When A Nation Dishonors God- Part#1

Hi there Dr. John White wedding T's chief medical officer in host of the spotlight on series from our help discover podcast in this special episode brought to you by UCB you'll hear why the color of your skin might impact how your diagnosed and treated for psoriasis letter wasn't about killing myself but more so like a spiritual death like killing to different parts of me that would not allow myself to truly live an authentic life because of psoriasis. And so it was so many people touched by the blog that they had sent it to the national psoriasis foundation. So a couple of the employees there at the time had messaged me and they're like oh my gosh we love your letter, we want you to come to a volunteer conference and so that very next year.

I was at my first national psoriasis foundation conference. Listen to health discovered on the iHeartRadio app wherever you get your podcast soon from messenger to podcast. Her goal with the podcast was. Hope you try to find your way in this difficult world, your chosen truth that were podcast was starting just seconds to enjoy it. Sure, but most of all, thank you for listening and choosing The Truth Podcast Network. This is the Truth Network. This is part one of a special two-part episode.

Do you feel like you're on a religious treadmill, you feel like Christianity is just a system of rules and regulations, I can do this but I can't do that. Do you feel like your efforts to reach God. Find God, and please God do you feel like your faith is did or long today. Pastor Russ Andrews will walk us through Scripture to answer these questions join us on finding purpose in glorifying God by helping them find their purpose for living.

For more information and to connect with Russ Andrews and finding purpose could visit us online@purpose.net connect with us on Facebook. Now let's listen to Russ Andrews as he teaches us how to be a Christian without being religious of entitlement this morning's message when a nation dishonors God subtitled I'm in the title.

When God's patience runs out, we will be looking at Daniel.

Chapter 5 if you want going take your Bibles and open up their last week. For those of you who were here. You may remember the grant of an incredible message about the honor of God. We discussed about how we want to live a life to honor God because he is our Creator and he's also Steiner think about that just for moment, God created each one of us to breathe life into us and not only did he create you and me, but he is the one who sustains each one of us every moment of every day. Moreover, he is the one who holds the entire universe together. He causes the sun to shine upon us. He says the rain when related to nursing our blessed us with rain recently happening thinking so he's provided everything that we need for life and happiness. He's also the one who establishes how we are to live. Another was how we are to honor him with our lives and he is given he's told how to do this by giving us commands precepts and loss that we are to live by both our spiritual health and physical well-being. We are to obey them.

Alyssa not solely out of duty, but mainly because we love him we think about his grace and his mercy. What he did for us. How can we not obey him. This is why created us to be in an intimate personal relationship with him to love him and to worship him. Every human being that has been created was created with that purpose in God's mind to love him to honor him just like you want your children to love you and honor you.

So is our creator.

We owe God awful allegiance but unfortunately we are people who at one time or another, all of us have rebelled against God and going on why Isaiah 53 six.

As we are like sheep have gone astray, each of us is turned to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. So what is God's response when we rebel against him will… Do we want to… Go our own way, he just served our own selfish, evil desires. Don't you understand this truth is this is not in a easy message.

The list today I'm going to warn you Bonjour keep this this in your mind's eye.

As we issue hear what I gotta say this morning. God is long-suffering. He is patient, but is patient has a limit at some point God says enough. At some point God's patience runs out.

This in only happens when a nation continues in open rebellion and defiance against the very laws and commands is told us to live by then, God has no choice but to judge us.

Moreover, any way we can even see this all throughout Scripture, God will send judgments against any nation without nation continues in open rebellion without nation contended to Foss is lost and without nation mocks him by its actions and satellite and I disagrees my heart. This is what I see in our country today. As you look across our landscape and what is happening in our cities in our schools in our government and even in many of our churches. We are observing the judgments of God against a nation that has been given so much. We've been blessed more than any nation in the since the beginning of creation, have we not borne on a cloning who lived in the nova 12 center wrote a poem entitled dual content to Monday as frantic as you can recognize my French accent it, it means the contempt of the world and the theme of this very long poem, which is 3000 lines, which I'm not going to read this morning, but the theme of it is expressed in the opening lines of one of the stanza goes like this is in your outline. The world is evil.

The times are waxing late week. Be sober and keep vigil the judges at the gate. Even though this poem was written in 1140 A.D., I believe it is pertinent to our day without a doubt the world we live in is evil. I have just watch the news. The times are waxing late and I personally believe it's time for us as Christians to be more than ever sober and keep vigil.

I do believe the judges at the gate. The lesson the world does not want to hear any talk about the judgment of God, and you probably wake up this one thing – I would really like your sense about the judgment of God.

But in his other thing. Most churches rarely if ever mention the judgment of God do that most churches can particular the modern church, paint a picture of God is a mild grandfatherly figure who simply don't service children, but that is not a correct biblical view of God, JI Packer, in his excellent book entitled knowing God writes quote why do men fight shot.

The thought of God as a judge wanted a field of thought to be unworthy of him. The truth is that part of God's moral perfection. This is perfection in judgment where God listened. What a God who did not care about the difference between right and wrong. Good and admiralty and what would a God who put no distinction between the beast of history.

The Hitler was in the stall and if we name any and his own saints.

Be morally praiseworthy and perfect moral indifference would be an imperfection of God, not a perfection but not to judge the world would be to show moral indifference.

The final proof that God is a perfect moral being not indifferent to questions of right and wrong is the fact that he has committed himself to judge the world. I think everyone is born with this idea within our DNA it at some point will have to give an account of our lives jogger with that is just in our DNA, even an atheist.

The genocide he knows it acts 1731 says for he disses God the father has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man notices a man the God man. His opponent is given proof of this to all men by raising from the dead.

So whatever you think about the resurrection you can think about this truth. The fact that there was a resurrection.

According to Scripture Mesa God's will to judge the world. One day that's what I had to be a resurrection is had to be across this morning I want to mention three realities. First, judgment is already here suck at the final judgment is coming in third.

There's all this good news because God is brought in a way of escape. See, when Jesus came into the world and you all know this. He came for one purpose.

He came to die for the sins of the world.

In other words, Jesus was born to die. Want to have to die because God is just that he must judge sin. He has no other choice not to judge sin will be would be for God to go against his own character and he can't do that is impossible for him. The Bible also makes it very clear. This is my favorite aspect about God. This is my brother talk about is that he's a God of love note to children here. This is a God of love and grace and mercy. In fact, the Bible says that God delights in showing mercy. Micah 718 and 19 to my favorite verses in the entire Bible say who is a God like you. He is almost hard to understand Hecate forgive us when he when he sees what were doing, who is a God like you to pardon sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance. You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy, you will again have compassion on us. You will treat our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. If you are in Christ all of your sins and all of you iniquities have been cast into the depths of the sea. How good is that. And here's the good news, even with America. Castillo loves the world so much that he provided a way of escape from this coming day of judgment in that web escape is what sin outline the cross. That's a God's escape door. But here's the deal. If anyone refuses to come to the cross where Jesus hung in our place in one day and perhaps very soon. That person will face God's judgment alone.

John writes in Revelation 14 seven.

Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. We we know from history to God judges the world by just reading the Bible.

During the days of Noah, God's patient ran out and got us in the flood. During the days of Sodom and Gomorrah. God's patient ran out and gossiping, hail, fire and brimstone from heaven and one day I believe this and perhaps a God's patience is going to run out one final time, and I believe that's what will usher in the second coming. Basically God says enough he sent his son back to bring this evil world to an end.

What is God not bring evil to an end because of his grace and mercy if he brought it to an in nobody we get saved tomorrow if you ever thought about this God sees all the evil is taken place 24 seven we see just a fraction of it they wish they like 1 million of the 1% theses Everything Everything Is Taken Pl. in New York City right now everything is taken place in all around the world right now he sees it this morning. We're going to examine Daniel chapter 5 is an amazing chapter in Daniel five, we see a nation babbling that totally dishonor God and God's patient ran out with a particular king whose name was Belshazzar.

So if you have your Bibles Terminator two Daniel chapter 5 I will begin reading this beginning in verse one will read the entire chapter is the incident very interesting story we read in verse one, King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for thousand of his nobles and drink wine with them.

While this wild Bill Shouse always drinking his wine. He gave orders to bring in the I want and the word holy here is a world the holy gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar, his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem so the king and his nobles, his wives and concubines might drink from them. King Nebuchadnezzar defeated the southern kingdom of Judah, around 600 BC. He brought back all the golden instruments that were in the temple and he brought them back to babbling for three so they brought in the goal goblets that had been taken from the temple of God and Jerusalem and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines right from them as they drank the wine.

They praised the gods of gold and silver of bronze, iron, wood and stone, and suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster. The wall near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watch the hands it wrote his face turned pale and he was so frightened that his knees, not together in his legs gave way.

The king then called out for the enchanters, the astrologers and diviners to be brought in six of these was no babbling. Google raises writing and tells me what it means will be closed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck and he remade the third highest ruler in the kingdom all the wise men came in but they cannot read the rotting hotel the king what it meant, so King Belshazzar became even more terrified.

His face grew more pale and his nobles were baffled and the queen who was awfully not present. Hearing the voices of the king and his nobles came into the banquet hall oh king live forever. She said don't be alarmed. Don't look so pale now children think about what it really and tell me if the world recognize this about. She verse 11 there is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy God seen him in the time of your father. He was found to have insight and intelligence and wisdom like that of the gods King Nebuchadnezzar, your father, your father, King Asay appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners.

This man Daniel who the Kinko bill to Shouse are not to be confused with Belshazzar.

This was Daniel's Babylonian name or when they brought them from Judah. They change their names. They try to feed them their diet. They tried to indoctrinate them into the Babylonian culture and Daniel Shadrach and Amisha would not do that. This man Daniel was found to have a keen mind and knowledge and understanding and also the ability to interpret dreams explain riddles and solve difficult problems call for Daniel and he will tell you what the rotting means so Daniel was brought before the king of the king said to him, are you Daniel one of the exiles. My father the king brought from Judah. Further, the spirit of the gods is in you and that you have insight, intelligence and outstanding wisdom. The Wiseman enchanters were brought before me to read this rotting and tell me what it means, but they could not explain it not heard that you are able to give interpretations and to solve difficult problems. If you can read this rotting is having what it means will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck and you will be made. The third highest ruler in the kingdom. But here when I get to read explains the westerly people named their sons Daniel to be a Daniel. Daniel answered the king you may keep your gifts for yourself and give your awards to someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the rotting for the king tell what it means. Verse 18 oh king the most high God gave your father, Nebuchadnezzar, sovereignty, greatness and glory and power shot a picture Daniel staying there before that entire porn. It was getting drunk because of the high position gave him all the peoples of nations and men of every language, dreaded and feared him.

Those that he wanted to put to death.

He put to death. Does he want to spare his spirit.

Does he want to promote. He promoted and those you want to humbly humble, but what his heart became arrogant and hard with pride he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. He was driven away from people and given the mind of an animal. He lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like cattle and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven's notices work until he acknowledged that the most high God is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and sets over them. Anyone he wishes the right to begin with verse 22 you see a man who has no fear.

When is God is with him is addressing the king who could have been killed. He says, but you his Sunnyvale shop Belshazzar have not humbled yourself though you knew all this is that you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you and you and you know what you want in your concubines right wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold of bronze ironwood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand you think we do this today, but you did not honor the God who holds in his hand. Your life in all your ways.

Therefore, he sent the hand. It wrote this inscription by the way, when I read that about that he sent the hand that wrote the inscription can you from another time when God wrote in the sand about John chapter 8 when they brought in. The woman felt act of adultery through with the figure Jesus was the first thing he did. He took his hand and he wrote in the sand. This inscription that was written many many technical parson and this is what these words mean many God is numbered.

The days of your rain and brought it to an end TECO you've been weighing on the scales and found wanting to arrest following a singular for parson you of your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.

Then it Belshazzar's command. Daniel was clothed in purple a gold chain was placed around his neck and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom. That very night Belshazzar king of the Babylonians was slain, and Darius committee took over the kingdom, the age of 62 to listen to listen carefully when a nation so dishonors God and refuses to repent that nation should expect the eminent judgment of God is basically asking God to judge us and that's what we doing this is ever happened before when Genesis chapter 15 God explained to Abraham that he was going to form a nation from his offspring. Hopefully you know the story more of a God told Abraham that his descendents would be enslaved in a foreign land for how many years for hundred as you know, that happened in Egypt under Pharaoh and the a.

At the end of that time, God told Abraham that he was going to rescue him in the Israelite city that we his descendents in the land of Egypt and bring them back to the promised land, which will at the current time was occupied by the Amorites, also known as the Canaanites is the main question what was God going to take the land away from Amorites and give it to the Israelites when they just innocent bystanders. No Genesis 1516 explains in the fourth generation. Your descendents again. Abraham will come back here for the sin of the Amorites is not yet reached its full measure.

Don't hear that the sand of the Amorites is not yet reached its full measure. What is this tell you about God.

It tells you that he is watching and measuring sin. The whole town. The Israelites were slaves in Egypt. God was watching and measuring the silly Amorites, and he gave him plenty of time to repent. Plenty of time, but they refused.

Some 33 verses 13 through 15 says from the from heaven. The Lord looks down and sees all men can't from his dwelling place.

He watches all who live on earth who forms the hearts of all who considers everything they do. As America continues to dishonor the name of God. I want you to remember this is watching and measuring our sin. God gave the land of the Amorites to the descendents of Abraham because the sin of the Amorites was so egregious, the boundary line between God's patience and his wrath was crossed but I want you to notice as I just said. He gave them 400 years to repent. In spite of what they were doing deal they were doing the 400 years. They worship many faults God's sound familiar.

They price the horrible ritual of child sacrifice. Sound familiar. They participated in religious prostitution, sorcery and witchcraft and God's patient. Finally ran out. Babylon was just as evil doesn't October 12 539 BC King services Army advanced against the city of Babylon and guess what Belshazzar new to the movies and the Persians were encamped around the city, but he won worried he thought he was untouchable. After all the city walls were 200 Klein. Some of them worth over 300 feet high.

Can you imagine that they were to number their word and there were numerous defense towers.

The walls were so brawl that several insurance could be driven abreast of each other on top of the wall and to show his lack of concern, Belshazzar, Cilicia celebrate will have a part of that word about then they can get us where untouchable and it was no small party commentator John Phillips describes the setting, the dining room was enormous. Reportedly 1650 feet wide and a mile long, some 4400 pillars in the form of giant elephants will pour the walls that they want these elephants were carved out of stone. Ensued 20 feet high. The tables were fashion in the form of horseshoes. You can picture the loss of Babylon were were set down with their wives in the concubines and they were eating and drinking his train peacocks air raid in gold and silver harnesses pull carts of rich food around from the adjoining Gardens enormous choir and orchestra provided music entertainment. Some of you may be aware that the hanging Gardens of Babylon were once considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world there. It was a very rich nation. Sound familiar. This was a gala affair. All the dignitaries were dressed in the finest in toasting one another with the Golden Compass have been taken from God's holy temple and everyone was partying and laughing them out away.

And yet no one knew the judge was at hand. The country and our world today. God is still watching. He still measuring sin in Matthew 24 verses 37 through 39 Jesus says, as it was in the days of Noah celebrate the coming of the Son of Man for the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing about what would happen to the flood came and took them all away.

A flood was waiting outside the city walls of Babylon, and that flood was the Medo Persian army is the reverie of the party climaxed. Belshazzar had a thoughtless bring in the gold and silver goblets from the temple of the Jews and drinking them, and that's what they did and listen through this I know he was doing he was declaring that the gods of Babylon were greater in the God of the Jews as they drank, they mocked God, and they ridiculed the Lord of heaven and they hail the gods made with hands of God will not be mocked. Glacier 67 says do not be deceived, God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows so out of the darkness of the night, the hand of God appeared and wrote four words in the wall. Many, many technical parson. Belshazzar was terrified. His face turned pale.

He did what all unbelievers do. He called for worldly man to help him with a spiritual problem… If you have a spiritual problem do not go to someone who is not indwelt by the Holy Spirit for any counsel or advice. Psychology is the study of the so who created the so God if you choose, go to a psychiatrist or counselor which is fine. Make sure they know Jesus, so that he can give you counsel God's word that will nourish her so the wisdom of the world is passing away. Being a Christian is not about being religious but about having the dynamic alive relationship with Jesus Christ you been listening to finding purpose with pastor Russ Sanders glorifying God by helping men and their purpose for living. You can discover more about finding your purpose in life by checking out the resources@purpose.net will connect to finding purpose on Facebook pastor Russ would also like to extend a special invitation for you to join him in over 300 other local men to study God's word together every Tuesday night at 7 PM in downtown Raleigh. Find out more@findingpurpose.net.

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