 49:13 to 49:56 | cleaned
If you would turn in your Bibles to the book of Acts chapter 17, the apostle Paul has been preaching on Mars Hill and he's bringing his sermon to a close. And I want you to see what he says. Acts chapter 17, look, if you would please at verses 30 and 31. Acts 17 verses 30 and 31. "And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent." Why does God command all men everywhere to repent? Here's why. "Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." How do I know that there's going to be a judgment? And the answer is God's judgment is just as sure as the resurrection of Jesus Christ is from the dead, just as surely as God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, just that surely there's going to be a judgment.
#63 | 49:59 to 51:18 | cleaned
And may I tell you something else? Jesus Christ will be the judge. The Bible says in John 5 verses 21 through 23, "For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him." So yes, there will be a judgment. And if you will look in your Bibles to the book of Luke, back just a few pages, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Luke chapter 24.
#64 | 51:19 to 52:01 | cleaned
You see, one of the reasons God has ordained the preaching of his word is for warning and instruction. It was Daniel who was called. It was Daniel, the prophet of God, the man of God that interpreted the writing on the wall. If you would look in Luke 24, beginning there with verse 46, we're talking about his disciples. Look what he says to them. "And said unto them, Thus it is written"—plainly, publicly—"Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."
#65 | 52:01 to 52:57 | cleaned
"And ye are witnesses of these things." He said, you're the ones that have seen them. You're the ones that know them. You are the ones that are responsible to proclaim them. Now, it is true. It is true that the wicked will face God in judgment. But it is equally also true that Christians will have to give an account of our lives, our service, our worship and our praise. So here's a question. Have you ever prayed and sought the Lord and asked him to help you to love him more, to serve him more, and to praise him more? Certainly you understand what the scripture says when it declares that he is worthy of all honor, all praise, and all glory. Here's another question. Have you ever been praying and bewailed before God your own neglect, your own feebleness, your own apathy, your own lukewarmness? Have you ever asked God to stir you up and really allow you to worship Him and praise Him and give Him honor and glory?
#66 | 52:57 to 54:26 | cleaned
One thing for sure, folks, we do not want to be Belshazzars. We want to praise the one true and the living God who's revealed Himself in the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's a couple things we have to learn. The first one is this. Praising the wrong God brings death. The only God that exists is the God that has revealed himself in the Bible through the Lord Jesus Christ. There is one God.
#67 | 54:28 to 54:55 | cleaned
And he said, "besides me there is none other." We need to make sure that we praise the one true and the living God through Jesus Christ. The second thing is this. We must understand that our attitudes, our actions, our lives are indeed praising some God. How we talk, how we think, how we walk, how we live, in essence, inevitably, is going to be praising some God. It may be the God of self. It may be what the world calls luck, chance, fate, or fortune. But it's going to be praising someone.
#68 | 54:56 to 55:43 | cleaned
Just the week before Christmas, when that tornado came through our town, I was at a place of business where I buy feed. And the man who owned the business, I said, "I heard there was a tornado in the area." He said, "Yes, it's on its way here now." Well, I just got in the feed, so I got in my truck and I left. And just evidently after I passed through, it hit. And within a hundred yards of the place of business that I purchased the feed, houses were destroyed, barns were destroyed, trees, I mean trees this big around, piled up one on top of the other. I mean, it was a total devastation, a royal mess. In fact, in that one area, they're still cleaning up.
#69 | 55:45 to 56:38 | cleaned
And that's been nearly two months now. I went back the next week to get more feed. I said, "Did you see what happened 100 yards from you?" And he looked at me and he said, "Yes, we were lucky." I said, "No, sir. You were blessed. God protected you." Then he looked at me and he said, "That's right." I've got news for you. I'm not interested in praising luck, chance, fate, or fortune. I'm not interested in praising myself. I want to praise the one true and the living God who holds my times and my life in his hands.
#70 | 56:39 to 57:30 | cleaned
We just need to remember that our attitudes, our actions, our lives, ever how we live, we're praising someone or something every day. Make it the one true and the living God who's revealed himself in Jesus Christ. Father, help us today. We pray that you'd give us wisdom, understanding, that you'd help us to render unto thee the fruit of our lips, thanksgiving and praise and honor to thee who deserves all honor, praise and thanksgiving. We thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you for life and health. We thank you how you have provided for us, protected us, preserved us. We thank you for your kind and gracious providence. Thank you, Father. And we praise thy holy name through the Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.
#71 | 57:31 to 59:13 | cleaned

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T18:11:13Z

Are You Praising The Wrong God?

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

In this sermon, Pastor John Weaver examines Daniel 5 to warn against praising a false god of one's imagination rather than the one true God revealed in Scripture. He argues that many professing Christians unknowingly worship an idol of their own making, and that such idolatry leads to judgment, as seen in the death of Belshazzar. The sermon emphasizes learning from biblical history, the danger of pride, and the certainty of divine judgment, while urging believers to praise God daily through Jesus Christ.

Introduction: The Obligation to Praise the True God

Weaver introduces the topic by reading Daniel 5:1-4 and stating that while we are commanded to praise God, many praise a false god because they do not know the true God of Scripture.

Scripture Reading — Daniel 5:1-4

Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords and drank wine before the thousand. Belshazzar, while 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, 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, brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.

The Danger of Worshiping a God of Imagination

Idolatry as Walking After One's Own Imagination

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 13:10

They're walking after their imaginations. And because they're walking after their imaginations, they're walking after other gods. If you would look in your Bibles to Jeremiah 16 and verse 12. Jeremiah 16 and verse 12. He tells them, "And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me." So anyone then who is walking after his own imagination is refusing to listen to God. He's refusing to hear the Word of God. Then if you look at Jeremiah 18 and verse 12, Jeremiah 18 and verse 12, here's what the people said, and they said, "There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart." In other words, we're not going to listen to God. We're not going to change. We're going to do what we want to do, and we will walk after the imagination of our own heart. Now, when you look at Daniel 5, which we're going to come back there shortly, Belshazzar and all of his people were worshiping gods of their own hearts.

Belshazzar's Failure to Learn from History

Scripture Reading — Daniel 5:18-21

"O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour: and for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him."

Did you know that in Psalm 46 and verse 10, the Bible says,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 46:10

"Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth."

The Sin of Pride and Lifting Oneself Against God

The Certainty of Divine Judgment

Application: Praising the True God Daily

Weaver urges believers to examine their lives, repent of neglect, and praise God continually. He shares a personal story about a tornado to illustrate giving glory to God rather than luck.

Conclusion: Make Your Praise Count for the True God

Weaver concludes that our attitudes and actions are always praising some god, and we must ensure it is the God revealed in Jesus Christ. He closes with a prayer of thanksgiving and praise.

Are You Praising The Wrong God?

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	O_1EZeRsPQg
Subject	Old Testament Studies
Course	Daniel
Genre	Sermon
Date	2020-04-11
Dictation Name
Book	Book 087: Daniel — Chapter 12
Source Timed Segments	71

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction: The Obligation to Praise the True God: Weaver introduces the topic by reading Daniel 5:1-4 and stating that while we are commanded to praise God, many praise a false god because they do not know the true God of Scripture.
The Danger of Worshiping a God of Imagination: Using Deuteronomy 32:17 and 1 Corinthians 10:20-21, Weaver explains that worshiping any god other than the biblical God is sacrificing to devils. He illustrates this with a story about a secretary who rejected the doctrine of election, preferring her own imagination over Scripture.
Idolatry as Walking After One's Own Imagination: Weaver cites Jeremiah 13:10, 16:12, and 18:12 to show that walking after one's imagination is equivalent to worshiping other gods. He then reads Psalm 115:1-8 to contrast the living God with lifeless idols.
Belshazzar's Failure to Learn from History: Weaver argues that Belshazzar should have learned from Nebuchadnezzar's humbling in Daniel 4. He uses Matthew 21:32 and 2 Peter 2:4-9 to stress that we are obligated to profit from God's works in history.
The Sin of Pride and Lifting Oneself Against God: Weaver highlights Belshazzar's pride in Daniel 5:22-23, noting that he profaned holy vessels, praised false gods, and refused to glorify God. He references James 4:6 and Acts 12:20-23 to show God's opposition to the proud.
The Certainty of Divine Judgment: Weaver explains the writing on the wall (MENE, TEKEL, PERES) and Belshazzar's death that night. He cites Acts 17:30-31 and John 5:21-23 to affirm that God has appointed a day of judgment through Jesus Christ.
Application: Praising the True God Daily: Weaver urges believers to examine their lives, repent of neglect, and praise God continually. He shares a personal story about a tornado to illustrate giving glory to God rather than luck.
Conclusion: Make Your Praise Count for the True God: Weaver concludes that our attitudes and actions are always praising some god, and we must ensure it is the God revealed in Jesus Christ. He closes with a prayer of thanksgiving and praise.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Ignorance of God leads to false worship

If you do not know the God of the Bible, you cannot praise Him; instead, you praise a false god of your imagination.

Weaver says, 'How in the world can you praise someone that you do not know? And the answer is you cannot.'

Idolatry is sacrificing to devils

Worshiping any god other than the biblical God is not neutral but is demonic, as taught in Deuteronomy 32:17 and 1 Corinthians 10:20.

Weaver reads, 'They sacrificed unto devils, not to God' and 'the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils.'

Rejecting Scripture is walking after imagination

Those who refuse to hear God's Word and follow their own hearts are walking after their imagination, which is evil.

Weaver cites Jeremiah 13:10: 'This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart.'

Belshazzar should have learned from Nebuchadnezzar

Belshazzar knew of Nebuchadnezzar's humbling but did not humble himself, making him more guilty.

Weaver says, 'Belshazzar was obligated to learn from the work of God in the life of Nebuchadnezzar.'

Pride leads to lifting oneself against God

Belshazzar's pride was demonstrated by profaning holy vessels and praising false gods, which was a direct affront to God.

Weaver explains, 'He profaned and dishonored that which was holy... praised and honored that which was dishonorable... refused to praise the one true the living God.'

God resists the proud

God actively fights against those who are proud, as stated in James 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:5.

Weaver quotes, 'God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.'

Judgment is certain and public

The writing on the wall was plain and public, just as God's judgment is plainly revealed in Scripture and will be executed through Christ.

Weaver says, 'The judgment written against Belshazzar was not only plain, it was public. And it was done supernaturally.'

Our lives are always praising some god

Every attitude and action is an act of worship to something, whether the true God, self, or false gods like luck.

Weaver states, 'Our attitudes, our actions, our lives, ever how we live, we're praising someone or something every day.'

Scripture References

Daniel 5:1-4: Read at the beginning to introduce Belshazzar's feast and idolatry.
Daniel 5:5-9: Describes the handwriting on the wall and the king's fear.
Daniel 5:10-12: The queen recommends Daniel to interpret the writing.
Daniel 5:13-17: Belshazzar offers Daniel rewards, but Daniel refuses them.
Deuteronomy 32:17: Used to show that sacrificing to false gods is sacrificing to devils.
1 Corinthians 10:20-21: Paul's teaching that Gentile sacrifices are to devils, not God.
Jeremiah 13:10: Shows that walking after imagination is evil and leads to idolatry.
Jeremiah 16:12: Further evidence that walking after imagination is rebellion.
Jeremiah 18:12: The people's declaration to walk after their own devices.
Psalm 115:1-8: Contrasts the living God with lifeless idols.
Isaiah 42:8: God will not give His glory to another or His praise to graven images.
Ezekiel 33:11: God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked but desires repentance.
Daniel 5:6: Belshazzar's fear at the handwriting.
Daniel 5:30: Belshazzar is slain that night.
Daniel 5:18-21: Daniel recounts Nebuchadnezzar's humbling to Belshazzar.
Matthew 21:32: Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for not repenting after seeing others believe.
Daniel 4:27-37: Nebuchadnezzar's pride, insanity, and restoration.
Psalm 46:10: God will be exalted among the heathen.
Psalm 47:8: God reigns over the heathen.
Proverbs 21:1: The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord.

Historical References

Nebuchadnezzar's humbling (Daniel 4): Weaver uses Nebuchadnezzar's seven years of insanity as an example Belshazzar should have learned from.
Herod Agrippa I's death (Acts 12): Cited as an example of God striking down a proud ruler who accepted worship.
John Calvin's commentary on Daniel 5: Weaver reads a lengthy quote from Calvin emphasizing Belshazzar's sacrilege and ingratitude.
Bank robberies in Greenville, SC: Weaver recalls that during his college years, all bank robbers were caught, illustrating the folly of thinking one will escape judgment.
Tornado near Jasper: Weaver shares a personal story about a tornado to illustrate giving glory to God rather than luck.

Important Quotes

Unhappily, I believe today that a vast majority of professing Christians are worshiping the God of their imagination and not the God of Holy Scripture.

This quote captures the central concern of the sermon: that many Christians have a false view of God based on imagination rather than Scripture.

I don't care what the Bible says. I know that God's not like that.

Weaver uses this anecdote to illustrate how people reject biblical truth in favor of their own ideas about God.

The only God that is, is the God of the Bible. And if you don't know him as he's revealed in the Bible, then you're worshiping some false God.

This quote emphasizes the exclusivity of the biblical revelation of God.

Pride is a root sin. Pride is the foundation of practically every other sin.

Weaver identifies pride as the underlying cause of Belshazzar's rebellion and all sin.

Belshazzar himself is the writing on the wall for us.

Weaver applies the story directly to the listener, making Belshazzar a warning example.

Our attitudes, our actions, our lives, ever how we live, we're praising someone or something every day. Make it the one true and the living God who's revealed himself in Jesus Christ.

This concluding exhortation summarizes the practical application of the sermon.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

What does it mean to worship a 'God of your imagination' rather than the God of the Bible?

[Context]

Weaver argues that many professing Christians do this unknowingly.

[Question]

How can we ensure that our understanding of God is based on Scripture and not on personal preference or cultural ideas?

[Context]

The sermon emphasizes the need to know God as He has revealed Himself.

[Question]

In what ways might we be guilty of 'walking after the imagination of our own heart' as described in Jeremiah?

[Context]

Weaver connects this to refusing to hear God's Word.

[Question]

Why is pride considered the root of so many other sins, and how did it manifest in Belshazzar's life?

[Context]

Weaver identifies pride as the foundation of Belshazzar's rebellion.

[Question]

What historical examples from the Bible or from our own lives should we learn from to avoid God's judgment?

[Context]

Weaver stresses the importance of learning from history, such as Nebuchadnezzar and the flood.

[Question]

How does the certainty of God's judgment through Jesus Christ affect the way we live and share the gospel?

[Context]

Weaver cites Acts 17:30-31 to show that judgment is as sure as the resurrection.

[Question]

What are some practical ways we can praise God daily, not just in formal worship?

[Context]

Weaver encourages praising God for life, health, and daily blessings.

[Question]

How can we examine our lives to see which 'god' we are truly praising through our attitudes and actions?

[Context]

Weaver concludes that our lives are always praising something.

Applications

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